Guatemala

2021 - 2022

ILRC (Indian Law Resources Center)

100,000

This SRM’s progress is tied to the Court’s scheduling as it supports the bringing of the Maya Q’eqchi’ Agua Caliente Indigenous Community v. Guatemala case to the IACHR, a culmination of a 45-year struggle to secure legal ownership rights of the Q’eqchi’ people in 16 communities in Guatemala. The people of Agua Caliente and the surrounding communities have endured illegal and endless delays and irregularities in survey, titling, and registry processes that have allowed private companies to exploit minerals in the communities’ lands, skirting requirements for community consultation,

ILRC is presenting an argument to the Court on how Guatemala’s failure to recognize the legal, social, and political character of Indigenous Peoples violates the country’s human rights obligations under international law. This is a critical case because it raises the issue of Indigenous Peoples’ permanent sovereignty over natural resources – one of the main elements of the right of self-determination of ‘peoples’ under international law — for the first time before the IACHR. A hearing in February 2022 has the potential to deepen jurisprudence on Indigenous Peoples’ collective property rights in Guatemala that could set a new legal precedent on Indigenous land titling applying to all countries in the Americas. In anticipation of the upcoming hearing, ILRC’s legal team is collecting data and testimonies, and working with community leaders to serve as witnesses before the IACHR.

Read the blog post.