IACHR Issues Follow-Up Resolution on Precautionary Measures in Favor of Protected Groups of the Wayúu Indigenous People in Colombia

December 3, 2021

Washington, D.C. – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued Follow-Up Resolution 99/2021 on December 1, 2021, to address the implementation of precautionary measures in favor of three protected groups in the Wayúu indigenous people in certain municipalities of Colombia's La Guajira department. The three groups are: children and adolescents in Uribia, Manaure, Riohacha, and Maicao; pregnant and breastfeeding women in Manaure, Riohacha, and Uribia; and older persons in Manaure, Riohacha, and Uribia. These groups were protected with precautionary measures through resolutions 60/2015, 3/2017, and 51/2017.

The IACHR commended the State on the action it had taken on this matter; it called on the parties to further pursue platforms for agreement; it made a series of assessments based on the available information; and it expressed its willingness to conduct an on-site visit to municipalities in La Guajira, where the three groups of beneficiaries live.

In keeping with Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, the Commission:

• Asks the State to continue to adopt all necessary measures to effectively protect the lives, personal integrity, and health of the three groups of beneficiaries who were identified in resolutions 60/2015, 3/2017, and 51/2017, taking into consideration the conclusions reached in resolution 99/2021
• Asks the parties to submit concrete, detailed, and up-to-date information about the beneficiaries' situation, in order to continue to assess that situation in keeping with Article 25 of the IACHR's Rules of Procedure (when providing this information, the parties are asked to specify the situation of the beneficiaries—whether individuals or groups—to be able to adequately identify how these precautionary measures are being implemented concerning each of these three groups)
• Asks the parties to continue to share platforms for internal agreement and coordination, with a view to ensuring the implementation of these precautionary measures
• Expresses the IACHR's willingness to conduct an on-site visit to Colombia in the terms put forward in this resolution
• Asks the State to continue to implement all relevant monitoring measures, in keeping with Article 25.10 and other provisos included in the IACHR's Rules of Procedure

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. 324/21

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