Free Rapa Nui
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Dear Consul Ortega Klose:
We, the undersigned, are greatly disturbed and protest the forced evictions of the Indigenous People of Rapa Nui (Easter Island) by the Chilean government from their ancestral homes. We are asking the Chilean government to return ancestral lands to the indigenous people of Rapa Nui and allow them to govern themselves in their own traditions and culture as a sovereign people.
The undersigned are aware that a letter signed by United States Senator Daniel Akaka and United States Congressman Eni Faleomavaega was sent to President Sebastian Pinera. This letter criticized the government of Chile for using “disproportionate force” on nonviolent protests staged by indigenous activists on December 29, 2010 in Rapa Nui. We echo U.S. Senator Akaka’s and U.S. Congressman Faleomavaega’s claim that there were violent means, such as shooting people with pellet guns, used against peaceful protestors. We are also aware that the U.N. Special Rapporteur on the Right of Indigenous Peoples delivered to you the same message that you must stop using police and military force instead of peaceful means to negotiate with the indigenous people of Rapa Nui.
Indigenous Rapa Nui women and children were starved and lacked food, water and medical attention during a forced eviction of the Hitorangi Clan from the Hanga Roa Hotel that they occupied, which is situated on their ancestral land. These inhumane actions sponsored by your government are by far reckless and encroaches upon the basic human rights of the Rapa Nui people. We fear that the dwindling number of Indigenous People of Rapa Nui will continue to decrease if your government does not allow them to govern themselves in free association with the government of Chile. Your census shows a steady decline on the number of Indigenous Rapa Nui people. We feel that your rule of violence and lack of genuine negotiations with the Indigenous People of Rapa Nui, directly leads to the genocide of the people of Rapa Nui.
We ask that the government of Chile stop the violence against the Rapa Nui people and allow for a peaceful solution by asking an impartial entity to arbitrate the disagreement between both the Chilean government and the Indigenous People of Rapa Nui. We sincerely ask you and your government to come to a common ground with members of the Hitorangi Clan, the people of Rapa Nui and put aside your grievances in order to work towards a more peaceful solution.
Sincerely,
Sponsor
OCEANIA COALITION OF NORTHERN CALIFORNIA
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