Category: indigenous communities

The IACHR holds a hearing in 2019 on Environmental Protection in the Amazon and the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in Brazil.
July 22, 2020

Inter-American Commission Issues Precautionary Measures as COVID-19 Threatens Indigenous Communities

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) has requested that Brazil protect the Yanomami and Ye’kwana peoples from the ongoing, heightened risk posed by COVID-19. [IACHR Press Release: Measures (Spanish)] In particular, the IACHR asked Brazil to protect the Indigenous communities’ rights to health, life, and personal integrity by taking steps to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 – including from trespassing miners – and by providing appropriate healthcare. See IACHR, Resolution 35/2020, Precautionary Measure No. 563-20, Members of the Yanomami and Ye’kwana Indigenous Peoples (Brazil), 17 Jul. 2020 (Portuguese). The precautionary measures adopted by the IACHR on July 17, […]

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April 08, 2020

Inter-American Court Decides First Environmental Rights Case Against Argentina

In its first judgment to independently analyze the human right to a healthy environment, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) has held Argentina responsible for violating Indigenous communities’ human rights through its failure to recognize and protect their lands. [IACtHR Press Release] In Indigenous Communities of the Lhaka Honhat Association (Our Land) v. Argentina, the Court considered allegations by Indigenous communities in the province of Salta that the State had failed to implement measures to stop illegal logging and other harmful activities in their territory, which had altered their Indigenous way of life and damaged their cultural identity. See […]

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July 18, 2019

UN Special Rapporteurs Highlight Forced Sterilization of Indigenous Women in Canada

In their latest reports to the United Nations Human Rights Council, the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to health and the Special Rapporteur on violence against women addressed the ongoing issue of forced or coerced sterilizations of Indigenous women in Canada’s public healthcare institutions. See Report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health on his visit to Canada, UN Doc. No. A/HRC/41/34/Add.2, 19 June 2019, paras. 83-84; Report of the Special Rapporteur on violence against women, its causes and consequences on her visit to […]

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March 21, 2019

Forced Sterilization as a Human Rights Violation: Recent Developments

In recent years, international advocacy has contributed to increased awareness of forced sterilization as a human rights violation, including as a result of our work at the International Justice Resource Center (IJRC). Around the world, healthcare providers and others continue to sterilize people without their informed consent, most often targeting those who are Indigenous, living with HIV, are persons with disabilities, or who experience discrimination on other grounds. Just this month, IJRC advanced our partners’ advocacy on this issue at the 63rd Session of the United Nations Commission on the Status of Women (CSW), and Human Rights Watch published a […]

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February 14, 2019

Human Rights Committee: Finland’s Oversight of Indigenous Politics Constitutes Violation

In two recently released decisions, United Nations Human Rights Committee determined that the Finnish government interfered with Sámi individuals’ rights to political participation and culture when a national court expanded the group of people authorized to vote, or run as candidates, in the Indigenous group’s parliamentary elections. [OHCHR Press Release: Finland] While the Committee and other UN human rights bodies have raised concerns about this issue before, these are the first complaints to be decided concerning the Sámi people’s self-determination. The Committee has given Finland six months to submit a report outlining the progress it has made in implementing the […]

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July 02, 2018

July 2018: UN Treaty Bodies, Human Rights Council, and Regional Bodies in Session

In the month of July, various universal and regional bodies will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through the consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, and the review of individual complaints. Three United Nations treaty bodies will meet in July to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to civil and political rights, the rights of women, and the prevention of torture. Further, civil society can register this month to participate in the sessions of two treaty bodies that will meet in August to engage with States regarding their obligations related to racial discrimination […]

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May 02, 2018

IJRC Newsletter: May 2018

We are pleased to share our latest newsletter. It details the newest additions to the Online Resource Hub, recent engagement with the universal and Inter-American human rights systems, and upcoming events. If receiving this update via email, you can also read the May 2018 newsletter online, or open the PDF directly. For the latest in human rights developments, visit the News Room and IJRC Daily.   

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April 30, 2018

May 2018: UN Treaty Bodies, UPR, and Regional Human Rights Bodies in Session

In the month of May, several universal and regional bodies will be in session to assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations through interactive dialogues, the consideration of State and civil society reports, country visits, and the review of individual complaints. Four United Nations treaty bodies will meet throughout May to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to torture, racial discrimination, forced disappearances, and children’s rights. The Universal Periodic Review (UPR) Working Group will also be in session and will conduct interactive dialogues with representatives from 14 States. Ten UN special procedures will conduct country visits focusing on human […]

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December 27, 2017

IACHR Recommends a Human Rights-Based Approach to Address Poverty

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) presented a report on December 5, 2017 that, for the first time in the region, details Member States’ human rights legal obligations to address the situation of poverty and extreme poverty in the Americas through a human rights perspective. See IACHR, Poverty and Human Rights in the Americas (2017), para. 18 (in Spanish only). The Commission’s report acknowledges that poverty is interrelated with certain rights, both civil and political and economic and social, such as the rights to work, education, health, and access to justice, and, therefore, recommends that States focus on ensuring […]

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November 29, 2017

IACHR Report Examines Pervasive Discrimination Against Indigenous Women

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently published a report identifying the perpetual and systemic forms of discrimination suffered by indigenous women in the Americas. See IACHR, Indigenous Women and Their Human Rights in the Americas (2017). The IACHR composed the report in response to the regular information it has received on the pervasiveness of discrimination against indigenous women in the form of physical, psychological, and sexual violence; barriers to access to services; and other impacts on personal integrity. See id. at paras. 1-2. To gather information for the report, the IACHR drew from its hearings, examination of individual […]

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August 29, 2017

September 2017: United Nations and Regional Human Rights Bodies in Session

In the month of September, several regional bodies and universal bodies and experts will assess States’ compliance with their human rights obligations by engaging in interactive dialogues, considering State and civil society reports, conducting country visits, holding hearings, and reviewing individual complaints. Five United Nations treaty bodies will meet throughout September to engage with States regarding their treaty obligations related to persons with disabilities; migrants and their families; enforced disappearances; children; and economic, social, and cultural rights. The UN Human Rights Council will be in session and will host panel discussions and forums related to unilateral coercive measures, the integration […]

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August 18, 2017

News Clips- August 18, 2017

Civil Society On Thursday, three young activists in Hong Kong, China were sentenced to six to eight months in prison for their participation in the 2014 Umbrella Movement protests. [Washington Post] On Wednesday, the president of the Philippines encouraged police officers to shoot activists who obstruct justice. [Guardian] Last week, Amnesty International reported that at least 66 people detained during protests in Morocco reported being subject to torture and ill-treatment. [AI] Violence & Humanitarian Crises On Thursday, at least 13 people were killed when a van drove into a crowd in Barcelona, Spain. [Guardian] On Wednesday, police found mass graves […]

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