Trouble On Easter Island

URGENT PRESS RELEASE   1/14/11

Rapa Nui (Easter Island) is a tiny island about 3,000 miles East of Chile. Thought you might want to expand your horizons a bit, as the U. S. news cycle today so far, is filled with material that will not become actual news until the end of the week.

Below is a copy of a letter I sent to the Editor of the Denver Post, just after the Chilean miners were rescued. The Post did not think it was on a subject they wanted to print, given how warm and fuzzy everybody was feeling toward Chile, even though both stories were unfolding simultaneously. 

I have friends, who are indigenous survivors on Rapa Nui (Easter Island). The piece directly following my letter is a copy of the latest release from the island. I am not going to change the spelling, grammar, or syntax. My friends from the Hitorangi Clan have the same problems reading, writing, and speaking in five other languages as well. If you want to learn more about this situation, you are free to Google the issue. It might surprise you to learn just how long the international community has allowed these repeated human rights violations by the Chilean government to fly under the radar.

JBS

 10/12/2010

Our hearts go out to the miners and their families. The Chilean government spared no effort to keep the miners as safe and healthy as possible, during this months-long ordeal and are to be commended.  This, appears, in stark contrast to the government's treatment of the Rapanui Islanders under their protection (and on their currency).  They have subjugated the indigenous population of what we know as Easter Island and in fact, had all but exterminated them, during the awful reign of the dictator, Agusto Pinochet. In 1973, our own C.I.A. helped Pinochet to assassinate the popularly elected president and installed him as the absolute ruler, in one of the bloodiest coups in world history. Almost all of the Rapanui People were slaughtered, like so much cattle. The Chilean government has now sent army troops to forcibly remove these gentle people, who want nothing more than to live and build upon their ancestral lands over which several existing treaties and Chilean laws still give them exclusive province. The Rapanui People do not  have the option to build a casino upon the scrap of  barren, un-arable, land, which they are segregated. Perhaps if the Rapanui People were Chilean, like the miners, or were among the German nationals, who fled there after WWII, they would be treated with as much deference.

J. Brandeis Sperandeo

1/14/2011

Subject: Re: INTERNATIONAL ALERT: CHILEAN POLICE KEEP HITORANGI FAMILY UNDER SIEGE

I have an unconfirmed report of a death on Rapa Nui.  It is from Moises Pakarati posting on facebook.  A 16 year old was found with hands bound dead in a car.

INTERNATIONAL ALERT: CHILEAN POLICE KEEP HITORANGI  FAMILY UNDER SIEGE

An unprecedented situation of a very serious nature is going on right now  at the  Hanga Roa Hotel on Easter Island.     A strong police contingent, under the orders of Attorney General have surrounded the premises and are blocking anyone from leaving or entering.  This started on January 13^th, 2011.

According to Oscar Vargas, a formed prosecutor on the island, and an attorney for the Hitorangi clan, said,  "this is a forced fast, as a result of an order made without authority .  The only  alleged offenses are non-violent and under Chilean law are punishable only by a fine. And, in this case by the virtue of the Law of Easter Island the natural owners of the dispute land cannot be charged.”

These actions came a day after the judge on the island Bernado Toro was forced to recuse himself for corruption and discrimination,   and the  deputy judge Jacobo Hey, recused himself because of his friendly relationship with the Hitorangi clan.  Currently there is no judge assigned to hear the case of usurpation which was filed by the  Hotel investors led by Jeanette Schiess.

The Schiess are desperate to criminally charge the Hitorangi clan and commence evictions by January 14^th..     The Prosecutor  denounced the Police Chief’s order  to enter the  hotel, evict  and arrest every member of the Hitorangi clan, including women and children.

"With this absurd measure of duress, this a drastic  an infringement of the human rights of Rapa Nui, including their right to life (preventing food and substance) and mental integrity," said Vargas.

It should be noted that both parents of a two-year twins are inside the hotel and  are separate from their babies.    

Being surrounded by the police the Hitorangi Clan members in distress and are remind us of the tragic events of December 3, and 29.   The violence and repression are known throughout  the international community. There was even a ruling by the UN Special Rapporteur James Anaya.

 Anticipating this situation, the legal team of Rapa Nui managed to enter, at 12:16 A.M. on January 14, to give the family  habeas corpus protection in the Court of Appeals of Valparaiso, in order to safeguard the integrity of the occupants and owners of ancestral lands Hanga Roa hotel.

This action was taken at the request of the Prosecutor on the island even though the island currently does not have a judge.  Claims have been made about the existence of "other offenses" other than theft, which were not specified.

"All they are trying to do is  criminalize the Hitorangi clan so they will be forbidden to return to their ancestral land," said Oscar Vargas, their lawyer.

Marisol Hito, a spokeswoman for the Hitorangi clan, made an urgent appeal to the  international community to pressure the Chilean government to stop abuses against the people of Rapa Nui.

Contacts:

> Marisol Hito:          9070.9947
> Oscar Vargas:          766.29.310
> Rodrigo Gómez 94960475
> Santi Hito          845 596 5403         (English)