[Congressional Record Volume 157, Number 19 (Tuesday, February 8, 2011)]
[House]
[Pages H544-H546]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]
CALLING FOR PEACEFUL SOLUTION TO EASTER ISLAND CRISIS
The SPEAKER pro tempore. Under the Speaker's announced policy of
January 5, 2011, the gentleman from American Samoa (Mr. Faleomavaega)
is
[[Page H545]]
recognized for the time remaining before 10 p.m., which is roughly 22
minutes.
Mr. FALEOMAVAEGA. Mr. Speaker, I generally don't come into the well
to give speeches, and I realize our Nation is confronted with very
serious issues in different regions of the world, for example, the
current crisis in Egypt and the Middle East, our involvement in
Afghanistan and Pakistan and Iraq, the problem of nuclear proliferation
on the Korean peninsula, the global economic recession, and many other
issues that are now before us.
This evening, however, Mr. Speaker, I want to share with my
colleagues and the American people a particular issue that is now
brewing in the Pacific region. It is the current crisis now happening
between the Government of Chile and the people of Easter Island.
Mr. Speaker, Easter Island is a province of Chile, also known as Rapa
Nui among its native people. Located some 3,800 miles east of Tahiti
and some 2,300 miles from Santiago, Chile, Easter Island is one of the
most isolated pieces of land on the entire planet, as you can see there
with the arrow pointing. It is also the southeastern point of the
Polynesian triangle, from the State of Hawaii north and as far south as
New Zealand, with several other islands in between, including the
Samoan Islands.
On Easter day in 1722, the Dutch explorer Jacob Roggeveen landed on
the island and thus named it Easter Island. Today, Easter Island is
best known throughout the world for its massive stone statues of
ancient days. There are some 877 of these huge, humongous stone statues
throughout the island.
{time} 2140
They stand an average of some 13 feet in height with an average
weight of some 13 tons. The largest statue measures nearly 72 feet in
height and weighs approximately 145 to 165 tons.
Given that Easter Island is a remote location, many people throughout
the world mistakenly considered the island to be uninhabited. However,
Easter Island is a home with a population of roughly 5,000 people, but
approximately half of those people are indigenous of Rapa Nui, or what
was then known in ancient times, the island was known as Rapa Nui.
Mr. Speaker, Rapa Nui, the people of Easter Island are small in
number, yet they carry a very vibrant culture dating back centuries
before the arrival of Europeans. Their means of preparing food and
living off of the land and their respect for family and nature are all
ways of life dating back to the time when the first Polynesians settled
the Pacific Islands on double-hulled canoes. Because all Polynesians
are connected in this way, the people of Rapa Nui are very similar to
that of other Polynesian people, such as the native Hawaiians, the
Samoans, the Tongans, the Tahitians, and the Maoris of Aotearoa or New
Zealand. For example, there's a strong connection between the older and
younger generation and therefore a deep sense of respect for elders.
This is an example of a photo that shows a young man wearing
traditional body painting which is used for ritual celebrations. This
practice, which is characteristic of the Rapa Nui people, was passed
down to him from generation to generation. The link between the old and
young is further perpetuated through the study of genealogy. In the
same way that the American historians study the founding documents of
this Nation, the Polynesian people, including the Rapa Nui people,
treasure and study their genealogy, which goes back centuries before,
again, the arrival of Europeans. The point I hope to make is that the
people of Rapa Nui, Mr. Speaker, their culture is still vibrant, and
this is not a mysterious, uninhabited island as it has been thought of
for all these years.
Like many other islands in the Pacific, Easter Island has had its
sovereignty determined by more powerful outside influences. In 1888,
the Chilean Government signed a disputed treaty with the leaders of
Rapa Nui, and the treaty was organized in two columns. One side,
written in Spanish, reads like a deed of cession. The other column, a
phonetic transliteration of the native language, which did not even
have a written form at that time, reads as a treaty of friendship and
protection.
The fact of the matter is, Mr. Speaker, the poor people of Rapa Nui
could not read nor do they understand the Spanish language, and
therefore this so-called treaty of 1888 is highly questionable in terms
of its substance. Decades after the signing of the treaty, in the early
1900s, the Chilean Government forced all the native people of Rapa Nui
to live in one square mile on the island, thereby transferring the
lands for sheepherding, and all such lands were deemed as property of
the state. The island was later annexed by Chile in 1933 and, again,
without any consultation with the people of Rapa Nui or Easter Island.
This annexation was considered terra nullius, which means ``No Man's
Land.'' On the contrary, Mr. Speaker, Rapa Nui was known as the ``Te
Pito te Henua'' or ``The navel of the Earth.'' And as far as the people
of Rapa Nui are concerned, there were people living on the island
before, during, and even after the arrival of Europeans.
