By Ndesanjo Macha

The zambian National Constitution Conference is consulting the public on the Draft Constitution 2010. Zambian Economist blog has a special page of public comments on the document.

By Ndesanjo Macha

Kenyan citizens will vote in a referendum on August 4, 2010 on a new constitution. The Proposed Constitution of Kenya was the final document resulting from the revision of the Harmonized draft constitution of Kenya written by the Committee of Experts.

The campaigns for the referendum involved two camps: “Yes” camp led by the Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Prime Minister Raila Odinga and “No” camp led by the church.
Two months ago six people were killed and 75 injured in an explosion at a political rally in Nairobi organized by the “No” camp.

Let's see what Kenyan citizens are saying online about the referendum. According to Chris, “No” voters fall into 4 categories:

If you feel offended by some of these reasons then you know the truth usually hurts, especially when you look in the mirror

Those voting No fall into 4 neat categories as follows.

1. Born again Christians too lazy to go on their knees and seek God (because He says in the good book that those who seek him will find him) and find out what His will is as concerns the new constitution. Instead they blindly follow what their church leaders are telling them and shut down their own thinking.

Anyway this group will blindly vote NO whatever arguments anybody tries to put forward.

2. Kenyans who believe that since the majority seem to be in favour, they will look more intelligent and independent minded by arguing against the said new constitution. Many have made a total fool of themselves interpreting the draft constitution. Some are sure that the new constitution will abolish the current penal code. Even some well educated Kenyans (including lawyers) have fallen into this trap of interpreting the draft whilst ignoring the penal code. Or interpreting individual sections out of context. My message to these guys trying to show people that they are extremely intelligent and can grasp things is that this is NOT the time. We are talking about matters of life and death here.

3. Skeptical Kenyans whose experience has convinced them that the political class can NEVER support anything that is genuinely good for the ordinary folk. To be honest I too am amazed at the way things have worked out so that we are on the verge of getting what in my view is the best constitution in Africa—by far. I am totally puzzled that some people would campaign so vigorously for something that will finish them forever. The only way to explain it is to say that there has been divine intervention in this matter and that is why Christians in Kenya should pray very hard lest they vote against the will of God on Tuesday.

4. Those who see red and plug their ears when the word “Abortion” is mentioned. Or shut their eyes tight when they read it somewhere. My message to this group is simple. I will not be sucked into the silly argument of whether or not abortion is allowed in the draft constitution. Instead I will say that abortion is NOT something that should be in any constitution. Even the holy Land Israel does not have it in their constitution, so who do Kenyans think they are?

“Kenya is in a voting mood,” says Lindsay:

Still on the same, Kenya is in a voting mood. We are voting either for or against the constitution. Oh, wait, THEY are voting. Oh no, not me. The government doesn't know I exist! Okay, I can do something about it and I am doing it, but if youve been following this, you know that I started it like three months ago! So that means, I cant vote YES. I am rooting for the constitution. It has good things for us. But I cant vote. I have an ID that doesn't look like me! Huh!

Taabu believes that the referendum will radically alter the political landscape in the country:

Whatever the outcome of next week's referendum on the proposed constitution, the political landscape and chemistry will be radically altered forever. Whether Kibaki will reshuffle his cabinet is neither here nor there but the writing is boldly imprinted on the wall. The church too must brace itself for rebranding after next Wednesday.

First the trophy goes to Moi for standing up to Kibaki to remind him he has all the right to trash the proposed constitution. At least Moi unwittingly accepted that we needed a new constitution 100 days after Kibaki took power. But his beef that the promise was not kept leaves him exposed as very petty. Is it not better to have it in less than 3000 days (8 years) than not at all after close to 9000 days (24 years) of ruin?

Granted, neither Moi nor Kibaki should be criticising each other in public. It is just not right given their ages and our African culture. But Moi should walk his talk of speaking the truth instead of selective interpretation of the draft for political and personal expediency.

Onyango writes about young Kenyan women who are pushing for “Yes” agenda:

From a few green clad women lolling around the park at around 9 am, by an hour later, things were revving up.

