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Question the Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Chile
3rd September, 2002
To Members of the European Parliament. In June 2002, the Government of the Republic of Chile and the European Union signed the 'Free Trade Agreement' in order to establish a bilateral relationship that includes a broad range of matters concerning trade and investment. This agreement will come into effect as soon as it is ratified by the Parliaments of the 15 member countries of the European Union. In the name of Mapuche people's organisations based in Europe, we are asking the MPs in the countries of the European Union and Members of the European Parliament not to ratify this agreement. We wish to draw attention to the fact that putting this agreement into force will have irreversible effects on the existence and well being of the indigenous people of Chile, in particular the Mapuche people. A number of leading organisations representing the Mapuche people consider this agreement to be incompatible with the standards and ethical principles declared by the European Union. These basic standards must be adhered to with regard to trade with developing countries. In particular, we are most concerned about the total disregard in this Agreement for human rights, sustainable development, the protection of the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples. This should be seen in the context of norms and agreements established by the European Union, the UN and other international organisations. We request that the Free Trade Agreement between the EU and Chile is not ratified until a fact finding mission has been sent by the EU to Chile to investigate the following concerns: The Free Trade Agreement will encourage the commercial activities of the multinational corporations. This could lead to an immediate increase in the indiscriminate exploitation of natural resources because of the lack of effective legislation in Chile to promote sustainable development and protect the environment. Chilean export businesses will be free to do as they wish with the natural resources in the ancestral territory of the Mapuche nation, in particular with their forestry resources, marine life and fish stocks. We have already seen irreparable damage being caused to the ecosystem and to biodiversity in this way, and the consequent increasing impoverishment of the indigenous communities. The following examples illustrate this situation: Seventy percent of the waste from the Ninth Region of Chile has been deposited in the areas close to or on the land of Mapuche communities. This has directly resulted in damage to the health of the population, contamination of the water supply and underground reserves, the disruption of the ecosystem and the violation of our cultural heritage and our sacred sites. It is in the management of the forestry industries of Chile that legal irregularities most frequently arise. In 1974, the military government of Pinochet created Law 701 which exempted the forestry companies from having to pay taxes and granted them state subsidies for their plantations. In this way the forestry companies came to control more than two million hectares of monoculture plantations. The Mapuche communities are demanding the return of their ancestral land in regions 8, 9 and 10 of the country and are accusing the owners of the forestry companies established in those regions of having stolen their land. The increasing number of the forestry plantations
coincides with an increase in poverty in the Mapuche communities.
The highest levels of poverty in the whole of It is worth pointing out that in spite of the importance of the forestry sector for the Chilean economy, the state departments responsible do not take into account the previous ownership and use of the Chilean forests. Even today the extent of the plantations and the amount of native forest owned by the forestry companies is unknown. The Spanish-owned multinational corporation Endesa is building Ralco, the second of seven hydro-electric dams in the upper Bio Bio River in the indigenous ancestral territory of the Mapuche-Pewenche in region 8 of Chile. A direct consequence of this is the displacement and cultural extinction of the Mapuche-Pewenche. Around 400 members of the Quepuca-Ralco and Ralco-Lepoy communities have already been relocated while others are refusing to leave. In the course of these last years they have defended through various political actions their right to live in their ancestral territory. This right is guaranteed in article 13 of the Chilean Indigenous Law No. 19.253 of October 1993. However, on the 5th April 2002, a resolution by the Finance Ministry created a Comisión de Hombres Buenos (Commission of Good Men) to assess the value of the Mapuche-Pewenche land. In this way the Government of Chile is preparing to flood Mapuche territory and deport the indigenous people who oppose the expropriation of their land. More than 200 Mapuche people have been put on trial before the civil and military courts of Chile on a variety of charges arising from their attempts to recover their land. 20 Mapuche political leaders have been forced to go into hiding because the judicial system in Chile cannot guarantee them a fair trial. Enclosed is a list of these people undergoing trial. They are classified as political prisoners by leading organisations which represent the Mapuche. On 3rd July 2002, the Chilean Senate's Commission for Constitutional, Legislative and Judicial Affairs refused demands that indigenous people be recognised in the political constitution of the country. The leading organisations representing indigenous people have been making this demand for more than a decade. The Chilean Government has up until now, refused to ratify Convention 169 concerning indigenous and tribal people introduced in 1989 by the International Labour Organisation (O.I.T.). Witness statements from a variety of people detained by the Chilean Security Forces make accusations of torture, inhumane treatment and degradation. In spite of these, there has so far been no investigation and no member of the security services has been tried. In the course of the last few years various international organisations have denounced this situation, particularly with regard to the violation of the human rights of the Mapuche in Chile. The most important complaints have been made by the following organisations: On the 3rd April 2002, the Freedom Foundation of France put before the Commission for Human Rights at the United Nations its evaluation of the situation of indigenous people in Chile. On the 22nd April and 1st May a commission of observers from the International Federation of Human Rights visited the regions of Bio-Bio, La Araucania and Los Lagos to assess the situation on the ground in the indigenous communities. The Freedom Federation of France is composed of 115 organisations which defend human rights in 90 countries and has consultative status at the United Nations, UNESCO and the Council of Europe. In 2002, Amnesty International denounced the Chilean Police for abuse of power during 'acts of protest in 2001 by indigenous groups involved in land disputes'. In 2000, the American State Department's Annual Report on Human Rights for 1999 called attention to legal irregularities surrounding the situation of Mapuche detainees and to the abuses suffered by women and children (February 2000). In 1999, the Freedom Foundation of France went before the United Nations Sub-commission on Prevention of Discrimination and Protection of Minorities to condemn the Chilean State for violating the human rights of the Mapuche. Also in 1999 the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination condemned the Chilean government for the discrimination it had exercised against indigenous people. The following existing resolutions validate our position: 29th March 1999: Proposed Resolution of the European Parliament on the violation of the rights of the Mapuche people in Chile. This proposal is pending in the European Parliament Sub-commission on Human Rights, being classified as 'Proposed Resolutions that may be changed in the future'. Enclosed is a copy of this resolution. The Stockholm Convention on persistent organic contamination, March 2001: Rule no 2494/2000 established means of promoting conservation and sustainable management of tropical and other forests in developing countries. Rainforest Foundation and the International Alliance of Indigenous and Tribal Peoples of the Tropical Forests, Indigenous views on development: implementing the EU indigenous people's policy, project no. 2000/035. Resolution of the Development Council on 30th November, 1998 on indigenous people within a framework of cooperation with the European Community and member states, 13461/98, which laid the foundations for a global EU policy of support for indigenous people. Communication from the European Commission and the European Parliament on the role of the European Union in promoting human rights and the democratisation of third world countries, COM (2001) 252. Document of the programme of the European Initiative for Democratisation and Human Rights 2002-2004, SG:E/20012728. Code of Conduct of European companies, that operate in developing countries (Resolution 15/11/99). Finally, it is worth emphasising that since 1988, the European Parliament has passed 36 different resolutions on indigenous peoples, including the resolution of 9th February 1994 on International Requirements to provide effective Protection for Indigenous People. We trust that you will take these points into consideration before consenting to the ratification of the 'Free Trade Agreement between the European Union and Chile'. Yours faithfully Jorge Calbucura Reynaldo Mariqueo Ramona Quiroga Gaston Lion Enclosed please find, for your information,
the following documents: For further information see below: |
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