The Mapuches forced him into this about-face by launching a hunger strike in July, which grew to include 38 prisoners. They wanted a change in the terrorism law, which dates from Chile’s military dictatorship. Although later amended, it remains controversial. Since 1990 it has been used mainly against Mapuche activists. In 2007 the UN Human Rights Committee said its procedural guarantees should be strengthened. The hunger strikers also wanted to end military courts’ jurisdiction over civilians, so that Mapuches who attacked police could not be tried twice for the same incident. Mr Piñera supports this.