The Indigenous World 2022: Paraguay

Written on 01 April 2022. Posted in Paraguay

Five linguistic families and 19 Indigenous Peoples self-identify as such in Paraguay: the Guaraní (Aché, Avá Guaraní, Mbya, Paĩ Tavyterã, Guaraní Ñandeva, Guaraní Occidental), Maskoy (Toba Maskoy, Enlhet North, Enxet South, Sanapaná, Angaité, Guaná), Mataco Mataguayo (Nivaclé, Maká, Manjui), Zamuco (Ayoreo, Yvytoso, Tomáraho) and Guaicurú (Qom). According to 2017 statistics, the country's Indigenous population stands at 122,461 individuals.

Chapter V of the 1992 Constitution acknowledges Indigenous Peoples as cultural groups dating back to before the formation and organisation of the Paraguayan State, recognising them rights such as ethnic identity, communal property, participation and education, and taking into account their specific cultural features, among other things.

Paraguay has a legal framework that guarantees and recognises a wide range of rights to Indigenous Peoples, having ratified the main instruments of international human rights law, both in the universal and Inter-American systems.

Disproportionately hit by the COVID-19 pandemic due to the structural denial of their rights, Paraguay’s Indigenous communities were forced to endure the State’s sluggishness and lack of foresight in emergency situations. The pandemic also resulted in cuts to the meagre public budget allocated to Indigenous communities. In contrast to the above, a regulation was enacted in record time that is open to being used as a tool by which to criminalise their claims to traditional territories. Meanwhile, several forced evictions of Indigenous communities also took place throughout the year, often violently, in open contradiction with constitutional norms.

This article is part of the 36th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of Indigenous Women standing up and taking the lead in the land rights struggle of their community in Jharkhand, India. This photo was taken by Signe Leth, and is the cover of the Indigenous World 2022 where the article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2022 in full here

Lack of foresight in emergency situations

Emergencies were again declared in 2021 due to climatic phenomena and the impacts of global climate change, which led to floods affecting Indigenous communities in the Chaco, causing road closures, isolation and the destruction of family vegetable gardens.^[i] In addition, forest fires affected areas such as the sacred territory of the Paĩ Tavyterã people, Jasuka Venda, Paraguay's Natural and Cultural Heritage and Indigenous Conservation Territory.^[ii] Such events call for the State to take action given its constitutional obligations towards Indigenous Peoples, particularly since many of these climatic phenomena are now recurring events. And yet the State has neither emergency nor containment plans in place for what have become completely foreseeable situations.

Indigenous Peoples and COVID-19

Since the first confirmed case in an Indigenous community on 30 September 2021, there have been 75 deaths out of the 590 confirmed cases of COVID-19 in 147 Indigenous communities. Of the total number of infections, 50.3% were women and 49.7% were men.^[iii] The mortality rate among the Indigenous population currently stands at 12.71%, as opposed to 3.4% among the non-indigenous population of Paraguay. This highlights the impact of this disease on Indigenous communities and the vulnerability in which they find themselves, being one of the most impoverished sectors, with less access to education, health, basic services (drinking water and sanitation), and adequate food, among other things.

Indigenous territory under attack

The State’s liability, whether due to the action or omission of its officials, can be identified in different aspects of this problem, for example judicial inaction with regard to threats and forced evictions carried out by private individuals, as well as a lack of foresight and implementation of the budget allocated to land purchases and the sanctioning of regulations that could affect Indigenous communities in the context of their territorial recovery. The framework of impunity, fostered largely by judicial inaction as well as the absence of legal security and the lack of regularisation of property/ownership, results in violations of the physical integrity of members of Indigenous communities. Such was the case of the Loma Piro’y community of the Mbya Guaraní people. After denouncing eviction attempts by armed civilians, and in the absence of State officials or any of the forces of law and order, nine Indigenous people were injured on 17 March 2021 in a brutal attack by armed civilians, who even assaulted women, children and the elderly, threatening them with death and burning the houses and belongings of 10 families.^[iv] It was not until a month after this incident, once it had become public knowledge, that those accused were charged with responsibility for this violent and unlawful eviction. Members of the Yvy Ku'i Jovái community in Vaquería district, Caaguazú department, who have recognised legal status and have occupied their traditional territory for more than 60 years, were also threatened by a soybean farmer. The man –brandishing a firearm and threatening to send in another 30 gunmen– gave the community of 50 families 24 hours to leave their land.

