Chile Told To Stop Using Anti-terror Law Against Indigenous Mapuches
Chile Told To Stop Using Anti-terror Law Against Indigenous Mapuches
SANTIAGO DE CHILE, Aug 1 (BERNAMA-NNN-MERCOPRESS) -- A United Nations investigator on Tuesday urged Chile's government to stop using an anti-terrorism law against Mapuche Indians who are fighting to recover their ancestral land.
Violence in the Mapuche struggle escalated last year with a string of arson attacks, including one that killed an elderly couple.
Their deaths shocked Chileans and raised questions about the inability of President Sebastian Pinera's government to meet the demands of Chile's largest indigenous group and his administration's vow to continue using tough dictatorship-era measures to curb violence.
Ben Emmerson, the UN special investigator on human rights and counter-terrorism, said the situation is ''volatile'' in the southern regions of Araucania and Bio Bio, where most of the nearly one million Mapuche live.
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