Family members and friends of Julia Chuñil display a banner that reads: “Where is Julia Chuñil?” on the land where she was last seen. Tamara Merino / Global Witness
Global Witness joins organisations around the world in condemning the arrest of Pablo San Martín Chuñil, Javier Troncoso Chuñil, Jeannette Troncoso Chuñil, and Bermar Flavio Bastías Bastidas, which occurred on 14 January 2026, in the Los Ríos Region, Chile.
Pablo, Javier, and Jeannette are children of Mapuche Indigenous leader and environmental defender Julia Chuñil Catricura, president of the Putreguel Indigenous Community, who has been missing since November 8, 2024, while defending 900 hectares of native forest in the commune of Máfil.
Julia’s disappearance has been internationally denounced as a forced disappearance linked to her struggle for territorial and environmental protection against the advance of large landowners and the forestry sector.
The arrest of Pablo, Javier, Jeannette, and Bermar occurs six months after the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) granted precautionary measures in favour of Julia Chuñil, urging the Chilean government to increase efforts to search for her and to share information about such efforts with her family. The arrest also occurred just hours before the family was scheduled to attend the admissibility hearing before the Escazú Committee to present evidence of the State’s non-compliance.
Global Witness Senior US Policy Advisor Javier Garate said: “The arrest of Julia Chuñil’s children and relatives is to be condemned. Rather than further victimising the family, authorities should instead focus on the main suspect identified by the family and by human rights organisations.…
“This case must be viewed in the wider Latin American context of systematic violence against environmental defenders, where at least 2,253 activists have been killed and or forcibly disappeared between 2012 and 2024.
“We offer solidarity with the Chuñil family at this time. The arrested family members should be immediately released and a proper independent investigation carried out.”
Global Witness has joined organisations calling for:
- The immediate release of Pablo San Martín Chuñil, Javier Troncoso Chuñil, Jeannette Troncoso Chuñil, and Bermar Flavio Bastías Bastidas;
- That the Chilean State comply with the IACHR’s and the Escazú Committee’s determinations and protect, rather than criminalise, Julia Chuñil’s relatives;
- An impartial, transparent, and effective investigation into Julia Chuñil’s disappearance, focusing on the identified main suspect;
- An end to the criminalisation of environmental defenders and Indigenous peoples in Chile and throughout Latin America;
- That international human rights bodies monitor this case and ensure due legal process.
- The criminalisation of those who defend the land and territories is a crime against humanity and against the planet.
https://globalwitness.org/en/press-releases/global-witness-condemns-the-arrest-and-criminalisation-of-environmental-defender-pablo-chunil-and-his-relatives/
Hans Thoolen on Human Rights Defenders and their awards 