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Chile: New Year and old problems

By Johanna Ortiz

Santiago de Chile, June.– The longest night in the southern hemisphere is getting closer. Waiting for the sun to return, the Araucan Indian people will meet to tell old stories, share typical food, enjoy ritual dances and reflect on the year about to end. The New Year (Wiñoy Xipantu) eve celebration on June 24 coincides with the Catholic night of Saint John.

Some Araucan Indians, however, will not be able to attend the ceremony because they are serving sentences for crimes that the Chilean State considers terrorism. In their view, however, they merely defended their ancestral land.

When President Michelle Bachelet visited Geneva earlier this month, she was rebuked by human rights organizations. They raised the issue of nine Araucan Indians in prison under the Anti-terrorist Law.

The treatment they have been given may be criticized, but the use of violence over land possession can not be justified under democracy, she said. "They are not political prisoners," she added.

José Aylwin, assistant director of the Indigenous People Rights Observatory, told WNS that Araucan Indians use the term political prisoner. "There are good reasons to consider them as such when they are arrested under the Anti-terrorist and State Security laws", he stressed.

If these pieces of legislation are applied, there is a political option, he emphasized. Not all prisoners were accused of terrorism. This category has not been used by Bachelet government. "There are some trials pending from Ricardo Lagos administration", he recalled.

The Anti-terrorist Law was enacted in 1984 under Augusto Pinochet dictatorship to combat violent actions by opposition organizations. Under democracy, Araucan Indians have been accused in keeping with this legal instrument that includes long preventive imprisonment and use of unidentified witnesses.

Aylwin also said that the law establishes sentences that are much longer than those in ordinary legislation. Chiefs (Lonkos) Pascual Pichón and Aniceto Norón, for example, were condemned to five years in prison for a crime called terrorist threat. "They announced they would set fire to a farm, but actually never did it", he recalled.

Had the Criminal Code applied, the sentences would not have involved imprisonment. They were exonerated in a trial that was nullified when plaintiff Juan Agustín Figueroa, the farm owner and former minister of Patricio Aylwin´s government, stated that there had been a verdict drafting mistake.

The treatment Araucan Indians have been given by Chilean courts has been questioned by various international agencies. A report of the United Nations Human Rights Council dated March 26, 2007, reads:

The Council expresses concern over the definition of terrorism contained in Anti-terrorist Law No. 18,314. It could be too wide.

The Council is also concerned because such a definition makes it possible to accuse Araucan Indians of terrorism when they are in fact involved in acts of social protest or demand.

Dispute over the land

Felipe Curivil, spokesman of Meli Wixan Mapu, an Araucan organization, told WNS that violent action has been taken due to the strong impact of neo-liberal policies on Araucan Indian territory. "The forestry sector puts pressure on local communities and takes their land", he added.

Uprisings at these communities have been encouraged by Araucan chiefs and representatives (Wekenes). "They have clashed with transnational corporations. Imprisonment for political reasons is punishment for social demand and traditional autonomy claims", he stressed.

When a democratic government took over in 1990, Araucan communities began to ask the State to recognize them as indigenous people and grant them the right to self-determination and territorial integrity. "The State has just decided to criminalize Araucan demands", Curivil emphasized.

Many communities are in permanent conflict with landowners and forestry companies. This is the case of Temucuicui (Ercilla municipality).

Local representatives filed a claim at the Court of Appeals on June 7, after community members had 14 cows stolen by several policemen.

This was just another chapter in the history of regional hostilities. Last year, there were 11 police raids and 250 families began to demand that René Urban lands are returned to him, as he has title deeds over them.

An international fact-finding mission visited the community last January. It included Rocío Vásquez, a lawyer working with the Bolivian Legal and Social Study Center, and Morita Carrasco, an anthropologist at the Argentinean Social Study Center.

The document they prepared indicated that the mission had noted many situations that involve serious human-rights violations and state-applied racist conceptions. They evidence mistreatment and abuse of Araucan Indians, it added.

Rodolfo Stavenhagen, United Nations rapporteur for Indigenous People Human Rights and Civil Liberties, visited southern Chile in 2003. In his report, he wrote: Issues related to land ownership and territorial rights pose one of the most serious problems affecting indigenous people in the country. "They have resulted from a long process of land and other resource plundering", he added.

Land bought by democratic governments for local Indians and private ownership over it do not include the restitution of former commune land. This process has been very slow, failed to cover all areas in need and caused unease in the population.

Araucan Indians are not pleased, but they are willing to hold further dialogue under certain conditions.

This statement is contained in an open letter recently published by the Coordinating Office of Araucan Organizations (COM). This office was set up following a decision made by over 150 local organizations at a meeting in Kepe last November.

The letter reads: We are convinced that only a Joint Chilean State-Araucan People Committee will devise a favorable solution to the current situation of subjugation.

