Javier Chocobar

Javier Chocobar (born in Argentina in 1941 , died on October 12, 2009 in Trancas in the Argentine province of Tucumán ) was an Argentine human rights activist and cazike ( chief ) of the Diaguita Indian people in the Chuschagasta settlement in Trancas. He was the victim of a real estate- related murder ; the three perpetrators Darío Amín, Eduardo Valdivieso and Humberto Gómez were sentenced to long prison terms in 2018.

backgrounds

Chocobar lived with his family in the Chuschagasta settlement near Trancas. He campaigned for the return of the indigenous land that had been expropriated by the Spanish conquistadors during the conquest of large parts of South America . In 2009 the large landowner Darío Amín claimed the property in Chuschagasta, but could not enforce his alleged claim, as the land of the settlement belongs to the Diaguita according to the Argentine constitution . The law Ley de Emergencia N ° 26.160 on communal property passed by the Argentine parliament in 2006 also confirms the land ownership of the tribe.

The murder

On October 12, 2009, the annual national day of remembrance for the victims of colonial rule , Amín and the two former police officers Luis Humberto Gómez and Eduardo José Valdivieso came to Chuschagasta to persuade Chocobar to give up his property, but the latter refused. The dispute escalated and Amín, Valdivieso and Gómez opened fire on the Diaguita present. Chocobar was killed; the tribe members Delfín Cata and Andrés and Emilio Mamaní were seriously injured.

Criminal proceedings

Preliminary investigation

A member of the tribe who was present managed to capture the murder in a video file and to recover the camera. The video was published on YouTube on May 4, 2010, and the recording went to the responsible public prosecutor's office in the provincial capital of San Miguel de Tucumán as evidence . Only Valdivieso testified to the public prosecutor Arnoldo Suasnábar . Valdivieso and Amín were treated in a private clinic as they were injured in the shooting.

Amín, Gómez and Valdivieso were then accused of collective murder, attempted murder and illicit gun possession . The responsible investigating judge refrained from imposing pre- trial detention and released the accused, which - like the length of the preliminary investigation - was sharply criticized by the Argentine public. In this context, critics pointed out that the chief of the provincial police was a brother-in-law of the accused Gómez.

On October 6, 2014, the 4th Chamber of the Tucumán Criminal Court took over the case. The responsible judges are Wendy Adela Kassar , María Alejandra Balcázar and María del Pilar Prieto . The main proceedings should begin in April 2015, but this did not happen at least until May 2016. In May 2016, Emilio Paez de la Torre and Néstor Rafael Macoritto, two further judges, were nominated for the trial. On July 4, 2016, members of Indian tribes demonstrated in the provincial capital of San Miguel de Tucumán , including the son of chief Auodolio Chocobar , for an early opening of the main trial.

Victims' attorney Belén Leguizamón Salvatierra publicly stated in October 2016 that late justice was not justice, whereupon the competent court, at the request of prosecutor Marta Jérez, forced her to "explain her statements". These did not help their clients and showed a lack of loyalty and aptitude. The public prosecutor's office had not submitted any evidence to the court. The latter were thereupon criticized by Paola García Ley , director of Amnesty International in Argentina, for restricting freedom of occupation and freedom of expression .

According to a directory published in Chubut Province at the end of November 2017, 19 other indigenous people or their supporters have been killed since Chocobar's death in Argentina, at least ten of them by officials from various authorities.

United Nations Complaints Procedure

Argentine human rights defenders and Christian organizations lodged a complaint with the United Nations Committee for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination in November 2016, partly because of the ongoing delay in the start of the proceedings . Argentina is one of the signatory states to the convention and is a member of the United Nations.

Main proceedings

In 2018, the main criminal proceedings against Amín, Gómez and Valdivieso were formally opened. At the same time, the Chuschagasta community's legal claim to the area from which they were to be evicted by the defendants in 2009 was confirmed under civil law by the Federal Chamber of Commerce . A judge from Tucumán Province, who ignored complaints from the rightful landowners, was expelled from his chamber, ruling the attempted eviction illegal and criminal.

The offender

All three defendants were known to the police before Chocobar's murder; except for Amín, they had a final criminal record . On November 13, 2018, they were sentenced to long prison terms.

Dario Amín

Amín is a large landowner in the Argentine province of Tucumán and has had a dispute with Chocobar's family since the 2000s . At the time of the murder, criminal proceedings against Amín for unauthorized occupation of land against the Diaguita tribe were pending. He is also charged with making death threats against residents of Kushagasta. He was sentenced to 22 years in prison for committed and attempted murder with firearms .

