Gabriel V.M., 17, Community Wente Winkul Mapu Mapuche minor prisoner in the jail of Chol Chol, Chile. 01/25/2013

 

Gabriel V.M., 17, Community Wente Winkul Mapu Mapuche minor prisoner in the jail of Chol Chol. 01/25/2013
By Elena Urrutia

Once again in Chile, violation of the Convention of the Child and the guarantees of due process.

Gabriel is imprisoned since early September 2012, after having surrendered voluntarily to declare his innocence over the allegations against him of being a participant in the death of the land holder Gallardo.

In his statements he affirms that he is innocent, but despite having no evidence against him, preventive detention for four months of investigation was ordered and he was transferred to the juvenile prison of Cholchol, regarding the youths Luis Marileo and Leonardo Quijón who also presented themselves voluntarily, they were imprisoned in the jail of Temuco and later transferred to Angol prison after a long hunger strike.

Anti- Mapuche Prosecutor Luis Chamorro demonstrates again his professional incompatibility and hatred against the Mapuche people. Delaying the process with his customary lack of results of background investigations within the stipulated period and Freedom under precautionary measures is rejected for lack of antecedents in the case. On January 22 the deadline is reached and he requests and gets an extension for another month. The next hearing is scheduled for February 20.

It is important to remember the partiality of Luis Chamorro, on the one hand pursuing and harassing for years the young Mapuche on an ongoing basis and planned, on the other he is responsible for the violent raids, violence against Mapuche communities and legal setups against Mapuche community members especially against young people.

Furthermore the Public Defender presented the July 26, 2012 a complaint against the same prosecutor Chamorro, after during a raid conducted by the officer, the police Special Forces wounded seven members of the community Wente Winkul Mapu, fact that prompted an appeal that was received first by the Court of Appeals of Temuco and then confirmed by the Supreme Court on August 20.

Precisely one of the victims of that raid, which according to the Criminal Chamber of the Supreme Court involved an "excessive use of force" by the police, was the minor Gabriel V.M. (17). 

The minor declared on August 30, 2012 before the Regional Prosecutor of Los Lagos, Marcos Emilfork, who is in charge of the unformalized research initiated by the prosecution following a complaint made by the Public Defender against Chamorro.

This already presents a violation of due process for the lack of objectivity of the Prosecutor in charge of investigations and he should be disqualified.

The Organizational Law of the Public Ministry, in Title IV about the Disqualification of Prosecutors whose Article 55 No. 8 points as grounds for disqualification "have a party pending criminal case with the prosecutor" and 55 N ° 12 12. Having the prosecutor with any party enmity, hatred or resentment for assuming that is not covered with the requisite objectivity;

The imprisonment of Gabriel violates the rights of the Child Convention ratified by Chile in 2009.

Article 1

For purposes of the present Convention, a child means every human being below the age of eighteen years unless under the law applicable to the child, majority is attained at an earlier age.

Article 37

The States Parties shall ensure that:

a) No child shall be subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.

b) No child shall be deprived of his liberty unlawfully or arbitrarily. The arrest, detention or imprisonment of a child shall be conducted in accordance with the law and shall be used only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period;

Every child deprived of liberty shall be treated with humanity and respect for the inherent dignity of the human person, and in a manner which takes into account the needs of persons of his age. In particular, every child deprived of liberty shall be separated from adults unless it is considered in the best interests of the child, and shall have the right to maintain contact with their family through correspondence and visits, save in exceptional circumstances.

However, Gabriel is taken to the courts by a large contingent of riot police and excessive surveillance. This attacks the inherent dignity of the human person of a child because until they can prove his involvement in the incident he should be treated as innocent and not as a dangerous offender. Moreover Gabriel appeared voluntarily to declare his innocence so that deprivation of liberty disregards the Article 37, b. The most that would be acceptable for the minor is a release on precautionary measures while awaiting trial.

Every child deprived of liberty shall have the right to prompt access to legal and other appropriate assistance, as well as the right to challenge the legality of the deprivation of liberty before a court or other competent, independent and impartial authority and to a prompt decision on any such action.

The partiality of the Prosecutor Chamorro violates Art 37, d, and that he personally is linked and has a personal interest in revenge for the minor's statement against him. !

More serious still is that to all of this is still being applied minors the Anti-Terrorism Act to for being Mapuche, protected witnesses, secrets of the investigation and lengthy processes are instruments that are allowed by this Act of the time of the dictatorship.

We call on all conscientious people to address these injustices in cases Mapuche of adolescents demand respect for the rights of children and to not continue to use the tools of the Anti-Terrorism Act against the Mapuche, whose law is questioned internationally as it not only violates the rights of due process, but also against the fundamental human rights of the Universal Declaration of human rights such as Article 2, 5, 7, 9, 11.

Immediate release of Mapuche minor political prisoner GABRIEL V.M.!

FREEDOM TO ALL Mapuche political prisoners!