“Violence against Indigenous Peoples is a global trend”, summarized Victoria Tauli-Corpuz. During, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples and co-founder of IPRI, during the presentation of IPRI’s annual reports on criminalization against Indigenous Peoples.
Sandra Creamer, a Waanyi/Kalkadoon Indigenous woman from Australia, prominent activist, and chairperson of the Global Board of Directors of IPRI, while presenting the event, pointed out the stewardship role of Indigenous Peoples over the Earth, for which they are criminalized.
The annual report on criminalization brings together cases and information from six focus countries with the highest rates of criminalization and violence against Indigenous Peoples in the world: Colombia, Brazil, Mexico, India, the Philippines, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
During the research process, IPRI faced the challenge of documentation, given that official country data are widely limited, there is scarce disaggregation of data by ethnicity within the information of human rights defenders, and that attacks are not always picked up by media due to geography or lack of free press.
With the information gathered, the researchers found that killings and criminalization happen along with other human rights violations; that many cases are justified under security and anti-terrorism laws; that militarization of Indigenous territories increases human rights violations; and that there is a lack of political will to address issues involving armed groups.
Joyce Godio, Global Research Coordinator of IPRI, highlighted that hate speech, vilification and smear campaigns are linked to human rights violations; that violence and attacks are extended to the collective (communities or organizations), and that indigenous leaders are targeted as a way to attack and weaken the governance structures of Indigenous Peoples.
The case of Colombia is illustrative of many of these trends. There, the non-compliance with the Peace Agreements has increased violence against Indigenous Peoples; this weakens their effective organizational structures and reduces their autonomy and collective capacity to defend human rights. “Violence remains in impunity”, said Leonor Zalabata, Coordinator of IPRI in Colombia. She considered that there is a project of the State for undermining Indigenous Peoples.
Mary Lawlor, United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights defenders, agreed that in Colombia, only on very few occasions there is accountability for violations against Indigenous Peoples. “Killings are the most egregious attacks but only the top of the iceberg”, she noted. The new government, insisted Ms. Lawlor, has an obligation to reverse the cycle of impunity and attacks.
The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples, Francisco Cali-Tzay, gave an account of the communications he sent to the Colombian government regarding attacks on indigenous people and the excessive use of force against them. After the Peace Agreements, he informed, dozens of indigenous leaders have been assassinated. Mr. Cali-Tzay stressed that there is a need for the State to give a safe environment for Indigenous Peoples and address the root causes of the violence.
Ms. Leonor Zalabata considered that, with the new government, Colombia now has some breathing space: “The new president's policies are based on peace, social justice, and environmental justice”.
Ms. Victoria Tauli-Corpuz reminded the obligation of the States to protect Indigenous Peoples and the due diligence that corporate actors need to perform to address potential human rights impacts on Indigenous territories. Donors also need to make sure that they are contributing to lessening the situation of criminalization. “There should be zero tolerance for criminalization and the assassinations of Indigenous Peoples’ rights defenders”, she stated. “Civil society should talk more about stories of criminalization, and demand the States to comply with their human rights obligations”.
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