First a vivacious and confident delegation from the Coast rolled in speaking in animated Kiswahili about the proposed constitution. Next from the direction of Haile Selassie Avenue and the Railway Club there was a convoy of mikokoteni (yes, that's right, hand carts!) hauling young women from Eastlands, resplendent in their Warembo ni YES! green t-shirts and matching head gear. Soon, a big patch of the usually green Uhuru Park was suffused even more by that colour as the tens mushroomed into hundreds and more with women, and several men arriving for the procession.

By eleven, the blare of music from a flatbed truck equally covered in green banners and green women could be heard as it traversed the Nyayo House- Parliament section of Uhuru Highway. A very feisty twentysomething young woman who I was later introduced to as DJ Sasha (real name Benter Wasonga) was very busy exhorting women to come out in huge numbers not just to Warembo Ni YES! rally at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre. Volunteers were in the meantime busy handing out flyers listing fourteen reasons why young women should vote YES, apart from handing out stickers supported by the G10 Coalition captioned in Kiswahili “Ili kuhakisha kwamba una haki ya kuishi, piga kura kwa YES” and green plastic bracelets written, ” I Vote Yes for Change”, not to forget the inevitable Green Cards to counter the Red Cards of the NO campaign.

Rombo observes that the proposed new constitution represents considerable progress for Kenyans. But…:

Here’s the drill:Most people seem to agree that this proposed new constitution has some merits and that it represents considerable progress for us as a nation in many ways and on many fronts.
However, there’s no getting away from the fact that there are two camps, ‘No’ and ‘Yes’ standing diametrically opposed to each other.
Pastor M recently offered two refreshingly eloquent analogies to explain the positions of the two opposing camps.
MAYBE YES
Folk in the ‘Yes’ camp consider Kenyans as people on a journey.
They need to get to a particular destination. Let’s call that destination Z. Z is faraway. Far, faraway. They’ve been waiting for the bus that’ll get them to this far faraway destination for a long time. Maybe they’re even beginning to despair. And then along comes a bus.
The bus will get them to point M. That’s just far, not far faraway. It’s not where they were aiming to go, exactly, but it’s much closer to Z than they are right now. And when they get to M, they know they’ll be able to find another bus that’ll enable them connect to Z.

MAYBE NO
Folk in the ‘No’ camp take a different tack:
In their view, the new constitution is like a sumptuous meal, painstakingly prepared and beautifully laid out… then served with just a touch of poison. What does one do with that? Do you ignore the poison and eat it? Would you eat it?
The important thing to underscore is that many naysayers too acknowledge the proposed new constitution is progressive in many aspects. The point is they feel it contains some deal breakers and they want those resolved before the big vote.

Sue thinks the campaings have been a bit dull:

This time round the campaigns are not as interesting as the past one, I believe it is because most politicians who make campaigns lively are not in the opposition side. There are also rumors of threats from those living in strongholds of those opposed to the Proposed Constitution; this has caused many Kenyans, whose tribes are believed to support the document vacating the regions to their homes or to other safer areas. Many are scared of a repeat of what happened after 2007 elections, when many were affected in the same region. This is very wrong; no one chose to be what they are and should not be victimized because they are of a certain tribe.

The Government is doing all they can to make sure peace prevails, all SIM Cards are to be registered (today is the deadline, many of us wait till last minute and will ask for extension) so that they can apprehend those sending threats and stop crime. Security agents have also been deployed in the affected areas. The Government cannot be everywhere, so it is up to us Kenyans and especially our political leaders to preach peace and stop being primitive. Despite the differences and the uncertainties we face in the coming referendum, we hope to get the best for Kenya and pray for peace during and after.

By Ayesha Saldanha

The Hamas government's Interior Minister, Fathi Hammad, earlier this week announced that he was considering expanding Gaza's military force, initially with volunteers and eventually with conscripts. The existing paid security force numbers approximately 20,000. Bloggers in Gaza have reacted with astonishment to the idea of conscription.

