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Document presented on behalf of COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS
Item 4 of the Agenda Review of developments pertaining
to the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms
of indigenous people.
Firstly, allow me to congratulate
you, in the name of my organisation, on your re-election as chair of the
Working Group. Your broad experience and commitment to the cause of human
rights guarantees us, as always, a successful conference in this 16th Period
of Sessions. We welcome this opportunity to address the distinguished members
of the Working Group and all of those attending this important assembly. Madam Chair, the annexation,
through the use of force, of the Mapuche nation's territory by the states
of The lack of protection for
the property rights of the ancestral lands and the lack of justice has
forced the Mapuche to protest actively, although non-violently. These protests
have been violently suppressed by the Chilean authorities. At the end of
1997 and the beginning of the current year, the authorities introduced
the Law of Internal Security of the State and Anti terrorist Law in five
communes of the Mapuche region; a repressive law of the military regime
which the authorities had previously condemned but now do not hesitate
to apply with all the rigour of the law against the Mapuche. The police
together with antiterrorist forces mounted an impressive police operation,
spreading terror in the peaceful and vulnerable communities of the region.
During October 1997 and into this year 87 people have been arrested among
them women and children from the cities of On the 16th of December,
a peaceful demonstration in According to the testimony
of the young Mapuche Juan Carlos Reinao he was held under arrest for 7
days incomunicado (in spite of the Chilean law which stipulates that people
can be held for no more than five days) during which time he suffered inhuman
and degrading treatment. Madam Chair, in 1994 our
sister Florinda Cheuquepan (who sadly died in 1997) informed the Working
Group with optimism of the advances that Chile had made with regards to
the indigenous legislation through the publication of the law 19,253 of
1993, in which norms of protection, promotion and development of the indigenous
peoples were established. At the same time she warned that there needed
to be a real commitment on the part of the government for the application
and execution of the law and added because we know that however attractive
the letter of the law is, if it does not come into being the words are
meaningless. This is exactly what has happened in The development and infrastructure
projects, such as the privatisation of water, the construction of highways
and hydroelectric projects are carried out without the consent of the affected
communities. This in clear contravention of the indigenous law which states
in article 13 that indigenous lands, by the demands of national interest,
enjoy the protection of this law and cannot be alienated, seized, taxed
nor acquired by force except amongst indigenous communities or persons
of the same ethnic group. It is important to note the irreversible effects
that the construction of Ralco Dam will have for both the Mapuche-Pewenche
communities and for the environment of the whole region of the Alto Bio
Bio. We wish to make it absolutely
clear that we the Mapuche do not oppose development but we want equitable,
sustainable and harmonious development with respect for our rights and
ancestral cultural values and development from which we are not excluded. Finally we demand the constitutional
recognition of the Mapuche people and the ratification of ILO Convention
169 by the Chilean government. Thank you,
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