Children Imprisoned in Chol-Chol join the Hunger Strike
by Pais Mapuche / difunde: COMABE Wednesday, Sep. 01, 2010 at 1:02 PM

Mapuche minors imprisoned under the Antiterrorist Law in Chol-Chol, join the hunger strike being carried out by 32 Mapuche Political Prisoner throughout various Chilean jails. They are the first children in Latin America to be tried under such a law.

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Meanwhile, the Chilean government has pointed the finger at previous governments for implementing the use of the Antiterrorist Law and have said they are willing to “modernize” it, even though they admit they cannot intervene with judicial prosecutors. Moreover, it would not be a retroactive modification.

The two Mapuche adolescents also tried under the racist law are Luis Marileo Cariqueo, and Jose Ñirripil Perez, both charged with the arson of the Brasil and San Leandro estates and are currently being held in Chol-Chol Detention Centre for Minors.

The spokesperson for the hunger strikers in Temuco, Eric Millan, confirmed the two Mapuche minors to have joined the effort. Meanwhile, Senator and part of the Estate Lord mafia in the area of Malleco, Alberto Espina, pointed out that “the Government is willing to modify the Antiterrorist Law to modernize it, as well as changing the application of Military Justice,” however was emphatic to say they could not intervene with State prosecutors in order to detain its application.

Espina added that they are willing to begin a negotiation table, and if the result of the modernization of the Antiterrorist Law was the freedom of any Mapuche tried under such, “it would be welcome.”

This proposal was immediately rejected by the family of the hunger strikers, reiterating that the only way to stop the strike would be to confirm with documentation at hand that the Antiterrorist Law would not be applied to them any further.

País Mapuche

Distributed by: The Women’s Coordinating Committee Chile-Canada

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