| May 13, 2010 Mapuches outraged by Catalan university's honoris causa to Michelle Bachelet Spain. |
Mapuches remind that under Bachelet’s presidency there were severe acts of repression against Mapuches and several indigenous activists struggling for communal land were killed. The alternative Mapuche media Mapuexpress has issued the news on Catalonia's Pompeu Fabra University (UPF) decision of awarding former Chilean president Michelle Bachelet with the degree honoris causa "for her personal and political career as a champion of human rights, democracy and justice". According to several opinions published in the Mapuche online journal, "Bachelet's government infringed human rights and was accomplice to impunity". During her term in office there was "severe repression against the Mapuche people and killings of Mapuche activists who struggled for indigenous communal land [comuneros]". The journal reminds that the United Nations Committee against Torture cast doubts upon the attitude of the Chilean government towards torture. It further adds that the former president is "responsible" for the assassination of Mapuche activists Matias Catrileo and Jaime Mendoza Collio. Further information: |