Angol/Wallmapu — Chilean courts today have convicted former Chilean police Colonel, Marco Aurelio Treuer Heysen to 7 years in prison, nearly 20 years after the police murder of 17-year-old Mapuche Land Defender, Alex Lemun, at a Mapuche land reclamation.
On November 7th, 2002, Chilean National Police used tear gas canisters, lead pellets and rubber bullets to force an injunction against Mapuche Land Defenders occupying the Santa Alicia estate, used as a forestry plantation by Mininco Forestry Inc. At that time, 17-year-old Alex Lemun was shot in the head by police, taken to numerous hospitals and declared brain dead where he died 5 days later (1).
In the 20 years since proceedings began on the case, there have been numerous trials that have depicted the grave human rights violations towards the Lemun family and those relating to Mapuche land defense in general. Between 2003 and 2004, the Chilean Martial Courts—at the time the only mechanism to lay charges on Chilean National Police—dismissed the case, leading to the absolution of Treuer and his use of force (2). The Lemun family then decided to appeal the case to the Inter American Human Rights Commission.
On March 9th, 2018, the Chilean State signed an agreement to fulfill the recommendations of the Commision, which stated that
“[T]he State of Chile is responsible for the violation of the right to life, personal integrity and equality and non-discrimination, the right of the child, judicial guarantees and judicial protection to the detriment of Edmundo Alex Lemun Saavedra’s next of kin, identified in this report, and the Mapuche community Requien Lemun” (3).
Inter American Human Rights Commission, Lemun v Chile
Lemun’s case was then later investigated for the first time locally, leading to Treuer’s 3-year house arrest conviction in November 2021, which was thrown out of court after appeals from the Lemun family demonstrated bias in the case. (4) Currently, Marco Treuer has been convicted to 7 years in prison, including lifelong disqualification from holding public office or office and political rights, and disqualification from regular professions for the duration of the sentence (5).
We extend our deepest solidarity and Newen to the Alex Lemun family and Mapuche community.
Amulepe Taiñ Weichan
Marrichiweu!!
WCC Toronto
(1) https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/2021/CHPU12.880EN.pdf
(2) https://www.oas.org/en/iachr/decisions/2021/CHPU12.880EN.pdf
(3) https://www.interior.gob.cl/media/2018/10/PUBLICACION-ACUERDO.pdf
Women's Coordinating Committee for a Free Wallmapu 
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