At least two of the hunger strikers were transferred to the Angol Hospital, after more than 100 days on strike and several days on dry strike, due to the lack of response from the government and Gendarmerie. Solidarity with their demands and for the fulfillment of all their demands.
In August 2022 the Mapuche political prisoners in the Angol prison had reached an agreement with the Gendarmerie where formal aspects were agreed upon for the application of ILO Convention 169 to which the State of Chile is a signatory, in particular for the application inside the Angol prison for Mapuche prisoners, whether they were charged or convicted.
There, formulas were established to regulate visits, the entry of food and particularly for the guarantee of places where they can express their spirituality.
But on May 7, 2023 this agreement ceased to apply after a conflict occurred with prison guards, where community members were charged with false accusations of an alleged kidnapping of guards. This also implied the dispersal of the political prisoners to other prisons, which was later revoked by the Supreme Court, returning the prisoners to the Angol prison, but without respecting the agreement originally signed and agreed upon at the end of last year.
As a result, they began a hunger strike that has lasted more than 100 days, without any response from the government or the gendarmerie. The intransigence of the gendarmerie and deaf ears on the part of the authorities has led to the point that twelve of the political prisoners decided to begin a dry strike in the face of the government's inability to reach an agreement.
It is necessary to point out that many of the strikers were persecuted by the Operation Hurricane set-up when they were minors. On the other hand, the lack of attention from the Chilean State institutions is total, which is reflected in the fact that they have not even received a visit from the National Institute of Human Rights (INDH) during the more than 100 days of hunger strike.
It should be noted that the demand is absolutely minimal: that even when deprived of their liberty they can continue to exercise their cultural practices as Mapuche, for the correct application of ILO Convention 169, which is in force and which every State institution has the obligation to apply. In other words, they are requesting the retaking of an agreement that had already been previously reached in its application, nothing extraordinary or outside the law.
For their part, the business media and the traditional parties have promoted a campaign to demonize the demands of the strikers, who have even been accused of having alleged "privileges", which has been repeatedly denied by the strikers themselves and their spokespersons.
The political attitude of punishment by the Gendarmerie against the community members is striking, without respecting the established agreements, ignoring basic agreements that have been applied for more than 15 years in prisons where there are Mapuche prisoners. This institution is responsible for the situation, and the government on which it depends must respond.
At the time of writing this note, the state of health of the strikers is very serious, four of them are in critical condition, and at least two of them have been transferred to the Angol Hospital.
The treatment of this government with the community members on hunger strike contrasts clearly with the treatment it has had with the forestry businessmen, with the big farmers and with the right wing of the zone, applying a hard hand against the communities in resistance, prolonging for more than a year the State of Emergency in the zone, practically doing the dirty work that Piñera's own government was unable to carry out.
The Mapuche political prisoners on dry strike are:
- Simon Huenchullan
- Alejandro Liguen
- Miguel Torres
- Antoni Torres
- Sergio Huentecol
- Boris Llanca
- Juan Penchulef
- Pedro Palacios
- Jorge Palacios
- Alexis Huenchullan
- Sebastian Marillan
- Joaquin Millanao
We support the demands of the Mapuche political prisoners, we demand respect for the agreement reached and the application of Convention 169 and the fulfillment of all the demands of the strikers. We demand an end to the militarization of Wallmapu, the release of political prisoners and the return of ancestral lands.