"Miners freed - now release the Indians!" The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) confronted Chilean President Sebastián Piñera with this appeal in vigils held during his state visit Friday in Berlin. "Mr. Piñera followed the dramatic rescue of the 33 miners closely, and saw it through in exemplary fashion and with strong commitment. Now he should turn his attention to the repressed Mapuche Indians who have been imprisoned for political reasons, and finally abolish the anti-terrorism law," says the President of STP International, Tilman Zülch.

"The anti-terrorism law, applied today in democratic Chile against the Mapuche, is a relic from Pinochet's government," criticized the human rights activist. "Under this law, the members of the Mapuche land rights movement are labeled "terrorists" when they fight for the return of their lands through such means as occupation, roadblocks, or setting fire to stacks of wood. They are subjected to military trials, anonymous witnesses, decades-long prison sentences and hefty fines." The Mapuche number about 1 million, making them the largest indigenous population in Chile. Fifty-seven of them are currently serving prison terms based on the so-called anti-terrorism law.

On Mapuche land, meanwhile, roads are being built, forests cut down, rivers dammed, and now airports are planned as well. Waste dumps near villages are causing illness among the indigenous people. Monotonous eucalyptus groves for cellulose production, which both consumes and contaminates large amounts of water, now cover 5.6 million acres of land. The Ralco and Pangue reservoirs on the Bío Bío River flooded out religious sites and burial grounds of the Mapuche, while destroying drinking water sources and fishing grounds.

The STP has asked the Chilean embassy for an appointment at which to deliver their appeal to Piñera in person. The appeal also calls upon the Chilean President to take the steps required by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous People and the UN Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), which form a kind of basic law for indigenous peoples worldwide. Chile has ratified both documents and, in so doing, has acknowledged the right of the Mapuche to their land, equal rights and co-determination.

Note to editors: After our first vigil in front of Hotel Regent (until 10.00 a.m.) we will demonstrate again from 10.30 a.m. onward at the Brandenburg Gate.

For further information, please contact Tilman Zülch.

Translated by Elizabeth Crawford