Urgent Statement: Call for Urgent Action on Deadly Violence in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT)

Written on 06 October 2025.

We express our unequivocal condemnation of the recent surge in deadly violence targeting Indigenous Peoples of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), perpetrated by military forces of the Government of Bangladesh and Bengali settlers. These acts constitute the peak of an escalating violence targeting Indigenous Peoples reflecting a pattern of systemic oppression, including the use of sexual violence as a weapon of terror and control.

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IWGIA Statement at the 60th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

Written on 24 September 2025.

Human Rights Council – 60th Session
Item 3 & 5: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Delivered by the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA)
UNHQ -Geneva, 23 September 2025

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Customary Justice of Indigenous Peoples in Colombia: Between Reality and Historical Debt

Written on 24 September 2025.

BY LAURA ANNE KLEINER & TULLIO TOGNI FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

The Regional Indigenous Council of Cauca (CRIC) played a key role in the implementation of the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction. In 1991, Article 246 of the new Political Constitution established that Indigenous Authorities may exercise jurisdictional functions within their territories, in accordance with their traditional customs and practices. In this context, the 2017 ruling by the Supreme Court of Justice in favour of Feliciano Valencia marked a historic milestone, setting legal precedent on the importance of Indigenous justice systems. Looking ahead, progress is still needed on the Law of Coordination, aimed at harmonising the Special Indigenous Jurisdiction with the ordinary justice system.

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Nine Years of Autonomy: The Wampís Nation’s Process of Rebuilding Self-Government

Written on 13 September 2025.

BY SHAPIOM NONINGO FOR INDIGENOUS DEBATES

Since 2015, the Autonomous Territorial Government of the Wampís Nation (GTANW) has built a distinctive model of self-determination in the Peruvian Amazon. In a context marked by external threats, state bureaucracy and extractive encroachment, the Wampís Nation has pursued a strategy of resistance, community-based governance and diplomacy to protect its territory, identity and way of life.

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