Eduardo José Valdivieso

Valdivieso, who was named Eduardo Valdivieso Sassi at the time of the conviction , has a criminal record for illicit enrichment, fraud , threats and grievous bodily harm . During the military dictatorship in Argentina belonged to he task force Comando Átila under the Commissioner Mario Ferreyra , which November 21, 2008 by suicide of arrest had withdrawn. The Comando Átila is accused of several murders of prisoners during the military dictatorship. Valdivieso Sassi received a ten-year prison sentence for aiding and abetting murder with gun possession.

Luis Humberto Gomez

Like Valdivieso, Gómez was a member of the Comando Atila ; like Ferreyra and Valdivieso, he is accused of participating in the murder of policeman Juan Andrés Salinas on January 31, 1993 in Buenos Aires and was in custody in this connection. He shares his previous convictions with Valdivieso in the same cases. Gómez is the brother-in-law of the police chief of Tucumán who was in office at the time of the crime. He was sentenced to 18 years in prison for aiding and abetting murder and illicit firearms possession.

Successor to Chocobars

Chocobar's successor as chief of the Diaguita of Chuschagasta was Andrés Mamaní, who was seriously injured in the attack on Chocobar with lasting consequences.

Reception in the film

In 2018, the director Lucrecia Martel from Salta began work on a documentary about Javier Chocobar.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ A un año del asesinato de Javier Chocobar (Tucumán) . Taringa! , October 5, 2010
2. ↑ ^{a b c d} Caso Chocobar: el tribunal consideró probado el asesinato. La Gaceta on November 13, 2018
3. ↑ ^{a b c d} Recuerdan a un cacique asesinado en Trancas. El Tribuno de Tucumán , July 3, 2014
4. ↑ ^{a b} Norma Giarracca: El asesinato de Javier Chocobar . Página / 12 of October 20, 2009
5. ^ Rubén Elsinger: Mataron a un indígena en una disputa por tierras en Tucumán . Clarín , October 15, 2009
6. ↑ Tucumán: conmoción por el video del asesinato de un cacique. LaVoz , May 7, 2010
7. ↑ Asesinato de Chocobar: Imágenes contundentes de la impunidad. ( Memento of the original from October 7, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Red Nacional de Medios Alternativos , May 6, 2010 
8. ↑ ^{a b c} El asesinato de Javier Chocobar es un crimen político . Partido Obrero (Argentina), October 22, 2009
9. ↑ La cámara cuarta juzgará la muerte de Javier Chocobar. ( Memento of the original from December 27, 2015 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. El Siglo , October 6, 2014  
10. ↑ ^{a b} Pasaron seis años del asesinato de Javier Chocobar y todavía no tenemos juicio ". Tucumán Noticias of October 11, 2015
11. ↑ Exigen la Elevación a juicio de la causa por la muerte de Chocobar . Tucumán Noticias of May 24, 2016
12. ↑ A casi siete años del asesinato del cacique Javier Chocobar, exigen justicia. La Gaceta de Tucumán from July 4th 2016
13. ↑ Una sanción para disciplinar. Página / 12 of July 9, 2017
14. ↑ Una comunidad indígena de Chubut difunde un listado de originarios muertos en circunstancias dudosas. Análisis Digital from November 30, 2017
15. ↑ Andhes y la Unión de Pueblos de la Nacion Diaguita presentaron un informe ante la ONU. Tucumán Noticias of November 23, 2016
16. ^ Mariana Romero: La Justicia reconoce la propiedad de la tierra por la que mataron al cacique Chocobar. In: Qué diario of March 3, 2018
17. ↑ Ramiro Rearte: Asesinado el 12 de octubre. Página / 12 of October 14, 2009
18. ^ Roberto Delgado: Civilización y barbarie. La Gaceta , July 18, 2015
19. ↑ Fernando García Soto: Suicide of Malevo Ferreyra. LiveLeak , November 21, 2008
20. ↑ El "Malevo" Ferreyra se Suicido delante de las cámaras de televisión. ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Mendoza online, November 21, 2008 
21. ^ Soledad Vallejos: El caso Salinas. Página / 12, March 10, 2013
22. ^ J. Hoberman: Lucrecia Martel, una directora que confunde y emociona. Clarín from April 18, 2018
23. ↑ J. Hoberman: Lucrecia Martel, una directora que desconcierta y estremece a sus seguidores. The New York Times April 16, 2018

Web links

• Juicio por Chocobar. Website of the bereaved Chocobars
• A cinco años del crimen de un comunero, exigen que se defina la fecha del juicio oral. Article with video recording of the murder of Chocobar (time of the crime, position 2:22). La Gaceta , San Miguel de Tucuman , October 12, 2014
• Amnesty International : Opinion on the Chocobar case