Chilean Tribal Leader Arrested Over Report

***********************************************

WORLDWIDE FOREST/BIODIVERSITY CAMPAIGN NEWS

***********************************************

Forest Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises

http://forests.org/ -- Forest Conservation Archives

http://forests.org/web/ -- Discuss Forest Conservation

5/16/99

OVERVIEW & COMMENTARY by EE

Pedro Cayuqueo, a leader of Chile's Mapuche indigenous people, was

arrested after presenting a "report to the Commission on Human Rights

includes details of what forestry companies have done in usurping

Mapuche land, the serious damage to the environment - altering the

eco-system, polluting the soil, rivers, sea and air."

g.b.

*******************************

RELAYED TEXT STARTS HERE:

Title: Chilean Tribal Leader Arrested After Enviro, Human Rights

Report

Source: Environmental News Service

Date: May 14, 1999

SANTIAGO, Chile, May 14, 1999 (ENS) - Pedro Cayuqueo, a leader of

Chile's Mapuche indigenous people, was arrested by the international

police on his arrival at Santiago's airport Sunday. He was returning

from Geneva, Switzerland where he had taken part in the 55th annual

session of the Commission on Human Rights of the United Nations.

Cayuqueo went to Geneva as the secretary of the Co-ordination of

Arauco-Malleco Communities in Conflict. According to the Mapuche

International Link, a support group based in Bristol, England, "the

context of his detention is the repressive official policy of the

Chilean government towards Mapuche people. He suffered the penalty of

those who dare to speak the truth. His aim was to make the

international community aware of the daily violation of the rights of

the Mapuche nation."

Cayuqueo's report to the Commission on Human Rights includes details

of what forestry companies have done in usurping Mapuche land, the

serious damage to the environment - altering the eco-system, polluting

the soil, rivers, sea and air.

He refers to Arauco S.A., Mininco S.A., Volterra Ltd., Shell,

Mitsubishi and Amindus among others. These companies use chemicals

such as sulphate of soda, chlorine, caustic soda, chlorate and

gasoline, which contaminate the beaches around Concepcion and its bay

area, the Bio-Bio River, and the Gulf of Arauco, the Mapuche leader

told the Commission.

Cayuqueo reported that the companies have destroyed native forests,

caused the extinction of some species of trees and medicinal plants,

poisoned people and caused congenital illnesses with their use of

pesticides.

They have chosen to replant forested areas with unsuitable species

such as eucalyptus, which lowers the water table and leaves

communities without water, Cayuqueo told the Commission.

In his report, Cayuqueo gave a detailed account of human rights

violations especially in the provinces of Arauco and Malleco. Here,

the indigenous communities of Cuyinco, Pascual Cona, Rucananco,

Pichiloncoyan and Temulemu had been suffering systematic attacks on

their basic human rights as defined by the United Nations. The police

detain people illegally, and torture them in police stations. They are

not treated according to the law or presumed innocent, Cayuqueo said.

Mapuche people are stopped from using and enjoying the fruits of their

own land. Armed police prevent Mapuche people from freely using public

roads and rights of way through land in dispute.

The media publishes incorrect or damaging information about Mapuche

leaders, insinuating their connection with subversive left-wing

groups, Cayuqueo complained.

On May 6, 13 Mapuche leaders were detained. Among these were several

Lonkos (chiefs) and Jose Lincoqueo, a lawyer. The government thereby

prevents Mapuche people from exercising their right to defend

themselves legally, the Mapuche International Link said. In view of

this, Mapuche International Link sees "the only way forward as being

the re-constitution of Wallmapu and the creation of a provisional

government."

If the conflict imposed on Mapuche people continues to escalate, the

group intends to appeal to the United Nations to "demilitarise the

Mapuche Nation's territory and form a protectorate controlled by the

UN." At the 1998 session of the United Nations Commission on Human

Rights, Mapuche leaders Reynaldo Mariqueo and Luis Llanquilef told of

the tribe's struggle for control of their traditional lands. "Just

over 100 years ago, the Mapuche nation, spread across the present-day

states of Argentina and Chile, possessed a vast territory which, on

the Chilean side, stretched from the Bio-Bio River down to the South.

This territory was recognised first by treaties with the Spanish Crown

and then by a series of treaties and parliaments held with the newly

established Republic of Chile. With the military defeat of the Mapuche

people in 1883, the Chileans took possession of the Mapuche territory

by conquest - territory which the Mapuche communities still claim as

theirs today," the two leaders said.

###RELAYED TEXT ENDS###

This document is a PHOTOCOPY for educational, personal and non-

commercial use only. Recipients should seek permission from the

source for reprinting. All efforts are made to provide accurate,

timely pieces; though ultimate responsibility for verifying all

information rests with the reader. Check out our Gaia Forest

Conservation Archives at URL= http://forests.org/

Networked by Ecological Enterprises, gbarry@forests.org