15 years ago the indigenous community of Awas Tingni won the legal battle for their land, but Nicaragua has not kept its promises. Today violence and illegal incursions into the community are the order of the day.
The case of Awas Tingni, a small indigenous community of Mayangna ethnicity in Nicaragua, has made history. The case dates back to the early 1990s, when the national government granted concessions to companies involved in deforestation, such as the Nicaraguan firm Madensa, without consulting the Awas Tingni community or seeking its consent. It has now been fifteen years since the ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that saw the community triumph over the state of Nicaragua. Despite having asserted their rights in the past, the indigenous people are today forced to face serious problems. The state has not kept the promises it made and the survival of this indigenous population of Nicaragua is now more at risk than ever.
Thanks to the intervention of the WWF and human rights lawyer James Anaya, the illegal concessions were blocked. In 1994 the government signed an agreement that would have guaranteed economic benefits to the indigenous people and recognised their title to their lands. In the meantime, however, and without the indigenous people's knowledge, it was secretly negotiating to grant the Korean company Solcars a logging licence. When the lawyers for Awas Tingni realised that the government was not honouring its commitment to the indigenous people, they decided to take the case to the international stage.
They therefore filed a petition and it was Anaya himself who took on the case. Some years later, in August 2001, the Inter-American Court delivered its ruling, declaring that the state had violated numerous articles of the American Convention on Human Rights, in particular Article 21 on property rights. The Court also recognised that "the relationship of indigenous culture with its land is not merely a matter of possession and exploitation but is material and spiritual." The Court therefore ordered the state to demarcate the boundaries and, within 15 months, to recognise the right of the indigenous inhabitants to occupy their own lands.
Human rights advocates, government officials and World Bank technocrats embarked on a long and difficult task: demarcating all indigenous and Afro-descendant community territories. By consulting first with indigenous peoples and descendants of African slaves, they created a new conception of property that corresponds to the worldview of the costeños (the people who inhabit the coastal regions). The fruit of this process was Law 445 on the communal property regime, which came into force in 2003. "Many territories managed to obtain a formal title; but so far the saneamiento – that is, the recognition of an official title – has not been successful," said Dr Lottie Cunningham, president of the NGO Cejudhcan and one of the expert witnesses who took part in the Awas Tingni case.
The law prohibits the sale of land, but many people – including politicians, government officials and even indigenous people – have become involved in its illegal sale. This situation has led to overlapping titles and a corrupt environment, and has been exploited by outsiders, disparagingly called colonos, who have seen in all of this a unique economic opportunity. These individuals have resorted to every kind of violence to gain access to the land: they have kidnapped and raped people and set crops on fire. Between September 2015 and June 2016, according to the NGO's estimates, 28 people were killed and a further 3,800 obtained political refugee status and relocated, mostly to Honduras.
In Awas Tingni, where 150 Mayangna families live, there are more than 800 families of outsiders who occupy more than 90 per cent of the land belonging to the indigenous inhabitants. The land holds a special meaning in this community. "Protecting our lands keeps the spirit of our ancestors alive," said Elizabeth Salómon, a native of Awas Tingni and a professor at the University of Uraccan.
"If you wound my hand, I will bleed and perhaps not feel at my best. And the same happens to nature," said Levy Maclean, the community chief. The Mayangna lands lie in the midst of a pine forest and are home to many species of vital importance to the cultural survival of the native inhabitants, such as tigers, deer, peacocks and squirrels. Hunting, fishing and gathering plants are important activities at the heart of Mayangna life. Culture is a natural system that preserves the balance of nature – or, as we would say today, sustainability. Despite the problems this community is forced to face, Maclean emphasises: "we are not against anyone. We are peaceful and the only thing we want from the state is peace."
Translated by Francesca Clemente