CHILE’S BACHELET URGED TO HEED HUNGER STRIKER'S DEMANDS

Supporters Outraged By Government Decision To Force Feed Mapuche
Protester Patricia Troncoso

http://www.tcgnews.com/santiagotimes/index.php?nav=story&story_id=15722&topic_id=1

(Jan. 23, 2008) Chile’s National Assembly for Human Rights led a protestTuesday morning outside La Moneda Presidential Palace demanding thatPresident Michelle Bachelet address the situation of fasting Mapucheprisoner Patricia Troncoso. The demonstration came on the heels of anopen letter presented to Bachelet on Monday by Amnesty International,also demanding attention to Troncoso's case.

Prison guards decided Monday to sedate and administer intravenousfeeding to Troncoso without her consent, a move that human rights groupsdecried as a violation of her rights. Troncoso has been fasting morethan 100 days to protest a stiff arson conviction she received in 2002under Pinochet-era terrorism laws. She has repeatedly denied intravenousfeeding and stated that if she must die, she will.

Sergio Laurenti, Amnesty International’s Chile director, told theSantiago Times that forcible feeding is not a proper response toTroncoso's situation. He maintained that the only acceptable resolutionis for the Chilean government to consider her demands and revise her jail sentence.

Though prison officials claim that it is within their institutionalmission to intervene if a person in their custody is at risk of dying,Laurenti believes that they violated Troncoso's rights and are takingadvantage of her weakened condition. “This is a cruel and potentiallydangerous response because it was not what she wanted,” he said.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer and leader of Tuesday's protest, Hugo
Gutiérrez, told the Santiago Times that force feeding Troncoso is, “aviolent decision on behalf of the State. Patricia Troncoso is carryingout a personal struggle against State repression of the Mapuche peopleand this response is an unfortunate one.

”The Mapuche community is equally upset by what it perceives asdisrespect for Troncoso's demands. Pro-Mapuche news source, MapuExpress, cites a World Medical Association Declaration which states,with respect to hunger strikes, “forcible feeding is never ethicallyacceptable. Even if intended to benefit, feeding accompanied by threats,coercion, force or use of physical restraints is a form of inhuman and degrading treatment.

”Troncoso, or “la Chepa” as she is known in Mapuche communities, wassentenced to 10 years in prison in 2002 for torching almost 250 acres ofa pine plantation in Region IX. The land belonged to forestry companyMinico, which is led by the Matte Group, an economically powerfulChilean conglomerate. The action was just one of many Mapuche-ledefforts to reclaim indigenous land that has been taken over by privateindustry – the result of centuries of cultural imperialism.

Troncoso was tried under provisions of the Anti-Terrorist Law createdunder the Pinochet dictatorship and later revived by the administrationof former President Ricardo Lagos. Prosecution under this law greatlyincreased the length of her jail term.

Troncoso and four other Mapuche prisoners at Temuco's Angol Prison begana hunger strike in October to draw attention to their sentences, and sheis now the only remaining hunger striker. Troncoso was transferred toHerminda Martín Hospital in Chillán last week when her medical teamdetermined she was at “vital risk” due to her rapidly deteriorating health (ST, Jan. 15).

This is not the first time the Chilean government has ignored requestsmade by Troncoso in recent days. When her medical team recommended
moving Troncoso to a Santiago hospital, the government sent her toChillán instead, much to the outrage of her family and supporters. Whenthe Inter-American Commission for Human Rights requested a phoneinterview with Troncoso, orders from the government via the RegionalJustice Office prevented her from doing so.
By Alex Cacciari (editorATsantiagotimes.cl)


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