| Español |
| May 4th, 2015 Interpelation to the Chilean State for the Respect of and Adherence to the Treaties signed with the Mapuche People The Hague, The Netherlands |
1.- Today on May 4th, 2015, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in the Hague, will evaluate its competence regarding the demand made by the Plurinational State of Bolivia against the Chilean State. This case demonstrates the importance of the Treaties and underlines the search for peaceful and friendly solutions that are founded upon international law. 2.- In the above case, the Chilean State maintains that it “respects and maintains the integritiy of the Treaties established between the parties”. This argument allows us to “demand maximum adherence to the Treaties or Parliaments established between the Chilean State with the Mapuche People.” 3.- We, the Mapuche, who live in various European countries in collaboration with organizations of the Mapuche People in Chile, are holding an “International Conference in the Hague to demand the Adherence of the Mapuche Treaties established with the Chilean State” on May 4th and 5th. 4.- We remind the Chilean State that the Treaties established between the Indigenous States and Peoples are tacitly and unequivocally recognized under international law and the United Nations Declaration on The Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted on September 13th, 2007 and that stipulates in article 37, that: “Indigenous peoples have the right to the recognition, observance and enforcement of treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements concluded with States or their successors and to have States honor and respect such treaties, agreements and other constructive arrangements.” 5.- We, the Mapuche, are convinced that the Treaties form an efficient tool to resolve the legal tensions and controversies concerning self-determination and the territorial rights originating in Chile and which do not have an institutional channel by which to function. 6.- We demand that the Chilean State and the government of President Michelle Bachelet do not forget this international responsibilty and that they adhere to the recommendations of the International Commitee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, adopted on August 30th, 2013, which state: “that the State party should take the necessary measures to speed up the restitution of ancestral lands to indigenous peoples and that it should establish a specific mechanism for recognizing the rights of indigenous peoples to lands and natural resources, in accordance with the Convention and the other relevant international standards.” (CERD/C/CHL/CO/15-18, para. 21); 7.- Therefore, from The Hague, we call upon the Chilean State to respect and adhere to the Treaties established with the Mapuche People and we urgently seek a formula for its application and rights of self-determination and rights to the – currently occupied, confiscated and usurped – territories, in order to established a lasting peace between the Mapuche and the non-Mapuche in Chile. 8.- Finally, we call upon the government to see to the situation of the Mapuche political prisoners, who have spent more than 40 days on a hunger strike and that they also put an end to the militarization of the Mapuche-Wallmapuche territory. Signed by Coordinación Mapuche de Europa Comunidad Mapuche de Temucuicui Autónoma Consejo de Todas las Tierras Pacto Mapuche por la Autodeterminación. Comunidades Nagche de Lumaco Unión de Comunidades Mapuche de Lumaco The Hague, The Netherlands; May 4th and 5th, 2015. |