The Machi- spiritual authority- Francisca Linconao is a defender of the Collective Rights and ancestral territory of Mapuche people being confronted by industrial lumbering in the Araucanía in Chile. Currently, her life is at extreme risk due to the accelerated deterioration of her physical and emotional health and to the lack of contact with nature and her medicinal plants, while she complies with unjust preventative detention in Tumaco.
The Machi was violently detained in March, 2016 and associated with the Luchsinger-Mackay case in January, 2013. Despite having been absolved in this same case at that time, today she is confronting terrorism charges and life imprisonment is being requested.
The accusation against her, the only proof being a testimony obtained under threats and torture, is by any standard, illegal and in violation of the American Convention on Human Rights and of ILO Convention 169. The accusation is supported by the 18314 Anti-Terrorist Law which has been broadly questioned for incompliance with minimum standards and due process and for violation of the right to social protest.
The Machi Francisca Linconao has been in detention for more than seven months, and on three occasions, returned to her home under house arrest, which has been revoked unjustifiably, obliging her to return to prison. Currently, she is suffering from chronic antral erosive gastritis, chronic high blood pressure, lumbago from remaining in one position, depressive-anxiety syndrome, and radical weight loss of nearly 45 kilos which worsens quickly when detained.
We are warning about the persistence of aggressive action, as well as the systematic use of criminalization by State and Company actors in order to restrain indigenous women’s struggles for the defense of their peoples’ rights and collective territories, when confronted by the imposition of “development” projects. These incidents, far being an exception, constitute a tendency that has been increasing in the region.
Enough of violence and injustice against Mapuche women!
Enough of racist repression and persecution of rights defenders and traditional Mapuche authorities by the Chilean State!