Announcement of Thirst Strike by Gabriel Valenzuela Montoya, under age Mapuche political prisoner, Chile

PUBLIC STATEMENT FROM THE PRISON FOR MINORS IN CHOL CHOL

From the prison for minors in Chol Chol, I inform the Mapuche Nation and the national and international public opinion, the following:

I, Gabriel Valenzuela Montoya, under age Mapuche political prisoner, imprisoned for more than nine months in the CIP CRC Chol Chol, declare that after 30 days on hunger strike, and no response by the State and Justice regarding my demands, I announce that from today, June 11, 2013, I begin a THIRST STRIKE, which I will maintain until sacrificing my life for my people and my freedom.

I see clearly that the advanced deterioration of my health status, a result of the hunger strike which I hold since May 13, may jeopardize my physical integrity, but I assume hereby all that that implies in order for my claim to be heard:

· My immediate freedom under house arrest while the investigative process continues.

This is covered in the Convention on the Rights of the Child, which emphasizes in Article 37 that "The States shall ensure that no child is subjected to torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment. That prison will be used only as a last resort and for the shortest appropriate period". 

Needless to say that the State of Chile breaches this treaty each time that it raids our communities and tortures Mapuche children, when they are processed and incarcerated, violating our physical and emotional integrity. 

Lastly, from the juvenile prison in Chol Chol, I appeal to all my people to support me in this just demand for my FREEDOM, I appeal to those who support us on different fronts of struggle, continue to denounce, to continue visiting the prisons, to continue defending our territory from encroachment, overexploitation and the hands of the capitalist.

FREEDOM TO ALL MAPUCHE POLITICAL PRISONERS
IMMEDIATE FREEDOM OF OUR TERRITORY
NO MORE SETUPS CREATED BY THE ANTI MAPUCHE PROSECUTOR LUIS CHAMORRO