Indigenous clans from Easter Island hope an upcoming ruling by the Inter-American Human Rights Commission will support their claim that the Chilean government has evicted them illegally from land they claim is ancestral.
Rapa Nui protesters have been removed from land in police actions, which may have breached domestic laws and international conventions Chile has signed up to.
A US based lawyer representing Rapa Nui clans, Leonardo Crippa, says the indigenous people are seeking international avenues to stop the evictions and have dialogue instead about their right to land and self-government.
He says they want a stop to actions against women and children.
"We don't want to see more violent evictions. We want to prevent people being harmed. We want to save lives. If there is a violation of the right that is protected by international law such as the American convention on human rights that was ratified by Chile, that is a human rights violation."
US based lawyer, Leonardo Crippa.