Mr. Speaker, Chile's current relationship with Easter Island and the
treatment of the native people posed many legal, policy, and human
rights problems. With the annexation of Easter Island in 1933, the
Government of Chile unilaterally developed and adopted laws regarding
the ancestral lands of the people, and the enforcement of these laws
continue to reflect the nature of Chile's initial treaty and subsequent
annexation--disputed, unclear, and still highly questionable in terms
of the rights of these native people to their ancestral lands.
The Chilean law, also known as the ``Easter Island Law,'' is the
current governing law for the property rights in Easter Island. This
law provides for the authorization to grant land titles in favor of the
people of Rapa Nui. It also prohibits transfers of real property to
persons not of Rapa Nui ancestry. However, despite this clearly stated
law, the administering authority on the island has conducted land
transfers that directly contradict the law itself. To further emphasize
how this action has disenfranchised the people of Rapa Nui, Mr.
Speaker, I want to point out that Chile continues to violate this law
within the meager square mile of land called ``Hanga Roa'' that the
native Rapa Nui people have been confined to since the early 1900s.
In addition to the serious land right disputes, there are several
other issues that threaten the livelihood of the people of Rapa Nui.
For instance, the people of Rapa Nui have no voice when it comes to
residency and immigration to their own island. Each year, an increased
number of Chilean nationals travel to and remain on Easter Island. Some
roughly 50,000 tourists visit each year to see the ancient Moai
statues. Despite the influx of tourists, Easter Island is also
prohibited from having a television and Internet signal. The influx of
travelers and residents have given way to massive unemployment among
the native people, exploitation of natural resources, and increased
pollution. Sustainability of natural resources is further threatened by
foreign fishing boats which are allowed to fish around the island.
The parliament of Rapa Nui, clan leaders, and members have reached
out to the Chilean Government through peaceful and diplomatic means to
resolve the serious issues at hand. However, Chile has responded with
efforts to create ``task forces'' and ``working tables.'' Despite these
efforts, the bottom line, Mr. Speaker, is that there are many
commissions that have not resulted in concrete resolutions, and the
people--who have patiently withstood this treatment for decades--are no
longer willing to tolerate it.
In July and August of last year, the clans among the Rapa Nui people
wrote several letters to the President of the Republic of Chile voicing
their concerns. They called for an end to colonialism so the Rapa Nui
people can return to the people they were. The people of Rapa Nui also
wrote to the Governor of Easter Island requesting permission for a
peaceful demonstration. In the same time period, the clans also began
to peacefully reoccupy their ancestral lands as a means to call
attention to the need for serious constructive dialogue with the
Government of Chile.
Mr. Speaker, Chile somewhat has made an effort to solve these issues
diplomatically. In August of last year, the Minister of Interior
visited Rapa Nui to announce the creation of ``working tables'' to
address these issues. The
[[Page H546]]
project was given 60 days for its outcome. However, despite this
attempt, the very same month a squadron of Chilean armed police, or
``carabineros,'' arrived on Easter Island, signaling the beginning of a
6-month-long violent conflict between the local inhabitants and the
police forces that the Chilean Government sent to Easter Island.
On September 7, the troops forcibly evicted the Hito clan from the
Hotel Hanga Roa grounds. The evictions that took place on September 7
are well documented. And I must say, Mr. Speaker, not a very pleasant
experience in reading some of the experiences of some of these young
people. For example, these four children, ages 9, 7, 5, and 3; Mr.
Eddie Hito, the father. And the children stated, ``My family was all
sleeping at 5 in the morning when I heard a loud noise. Then 20 armed
policemen entered into our room and held both my wife and I at
gunpoint. I heard one officer radio that there were children, but his
superior radioed back to proceed on with no mercy. In jail, they made
us register all the children and forced us to sign forms.''
Another testimony. A nine-year old daughter said that when she awoke,
police were aiming their guns at her and her younger brother. ``They
overturned my mattress where I was sleeping with my brother, making me
hit my head. The police threw me from the bed. They pulled my arm and
threw me outside into their truck.''
The mother stated, ``The police didn't even give me a chance to dress
the children nor myself. In that little time I took the two little
ones. And without shoes, we were rushed and thrown into the police
trucks and taken to the jails.''
{time} 2150
``Only 2 weeks prior to this, the police had come to the children's
school to present themselves as helpers and protectors. Now my kids are
presented with the complete opposite. They see it as the police abusing
their family. Now they don't want to go back to school or even to leave
their homes. They don't want to go to school. They are worried. Every
night they ask me if everything is locked up because they are afraid
that the police will break in again and hurt them.''