Palestinian youths by Rusty Stewart, under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs licence

Seeran Nofal writes:

الخبر الذي شاعَ صيته في الشارع الغزّي والذي يتضمن فرض قانون التجنيد الإختياري ومن ثمَّ الإجباري على المواطنين الغزّيين ،هذا القرار الذي صدر من وزير الداخلية في الحكومة المقالة “فتحي حمّاد” ، إذ أنّ هذا الوزير قد صرّح بأن هذا “التجميد” ، أقصد التجنيد ما هو إلا وسيلة لزيادة الدفاع عن فلسطين ولزيادة قوة “الجيش الفلسطيني” في التصدي للإحتلال.
عندما قرأت الخبر على الوكالات الإخبارية المحلية راودني شعور بالإستغراب من جهة وشعورُ برغبة جامحة بالضحك من جهة أخرى ، فقرار مثل هذا الذي يتحدث عنه وزير الداخلية ليس بالقرار المنطقي ، بنظري هو قرار “رومنطيقي” نابع عن سيطرة الأحلام والمشاعر على متخذ القرار ، فهو يظن أنه دولة مستقلة خالية من المشاكل والحروب ،ولديه إستقلال تام ولديه سلطته الباهرة التي تخوله لفرض قانون لا يصلح لا لزمان ولا لمكان ولا تتوفر فيه الظروف التي تؤدي إلى تطبيقه. The news that has spread quickly in the Gaza street concerns the introduction of voluntary military recruitment then conscription for Gaza's citizens. The [possibility of such a] decree was announced by the Ministry of the Interior in the de facto government, Fathi Hammad. The minister declared that this “consolidation”, I mean conscription, is simply a way of increasing the defence of Palestine and increasing the strength of the “Palestinian Army” in holding the occupation at bay.
When I read the news from the local news agencies I was struck by feelings of astonishment on the one hand, and by the overwhelming desire to laugh on the other. Decrees like the one the Minister of the Interior is talking about is not a logical one; in my opinion it's a “romantic” decision stemming from the control that dreams and emotions have over the lawmaker; he thinks this is an independent state free of problems and wars, that it has complete independence and dazzling authority which gives him the power to impose laws that are not appropriate to either the time or place and that do not meet any of the conditions for them to be carried out.

She concludes:

أنا لستُ أتهجم على متخذ القرار ،إنما أحاول أن أكون “منطقية” يسيطر عليّ عقلي وأحاول أن أرمي “رومنطقيتي” أدراج الرياح ، فالتجنيد الإجباري الذي من المتحمل أن يتم تطبيقه سَيُولد تداعيات كثيرة أهمها ترسيخ الإنقسام ، بالإضافة إلى أن الشعب الغزاوي على ما أعتقد لم ولن يتقبل هذا الأمر بصدر رحب إذ يكفيه ما هو فيه من شقاء وغصة عيش.
هذا القرار ذكُرني بالدولة العثمانية حينَ كانت في أوج قوتها وحين كانت لها سيادتها في إتخاذ القرار وحين كانت لها سطلة كاملة على كافة الدول تقريبا فكانت تفرض التجنيد الإجباري ، أونحن أصبحنا “دولة عُثمانية” كي يتم إصدار مثل هذا القرار؟ أونحن نتمتع بقوة وسيادة كافية؟ ألسنا نخضع لمتحلٍ قادرٍ على أن يسحق المجندين كما فعلت في الحرب الماضية؟ I am not attacking the lawmaker; I am trying to let “logic” dominate my thinking, and I am trying to let “romanticism” go the way of the winds. The conscription that is likely to be introduced will produce many repercussions, the main one being that division will take root. In addition, I believe that the Gazan people did not and will not welcome this decision with open arms, for they already have enough suffering and agony. The decree reminds me of the Ottoman state when it was at the peak of its strength, when it had the sovereign power to issue decrees, when it had complete dominance over nearly all countries, and when it imposed military conscription. Have we become an Ottoman state, that we issue this kind of decree? Do we enjoy absolute power and supremacy? Aren't we subject to a powerful occupier which pulverises soldiers, as happened in the last war?

