In Washington: Indigenous Mapuche delegation seeks OAS action
3 March, 2005
The Chilean State has repeatedly violated the rights of Indigenous Mapuche peoples in Chile, according to a case presented today before the Organization of American States' Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. A delegation consisting of Adolfo Millabur, representative of the Coordination of Mapuche Organizations and Territorial Identities; Manuel Santander, representative of the Council of All Lands; and Nancy Yáñez Fuenzalida, a lawyer working with the Chilean NGO Indigenous Peoples' Rights Watch, participated in today's audience at the OAS.
The OAS granted the delegation an audience at today's session based on a request by the Coordination of Mapuche Organizations and Territorial Identities, and delegates were able to present on the current human rights violations against indigenous peoples in Chile, which they alleged violates the American Convention on Human Rights, to which Chile is a signatory party.
Ms. Nancy Yáñez, a lawyer with Indigenous Peoples' Rights Watch, reinforced this claim with a legal analysis of the Chilean State's recent human rights violations against the Mapuche people, an infringement on the rights guaranteed by the American Convention.
In addition to the delegation's testimony, they presented reports by the United Nations and international human rights organizations that are deeply concerned by Chile's violation of indigenous peoples' rights. The Coordination of Mapuche Organizations and Territorial Identities also presented a new report, "Human Rights Violations against the Mapuche Peoples in Chile."
The delegation's visit to Washington included meetings with Washington-based non-governmental organizations, such as The Indian Law Resource Center, Human Rights Watch, The Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL), and The Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA). The delegates proposed to further collaborate with these organizations regarding the critical situation of indigenous rights in Chile, and to analyze possible joint strategies for presenting new cases within the Inter-American Justice System in order to address the shortcomings of Chilean law in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples.
According to Mr. Millabur, one of Chile's only city mayors of Mapuche ethnicity, "The Chilean State not only fails to recognize international standards on indigenous rights, it has also systematically violated fundamental guarantees of human rights enshrined in international law. This is made clear by recent acts of state-sponsored police brutality, the application of improper laws designed to punish social and indigenous movements that violate the right to due process, and the jailing of Mapuche people in inhumane conditions. For all these reasons, we have come to ask the OAS to take special measures to revert this situation."
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