Pinochet’s legacy still haunts Mapuche

Chile’s century-long policy of discrimination and dispossession endures

On 29 November 2001, the Temuco Military Prosecution of Chile ordered the imprisonment of the leaders of the indigenous Mapuche organisation, Consejo de Todas las Tierras. Mr Aucán Huilcamán, Mr Manuel Santander, Ms Margot Collipal, Mr Adán Ayenao, Mr Adrián Ayenao and Mr Sergio Marillán for alleged assault to police on duty.

On 20 July 2001, the police entered the office of the Consejo de Todas las Tierras in Temuco under orders from Public Ministry prosecutors Alberto Chiffelle and Francisco Rojas, ostensibly to confiscate computer hardware. The police assaulted office staff, destroyed some files, and confiscated other files and computer equipment. The police also used disproportionate force and assaulted women staffers, leading to a confrontation between the staff and the police.

Instead of returning the confiscated property, on 29 November 2001, the Temuco Military Prosecution brought charges against the Mapuche leaders who were present in the office that day. The leaders were accused of assaulting and causing injuries to the police and were imprisoned for six months. They were initially denied bail on the grounds that they were public enemies and a danger to the society.

The Mapuche have lived through greater crises. Living south of the Bío-Bío river, the community was the only indigenous group in South America to have withstood the attacks of both the Inca and the Spanish. The Mapuche remained an independent nation until the late 19th century when the Chilean army was finally able to “pacify” them in 1881. At the time of the “pacification”, the Mapuche inhabited an estimated 31 million hectares (a hectare is 2.47 acres) - an area equal to a quarter of the territory of modern Chile.

The “pacification” marked the beginning of a century-long policy that sought to systematically deprive indigenous peoples of their ancestral lands. Soon after the army's arrival, the government seized Mapuche ancestral lands forcing the Mapuches to settle on reducciones (reserves). Mapuche land was in turn handed over to European immigrants and white Chileans. By 1929, the government had created 3,078 reserves on 525,000 hectares. Some historians estimate that by 1979 the reducciones had been limited to an area of 350,000 hectares.

The only meaningful efforts to ameliorate the situation of the Mapuche were those undertaken by Salvador Allende. During his brief tenure, Allende sought the restitution of ancestral lands and the recognition of the Mapuche’s autonomy. These efforts were undone when power changed hands after the military coup.

The subsequent years under the Pinochet government further encroached upon Mapuche territory. In 1979, Pinochet enacted decree No. 2568, which broke up communal reducciones into private plots and gave wealthy Chilean farmers title to land. According to one government official, “over a 10-year period [the government] took away 5,300 cooperative farms [and acquired] 400,000 hectares (988,000 acres) ... by pure fraud.”

The land decree was accompanied by concerted attacks on Mapuche culture. During this time, many Mapuche leaders were branded as leftist. They were persecuted and in some cases “disappeared.” An official government report estimates that at least 300 Mapuche were reported missing or murdered under the Pinochet regime. The political persecution of Mapuche leaders had a broader impact on the indigenous community. Fear of suffering the same fate led many indigenous people to reject their culture and attempt to assimilate. As part of their efforts to assimilate, many Mapuche moved to the cities, leaving behind their ancestral lands and their communities. This trend was never reversed.

According to the 1992 census, of the estimated 1.2 million Mapuche living in Chile, 60 percent reside in the nation’s largest cities. With little education, Mapuches who live in the cities have been relegated to menial jobs. The move to the cities has involved the dilution of their cultural traditions. Many Mapuche have adopted Spanish names, converted to Catholicism and stopped speaking their native language.

Problems have also plagued those who decided to remain close to their ancestral lands. These people were affected by the new changes in land ownership that took place shortly after Chilean farmers obtained title to the land. The Chilean farmers sold these lands to large forestry corporations subsidised by Pinochet’s government. The lands were planted with renewable, non-native species like pine and eucalyptus that have permanently altered the region's eco-system and the Mapuche's traditional way of life.