Blogger Kalam writes:

أكبر شرف للإنسان أن يثبت في ساحات الوغى وأن يكون ذو دور فاعل وبناء في الدفاع عن وطنه على أن يكون ذلك بوعي وتلائم مع الواقع.
أخيرا صار النا جيش يا جماعة وعنا تجنيد اجباري، وعلشان ما نتفاجأ راح نبدأ بالتجنيد الاختياري، كلام جميل وحلو وتطرب له الآذان ولكن دعونا نفكر في الدواعي والأسباب لذلك: The greatest honour for a person is to prove in the battlefield that he can take an active and constructive role in defending his country provided that this is done consciously and that it matches reality.
At last, friends, we have an army and we have military conscription. And so that we are not surprised, we will start with voluntary recruitment – nice, sweet words that delight the ears. But let us think about the causes and reasons for [introducing conscription]:

Kalam then gives a list of questions regarding the purpose of conscription:

1. هل نحن بحاجة فعلا لأن ندرب كل أفراد الشعب على الأسلحة والقتال؟
2. هل الاجتياحات الاسرائيلية مقطعة بعض هالأيام؟ وهل هناك صواريخ تطلق من الضفة أو غزة؟
3. إن كنا سنوافق على دولة في حدود 67 فلماذا اذن نستعد للحرب ولمن؟
4. ان كنا مأمورين بالإعداد “وأعدوا لهم ما استطعتم من قوة ومن رباط الخيل ترهبون به عدو الله وعدوكم” صدق الله العظيم، فهل هذا المقصود بذلك؟
5. هل ما يقال هو عبارة عن جعجعة اعلامية فقط ونشاط استعراضي؟
6. ما هي الخطة الوطنية التي سيتم على أساسها التدريب؟
7. ألا يكفي الشباب المنخرط في أجهزة السلطة – القديمة والجديدة- أو في التنظيمات الفلسطينية -الكثيرة جدا جدا جدا- لمواجهة العدو وبالتالي نحتاج لتجييش الشعب كله؟
8. هل أصبحنا دولة مستقلة فعلا وأصبح لدينا جيش نظامي؟
9. هل ستقبل اسرائيل بمثل هذه الخطوة؟ 1. Do we really need to train all of members of society in handling weapons and killing?
2. Are Israeli incursions intermittent these days? Are there rockets being fired from the West Bank or Gaza?
3. If we were to agree to a state within the 1967 borders then why prepare for war and with whom?
4. If we were instructed to prepare, and “prepare against them whatever you are able of power and of steeds of war by which you may terrify the enemy of Allah and your enemy” [Surat Al-Anfal], is this what was intended?
5. Is what has been said a kind of bravado for media consumption, just for show?
6. What is the national strategy on which the training will be based?
7. Aren't all the young people who are engaged in the apparatus of the Authority (the old or the new), or in the (very, very, very many) Palestinian factions facing the enemy, enough? Do we therefore need to militarise our entire people?
8. Have we become an independent state, and have we come to have a regular army?
9. Will Israel accept such a step?

He continues:

10. ماذا سيحدث لو قصفت اسرئايل عدة مواقع للتدريب هل سنتراجع عن المشروع؟
11. من اين سنوفر المعدات والرصاص اللازم للتدريب ونحن في حصار خانق؟
12. من اين سندفع مكافآت المجندين والحكومة تعاني من ازمة مالية خانقة؟
13. هل سيذهب الشباب للتطوع في “الجيش” حبا في الوطن ودفاعا عنه أم بحثا عن فرصة عمل مرتقبة؟
14. هل تكفي مدة 3-9 شهور لتخرج لنا مجندا قادرا على التعامل مع الأسلحة؟
في المقابل أعتقد أن هذه الخطوة من شأنها أن تساهم في حل مشكلة البطالة فبدلا من “أن يسند الشباب الحيطان” سيجدون مكانا يفرغون فيه مسدساتهم وطاقاتهم. 10. What would happen if Israel bombed a number of training locations; would we abandon the project?
11. How will we provide the equipment and bullets necessary for training while we are under a stifling blockade?
12. How will we pay the wages of recruits while the government is suffering from a severe financial crisis?
13. Will young men volunteer in the “army” out of love for the nation and to defend it, or because of an opportunity for future work?
14. Are three to nine months sufficient to turn out a soldier for us who is able to handle weapons?

