Americas: Time and again, Indigenous rights trampled for development

Despite myriad cases across the Americas where Indigenous Peoples – often with the support of Amnesty International and other civil society organizations – continue to fight to have their rights respected, there have been some glimmers of hope since last year. 

In August 2011, Peru approved a law on Indigenous Peoples’ right to consultation when they are likely to be affected by planned development projects. While reaction to the measure was initially positive – it is the first of its kind in the Americas – the negotiations broke down with Peru’s Indigenous Peoples about further regulation and implementation. 

Paraguayan authorities reached a deal in February 2012 to restore ancestral territory to the Yakye Axa Indigenous community, who had fought a two-decade legal battle to return after being forced off their lands by ranchers. But they are still waiting to get access to those lands. Other Indigenous Peoples in Paraguay, like the Sawhoyamaxa, are still awaiting the resolution of their longstanding land disputes. 

And just last month, after a long legal battle, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights found Ecuador responsible for violating the rights of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku after it allowed oil exploration on their ancestral lands in the Amazon rainforest.
http://www.amnesty.org/en/news/americas-time-and-again-indigenous-rights-trampled-development-2012-08-08