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Statement by Dame Nina Saleh Ahmed at the 28th Session of the United Nations Human Rights Council

United Nations
Human Rights Council
28th Regular Session

2nd to 27th March 2015

Agenda Item 4 – Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention

General Debate

Presentation of the Auspice Stella*

Mr President,

Chilean State police brutality and lack of due legal process of Mapuche communities and their traditional authorities, in particular at this present time that of violence and military occupation of the Autonomous Temucuicui Community of Chile remains an unresolved concern. However despite individual Mapuche victims reports of various criminal acts to police, to date, no investigations, arrests, nor prosecutions have been undertaken.

Dame Nina Saleh Ahmed

Image: Dame Nina Saleh Ahmed reads a statement (two minutes) before the 28th Regular Session of the UN Human Rights Council on behalf of Auspice Stella - Mapuche Human Rights Commission.


In July 2014 the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the case of Norin Catriman et al VS Chile, made a landmark ruling in favour of Mapuche community members and activists as a direct result of the unjust application of ‘anti-terrorist law’ and the use of anonymous witnesses to arbitrarily incarcerate them.  Werken (Mapuche Special Envoy) Victor Ancalaf of the Temucuicui Community had initially been sentenced to 10 years in prison under this system. Following his release, he and his family continued to be monitored and harassed by state police, receiving public death threats from a paramilitary organisation.

The Temucuicui Community has undergone numerous police raids during which assaults and arrests of its community members are commonplace, Werken Huinchilan, Lonko Victor Quipul and the son of Werken Ancalaf, Moroni Ancalaf Prado have been among the many innocent victims of such raids.  Most recently there have been two separate abduction attempts of Mrs Ana Lucia Quipul, the elderly mother of Lonko Quipul. Further cases of repression are too numerous to list here.

It is noted with great concern by Mapuche Human Rights Organisations that there has been an alarming rise in right wing nationalist extremist sentiment within Chile and Argentina which has thus far resulted in the issuing of countless threats of violence, including those of direct death threats to Mapuche land rights activists, not excluding to myself and my colleagues as a result of our work in defence of Mapuche human rights.

Thank you Mr President.


Dame Nina Saleh Ahmed
Executive Director
Auspice Stella - Mapuche Human Rights Commission
Geneva, 17th March 2015

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*Auspice Stella, ONG avec statut consultatif spécial auprès du Conseil Economique et Social des Nations Unies depuis 2013. Association Loi 1901 Sous le haut patronage du Prince d’Araucanie Siège social: La Chèze, 24640 Chourgnac d’Ans tél. : 02.32.53.88.68; mail: auspicestella@araucanie.com

 

 

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