Open Letter Regarding Trial of Mapuche Elder Francisca Linconao in Chile
Open Letter Regarding Trial of Mapuche Elder Francisca Linconao in Chile
Francisco José Eguiguren Praeli, President, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
Dag Hammerskjöld, Regional Representative for South America, United Nations Office of the High Commission for Human Rights
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples
Ben Emmerson, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism
Michel Forst, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders
Mariam Wallet Aboubakrine, Chair, United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
Kristen Carpenter, Member, United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
José Guevara, Chair, United Nations Working Group on Arbitrary Detention
Chrystia Freeland, Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs
Marcel Leblue, Ambassador of Canada to Chile
Robert Goldman, President, International Commission of Jurists
Miguel Baz, President of the Board of Directors, Avocats Sans Frontières/Lawyers Without Borders Canada
Salil Shetty, Secretary General, Amnesty International
Kenneth Roth, Executive Director, Human Rights Watch
August 15, 2017
RE: Need for International Observers at Trial of Mapuche Elder in Chile
We are writing to you today to express our concern with the detention of Mapuche elder and spiritual leader Francisca Linconao. We urge you to send international observers to monitor her trial this fall.
In March 2016, Linconao was arrested and charged under Chile’s anti-terrorism law. Linconao, along with ten other Mapuche, is accused of arson. She insists that she is innocent. [i]
Linconao and the others have senselessly been held without bail since their arrest, a violation of their fundamental rights, which is made possible by the application of the anti-terrorism law. Due to her ailing health, Linconao’s lawyer applied to have her transferred to house arrest. While judges granted her request, the decision was repeatedly overturned on appeal. After a hunger strike, she was released into house arrest in early 2017. Despite a return to house arrest, Linconao is not free. She remains under house arrest, and the other accused Mapuche remain in prison.[ii]
Chile has long been criticized for its use of the anti-terrorism act to circumvent the human rights of Mapuche protesters. Introduced by Augusto Pinochet’s military dictatorship in 1984, the anti-terrorism act allows government officials and law enforcement to ignore many of the procedural rights of the accused. Among other things, the law allows for long periods of pre-trial detention, the use of anonymous witnesses, and limits on the accused’s ability to access evidence against them. The anti-terrorism laws have also allowed the Chilean courts to issue disproportionately harsh sentences for crimes such as arson and trespassing. Despite the transition to civilian rule in 1989, Chilean authorities have continued to use Pinochet’s anti-terrorist laws against Mapuche land defenders.
This use of anti-terrorism laws to detain Mapuche activists and deny their fundamental procedural rights has been widely criticized. The Inter-American Court of Human Rights condemned Chile’s use of its anti-terrorism law, and ordered Chile to annul sentences issued to several Mapuche leaders.[iii] Several United Nations councils and officials have criticized Chile’s use of anti-terrorism laws against the Mapuche, including the Human Rights Council,[iv] the Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,[v] the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples,[vi] Special Rapporteur on the Rights to Freedom of Peaceful Assembly, and the Special Rapporteur on Human Rights When Countering Terrorism.[vii] Numerous Non-Government Organizations have made similar criticisms, including the Unrepresented Nations and People’s Organization,[viii] Amnesty International,[ix] and Human Rights Watch.[x]
In response to this criticism, Chilean authorities have apparently committed to reforming the way it applies its anti-terrorism law to Mapuche protesters. However, we believe that Linconao’s experience demonstrates that Chile has yet to halt the use of anti-terrorism legislation to circumvent the human rights of Mapuche.
Under these circumstances we are convinced that fairness and justice can only be secured if there is international attention, including the presence of international human rights observers, at her trial. We urge you to do whatever is in your power to ensure appropriately trained, representative outside observers are present, and to publish a public letter or report upon completion of the trial and judgement.