We want to celebrate our Wiñoy Xipantu (New Year) eve in a renewed spirit. State representatives should sit down at the negotiating table with us to settle outstanding controversies. Pre-requisites should not be imposed on us to discuss legitimate demands, it added.

Colombia: Ablation performed on Embera Indian women

By Julia Londoño Bozzi

Bogotá, June.- The following is not only affecting women in northern Africa. Colombians were taken by surprise when Aracelly Ocampo, representative of Pueblo Rico (Risaralda Department), announced that three new born girls had been taken to a local hospital due to serious infection caused by clitoris ablation.

There had been no information about such a practice in the country, but it has been performed on little girls of the Embera ethnic group on a regular basis. This group is made up of 200 000 indigenous people living in the western departments of Chocó, Risaralda, Cauca and Nariño.

"The method consists of removing the clitoris, that is, the erectile sexual organ that leads women to orgasm", said Dr. Jorge Arango, a gynecologist who graduated from the National University.

The procedure breaks the sexual pleasure chain making it possible for women to experience orgasm. "As a result of it, they no longer feel intense emotional excitement", he added.

Human rights organizations, feminist groups and even church representatives are involved in a controversy around the issue. They are condemning a practice that is supported only by some men of the Embera community.

The news about clitoris ablation is terrifying public opinion, but the idea behind it was not developed by some indigenous communities in isolated areas of Colombia.

Under the reign of Queen Victoria of England, women were supposed to remain unmoving over sexual intercourse. "Women’s pleasure was associated with prostitution", Arango recalled.

"No ablation benefits have been reported, and this practice does not exist in medicine from an academic viewpoint", he stressed.

"The fact that it is being performed shows a complex and painful cultural reality, lack of communication and disregard of indigenous communities in the country", he concluded.

Abortion: A campaign over the Internet

By Cristina Canoura

Montevideo, June.– A 20-year-old Uruguayan woman was prosecuted on May 16, 2007 “under charges of abortion”. We the undersigned have violated Law Nº 9763 of 1938 at some point in time. We have had an abortion performed on us, accompanied women who have resorted to this practice and/or failed to disclose their identity. Either we are all criminals or this law is unjust.

Last June 1st, representatives of different national social and women organizations launched a campaign to de-criminalize abortion through the Internet (www.despenalizar.blogspot.com). Around 3500 people have so far endorsed the initiative.

The undersigned include men and women of all ages and political parties, and outstanding personalities such as Marina Arismendi and Daisy Tournier, Uruguayan ministers of Social Development and the Interior, respectively; Carmen Beramendi, director of the Institute of Family Affairs; and Rafael Guarga and Rodrigo Arocena, former and present rector of the National University, respectively.

The text has also been signed by deans of various universities, writer Eduardo Galeano, journalists, MPs, economists, musicians, singers and ordinary people.

The young girl was prosecuted after she had an abortion at a local illegal clinic. She paid 700 dollars for it and developed severe infection shortly afterwards. The event has sparked national debate over de-criminalizing such a practice.

A bill seeking to authorize abortion in the first 12 weeks of gestation has remained at the Senate for one year. President Tabaré Vázquez announced his intent to veto it if it is finally passed.

The young woman’s case was reported to the police by a doctor she went to see shortly after abortion because she was having fever. He broke the confidentiality clause contained in a regulation of the Ministry of Public Health that was passed into law three years ago.

Judge Luis Charles said the young woman had committed the crime of consented abortion. Criminal Code sentences include three to 25 months in prison on women resorting or agreeing to abortion. The magistrate excused her from imprisonment, but did not exonerate the gynecologist who owned the clinic and her sister (considered an accomplice).

The 1938 Uruguayan Criminal Code authorizes abortion only in cases of economic plight, discredit, rape and life in jeopardy. Women should express consent and the procedure should be performed by a qualified doctor in the first three months of gestation.

These exceptions, however, seldom apply because Article Nº 328 of said Code has never been regulated and there are no mechanisms in place to facilitate abortion.

Whenever there is public debate over a new piece of legislation along these lines, the number of clinics performing abortion illegally drops due to eventual police raids, additional control and reports.

"Good care is not guaranteed", said Lilián Abracinskas, coordinator of the National Follow-up Committee (Women for Democracy, Equality and Citizenry), and the Uruguayan NGO Women and Health.

The medical professionals performing abortion illegally are not conscientious and experienced, she told WNS.

"In fact, the number of annual abortions (33 000) is gradually nearing that of births (47 000)", she added.

A survey conducted by Factum, a local consultancy firm, showed that 61 percent of the population favors the idea of de-criminalizing abortion.

Factum director Eduardo Bottinelli indicated that there is clear dissociation between public opinion attitudes and political system actions.

Lucy Garrido, a feminist journalist who promoted a web declaration called “We do count”, wondered in Brecha weekly newspaper why a similar correlation is not seen at the local parliament.

