For Immediate Release March 21, 2012
Contacts:
Osvaldo Jordan, Alianza para la Conservación y el Desarollo, osvaldojordanpanama@yahoo.com
Diane Dunn, Collective Voices for Peace, cel: 951 224 7273
Indigenous leaders travel to Washington DC to defend collective land rights in Panama
Four
representatives from the Ngäbe and Wounaan peoples will participate in a
hearing at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on March 23,
2012.
Washington,
DC: A delegation of indigenous representatives and human rights
specialists from Panama will be in Washington DC to participate in a
hearing before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR)
this Friday, March 23, 2012. The delegation includes Ngobe leaders
Adelaida Miranda from the Tabasará River, Pedro Abrego from the
Changuinola District and Feliciano Santos from the Bocas del Toro
Archipelago, all in Western Panama, and Leonides Quiroz, a Wounaan
lawyer from Eastern Panama.
Although Panama has enjoyed a good international reputation due to its recognition of comarcas, or semi-autonomous indigenous territories, over fifty indigenous communities across the country do not yet have any recognition of their traditional lands.
This situation has led to invasions by settlers, ranchers, and loggers,
resulting in environmental degradation and sometimes violent clashes.
It is further compounded because even communities who do have their
lands recognized remain vulnerable to invasions by outsiders, with no
protection from the State. Mining projects and hydroelectric dams that
will affect indigenous lands are being planned with no consultation with
the affected communities. A number of laws protecting indigenous lands
and natural resources have been repealed, including those obligating
the state to obtain free, prior and informed consent prior to carrying
out infrastructure development projects affecting indigenous peoples.
During
the hearing, the four indigenous representatives from different parts
of Panama will have the opportunity to express how their lives have been
affected by Panama’s lack of recognition of their collective lands.
They will also discuss how this has impacted the rights of Panama’s
indigenous peoples – the Bribri, Naso, Ngäbe, Bukle, Kuna, Emberá and
Wounaan - to a healthy and ecologically balanced environment, to health,
family, and traditional culture. According to Adelaida Miranda, a
Ngäbe woman who will be participating in the hearing: "The Government
always talks about security – but where is ours? We're going to run out
of water ... they do not want to accept that we are living beings."
Although
indigenous leaders have sought dialogue with the Panamanian government,
history has shown a recurring lack of willingness on the part of the
authorities. A clear example of this includes the failure to implement
the 1976 Farallon Agreement on the construction of the Bayano
Hydroelectric Dam – which itself is the subject of a hearing at the
IACHR scheduled on March 23rd
(Case 12.354 – Kuna of Mandungandí and Emberá of Bayano Peoples).
Other examples include the lack of implementation of Law 10 that created
the Ngobe-Bugle Comarca in 1997, and the very recent failure of the
2011 San Felix Accords. As a result of these failures and the lack of
respect of their rights, indigenous peoples in Panama fear that their
demands and mobilizations will be responded to violently. Indeed, this
occurred just this past February, during Ngäbe protests against mining;
official sources report two deaths and dozens of injuries, as well as
sexual assaults committed by the National Police.
The
hearing at the IACHR will serve to provide the Commission with written
materials documenting the situation in Panama. The participants will
request the IACHR to issue recommendations to the state in its annual
report, and to publish a special report on the right to collective lands
by indigenous peoples in Panama.
For
any further information or to schedule an interview with the indigenous
representatives traveling to Washington, please contact:
Osvaldo Jordan Christine Halvorson
Alianza para la Conservación y el Desarollo, Panama Rainforest Foundation US
Press release issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights regarding February protests: http://www.oas.org/en/iachr/
Press release issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples: http://unsr.jamesanaya.org/
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