Police Violence Against Four Mapuche Students: Video Highlights Excessive Use of Force

Original article: Violencia policial contra 4 escolares mapuche: video evidencia uso desproporcionado de la fuerza

Four Mapuche students were violently detained by Chilean Carabineros in a rural area near Collico, close to the Ercilla commune in the Malleco province of La Araucanía on the afternoon of Thursday, November 13.

Video footage from the incident reveals the excessive use of force by the officers, showing one police officer preparing to use his firearm while the students were on the ground. As a result, one of the students—aged 15—sustained a pellet wound.

The students were returning from a ceremony of Eluwun held in a Mapuche community when they were intercepted by a heavy police presence. According to a Mapuche communication team that reported the event, the police stopped their vehicle and forced the students out, demanding they lie on the ground.

In a press release obtained by El Ciudadano, it was reported that while the students, aged between 15 and 17, were restrained, the officers conducted a thorough search of the vehicle but found «nothing of interest,» yet they proceeded to handcuff and detain them «with extreme violence.»

Video Evidence of Excessive Force

The most alarming moment of the intervention was captured on video by one of the students from inside the vehicle. The recording “clearly shows the violence and exaggeration of one police officer, who even prepares his weapon to be fired, putting the lives of the students at greater risk.”

The student can be heard repeatedly exclaiming, “we are not doing anything,” as an officer points his weapon at her classmates, ordering them to “lie on the ground.”

As a result of this action, the 15-year-old student J.I.C.H. sustained a pellet wound.

Legal Situation of the Detained Students

After their detention, the four adolescents spent the night in the cells of the Second Police Station in Collipulli. Their legal status was determined the following morning of Friday, November 14, when they were presented before the Collipulli Guarantee Court for a detention review at 11:00 AM.

According to the Mapuche communication team, the detained individuals were identified as follows:

– H.E.M.S.M., 16 years old

– Y.P.Q., 16 years old

– J.I.C.H., 15 years old and who sustained a pellet wound.

– M.A.K.H.C., 17 years old

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