On the other hand, I think that this step could contribute to solving the problem of unemployment; instead of young men “holding up walls”, they would find a place to unload their energy, and their guns.

Kalam concludes with a reminder:

نحن تحت احتلال …………….. تحت احتلال ……………………… تحت احتلال We are under occupation ……………………… under occupation ……………………… under occupation

By Karlo Mikhail Mongaya

Photo from pictures.wayn.com

Metro Manila commuters of the Metro Rail Transit (MRT) will be facing fare hikes as the Philippine government plans to abandon its mandate to subsidize public transportation because of rising operation and maintenance costs. The proposal has been at the receiving end of adverse public opinion.

The fare hike would mean waking up earlier for A Commuter's Life.

There are news now that there will be an increase in the MRT fare. That is bad news for those MRT passengers. On the other hand, it will be good news for bus operators. Moreover, that would also mean waking up or leaving house an hour earlier to give an allowance to traffic if the people could not afford the MRT fare anymore.

Tine mulls on the implications of the fare hike to regular wage earners.

Malaking bagay din kahit gawing 25pesos sya. Parang maliit pero malaki ang epekto nito sa budget nating lahat. Parang dodoble ang bayad sa MRT. At ang isang stored value card ko, apat na sakay na lang? Que horror!

Paano na ang mga minimum wage earner? Eh iyong mga mas mababa pa sa minimum wage ang natatanggap? Pag tinaasan nila, mag-bubus na lang ang mga tao at lalong magkakabuhol-buhol ang traffic. Mas lalong ma-lalate ang mga tao sa trabaho, sa eskwela…

It's already a big thing even if it's 25pesos. It looks small but this has a big effect on everyone's budget. It is as if the MRT fare is doubled. And a single store value card can pay for four rides only? Que horror!

What will happen to the minimum wage earner? How about those who earn less than the minimum wage? If they increase, people will just ride the bus and add to the winding traffic. People will become late more often for work, for school…

A Happy Munchkin!!! believes that the proposal is unreasonable and unfair.

where would the students get this additional expense? Of course, [from] their parents who basically gets more expenses including electricity, phone bills, water, food and even their own taxes. Second, million passengers ride LRT and MRT a day. If you were to ask me why I use LRT2 on my way to school? It is simply because riding a jeep instead of LRT is no longer applicable for me. I travel from Marikina to Pureza and I have a class at 7:30am, LRT would take me to school in 20mins whereas in the jeepney I would spend long hours of sitting and pollution intake (traffic is not yet included).

A student leader said that it is the government's responsibility to subsidize mass transit as a public service.

Ridon said that commuting expenses are included in the mounting cost of education in the country, aside from yearly tuition and other fee increases, expensive textbooks and board and lodging.

He also said that it is the government’s obligation to subsidize the LRT and the MRT, especially at a time when the country is facing continuing economic setbacks and costs of education that had more than doubled since the last decade.

A Radical's Nut points out that taxpayers are not only subsidizing actual transportations costs but also “guaranteed debt payments and profits of the transnational banks and big comprador firms that undertook the MRT project through Public-Private Partnership (PPP).”

Taxpayers are subsidizing the debts incurred by the private consortium that built the MRT – the Metro Rail Transit Corp. (MRTC). Aside from guaranteeing debt payments, the national government also guaranteed a 15 percent return on investment per annum for MRTC under their 25-year build-lease-transfer (BLT) agreement in 1997 with the DOTC.

Thus the so-called “subsidies” go the Export-Import Bank of Japan, Sumitomo Bank, and other Japanese and Czech banks, as well as some local banks like the Bank of Philippine Islands (BPI). What made the deal more financially onerous is that the owners of these banks that provided a loan of US$462.5 million in 1998 and the private firms that constructed the MRT have the same owners.