Today, an estimated 234,541 Mapuche live close to their ancestral lands. They live on 1,200 square miles of scattered plots of land and hold title to approximately six percent of their former territory. Their lives are characterised by poverty, alcoholism, disease, illiteracy and the destruction of the environment. For the most part, the communities live without electricity or plumbing in wood and straw huts.

The Chilean government acknowledged much of this reality in its 1998 report to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD). The government stated “the obvious assumption that in Chile there has been a long historical relationship of discrimination vis-à-vis the indigenous populations and peoples.”

However, in the same breath, the government also stated that “the assumption is also made that it is impossible in a short period of time to overcome the profound inequalities which have established themselves over hundreds of years of history.” Accordingly, by taking the “long view” - pointing to discrimination against the indigenous population over the centuries - the government appeared to be trying to buy itself excessive time to remedy the situation.

The Human Rights Committee in its Concluding Observation on 30 March 1999 expressed concern about the “hydroelectric and other development projects that might affect the way of life and the rights of persons belonging to the Mapuche and other indigenous communities.” It stated: “Relocation and compensation may not be appropriate in order to comply with article 27 of the Covenant.”

The Committee therefore recommended that “[w]hen planning actions that affect members of indigenous communities, the State party must pay primary attention to the sustainability of the indigenous culture and way of life and to the participation of members of indigenous communities in decisions that affect them.”

Under the Indigenous Act (No. 19,253) on 5 October 1993, the Chilean Government established the National Indigenous Development Corporation (Conadi) whose main purpose is to manage the indigenous peoples’ demands for the return of their ancestral lands.

Added to these issues of corruption are problems of general effectiveness. Protesters also complained about the agency’s inability to process requests. According to the government's estimates, Conadi currently has 184 requests for the return of ancestral land, but only has sufficient resources to process 12 to 18 requests per year. Conadi has now been afflicted by corruption, and is unable to deal with requests for processing land claims.

As indigenous Mapuche launched protests against Conadi and demanded more transparency, the Chilean police cracked down on demonstrations. In February 2001, nine indigenous activists were arrested and placed under the jurisdiction of military courts, which since the Pinochet dictatorship have the power to try civilians under the Internal National Security law. In mid-April, six leaders were arrested without charge after they occupied government buildings during a demonstration.

On 15 May 2001, four Mapuche were shot during a bungled arrest attempt linked to alleged illegal occupation of private land. According to reports issued by a local human rights group, several of these prisoners have been tortured in custody.

In reviewing the government's recent state party report on 12 April 2001, the CERD Committee noted as one of its principal subjects of concern the issue of “land disputes which occurred during the period under examination between the Mapuche population and national and multinational private companies, resulting in tension, violence, clashes with law enforcement officials and, allegedly led to arbitrary arrests of members of the indigenous population.”

The abuses cited above occurred at the same time the Chilean government was negotiating an accord with the Inter-American Human Rights Commission (IHRC), regarding compensation for 144 Mapuche who had been charged with illegally occupying private estates in 1992. The government recognised in 1998 that it had violated the rights of the protestors by charging them under the national security law, but had failed to compensate those charged. In March 2001, the government agreed to compensate the 144 people in question within 90 days.

The latest arrest and detention of the Mapuche indigenous leaders illustrates the ongoing repression endured by the Mapuche. The trial by military tribunals violates Article 14 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights which states that “[a]ll persons shall be equal before the courts and tribunals. In the determination of any criminal charge against him, or of his rights and obligations in a suit at law, everyone shall be entitled to a fair and public hearing by a competent, independent and impartial tribunal...”

The Human Rights Committee has stated that “[t]he wide jurisdiction of the military courts to deal with all the cases involving prosecution of military personnel and their power to conclude cases that began in the civilian courts contribute to the impunity which such personnel enjoy against punishment for serious human rights violations. Furthermore, the continuing jurisdiction of Chilean military courts to try civilians does not comply with article 14 of the Covenant. Therefore: The Committee recommends that the law be amended so as to restrict the jurisdiction of the military courts to trial only of military personnel charged with offences of an exclusively military nature.”

As Chile attempts to institutionalise democracy, Pinochet's legacy continues to haunt the Mapuche.