Bolivian Indigenous People Halt Highway

In a protest against a multinational highway project through the Amazon, Indigenous Bolivian groups have halted planned construction through the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous Territory (TIPNIS). Note that part of the issue are the rights guaranteed in ILO Convention 169, of which Bolivia is a signatory.

Two main concerns lie behind the indigenous protests of the highway: its environmental effects, as well as the indigenous community’s frustration with facing deadlock in their attempts to gain access to the decision-making process.

The TIPNIS...was recognized as indigenous territory in 1965. Such legal recognition provides the 49,000 indigenous residing in the park with the right to participate, by consultancy, in any governmental decision that could affect the integrity of their territory. What’s at stake, therefore, is more than the highway itself: indigenous jurisdictional recognition in general. Bolivia is among the Latin American countries that has ratified Convention No. 169 of the International Labour Organization (ILO) regarding indigenous population rights. One of the convention’s points is the need to guarantee consultation “whenever consideration is being given to their capacity to alienate their lands” and that “peoples must be consulted [previously] whenever consideration is being given to legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly.” Consequently, so far as it has kept indigenous communities out of the decision-making process about the highway, the Bolivian government is breaking an international convention.

Brazil Dam Project Halted

The Belo Monte dam project (which was also the subject of the preceding post) has been halted, at least temporarily.

Judge Carlos Castro Martins barred any work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu river.

He ruled in favour of a fisheries group which argued that the Belo Monte dam would affect local fish stocks and could harm indigenous families who make a living from fishing.

The government says the dam is crucial to meeting growing energy needs.

Judge Martins barred the Norte Energia company behind the project from "building a port, using explosives, installing dikes, building canals and any other infrastructure work that would interfere with the natural flow of the Xingu river, thereby affecting local fish stocks".

Norte Energia, of course, plans to appeal, so this is by no means over.

Brazil Approves Mega-Dam, Displacing 40,000 People

Dam building seems to be one of the most consistent threats to Indigenous lands; Brazil just approved a new mega-dam project in the Amazon.

In the face of fierce opposition from indigenous peoples, social movements and scientists, IBAMA issued an environmental licence on 1 June, which will enable the Norte Energia consortium to start construction work.

COIAB, an alliance representing many indigenous organizations in Brazil’s Amazon said it ‘rejected IBAMA’s decision vehemently and with profound indignation’, stating that the government will not consult with indigenous peoples and treats their interests with ‘an authoritarianism never before seen in our young democracy…. In truth it wants to destroy indigenous communities with its model of development.’

This photo, of "Chief Raoni crying when he learned that the President of Brazil approved the Belo Monte dam project on the Xingu indigenous lands," really is worth a thousand words in getting across how devastating this is for the communities, and honestly just breaks my heart.

"Development" and Human Rights Abuses

An independent United Nations expert has released a report detailing current problems facing Indigenous populations; resource extraction and "development" projects are "the most significant sources of abuse of [Indigenous peoples'] human rights worldwide":

“In its prevailing form, the model for advancing with natural resource extraction within the territories of indigenous peoples appears to run counter to the self-determination of indigenous peoples in the political, social and economic spheres,” the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples James Anaya told the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Anaya also pointed out that more understanding of Indigenous concerns could help resolve some of these conflicts.

“The lack of a minimum common ground for understanding the key issues by all actors concerned entails a major barrier for the effective protection and realization of indigenous peoples’ rights,” he added, praising a new Peruvian law compelling private companies to consult indigenous communities before going ahead with major projects such as mining.