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On the 4th and 5th of November more than 500 Shawi leaders gathered in the community of Nueva Vida, on the banks of the Paranapura River, to elect the new Mashuin, or President, of the Shawi Autonomous Territorial Government. Reninmer Huiñapi Cardenas, from the community of Inchiyac, was elected by popular vote and became the second Shawi Mashuin, for the period 2023-2027. "We are going to defend our territory and consolidate the great dream to have our integral territory recognised," said the new leader.
As part of the regional seminar Right to autonomy and indigenous justice, the leader of the Wayúu people explains how communities are affected by wind farms set up in La Guajira: from the war amongst families, to damage to vision and hearing. The Colombian Caribbean leader speaks about his people's vision of self-government, the practice of ‘palabreo’ and the link to their territory.
Throughout 2022, an increasing number of Indigenous Human Rights Defenders who engaged with the United Nations have experienced intimidation, harassment, threats, derogatory media campaigns, travel bans, arbitrary arrests and detention, torture and ill-treatment, disbarment, or dismissal from their posts, amongst other human rights violations.
Indigenous justice recognizes that communities have their own organizational structures and allows them to execute their own norms under the guarantee of the nation-state. In this sense, the law promotes harmonious social coexistence and cooperation between ordinary, Indigenous and agro-environmental justice. Despite the existence of a broad regulatory framework that recognizes the plurality of jurisdictions, there are still many obstacles to the exercise of and respect for Indigenous law. It is necessary that Indigenous peoples strengthen their organizations, know their norms and teach the importance of these norms to the new generations.
Regional Seminar on Indigenous Justice. Photo: María Cerezo
The 2008 Constitution of the Republic of Ecuador establishes Ecuador as a plurinational and intercultural country. One of the most important areas of progress has been that of recognizing Indigenous justice systems to resolve conflicts in their own territories when they affect basic principles such as ama llulla, ama killa, ama shwa and ranti ranti. Taking their own customs, law and socio-economic situation into consideration, sanctions other than imprisonment are imposed. Nevertheless, while the two justice systems should be hierarchically equal, the ordinary justice system in practice limits the powers of the Indigenous authorities while at the same time depriving more than 600 Indigenous people of their freedom.
IWGIA - International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs - is a global human rights organisation dedicated to promoting, protecting and defending Indigenous Peoples’ rights. Read more.
