Defender Ngen Kintuante: Machi Huichalaf and Communities File Criminal Complaint After Violent Attack on Funeral Procession

Original article: Comunidades defensoras del Ngen Kintuante junto a machi Huichalaf, interponen querella por escalada de violencia y ataque a cortejo fúnebre

 “We Seek Maximum Legal Penalty”: Communities File Criminal Complaint After Violent Attack on Funeral Procession in Río Bueno

Lawyer Rodrigo Pizarro González lodged a criminal complaint with the Río Bueno Court of Letters and Guarantees regarding the incidents that took place on April 15, 2026 during the funeral procession of Jaime Uribe Montiel towards the local cemetery.

He emphasized that the caravan was premeditatedly intercepted by individuals, some identified and others not, facing direct violence during the burial.

In a video shared alongside community members and the machi Millaray Huichalaf, the attorney outlined the alleged crimes committed during the violent interception, stating that the goal of the legal action is to hold individuals accountable for “threats, injuries, obstruction of free transit, mistreatment, and potentially a serious crime that should be classified as a criminal offense”. Pizarro made it clear: “We seek that the Public Prosecutor investigates these events, establishes the involvement of the accused, and that the courts apply the maximum rigor of the law”.

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We inform our communities, allied organizations, and the public that a criminal complaint has been filed in the context of the conflict affecting the Pilmaiken territory and the sacred space of Ngen Mapu Kintuantü.

Through their Instagram account, globalpilmaiken informed communities, allied organizations, and the public about the criminal complaint, set against the backdrop of the conflict affecting the Pilmaiken territory and the sacred space of Ngen Mapu Kintuantü.

The platform reaffirmed that any judicial procedures must be conducted “with full respect for due process, constitutional guarantees, and the international obligations that the Chilean state has undertaken regarding human rights and indigenous peoples’ rights”.

The post from globalpilmaiken reiterated international instruments that protect indigenous communities. “ILO Convention 169, the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and various international instruments recognize and protect the spiritual, cultural, and territorial relations that indigenous peoples maintain with their sacred spaces, as well as the right to safeguard their ways of life, traditional authorities, and ancestral practices”, stated the organization.

The group also emphasized the necessity of protecting those who defend collective rights, noting: “It is equally essential to remember that the protection of those who defend collective, cultural, environmental, and territorial rights is now recognized as a standard by the international human rights system”, adding that “the defense of ancestral territory and ceremonial space cannot be understood outside of these principles”.

Community Commitment to Defending Pilmaiken

Finally, as Aylla Rewe del Ngen Mapu Kintuantü, the organization reaffirmed its commitment to defend the Pilmaiken, the spiritual beliefs of the Mapuche Williche, and the rights of its communities.

“The defense of Ngen Mapu Kintuantü is not merely a territorial cause. It is also the defense of human rights, religious freedom, ancestral memory, and the right of peoples to maintain their relationship with the territories that sustain their existence”, concluded globalpilmaiken, asserting that justice must act “in harmony with fundamental rights, spiritual freedom, cultural diversity, and existing international commitments”.