Letter from the family Lemun, Mapuche volk
Rodrigo Rojas - 13.04.2005 23:20
Letter translated in english
Wallpuche, Temuco, Chile
April 8, 2005
Honorable Dignitaries:
We, the Mapuche community of Chile, with the objective of claiming our
inherent rights, would like to respectively address each one of you to make
you aware of Interior Minister Jose Miguel Insulza's participation in a
combination of repressive measures against the Mapuche:
1) During the entire period that Mr. Jose Miguel Insulza was Interior
Minister, he developed repressive policies against the Mapuche claiming our
seized land. He applied antiterrorist laws and homeland security laws
against us. This antiterrorist law was created and adopted by the military
regime of General Augusto Pinochet. Noticing this, however, the special
arbitrator of the United Nations, in his report E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3
affirmed that the Antiterrorist Law was taken out of context and does not
apply to land disputes; and the International Committee on the Treaty of
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights E/C.12/1/Add.105 recommended
termination of the applicability of the homeland security law No. 129927 and
antiterrorist law No. 18314.
2) The Chilean police took the law into their own hands and assassinated
Alex Lemun Saavedra, son of the redactor of this letter. Although this case
was adequately proven, we have observed continuous efforts by the government
and particularly by the Interior Ministry to evade judicial action and
compensation. This case was detailed in the Special Arbiter's report.
3) Afflicted by the application of the antiterrorist law are not only our
traditional chiefs Norin Cariman and Pascual Pichun; nearly one hundred
Mapuche leaders are in jail, others under order of detention and awaiting
judicial processes. Completely discriminatory cases have arisen, and the
Supreme Court has resolved in two cases to give a second judgment against
the Mapuche applying the antiterrorist laws.
4) The land that the Mapuche community is claiming is land that has been
seized with the approval of the Chilean State through adoption of its laws.
In particular, the military dictatorship adopted Legal Decree 2568 which
declared that the land no longer belonged to the indigenous people who
occupied it. These laws were tremendously damaging and institutionally
allowed that usurpation of our land. For example, they turned control of
our ancestral territory over to international timber companies. This wrong
still has not been addressed or corrected.
5) We consider it appropriate to inform you that the Chile is only country
that has not constitutionally recognized indigenous people, has not
ratified Agreement 169, and has no mechanism for indigenous people to
participate in its affairs. The continual denial of our rights puts us, the
indigenous people, at a disadvantage compared with other sectors of Chilean
society.
Attentively yours,
Edmundo Lemun
 E-Mail: vrijheidchili@lycos.nl  Website: http://www.libertad.ya.st
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