Photo from Frances Elaine Belicario Trazo's facebook album

Meanwhile, the spokesperson of a youth organization said that the government's justification for the increase is short-sighted.

“Mass transportation has benefits that outweigh the primitive economics being cited by the DOTC. Not only does reduce the costs of commuting for many Filipinos, it also helps in lessening the number of other vehicles being used. This leads to a reduction in traffic jams, air pollution along major roads, and the total amount of fuel being used”.

The youth leader cited a study by the U.S-based Brookings Institution said public vehicles used half of the fuel required by cars, SUVs, and light trucks. The same study said that for every mile travelled, private vehicles produce 95% more carbon monoxide and 50% more carbon dioxide than private vehicles.

In another study, this time in Japan, it was calculated that rail systems consumed an equivalent of 6 kilo watts per hour (kwh) for every 100 kilometers (km), while buses consumed 19 kwh per 100 km, and cars consumed 68 kwh per 100 km.

By Aleks Tapinsh

With the ownership of the largest daily newspaper, Diena [LV], in question, many journalists in Latvia fear business interests and political influence would rule the news coverage ahead of the October parliamentary elections.

“Who is behind Diena,” read last week’s front page headline of the newsweekly Ir. “One year after a change in ownership there appeared a shadow of the oligarchs and a question: Does Latvia still have a free press?”

“The situation is very, very sad, because elections are coming,” a former Diena journalist Gunta Sloga told Swedish radio (SWE). “Many people will not be able to get objective information before the vote, and especially problematic it becomes for those who live in the countryside and do not have an access to the Internet.”

Sloga and a few others had quit the newspaper in 2009 over lack of transparency in the sale from the Swedish company Bonnier. The new owners installed a new manager, who lasted there almost a year. Meanwhile, the owners said the newspaper would maintain its professional integrity. Tralmaks unexpectedly quit in July, bringing the issue of integrity back into the light. The owners appointed Sergejs Ancupovs, the former press secretary for the former prime minister, Valdis Birkavs, as well as a leader of a think-tank connected to certain political parties, to run the newspaper.

On July 20, journalist Kārlis Streips wrote [LV] on his Politika.lv blog:

I'm in deep mourning for Diena. When the first professional journalists departed, I wrote that Diena would still be my newspaper. Now, I don't have a newspaper in Latvia any more. For professional reasons, I'll continue to subscribe, but it'll be all.

In a video [LV] posted on the Diena newspaper’s web site, Ancupovs declined to answer questions about who approached him for this job.

“You know, we won’t be doing that kind of investigation,” he said, after explaining that the Diena newspaper will continue to maintain its objectivity and will not be a subject to political influence.

“Let’s assume that I have fallen from Mars,” he said, calling two journalists who interviewed him, “girls.”

Ancupovs said in a radio interview that the newspaper has always had a political influence. And it will continue to do so.

Jānis Buholcs writes [LV] that the recent change in Diena leadership means it is no longer necessary to hide under the pretense of being above the political influence. Buholcs responds to Ancupovs:

Media controlled by politicians is not the same as media that have their own political sympathies, which those openly espouse. The system of Putin and Berlusconi is not the same as an op-ed in a newspaper.

Pods.lv wonders [LV] if the newspaper's purchase was “the most expensive election campaign”:

If we are to believe information that Diena and Dienas Bizness were paid for 7 million lats (US$13 million), then that's a very expensive toy.

Let's assume that the goal is to influence the election results with the help from these two media outlets and after that liquidate them both. I think it would be too expensive for an election campaign.

On the other hand, considering the amounts of money the plotters could get in many different public bids and purchase requests, then 7 million is nothing but small change.

By Lova Rakotomalala

The Malagasy field researcher who contributed to the report on rosewood illegal logging in Madagascar entitled “Between Democracy and Conservation” explains the method they used in conducting their18-months-long secret investigation [fr]. He states that the investigation was conducted away from the government task force and that he is glad that the pillaging of the rain forest, often under the protection of national Special Forces (FIS), is finally entering the political debate [fr].

