Society for Threatened Peoples deeply concerned for the lives of four political prisoners of the Mapuche Indians in Chile

The Society for Threatened Peoples (GfbV) is deeply concerned about the condition of four political prisoners of the Mapuche, who have been on hunger-strike since 13th March 2006.

It has today written to the Chilean president, Michelle Bachelet, who proclaimed as one of her election aims the improvement of the condition of the Indians of Chile. This letter protests against the infringements of the human rights of these prisoners and calls for their immediate release. At the same time the human rights organisation has written to 3000 people, asking them to send similar letters to Ms Bachelet.

Patricia Troncoso Robles (36), Patricio Marileo Saravia (31), Jaime Marileo Saravia (27) and Juan Carlos Huenulao Lienmil (39) are applying for a review of the trial in which they were sentenced to prison sentences of over 10 years and heavy fines of more than 400 million Chilean pesos (about 620,000 euros). They were sentenced on the basis of the Anti-Terrorism Law dating back to the time of Pinochet (Ley 18.314) because they had taken part in an occupation of land in protest against the withholding of the land rights of the Mapuche. In the course of this an agricultural vehicle was set alight. „Terrorist arson” and the occupation of land are the standard charges in cases made against the Mapuche, in which the Anti-Terrorism Law forms the basis.

After a particularly long period in prison on remand (up to one and a half years) this case was marked by grave irregularities: the right to defence was restricted, the sentence relied on witnesses whose identity remained unknown to the defence („faceless witnesses”) and whose statements could not be tested.

The implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Law (Law No. 18.314) against Mapuche leaders, who stand up against the rape of their land, and the admission of anonymous witnesses has been criticised by several international organisations, among them the Society for Threatened Peoples. In 2003 Rodolfo Stavenhagen, Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Affairs at the United Nations, called on the Chilean government to take measures at last to stop the Mapuche people being criminalised for their legitimate protests against the theft of land and social prejudice. The Committee for the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights of the United Nations came to the same conclusion in its last Chile report. There have also been five applications filed against the Chilean government at the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights. They are all concerned with cases against Mapuche who have been brought before court on account of the Anti-Terror Law.