Tomas Hirsch, leader of the Left
"Chile no longer has a rule of law"
By Jorge ZÚÑIGA - Tuesday 9th May 2006, Santiago
Tomas Hirsch, the ex-presidential candidate of the extra-parliamentary left, visited the Moneda Palace to show his support of the Mapuche hunger strike taking place in southern Chile . "They have been illegally convicted using faceless witnesses under the Antiterrorist Law - the same law used by Pinochet during his dictatorship" said Hirsh.
After presenting a letter to the President of the Republic, Tomas Hirsch stressed that "a democratic country does not have "rule of law" while it has political prisoners detained and accused under an anti-terrorist law created during the dictatorship and using "anonymous witnesses". The ex-presidential candidate of the left highlighted that the insistence of the Supreme Court in repeating the trials three times in order to secure a guilty verdict, "shows that there is real political persecution against the Mapuche people".
Tomas Hirsch, the ex-leader of Juntos Podemos, announced to the press at the doors of the Moneda Palace that in the letter addressed to the President of the Republic, he and a number of social and political organisations expressed their "absolute rejection of the conviction against the community leaders. We have demanded the freedom of those who are today held as political prisoners".
The legal solution that would free the Mapuche political prisoners is found in the bill proposed by Senator Navarro. This bill would avoid the use of the Antiterrorist Law but needs the approval of two thirds of the parliament. Hirsch called on the government to execute the bill with extreme urgency because "there is no excuse, nor justification to continue to hold them as prisoners".
Tomas Hirsch reminded the press that Patricia Troncoso had been declared innocent on various occasions but the Supreme Court had demanded the re-opening of her case. "This demonstrates that there is real political persecution against the Mapuche people, who only demand what is rightfully theirs - their land, their territory, their culture, their dignity and the right to have a better future. All that belongs to them has been taken away."
The attitude of the government
"Today, looking after the health of the Mapuche prisoners means releasing them. Anything else that the government does would simply be wrong" Tomas Hirsch responded, when asked about the attempts to force the Mapuche prisoners to end their strike. On returning from Europe last week, Tomas Hirsch stated, "there - he said - they cannot believe that a trial has been carried out under these - completely illegal - conditions".
"What the Chilean government is doing is to disguise, camouflage and hide the fact that they are violating the norms of international law when detaining prisoners, accusing and convicting men and women that should be free", Tomas Hirsch concluded.
Plaza of the Constitution
In the Plaza of the Constitution this morning, a wide range of leaders have declared themselves in solidarity with the Mapuche political prisoners who today will reach day 57 of the hunger strike without receiving - even now - a response from the government regarding their demands.
The ex-presidential candidate Tomas Hirsch, alongside the president of the Humanist Party, Efren Osorio, and Rafael de la Rubia, European leader of the Humanist Movement, presented a letter at the Moneda Palace , addressed to the President Michelle Bachelet, expressing their concern for the four Mapuche members on hunger strike. Hirsch, in a loud voice, asked for the immediate release of all the Mapuche prisoners. He stated "they were illegally convicted, with anonymous witnesses, using the same law of the Pinochet dictatorship, the Antiterrorist Law".
The leader of the Group for Friends and Relatives of Mapuche Political Prisoners (AFAPPM), Christina Painemal, stated that the Mapuche political prisoners on hunger strike were attacked this weekend by the police, when being transferred to Temuco Hospital . She said that the Mapuche prisoners were willing to go to the furthest lengths if necessary, and that this is reflected in their slogan "freedom or death", declared in their most recent statement from prison, in circulation yesterday.
When asked if the Mapuche prisoners would stop the hunger strike if the government pushed through the Bill of Conditional Freedom or Navarro Bill as an urgent matter, the leader Christina Painemal, said that if the government wanted to, it could quickly and easily pass the law. However Painemal said, "We do not trust the government but the only possible way there is to stop the hunger strike is if the government looks for ways to pass the bill. The hunger strike will end when the Mapuche political prisoners are freed; at least, this is the wish at the moment". Azkintuwe
Translated by Katy Brickley
Mapuche International Link