By Janine Mendes-Franco

“The unemployment phenomenon, which is vehemently denied by high officials in the government, is nothing new”: Iváns File Cabinet uses the example of Cuba's only telecommunications company to illustrate its effects.

By Janine Mendes-Franco

“The unemployment phenomenon, which is vehemently denied by high officials in the government, is nothing new”: Iváns File Cabinet uses the example of Cuba's only telecommunications company to illustrate its effects.

By Janine Mendes-Franco

Girl With a Purpose says that “the Limited State of Emergency in Jamaica…has now become a political football.”

By Janine Mendes-Franco

Girl With a Purpose says that “the Limited State of Emergency in Jamaica…has now become a political football.”

By Felipe Cordero

On July 12, 2010, fourteen Mapuche indigenous detainees being held at jails in Concepción, Angol, Temuco and Valdivia, began a hunger strike to denounce the Chilean State’s treatment of Mapuche communities in southern Chile. The strike is aimed mainly at ending the use of Chile’s Anti-terrorism Law against Mapuche prisoners.

Yesterday, prisoners Carlos Muñoz Huenuman and Eduardo Painemil Peña also joined the strike at a jail in Lebu – a total of 31 Mapuche prisoners are now on strike. In a press release [es] at Pais Mapuche (Mapuche Nation) [es], Muñoz and Painemil said that:

Con esta medida extrema y justa, extendemos la resistencia llevada a cabo por los presos políticos Mapuche en los distintos penales chilenos, que busca denunciar las injusticias cometidas en contra de nuestro pueblo, las que se ven reflejadas en violentos allanamientos, donde sus víctimas son principalmente ancianos y niños; la utilización indiscriminada y arreglada de testigos protegidos incluyendo menores de edad; el excesivo tiempo de las investigaciones encabezadas por el Ministerio Público que sólo perpetúan la prisión preventiva y en definitiva, rechazar los montajes político-judiciales, sustentados por la aplicación de la Ley antiterrorista, que buscan encarcelar a luchadores sociales Mapuche que hacen frente a la guerra de exterminio que nos declaró el Estado chileno.

With this extreme and fair measure, we extend the resistance carried out by Mapuche political prisoners in different Chilean jails, which seeks to denounce the injustices committed against our people. [These injustices] are reflected in the violent raids, where the victims are mainly elders and children; in the indiscriminate and set-up use of protected witnesses [that] include underage children; [in] the excessive duration of the investigations carried out by the District Attorney’s Office [,] which only perpetuate preemptive custody[. Finally, we seek to] reject the politico-judicial set-ups, sustained by the application of the Anti-terrorism Law, which seek to jail Mapuche social fighters that confront the extermination war declared against us by the Chilean State.

Photo by Patricio Valenzuela, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

The Mapuche prisoners in the Angol jail issued a statement [es] in the Kilapan [es] website containing their demands:

a) Devolución inmediata del Territorio ancestral Mapuche.

b) Fin a la aplicación de la Ley Antiterrorista, a las justas demandas y movilizaciones sociales del Pueblo Nación Mapuche.

c) NO más montajes Políticos Judicial, bajo la utilización de Testigos Protegidos o sin Rostro.

d) Nulidad al juicio de Lorenzo Alex Curipan Levipan, comunidad Mapuche Rankilko.

e) Desmilitarización de las Comunidades Mapuche.

f) Basta de Persecución Política Judicial del Estado Chileno al Pueblo Nación Mapuche, no mas asesinatos.

g) NO más doble procesamientos de la Justicia Civil y Militar.

h) Libertad a todos los Prisioneros Políticos Mapuche.

i) La inhabilitación del fiscal anti-mapuche miguel Ángel Velazquez por su actitud inconstitucional, en los procesos judiciales, mafioso, torturador y racista.

a) Immediate return of Mapuche ancestral lands.
b) End of the application of the Anti-terrorism Law against the just demands and public demonstrations of the Mapuche Nation.
c) No more Politico-Judicial setups [based] on the use of protected or faceless witnesses.
d) Nullify the proceedings against Lorenzo Alex Curipan Levipan [of the] Rankilko Mapuche community.
e) Demilitarization of Mapuche Communities.
f) Enough of the Politico-Judicial persecutions of the Chilean State against the Mapuche People[/]Nation, no more murders.
g) NO more double trials in the Civil and Military judicial [systems].
h) Freedom to all Mapuche Political Prisioners.
i) Barring anti-Mapuche District Attorney Miguel Ángel Velazquez  for his unconstitutional attitude in judicial proceedings, mafioso, torturer and racist.

