IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Adopts Precautionary Measures to Protect the Guyraroká Community of the Kaiowá Guaraní Indigenous People in Brazil
October 1, 2019
Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
(IACHR) adopted
Resolution 47/2019 on September 19, 2019, to grant
precautionary measures in favor of members of the Guyraroká
community of the Kaiowá Guaraní indigenous people in Brazil[vs1] .
The organizations who requested these precautionary measures alleged
that the proposed beneficiaries were at risk after suffering a
series of threats, acts of harassment, and violence, allegedly at
the hands of large landowners in the context of a dispute over land
ownership.
The Commission considered that, during its own
in loco visit to
Brazil in November 2018, it visited the Guyraroká community and was
able to see “the serious humanitarian problems faced by the Guaraní
and Kaiowá peoples.” The organizations who requested these
precautionary measures further alleged that the community was
immersed in a conflict-ridden context pitting the proposed
beneficiaries against large landowners and other people defending
the interests of those landowners. The IACHR is particularly
concerned that—according to community members cited in the request
for these precautionary measures—estate employees fire shots just
above members of the Guyraroká community whenever they go out
hunting or fishing in the area, something they described as a
“common practice” that “always happens.” The request for these
precautionary measures stressed that several members of the
Guyraroká community had received death threats and been chased by
third parties in moving vehicles as they moved around or sought to
carry out their subsistence activities.
The Commission further took into consideration the seriousness of
the allegations made by the organizations who requested these
precautionary measures concerning the use of pesticides in areas
inhabited by the proposed beneficiaries—including near the
indigenous community’s school and its sources of water—which could
make them more vulnerable by impacting the means that enable their
subsistence.
The Commission would like to make it clear that, in its
precautionary measure mechanism, it does not need to make a decision
on who owns these disputed lands. Precautionary measures also do not
establish the State’s responsibility for alleged non-compliance with
obligations held in the Convention or any other relevant
instruments. Precautionary measures are based only on the serious
and urgent nature of a risk of suffering irreparable damage, in
accordance with Article 25 of the Commission’s Rule of Procedure.
This can be established without assessing the merits of each case.
The IACHR observed that the State had not provided any information
that might have denied claims of the risk for life and integrity
alleged by the organizations who requested these precautionary
measures or suggested that adequate, effective protection measures
had been taken to address this situation.
Consequently, in keeping with Article 25 of the IACHR’s Rules of Procedure, the Commission asked the State of Brazil to take any measures necessary to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of members of the Guyraroká community of the Kaiowá Guaraní indigenous people, and to prevent acts of violence by third parties; to take any culturally appropriate measures necessary to protect the lives and personal integrity of the Guyraroká community of the Kaiowá Guaraní indigenous people—by implementing, for instance, measures aimed at improving conditions regarding health, food, and access to drinking water; to come to an agreement with the Kaiowá Guaraní indigenous people and its representatives regarding any measures that need to be taken; and to report on any actions taken to investigate the events that gave rise to the adoption of this precautionary measure, to prevent such events from happening again in the future.
A principal, autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), the IACHR derives its mandate from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights. The Inter-American Commission has a mandate to promote respect for and to defend human rights in the region and acts as a consultative body to the OAS in this area. The Commission is composed of seven independent members who are elected in an individual capacity by the OAS General Assembly and who do not represent their countries of origin or residence.
No. 244/19