In addition, in the middle of 2021, seven forced evictions of Indigenous people were carried out over a period of less than two months. Between 13 May and 11 July, nearly 500 families from the Cerrito, Yvypora, Acaraymí, Ka'a Poty'i, Cristo Rey and Tekoha Ka'avusu communities were violently expelled from their territory.^[v]

Anti-invasion regulations

The approval and prompt enactment of Law No. 6830/2021, amending Article 142 of the Criminal Code and its amendment, Law No. 3440/2008, has increased the sentences for trespassing, stiffening the penalties by establishing that whoever “individually or in concert with other persons, violently or clandestinely enters another's property shall be punished with imprisonment of up to six years.” In the event that the person is occupying private property in order to “settle” or to “cause damage to assets existing on the property of others”, this sentence can be extended up to 10 years. Although conservative sectors claim that the law will benefit both Indigenous and non-indigenous people, its entry into force will negatively and disproportionately affect Indigenous communities since, in the aforementioned situation, soybean growers and cattle ranchers could invoke it to the detriment of land recovery or expansion claims.

Draft laws

On 26 August 2021, a bill was introduced seeking to regulate Article 64 of the Constitution on Indigenous Peoples’ rights to communal property and its protection, as well as banning their removal or transfer without their express consent and establishing sanctions for violations of the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples. A virtual public hearing was also held to discuss the scope of the bill on Suspending Collective Rural or Urban Evictions in the Face of Pandemics, which was tabled by CODEHUPYy and other civil society organisations.^[vi]

Public budget for Indigenous Peoples in decline

Since the start of the pandemic, the negative impact of COVID-19 on the national economy has led the Ministry of Finance to call for cuts to the budgets of public institutions. These cuts have resulted in inaction in the face of inequalities that have widened abysmally during the pandemic. The already small budget of the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute (INDI) covers only the institution’s running costs and some specific assistance programmes, and has been clearly insufficient to promote the minimum conditions of well-being and dignity for Indigenous Peoples. Unlike the previous government, there are no plans to directly address the problem of land and territory for peasants and Indigenous people, and the National Institute of Rural and Land Development (INDERT)’s budget has thus been reduced by 25.84% and that of INDI by 16.38%.

International human rights protection systems

On 12 October 2021, the United Nations Human Rights Committee notified its decision to condemn the Paraguayan State for violation of the rights contained in Articles 17, 27 and 2(3) of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, to the detriment of members of the Campo Agua’ẽ Indigenous community of the Avá Guaraní people.^[vii] Their habitat was seriously affected by the contamination of its water courses and the destruction of crops and deaths of animals due to spraying, in violation of environmental regulations that set out impact mitigation measures such as protective barriers and buffer strips.

The following are some of the measures the Committee has required the State to implement: effectively and exhaustively investigate the facts, keeping the community informed of the course of the proceedings; continue the criminal and administrative proceedings against those responsible and, if their responsibility is established, impose the corresponding sanctions; fully compensate the victims for the damage suffered, including adequate compensation and reimbursement of legal costs; take all necessary measures to repair the environmental degradation, in close consultation with the community; take all measures to prevent the violations suffered by the community of Campo Agua'ẽ from recurring in the future; publish the decision in a newspaper of wide circulation and circulate it widely in the Guaraní language and in the department of Canindeyú; and, finally, submit the first report on compliance with the above measures within 180 days. Prior to this, on 5 May 2021, the State had been reviewed under the Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review.^[viii] Of the extensive series of recommendations made, there were a dozen on Indigenous issues (land, participation, health care, strengthening of INDI, among others), all of which were accepted.

Within the scope of the Inter-American System of Human Rights Protection (IASPHR), on 14 July 2021, the registration procedure was completed for 7,701 hectares located in the Irala Fernández district, Presidente Hayes Department, which were acquired by the State and titled in the name of the Xákmok Kásek community, of the Sanapaná people.^[ix] The legalisation and titling of the lands in the name of the community forms partial compliance with the reparations ordered by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in its 2010 ruling, with 2,999 hectares still outstanding.

