IACHR
Press Release
IACHR Welcomes Progress Made by Paraguay to Comply with Friendly Settlement Concerning Case 12,629–Kelyenmagategma Indigenous Community
September 18, 2019
IACHR Press and Communication Office
Tel: +1 (202) 370-9000
cidh-prensa@oas.org
Washington, D.C. - The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) welcomes progress made by the Paraguayan State toward compliance with reparation measures included in the friendly settlement agreement concerning the case of the Kelyenmagategma Indigenous Community, by ensuring that funding necessary to implement a Community Development Project was included in the 2019 National General Budget and handed over to this community.
On October 1, 2004, the IACHR received a formal complaint on behalf of the Kelyenmagategma Indigenous Community and its members, of the Enxet-Lengua people. The complaint alleged that the community had been violently expelled from its ancestral land by the police and by armed civilians who worked for the firm El Algarrobal. According to petitioners, the rights of the Kelyenmagategma community had been violated through its members’ permanent exposure to a pattern of violence and coercion by El Algarrobal staff, protected by public officials, with the aim of displacing the community from its settlement and preventing them from demanding control over their land. Petitioners said that, after being forced to leave their homes, members of the Kelyenmagategma indigenous community, of the Enxet-Lengua people, were left out in the open on the banks of the Paraguay River. The group included more than 60 children, women, and older adults, who suffered disease, cold, and hunger.
On December 7, 2011, the parties signed a friendly settlement agreement that has since made progress toward implementation. Concerning the fourth clause, the Paraguayan State committed to “securing and devoting funds to the execution of a Community Development Project addressing large and small livestock, agriculture, and other issues.” “This project will need to provide any necessary supplies for the community to be able to become self-sufficient,” the State said.
On June 27, 2019, Paraguayan President Mario Abdo Benítez attended an event, along with the following officials: Ana María Allen (head of the Paraguayan Institute for Indigenous Peoples), Dany Durand (Minister of Urban Planning, Housing, and Habitat), Julio Mazzoleni (Minister of Public Health and Social Welfare), Manuel de Jesús Ramírez Candia (a judge at the Supreme Court of Justice), Nuri Montiel (head of the Human Rights Department at the Supreme Court of Justice), Legislator Marlene Ocampos (chair of the Indigenous Peoples Committee of the lower house of the Paraguayan Congress), Senator Hermelinda Alvarenga (chair of the Senate’s Committee for Indigenous Peoples), Rubén Antonio Roussillón (Governor of the Presidente Hayes Department), and Noelia López (head of the Human Rights Unit at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs), as well as members of the departmental council. They were joined by authorities from the organization of indigenous leaders of the Lower Chaco (Coordinadora de Líderes Indígenas del Bajo Chaco), members of beneficiary and other nearby communities, and members of the NGOs Tierraviva and Amnesty International.
During the event, the first of three payments from the community development fund were given to the Kelyenmagategma community, in keeping with the friendly settlement agreement, and 140 homes were handed over to members of the Sawhoyamaxa community.
Before the funds were handed over, Resolution 211/19 of the National Institute for Indigenous Peoples created a committee to oversee their use in the communities that were the focus of this friendly settlement agreement and in the Akye Axa, Sawhoyamaxa, and Xákmok Kásek indigenous communities, which the Paraguayan State opted to include in the same resolution with a view to ensuring compliance and implementation in connection with decisions made by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in different cases.
The Commission commends the Paraguayan State on its efforts. In particular, the IACHR appreciates the cooperation of the Human Rights Department at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in activities to implement the friendly settlement agreement concerning this case. Finally, the Commission urges the Paraguayan State to complete the implementation of all measures provided for in the agreement, to ensure continuity for development projects aimed at the indigenous communities mentioned above, and to fully implement all other measures included in this agreement until full compliance is achieved.
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. 233/19