Condemnation of the murder of Ismael Ramírez and the discrimination and invisibility of the Toba-Qom people in Roque Saenz Peña, Chaco province, Argentina

The CLACSO Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Urban Space expresses its support for the following statement:

The management and research members of the research program “Political Economy and Social Formations of Borders: Ethnicities and Territories in Redefinition” together with the Institute of Anthropological Sciences of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires (ICA-FFyL-UBA), the Program “Indigenous Peoples, Recognition and Strengthening of Ethnopolitical Spaces” of the Center for Innovation and Development for Community Action (CIDAC) of the Secretariat of University Extension and Student Welfare (SEUBE) of the Faculty of Philosophy and Letters of the University of Buenos Aires (FFyL-UBA), and the Working Group “Indigenous Peoples and Urban Space” of the Latin American Council of Social Sciences (CLACSO), repudiate the recent events that occurred on Monday, September 03, in the town of Sáenz Peña, province of Chaco. This time, Ismael Ramírez, a 13-year-old boy from the Toba-Qom indigenous community, was killed by a gunshot to the chest. Another young man was also seriously injured and is currently hospitalized.

We understand that outcomes of this kind are part of a broader context, representing social responses alongside various demonstrations led by the general public and Indigenous populations in particular in response to budget cuts across all sectors, profound instability, and crisis. Furthermore, the media, local political representatives, and opinion leaders on social media have not only distorted what happened but, through misleading images, have reinforced a criminalizing narrative, both of the protests and of the murdered Indigenous child. Therefore, we believe it is vitally important to condemn all acts of violence that place the population at the center of the conflict.

Regarding the events in the town of Sáez Peña, several versions have circulated that discriminate against and erase Ismael Ramírez as a child of the Toba-Qom community. The stigmatization of his alleged actions during the supermarket looting has been refuted by the statements of his sister Ivana, who recounted that after attending school in the morning, Ismael spent the afternoon with his stepfather and then made his daily walk home, where he lived with his mother and siblings. A victim of chance, Ismael was killed during a scene in which local police forces fired on civilians attempting to enter a supermarket amidst the widespread crisis (already mentioned).

We believe that this context, as well as the invisibility and criminalization of an Indigenous child, is part of a line of argument that has been reproduced by the mainstream media since tragic events such as the murder of Santiago Maldonado on August 1, 2017, and the death of Rafael Nahuel at the hands of National Gendarmerie officers on November 25 of that same year. Furthermore, the escalation of the fight against Indigenous rights has been fueled not only by the reinforcement of direct and indirect violence but also by the dismissal of officials and the closure of programs run by the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI), as well as the paralysis of the implementation of Law 26.160 on the Territorial Survey of Indigenous Communities.

In addition to calling for reflection on these grave events, we demand that officials from all branches of government, and we urge the institutions involved and the media, ensure the effective enforcement of the rights of Indigenous peoples as enshrined in the National Constitution (Article 75, Section 17), various international conventions (International Labour Organization Convention 169), the rights of children and adolescents, and other national, provincial, and local legislation. We call upon the entire academic community and society at large to demonstrate. We demand a thorough investigation, trial, and punishment for those responsible for the murder of Ismael Ramírez.

September 2018

The CLACSO Working Group endorses
Indigenous people and urban space

This statement expresses the position of the members of the Working Group on Indigenous Peoples and Urban Space and not necessarily that of the centers and institutions that make up the CLACSO international network, its Steering Committee or its Executive Secretariat.