E/CN.4/2004/80/Add.3 page 17 During his visit to Temuco, the Special Rapporteur received information on a case involving two lonkos (community leaders) that arose in the context of the recent reform of criminal procedure. In a conflict over land, the lonkos Pascual Pichún and Aniceto Norín, from Region IX (Araucanía), were accused in December 2001 of setting fire to a well-known pine forest on the Nancahue estate belonging, it is said, to a famous national politician. They were arrested under the Counter-Terrorism Act and other offences were added to the charges against them. After over a year of pre-trial detention, the court acquitted them of the charges of “terrorist attacks and threats” for lack of evidence, after the statements made by the “faceless witnesses” produced by the prosecution were set aside. In July 2003, the Supreme Court of Justice accepted an appeal for annulment submitted by the plaintiff and the State prosecutor and ordered a new trial of the lonkos. In September they were sentenced to a prison term of five years and one day for posing a “terrorist threat”. The Special Rapporteur cannot help but express concern at such an extraordinary situation, which has arisen in the context of a social conflict and in which the right to due process could be violated and the impartiality of a respected body such as the Supreme Court of Justice could be called into question. C. Limitations of the Indigenous Peoples Act and constitutional recognition 41. The problems discussed above have arisen within an ambiguous legislative framework that has not so far been very conducive to the protection of the identities of native peoples. As it stands, the Indigenous Peoples Act does not provide adequate mechanisms to protect indigenous people’s human rights and this has led to a feeling made abundantly clear to the Special Rapporteur by the indigenous representatives he talked to that the present law does not afford them sufficient protection. This is why, in addition to other considerations relating to the position of social exclusion, marginalization and subordination that indigenous people hold in Chilean society, they are calling for constitutional recognition by the State and for Chile to ratify ILO Convention No. 169. 42. The Governments of the Democratic Concertation that succeeded the military regime have heeded the demands of indigenous people and have on several occasions sent Congress proposals for the reform of the Constitution and the ratification of ILO Convention No. 169, but these have been rejected by Parliament. The Special Rapporteur makes an urgent appeal to the Chilean Chamber of Deputies and Senate to agree to the constitutional recognition of indigenous peoples and their rights and to ratify Convention No. 169. There is also a need to review all sectoral legislation that in practice infringes on the ancestral rights of indigenous communities, in order to bring it into line with modern human rights standards. Failure to do so could, in the Special Rapporteur’s opinion, lead to considerable social conflict, with the consequent threat to the democratic stability and governance of the country. 43. The possible constitutional reform mentioned above is intended to give constitutional recognition to indigenous peoples, but its adoption is being delayed by debates on the use of the