Another testimony from Mr. Claudio Hito with his two children, ages
12 and 8 months. The mother made this statement:
``There were at least three policemen holding us at gunpoint. Claudio
took the baby, and they still held us at gunpoint. My boy was at the
other end of the room. The police were shining a light in his face and
hitting his chest with their beating stick. They hit him until he woke
up. He woke up disoriented and they ordered him to hurry up.
``The police physically threw us out, while threatening us. I had to
change the baby in the police truck. I was using my cell phone light to
change her, and they started to yell at me to turn off my phone, so I
had to use the little light that seeped through the doors. And through
the crack in the door I saw tons of policemen gathered outside.''
After the September 7 incident of last year, more evictions were
conducted. The picture here is showing a man with a forehead wound.
Susan Hito made this statement in terms with her children, the same
thing, being physically abused and physically assaulted by the police.
These natives, Rapa Nuians, were completely taken by surprise in terms
of the action taken by the police forces of the Chilean Government.
Mr. Speaker, this past Thursday, last week, Senator Daniel Akaka and
I issued a joint letter to the President of Chile, Mr. Sebastian
Pinera, expressing our concern over the situation unfolding in Rapa Nui
or Easter Island, citing the failure of the Ministry of the Interior to
seriously consider the legitimate land ownership claims of the people
of Rapa Nui; the criminal prosecutions of Rapa Nui political leaders
for their involvement in peaceful demonstration; and the ongoing
disproportionate use of force by Chilean Special Forces against the
people of Rapa Nui.
Mr. Speaker, the point is this: This is the year 2011, and this type
of treatment should not be happening. But unfortunately, Mr. Speaker,
it is happening. As I stated before, Chile's current relationship with
Easter Island is disputed, unclear, and highly questionable. However,
there is a choice to be made in how to address the many legal, policy
and human rights issues that have stemmed from this unfortunate
relationship.
I appeal to the Government of Chile to begin a dialogue for ways to
help the Rapa Nui people achieve self-determination, economic self-
sufficiency, and preservation of culture. We can learn, for example,
how the Government of Nicaragua treated its people, the indigenous
people of the Miskito tribe. We can learn from government-to-government
relations how our own government has treated some 600 tribes here in
the United States and in the same way that we ought to learn how we
could better treat the people of Rapa Nui.
Mr. Speaker, just a few weeks ago, the President of the United
States, Barack Obama, gave the State of the Union message in which he
mentioned Chile twice. First of all, he mentioned the efforts of an
American who owned a small company that helped develop a special
machine that helped save the lives of these 33 Chileans who were stuck
in the mines. This man used his skills to save a group of people whom
he had never met. In fact, even to the time when these 33 Chileans came
out of mine, he took off for the United States, never bothered wanting
to be recognized. President Obama also mentioned that in an effort to
strengthen our ties with Latin America, he will visit three countries
next month to discuss business relations and trade, one of which is
Chile. This effort on the part of President Obama in Chile is geared
towards strengthening our Nation's relationship with Latin America, and
particularly our bilateral relations with Chile.
I appeal to President Pinera to advocate for a more positive approach
for partnership and dialogue with the indigenous people of Easter
Island or Rapa Nui. The Rapa Nui people are in danger of being
exterminated from their own lands.
Mr. Speaker, this seemingly peaceful island, which is known
throughout the world for its mysterious moai stone statues, is no
longer so peaceful. Let me conclude my remarks by making this special
appeal, personal appeal to the Minister of Interior, the Minister of
Foreign Affairs of Chile and more especially to the Honorable President
of Chile, His Excellency Sebastian Pinera, to address the problems
affecting the people of Easter Island or Rapa Nui.
It is my honest belief that the indigenous people of Easter Island do
not wish to do any harm against the some 17 million people living in
Chile. In fact, there are only 2,500 Easter Islanders who remain on the
island. Nor is there ever a possibility that the people of Easter
Island will ever pose a threat to the military and strategic or
national security interests of the Chilean Government or its people.
So, Mr. Speaker, I make this personal appeal to President Pinera. I
ask for a true demonstration of his leadership and capacity to exercise
fair judgment and above all show common decency towards the safety and
welfare of probably the most helpless people who currently live on this
planet, a people who centuries ago were among the greatest in the world
as navigators and voyagers of the Pacific region, a people whom
scientists today can still marvel at their ability to build statues cut
from stones weighing hundreds of tons, a people who only ask to be
treated as any other human being would like to be treated.
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