Emerging players and visibility

Since 2020, the Articulación Nacional Indígena por una Vida Digna (National Indigenous Coordination for a Dignified Life), formed of 18 Indigenous organisations from the Eastern region and the Chaco, has been advocating on issues such as land and territory, education, health and the integral development for their communities. This Coordination presented a budget proposal to the National Congress and, through its actions, made it possible for INDI to avoid the cuts initially proposed by the Executive. In 2021, they again submitted proposals to the State and held a march through Asunción with the participation of around 2,500 people.

Mario J. Barrios Cáceres is an attorney and independent consultant. He is a university lecturer and a member of the Asamblea de Tierraviva a los Pueblos Indígenas del Chaco.

This article is part of the 36th edition of The Indigenous World, a yearly overview produced by IWGIA that serves to document and report on the developments Indigenous Peoples have experienced. The photo above is of Indigenous Women standing up and taking the lead in the land rights struggle of their community in Jharkhand, India. This photo was taken by Signe Leth, and is the cover of the Indigenous World 2022 where the article is featured. Find The Indigenous World 2022 in full here

Notes and references 

^[i] Última Hora. “Comunidades indígenas piden asistencia tras inundaciones en el Chaco.” [Indigenous communities ask for assistance after floods in the Chaco]. Última Hora, January 23, 2021. https://www.ultimahora.com/comunidades-indigenas-piden-asistencia-inundaciones-elchaco-n2924229.html

^[ii] CIDH  - IACHR [@CIDH]. “#Paraguay #CIDH y @DESCA_CIDH expresan (...)”. Twitter, August 26, 2021. https://twitter.com/CIDH/status/1431018959252475905

^[iii] There is no information on number of deaths by sex. The most affected departments were in the Western region: Boquerón (184 cases), Presidente Hayes (67 cases) and Alto Paraguay (51 cases), while in the Eastern region the worst affected departments were Alto Paraná (114 cases), Central (41 cases) and Canindeyú (38 cases). “Población indígena rural y urbana con casos confirmados de COVID-19” [Rural and urban Indigenous population with confirmed cases of COVID-19]. Plataforma digital Tierras Indígenas, as of September 30, 2021. https://experience.arcgis.com/ experience/2a1e7ad30b3549d18b298f51f911b524

^[iv] Última Hora. “Denuncian violento atropello a comunidad indígena de Caaguazú.” [Violent attack on Indigenous community of Caaguazú denounced]. Última Hora,March 18, 2021. https://www.ultimahora.com/denuncian-violento-atropello-comunidad-indigena-caaguazu-n2932212.html

^[v] Rodríguez, Miguel K. [@miguelkenchor]. “Esta es la manera que los pueblos (...)”. Twitter, March 25,2021. https://twitter.com/miguelkenchor/status/1375164525809434630

^[vi] Honouable Cámarade Senadores. Congreso Nacional. “En audiencia pública debaten suspender los desalojos mientras dure la pandemia.” [Suspension of evictions for the duration of the pandemic is debated in public hearing]. Honourable Chamber of Senators, August 6, 2021. http://www.senado.gov.py/index.php/noticias/noticias-generales/8317-en-audiencia-publica-debaten-suspender-los-desalojos-mientras-dure-lapandemia-2021-08-06-17-09-45

^[vii]  Comité de Derechos Humanos. “CCPR/C/132/D/2552/2015. Versión avanzada sin editar. 12 de octubre de 2021. Dictamen aprobado por el Comité a tenor del artículo 5, párrafo 4, del Protocolo Facultativo, respecto de la comunicación núm. 2552/2015*,**, ***.”  

^[viii] Human Rights Council. “Report of the Working Group on the Universal Periodic Review. Paraguay”. Human Rights Council, July 12, 2021. A/HRC/48/9, https://www.ecoi.net/en/file/local/2058940/A_HRC_48_9_E.pdf

^[ix] Tierraviva. “Otro avance en la restitución territorial a Xákmok Kásek.” [Further progress in the territorial recovery of Xákmok Kásek]. Tierraviva, July 2021. https://www.tierraviva.org.py/otro-avance-en-la-restitucion-territorial-a-xakmok-kasek/