Justice Denied to Indigenous People Affected by Mining | Guatemala- Frequent conflicts had been repeatedly ongoing due to Guatemala’s mining sector.

2. Frequent conflicts had
been repeatedly
ongoing due to
Guatemala’s mining
sector. These
conflicts caused an
increase in
threats, criminalizatio
n and violence in the
past recent months.
Despite having over
400 mining licenses
issued and more than
700 pending, the
tension was caused
by lack of respect for
free, prior and
informed consent.
The country’s highest court upheld the 1997 Mining Law against a constitutional
challenge brought by the Western Peoples’ Council (CPO) for lack of prior consultation
with indigenous peoples, reported by Guatemalan national press last March 1 of this
year. Finally after the complaint was filed, the ruling comes out and it is against
Guatemala’s international human rights obligations.

3. It also represents a hold up from a 2011
Constitutional Court decision that ruled in favor
of the right of Guatemala’s indigenous majority
to consultation on legislative proposals that
could have an effect on their lands and natural
resources. Guatemala is obliged to respect the
right of indigenous peoples to free, prior and
informed consent for any project that could
adversely impact them, and to consult with them
before passing laws or administrative initiatives
that would affect their rights this is all under
Guatemala’s Peace Accords, the American
Convention on Human Rights, and as a signatory
to the International Labour Organization
Convention No. 169 on the rights of indigenous
and tribal peoples, as well as having endorsed
the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples.
The Western People’s Council, or CPO, will now
forward this case to the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights. The CPO is a
coalition of indigenous authorities and
institutions from seven departments of
Guatemala. They have already well thought-out
nearly 60 community referenda. This
referendum will give indigenous communities the
right to vote and decide whether or not to accept
development projects on their lands.
Source: http://blackhawk-mining.com/