15) RAPA NUI PEOPLE ATTACKED BY CHILEAN POLICE

            Chilean police recently attacked Rapa Nui activists on Easter Island, wounding 24 people in an effort to dislodge indigenous families from a disputed area. According to Indian Country Today, police shot at protestors and beat some with batons on Dec. 3.

            The attack follows a long history of disputes over indigenous rights and land issues between the Chilean government and the Rapa Nui people. Easter Island is famous for its giant "Moai" stone statues, which are sacred sites for the Rapa Nui.

            After Rapa Nui families started to occupy contested areas last August, other incidents were reported. Then on Dec. 3, Chilean riot police arrived to enforce a court order mandating the removal of people occupying various sites.

            Spokespeople for the Rapa Nui, Susana Hito and Santi Hitorangi, reported after the attack that "Leviante Araki, the president of the Rapa Nui Parliament was shot twice about his hip and rib cage and is being air lifted to Santiago for medical care... A young man, Richard Tepano, was shot at short range in his right eye and is now in critical condition in the hospital. Maori Pakarati was shot above his right eye and in his arm, a rubber bullet remains encrusted in his arm. Zita Atan was shot in the head, and Pia Vargas was shot in her right leg. Honu Tepano was shot in his shoulder. As the Chilean troops were charging towards the fleeing Rapa Nui Claudio Tuki was hit in the forehead, and Enrique Tepano was shot in his face."

            Documentary filmmaker Hitorangi was shot in his right leg and in his back as he attempted to film the situation. The following day Hitorangi stated that "What happened yesterday is their way of trying to stop any attempt of the Rapa Nui people to reassert their right to the land. All we're asking for is title to the land. It's a rightful claim. We are not asking the government for anything else."

            This assault follows a distinct pattern of violence against the indigenous people of the island which was "annexed" by Chile in 1933. The Rapa Nui were first forced off their ancestral lands and confined to a section of the island called Hanga Roa. People who left the designated area were often brutally punished or exiled to a leper colony. These violent evictions enable Chile to lease the island to private enterprises. It was only in 1966 that the Rapa Nui people were allowed to travel throughout the island. More explicit repression of the Rapa Nui began during the Pinochet dictatorship, and continued after the return to democracy. The abuses continued even after government officials created a Rapa Nui Working Group last August. Before the working group finished its deliberations, Chilean police executed a series of evictions. The latest family to be evicted was the Tuko Tuki clan who were violently removed Dec. 3.

            In October, a Request for Precautionary Measures was filed before the Inter‑American Commission on Human Rights on behalf of 28 Rapa Nui clans. The Commission has not yet issued a protection order, and the Chilean government has not responded to the Commission's request for information.

            "There is nothing on this island that can say or tell us the rights of the Rapa Nui," said Mario Tuki, spokesperson of the Tuki Clan. "This is the struggle of the Rapa Nui today, a struggle of what is ours, what belonged to our grandfathers and grandmothers."

(The above article is from the Jan. 16-31, 2011, issue of People's Voice, Canada's leading communist newspaper. Articles can be reprinted free if the source is credited. Subscription rates in Canada: $30/year, or $15 low income rate; for U.S. readers - $45 US per year; other overseas readers - $45 US or $50 CDN per year. Send to People's Voice, c/o PV Business Manager, 706 Clark Drive, Vancouver, BC, V5L 3J1.)