The demands of all prisoners participating in the hunger strike seem to coincide. Their respective statements differ mostly in the tone and all focus on the use by the State of Chile’s Anti-terror Law.

The Law

Chile’s Anti-Terror Law, a Pinochet-era decree widely used during the seventeen years of the Pinochet dictatorship, allows for the trials of civilians by military courts, as well as the presentation of “protected” witnesses whose testimonies are heard and recorded anonymously.

On Twitter, Montserrat Nicolas (@Curvaspoliticas) commented [es]:

chile no tiene por qué seguir con la ley antiterrorista. es aberrante y corresponde a 1 idea POLITICA. chile no es colombia ni EEUU.

chile doesn’t have a reason to continue with the anti-terror law. it’s aberrant and belongs to 1 POLITICAL idea. chile is not colombia nor the US.

Regarding the law, the blog Mira lo que pasa Chile [es] (Look What’s Happening Chile) republished [es] the opinion of José Aylwin, co-director of the human rights organization Observatorio Ciudadano [es]:

Esta legislación ha sido aplicada preferentemente y casi exclusivamente a personas vinculas a los movimientos okupas, anarquistas y a personas mapuches […E]s una paradoja que el Gobierno […] valore la liberación de los presos políticos en Cuba […] y no tenga el mismo criterio con quienes claramente pueden ser considerados como presos políticos, en el caso de los mapuches encarcelados por la ley antiterrorista.

This law has been applied preferably and almost exclusively to people linked to the squatters and anarchist movement, [as well as to] Mapuche persons […] It is a paradox that the Government […] welcomes the liberation of political prisoners in Cuba […] and does not have the same criterion with those who clearly could be considered political prisoners, as is the case with the Mapuche jailed by the Anti-terrorism Law.

Chile has been criticized by international organizations for its use of this law. In the report “Undue Process,” Human Rights Watch referred to the situation of the Mapuche in the following terms:

Apart from the due process problems presented by the use of the anti-terrorism law (such cases are heard in ordinary courts), Mapuche individuals accused of violence against the police are tried in military courts in proceedings that do not meet basic requirements of independence and impartiality. It is little wonder, then, that many Mapuche feel that Chile’s progressive new criminal justice system, in force since 2000 in the region most affected by the conflicts, bestows its benefits on everyone but them.

Earlier, on July 19, 2010, Mapuche activists appealed to the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva over the law and what they see as the political persecution they face by the State.

Photo by Flick user antitezo, used under a Creative Commons BY-NC-SA license.

Blind and Deaf Mass Media

Although more than twenty Mapuche prisoners are now on hunger strike and despite the fact that they make up about a third of the total number of Mapuche persons on trial under the Anti-terrorist Law, mass media outlets have failed to give the story the importance it deserves.

On Twitter, Gonzalo Larenas (@GonzaloLarenas) reflected [es] on the insufficient media coverage of the story:

Esto es noticia y no se comenta, q pasa? 29 mapuche siguen en huelga de hambre en protesta por la Ley Antiterrorista http://bit.ly/cThwzp

This is news and it is not commented, what’s happening? 29 mapuche continue to be on hunger strike in protest to the Anti-terrorism Law http://bit.ly/cThwzp

So far, only regional authorities, namely the Governor of the Cautín Province, have commented on the ongoing strike. The Chilean government of Sebastián Piñera has not yet made public statements about the situation of the 31 Mapuche detainees.

Protests are scheduled to take place on August 2, 2010 in Concepción, Valdivia and Santiago.

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