Elena Varela Protest in front of Tribunals of Justice

Today at the Tribunals of Justicia in Santiago many protestors and journalist gather in support of arrested documentary filmmaker Elena Varela López, who has been detained since 7 May and is currently in Rancagua prison. She has been working for more than three years on a major documentary project - Newen Mapuche - about the Mapuche people and their territorial claims, for which she received funding from broadcasting institutes attached to the culture ministry.

Sergio Laurenti Director of Amnesty International in Chile said of the protest today said,
"Amnesty International has sent out an international petition for the release of Elena Varela to the Presidente of Chile Michelle Bachelete. We feel that the freedom of expression is in peril when a Chilean documentary filmmaker is arrested for making a film and her recording are used for evidence .

We think that the consequences of this case is very serious as we have seen other examples of arrests of other journalists and documentary filmmakers in the last few months . As well as other examples of journalists being arrested or injured by police while doing there job.

We have received 1500 online signatures for the petitions as of today and we are getting lots of attention internationally as well. We have sent letters to the from the Minister of the Interior, Culture and the President of Chile , as of today we have not received any response back.

There are many issue but the most serious is the freedom of express
Paulina Acevedo , journalist for the Observatorio de Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas spoke passionately after visiting with Elena on Sunday as part of group of journalists ,documentary filmmakers and representative from Ammensty International Chile.She spoke crying many times of injustice she felt was at the heart of this case and transmitted that to the crowd.
(Elena Varela Rancagua Jail Visit story)

The large crowd try to storm the doors of the Tribunals of Justicia and were locked out by the Police and where force back as they tried to get inside.

Is the Mapuche issue a taboo subject, a synonym for press freedom violations? We hope that Chilean and foreign journalists will be given guarantees that they will henceforth be able to work safely in Araucania. We also hope that the police and judicial authorities will provide the explanations and clarification that is needed in the Varela case.

Story and Photos By: Christian Peña

Link to Amnesty International Chile
http://www.amnistia.cl/

Elena Varela Rancagua Jail Visit

This past Sunday I travelled along with a journalist, documentary filmmaker and a representative of Amnesty International Chile to the Complejo Penitenciario in Rancagua to interview arrested filmmaker Elena Varela.

After arriving and been authorized to visit the jail today we were met with Captain Juan Riquelme of the Rancagua jail who told us we may have been authrorized to visit but not authorized to conduct a formal interview . After several hours of waiting for a response we were finally allowed in but now with our cameras until we get another response to our interview request.

Elena is being held in cell block # 87 in an area among pregnant women. The conversation which lasted 30 mins was held in a common area with one guard inside. Patricio Quevadeo coordinator of Derechos Humanos de Pueblos Originarios, had only previously seen her in photos said of Elena ,on the outside she looked in good spirits considering her situation and expressed how she felt about the situation ,however he also noticed how very affected she was inside.

However , she seemed also to be holding back a bit and didn't fully express how she felt about being detained or make any comments about her treatment as the case is still being investigated. She felt censured of what she could express because of the guard who was inside during the conversation. She did say she was never told as to why whe was arrested and was treated like a criminal however did say that she has been treated well while in jail for the over a month since her arrest .

Her mother also named Elena was accompanied by her husband and Elena's daughters who visited earlier in the day seemed much more affected by her situation . Elena's mother was upset at times and said that , "we know our daughter her daughter and that she was not involved with what they say she did . We found out the news of her detainment from her grandmother and the form they arrested her. This has been a huge nightmare for us to have to talk about all this . I try to be strong when i am with her but it is something I never thought i would have to live through as a mother " she saids while beginning to cry.

Paulina Acevedo , journalist for the Observatorio de Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas also said, " We want you and Elena to know that are many people and organizations working on this and its getting lots of attention not only in Chile but internationally. There are more and more people going to to our web page and physical siging the petition and becoming involved.

Finally Elena's final comment was that she said she's not afraid of what will happen but wants the truth to come out in the investigation.

By : Christian Peña



For more info on the Elena Varela petition click on the Ammesty International Chile link(Spanish)
http://www.amnistia.cl/index_aauu.shtml?sh_itm=eb93fae4e9686022c36425095cdaf75d

Letter to President Bachelet about documentary filmmaker held for past month
http://www.rsf.org/article.php3?id_article=27352