Henry Heller, Professor, Department of History, University of Manitoba
Julie A. Gibbings, Assistant Professor, Department of History, University of Manitoba
David Camfield, Associate Professor, Labour Studies & Sociology, University of Manitoba
Peter Kulchyski, Professor, Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba
Fred J. Shore, Assistant Professor, Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba
Radhika Desai, Professor, Department of Political Studies, University of Manitoba
Kathleen Buddle, Associate Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of Manitoba
Niigaan Sinclair, Associate Professor, Department of Native Studies, University of Manitoba
Jarvis Brownlie, Professor, Department of History, University of Manitoba
Luin Goldring, Professor, Department of Sociology, York University
Liisa L. North, Professor Emeritus, York University (Visiting Professor, FLACSO-Ecuador)
Dr. Ricardo Grinspun, Department of Economics, York University, Toronto, Canada
Shannon Bell, Professor. Department of Political Science, York University
Greg Albo, Associate Professor, Department of Political Science, York University
Dr. Alex Wilson, Opaskwayak Cree Nation, Department of Educational Foundations, University of Saskatchewan
Jack Hicks, Adjunct Professor, Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
Lori Hanson, Associate Professor, Community Health and Epidemiology, University of Saskatchewan
Dr. Robin Roth, Associate Professor, Department of Geography, University of Guelph
Todd Gordon, Assistant Professor, Law and Society and Social Justice and Comminity Engagement, Wilfrid Laurier University
Tyler Shipley, Professor of Culture, Society and Commerce, Humber College, Toronto, Canada
Erin Manning, Professor, Faculty of Fine Arts, Concordia University
Jim Silver, Professor, Department of Urban and Inner-City Studies, University of Winnipeg
Fernanda Ferreira, Professor, Department of Psychology, University of California, Davis
Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz, professor emerita, California State University
Jeffery R. Webber, Senior Lecturer, School of Politics and International Relations, Queen Mary University of London
Frank Tough, Professor, Department of Native Studies, University of Alberta
Dot Tuer, Professor, Faculty of Liberal Arts and Sciences, OCAD University
Smaro Kamboureli, Professor, Department of English, University of Toronto
Kim Sawchuk, Professor, Communication Studies, Concordia University
Natalie Alvarez, Associate Professor, Department of Dramatic Arts, Brock University
Andrew Wernick, Professor, Department of Cultural Studies, Trent University
Pablo Herrera, President, Las Americas & Chilean Human Rights Council
Simon Bear, Treausurer, Las Americas & Chilean Human Rights Council
Levy Abad, Chair/Coordinator, Winnipeg Multicultural Human Rights
Wanda Nanibush, Curator, Writer, Idle No More
Dru Oja Jay, journalist and community organizer
Ian MacDonald, Community Organizer, Winnipeg MB
Dr. Timothy David Clark, Principal, Willow Springs Strategic Solutions
Deborah Simmons, Executive Director, Sahtú Renewable Resources Board*
*Affiliation provided for identification purposes only
Helene Vosters, Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Manitoba, Department of Native Studies
Shelley Liebembuk, Postdoctoral Fellow, School of Arts, Media, Performance & Design, York University, Toronto
Warren Bernauer, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Geography, York University
William Payne, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Geography, York University
Andrew Paul, MA student, Department of Geography, York University, Toronto, Canada
Christian Peacemaker Teams – Indigenous Peoples Solidarity
People’s Health Movement, Canada
Brian Massumi
Stephanie Nivera
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
[i] For more information of Linconao’s case, see: Fontecilla, T.S. (2017). “Chile’s biased counter-terrorism laws: the Luchsinger-Mackay Case”. Washington: Council of Hemispheric Affairs.
http://www.coha.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/LuchsingerFINAL.pdf
[ii] Amnesty International. (2017). “Amnesty International Report 2016/2017: The State of the World’s Human Rights”. London: Amnesty International Ltd. https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL1048002017ENGLISH.PDF
[iii] I/A Court H.R., Case of Norín Catrimán et al. (Leaders, members and activist of the Mapuche Indigenous People) v. Chile. Merits, Reparations and Costs. Judgment of May 29, 2014. Series C No. 279. http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_279_ing.doc
[iv] Human Rights Committee. (2007). “Concluding observations of the Human Rights Committee: Chile”. UN Human Rights Council. CCPR/C/CHL/CO/5
[v] United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. (2009). “Concluding Observations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination: Chile”. UN Human Rights Council. CERD/C/CHL/CO/15-8
[vi] Stavenhagen, R. (2003). “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights and fundamental freedoms of indigenous people, Mr. Rodolfo Stavenhagen, submitted in accordance with Commission resolution 2003/56 Addendum MISSION TO CHILE”. United Nations Human Rights Council. E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3 http://acnudh.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/Mission-to-Chile-2003.pdf
Anaya, J. (2009). “The situation of indigenous peoples in Chile: follow-up to the recommendations made by the previous Special Rapporteur”. United Nations Human Rights Council. A/HRC/12/34/Add.6 http://unsr.jamesanaya.org/docs/countries/2009_report_chile_en.pdf
[vii] Emmerson, B. (2014). “Report of the Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights and fundamental freedoms while countering terrorism, Ben Emmerson: Addendum, Mission to Chile”. United Nations Human Rights Council. A/HRC/25/59/Add.2 http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session25/Documents/A.HRC.25.59.Add.2_en.doc
[viii] Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization (2014). “Alternative Report to the UN Human Rights Commission for the consideration of the Sixth Report of the Republic of Chile” (February, 2014). http://www.unpo.org/downloads/920.pdf
[ix] Amnesty International. (2017). “Amnesty International Report 2016/2017: The State of the World’s Human Rights”. London: Amnesty International Ltd. https://www.amnesty.org/download/Documents/POL1048002017ENGLISH.PDF
[x] Human Rights Watch and Indigenous Peoples Rights Watch. (2004). “Undue Process: Terrorism Trials, Military Courts, and the Mapuche in Southern Chile”. October 2004. https://www.hrw.org/reports/2004/chile1004/chile1004.pdf