This article is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, Native News Online, and APTN.
when you're around 70,000 indigenous Maasai people They were expelled from their land in northern Tanzania in 2022, but it did not happen suddenly. The Tanzanian government has systematically attacked and imprisoned Maasai communities for years. Maasai leaders and land defenders on trumped-up charges, confiscate livestockusing deadly violenceThe lifestyle of the Maasai pastoralists is causing environmental degradation—A lifestyle formed and sustained The land where the Maasai people have lived for centuries. This increase in criminalization, especially in the face of extraction, development, and conservation, has been noted in indigenous communities around the world, which have been a key focus of this criminalization. report It was announced this week at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the world's largest gathering of indigenous activists, policymakers and leaders.
“This is a very serious concern, as indigenous peoples who have resisted the takeover of their lands and territories are the most commonly faced with these charges and criminalization.” said Victoria Tauri-Copes, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Human Rights. Indigenous people spoke at a packed panel discussion on the topic Tuesday. “We need to focus on criminalization, as this instills fear in indigenous communities and also inhibits their ability to assert their right to self-determination.”
The report, The Criminalization of Indigenous Human Rights, reveals the mechanisms by which indigenous peoples around the world increasingly face criminalization and rights violations with impunity. Indigenous rights to land, subsistence, and governance are often poorly enforced, if at all, and lead to violations when they intersect with the interests of governments and third parties, particularly in extractive industries and conservation. Masu. Historical discrimination, coupled with a lack of access to justice for indigenous rights holders, including environmentalists, human rights defenders, journalists, and local communities, has led to higher rates of arrest and incarceration.of report It provides recommendations to UN agencies, states and other relevant actors to appropriately address this growing threat.
Using criminal law to punish people and deter them from protesting and speaking out is how people generally understand criminalization, said a group that protects indigenous rights activists. said Fergus McKay, senior legal and policy advisor at Indigenous Rights International. . However, much of the criminalization faced by indigenous peoples actually stems from inadequate recognition or non-recognition of their rights by governments. „The lack of recognition of indigenous rights within the country's legal framework is at the heart of this issue,“ Mr Mackay said.
This is particularly true where those rights intersect with public land, protected land, or areas that overlap with mining interests. Maintenance, or climate mitigation measures. For example, in Canada, indigenous fishermen Federal fisheries officials are being arrested and harassed over treaty-protected fishing rights. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Baka indigenous people have been assaulted and imprisoned by ecoguards and prevented from using their customary forests. hired to protect wild animals. A 2018 study estimates that 250,000 or more Indigenous peoples are being displaced by carbon offset schemes, tourism, and other activities that lead to the creation of protected areas.
“Criminalization of indigenous peoples can also be seen as the criminalization of the exercise of indigenous rights,” said Naw Aye Aye, a member of Myanmar's indigenous Karen people and an expert member of UNPFII.・Min said during a panel discussion on Tuesday.
Defamation and slander campaigns through social media are often used to lead to false accusations, especially when indigenous peoples speak out against government-backed private companies investing in large-scale projects on their traditional lands. said Tauri-Corps. berta carcelesTauri Corpuz, a prominent indigenous Lenca environmental activist who opposed the development of the Agua Zarca dam in Honduras, was detained on trumped-up charges of land grabbing, coercion and illegal firearm possession before being murdered in 2016. was. The former special rapporteur was himself fined, along with approximately 30 other indigenous leaders. 2018 terrorist list This move by the Philippine government harshly criticized by the United Nations.
Criminalization has serious consequences. In 2021, out of 200 lands More than 40% of environmental activists killed around the world were indigenous. Despite making up only 6% of the world's population, indigenous peoples' defenders are largely unharmed, according to Indigenous Rights International, an organization founded to address growing concerns about the criminalization of indigenous peoples. I did. 20% of attacks from 2015 to 2022 And they were far more likely to be violently attacked.
of united nations report It also noted that Indigenous people have higher rates of incarceration and are at a disproportionate risk of being arrested. Dozens of members of the Wet'suwet'en First Nation, who have long protested the construction of the Coastal GasLink pipeline across unceded territory, have been arrested and are awaiting trial in Canada. That trial is currently on hold for the following charges: Excessive violence and harassment by police.
In countries like New Zealand and Australia, Indigenous people are already overrepresented in prisons.In Australia, although only 3% of the population is Australian, Aboriginal people are Almost 30% increase in incarcerated population. „This speaks to the racism and discrimination that actually exists, and that is the basis for bringing criminalization cases against them,“ Tauri-Corps said.
Indigenous journalists were included in this year's report as they are increasingly at risk of criminalization. 2020 Anastasia Mejía Tiliquis, K'iche Maya journalist in Guatemala arrested He was then charged with sedition after reporting protests against the city government. And just this year, Brandy Morin, an award-winning Cree/Iroquois/French journalist from Alberta's Treaty 6 territory, said: was arrested during that time Covering an Indigenous-led homeless camp in Edmonton.
Indigenous peoples are also affected by the increasing use of criminal law to inhibit free speech and protest. Since Native-led protests against the Dakota Access Pipeline on the Standing Rock Reservation erupted in 2016, 20 state legislators In the United States, a bill is being introduced that would gradually increase fines for pipeline protesters. Globally, laws targeting everything from anti-terrorism to national security to free speech have only increased the ability of states to criminally prosecute indigenous activists.
Orner Ortiz Bolivar, an indigenous Barre lawyer from Venezuela who works to protect the rights of indigenous communities, has suffered physical injuries due to his work in the Amazon, a region crowded with illegal miners, criminal organizations, and the government. They are targets of both violence and harassment. He competes for control of resources, especially gold. He has hitherto outspoken critic A government-designated mining area in southern Venezuela known as the Orinoco mining area. Now he fears new legislation will be introduced by the government. Maduro government storms CongressThe act of effectively turning dissent and protest against the government into a criminal act will seriously impact his ability to continue to speak out against such projects.
„We have a right in theory, but we don't have a right to put it into practice, so it's a contradiction,“ he said. “What they are doing is taking away the freedom of expression of Venezuelans and obviously indigenous peoples who are becoming increasingly vulnerable.”
Experts say the criminalization of indigenous peoples is likely to increase further as countries seek to meet the goal of protecting 30% of their land and waters by 2030, along with growing demand for transitional minerals. ing. After examining over 5000 existing „energy transition minerals“ projects, we found: more than half or near indigenous lands. For unmined deposits, the figure was even higher.
The report makes a series of recommendations to combat criminalization, including reforming national laws, improving measures to protect indigenous human rights defenders and access to justice, and preventing criminalization and its consequences. , emphasized the importance of promoting reversal and corrective efforts.