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Mapuche: Amnesty International report 2004 |
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Wednesday, 26 May 2004 |
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Indigenous people continued to press for reforms related
to land and the upholding of their economic, social and cultural rights. There
were further incidents between Mapuche indigenous people and the carabineros
(uniformed police) in the context of land tenure and the commercial exploitation
of timber in the south of the country. In the report of his visit to Chile in
July, the UN Special Rapporteur on indigenous people underlined the marginalization
of indigenous communities economically and socially as well as the criminalization
of indigenous social protest movements through the use of "anti-terrorism"
legislation. The Special Rapporteur recommended the judicial review of the case
of two Mapuche community leaders.
Trial of Mapuche leaders
In March in the city of Angol, IX Region, the trial began of
Segundo Aniceto Norín Catriman and Pascual Pichún Paillalao, both
Mapuche community leaders, and of a Mapuche sympathizer, Patricia Troncoso.
They were tried under an "anti-terrorism" law enacted during the military
government on charges of "terrorist arson" and "threat of terrorist
action". The court allowed evidence from two anonymous witnesses to be
given from behind a screen with the voice distorted. All three defendants were
acquitted of all charges owing to lack of evidence. However, an appeal against
the verdict by the prosecution was accepted by the Supreme Court. After a retrial
in September, the two men were acquitted of "terrorist arson" but
were sentenced to five years and one day in prison for "terrorist threats".
An appeal was lodged and rejected. Patricia Troncoso was acquitted of all charges.
AI country visits
In March an AI delegation visited Chile and collected human
rights data, raised concerns with government officials and met representatives
of the human rights community. It attended the opening of the trial of two Mapuche
leaders and a sympathizer.
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