MPs are accused of excommunication when they support bills defending women rights. The undersigned urge MPs not to let the Catholic Church prevent them from doing their work, she emphasized.

"I am supporting the judiciary so that it can discuss and take action on a bill defending reproductive health. Vázquez has the right to think what he wants, but he does not have the right to use veto power before a bill is voted on. He is the President, not a tutor. We the undersigned are indignant at something that is absolutely unjust. Time has come to open doors and windows to air the house", she concluded.

Chile: Sex workers are demanding respect

By Johanna Ortiz

Santiago de Chile, June.– To mark the International Sex Workers Day, the Ángela Lina Union convened the first national march to promote the human, social and labor rights of local women engaged in sexual trade.

Union members marched on June 2, along Ahumada Promenade ,in downtown Santiago, to arrive at the Cathedral, where they delivered a declaration and distributed information materials on prevention of sexually transmitted diseases.

Union president Marcia Poblete told WNS that they are stigmatized and do not have the same rights as other workers do.

We have no social security benefits and work contracts. We are, therefore, extremely vulnerable, she stressed. She represents 15 700 women who have asked her to include their demands on the public agenda.

Sexual trade is not punished in Chile, but brothels are prohibited. Many operate illegally or hide behind “massage houses”.

Sex work needs to be regulated. We do not make easy money; we provide a service that involves a number of risks, including sexually transmitted infections and police arrests due to the so-called indecent assault or exposure, she added.

Last December, some MPs representing a government coalition submitted a number of amendments to the Criminal Code. They were supported by the local sex workers union.

One of the amendments has to do with Article Nº 372, which establish arrest in cases of indecent assault and/or exposure. The final decision is often made by police agents who detain sex workers in the streets.

These workers also face other risks, because neo-Nazi groups often attack them in different neighborhoods.

It is difficult to say how serious and frequent these attacks are because most sex workers operate secretly (without their families knowing of it) and do not report such actions to the police, she added. Who will pay attention to sex workers, anyway?

Women’s Days

By Mirta Rodríguez Calderón

Santo Domingo, June.– The International Museum of Women (IMOW) is urging women from all over the world “to tell their day”.

It is inviting to produce catharsis and review similarities and differences in the lives of those who begin the day waking up and preparing breakfast for the family, and clean and arrange the house before dropping children at school and heading for work.

Women are teachers in a wide range of tasks and subjects. But what happens when, aside from all this, they do not manage to provide a safe home and a good future for their children?

The 12 organizers of the IMOW initiative see it as a chat over daily life. They include women like Ruth Natasha, a Nigerian HIV-positive mother truly worried about her daughter’s future when she dies. One of her main responsibilities is, therefore, that of staying alive.

Accounts, which include video materials, are contained in the webpage www.imow.org.

Maria Rezende is a Brazilian actress who desperately wants to become a mother.

These fellows are bent on preserving the present for the future and are very creative. Around three years ago, they asked young girls to send them pictures and accounts about their aspirations. They put together hundreds of testimonies, including some esthetically valuable pieces.

One of the collections they have developed includes presentations on the role women play to make a difference, both nationally and internationally.

They organize exhibitions, promote exchanges and build global villages through the web. An on-line festival to celebrate femininity and promote women rights and creativity was organized in 2004. It was visited by 40 000 people. Other events have attracted up to 200 000 visitors.

Based in San Francisco, the virtual museum fosters direct contact with local communities. Its staff members provide teachers and other professionals with culturally sensitive programs and curricula under the so-called on-line education.

Maternity: a source of happiness or distress?

IMOW staff members are now asking women whether maternity means good luck or a burden. They want to promote experience sharing and discuss individual differences and decision making processes.

"My Barbie was never a mother", said Mexican Charline Curiel. "I do not like the idea of having something growing inside me and feeling powerless to what it can cause physically, morally and spiritually. The act of delivery terrifies me. What I have seen in films and documentaries and what I have been told do not make me want to experience such a pain", she added.

On the opposite side of the spectrum is Osai Justina Ojigho, a Nigerian lawyer who thinks maternity is a blessing.

In my culture, women get married to have children. There are no words to describe how fortunate we feel when we have a child. We have an overwhelming responsibility for the small person who depends entirely on us. We do our best to make him/her smile and be always happy and comfortable.

Not having children is considered bad luck or, what is even worse, a curse. Some of these women are laughed at and abused, she added.

Women who can not have children must compete with those who can in countries where polygamy is practiced. "Fortunately enough, there are scientific breakthroughs to help women deal with infertility today", she emphasized.

Those who have access to the Internet should not miss the opportunity that IMOW provides. It is very relevant to celebrate the initiative that a few audacious fellows have put together for all of us.

The Women's News Service from Latin America and the Caribbean, International News Agency, offers this weekly service. No reproduction without authorization. Any comment o suggestion please contact us: semlac@redsemlac.net