From: hrcoord@igc.apc.org (Human Rights Coordinator)
Newsgroups: soc.rights.human
Subject: Indigenous Peoples: End Abuse
Date: 11 Oct 92 14:52:00 GMT
Nf-ID: #N:cdp:1476700610:000:6947
Nf-From: cdp.UUCP!hrcoord    Oct 11 07:52:00 1992


From: Human Rights Coordinator <hrcoord>
Subject: Indigenous Peoples: End Abuse

/* Written 10:05 pm  Oct 10, 1992 by aiusala@igc.apc.org in igc:ai.general */
Tuesday October 6, 1992

                       THE AMERICAS:
           AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL CALLS FOR END TO
       CENTURIES OF ABUSE OF INDIGENOUS HUMAN RIGHTS

     The time has come for governments throughout the
Americas to stop turning their backs on the human rights of
indigenous peoples -- and end the hundreds of years of
violations they have suffered, Amnesty International said
today as it launched its latest report in Mexico City.  "For
centuries, governments have often treated the rights of
indigenous people with contempt," Amnesty International
said. "Torturing, 'disappearing', and killing them in the
tens of thousands and doing virtually nothing when others
murder them."
     In its report on indigenous peoples in the Americas --
released in the 500th anniversary year of the arrival of
Europeans in the region -- the organization said
discrimination against indigenous people means they are more
likely to have their rights trampled on in the first place
and then be let down by the justice system.    And those
most vulnerable have sometimes been hit hardest -- young
children have been extrajudicially executed; women have been
raped by soldiers during armed conflict; and isolated Indian
groups that have only recently come into contact with the
surrounding society have been killed with impunity by miners
and settlers.
     In one striking case a one-month old baby "disappeared"
with her mother in 1990 when they were among 85 Indian
peasants seized by Guatemalan soldiers. Most of the others
were returned to their village; Mar!a Josefa Tiu Toj!n and
her daughter have not been seen since.
     As part of its ongoing work on indigenous peoples,
Amnesty International is calling on governments to urgently
tackle some of the key issues on indigenous human rights by
carrying out effective investigations into abuses against
indigenous peoples, bringing to justice those responsible
and justly resolving land disputes that all too often lead
to abuses.
     For the 1993 Year for the World's Indigenous People the
organization is pushing for all governments to establish
commissions to review their country's record in implementing
all international human rights standards for indigenous
people.  "Disputes over land and resources are often at the
root of many of the human rights abuses against indigenous
people," Amnesty International said. "Thousands have also
died, 'disappeared' or been tortured when they've been
caught in the middle of the 'war on drugs' or civil
conflicts."
     Some of the most horrific human rights violations
inflicted on indigenous peoples have taken place during the
armed conflicts that have racked countries such as Colombia,
El Salvador, Guatemala, and Peru. Entire villages were
destroyed and thousands of indigenous peasants massacred
during the height of the armed conflict in Guatemala in the
early 1980s and in Peru thousands of Indians have been
tortured and killed by both sides when the loyalties of
whole communities have been questioned. In Colombia, three
Arhuaco indigenous leaders were abducted, tortured and
killed in 1990 on suspicion that they sympathized with an
armed opposition group that operated in their territories
despite the Indians' protests; the army officers implicated
in the killings are still in active service.
     Attacks on Indians in many countries including Brazil,
Chile, Honduras, and Venezuela have often been stepped up
during disputes over land -- which is frequently wanted by
the state or others for mining, logging, energy or tourism
projects. In Brazil alone, scores of Indians have been
murdered in land disputes with the apparent acquiescence of
the authorities and in Honduras 10 members of the Xicaque
tribes have been killed in recent years. In Canada,
inquiries into the allegations that several Mohawk Indians
were ill-treated by police in 1990 during a prolonged
confrontation over plans to develop a golf course near a
sacred burial site have still not been completed.
     The "war on drugs" has also taken its toll on
indigenous lives, especially because many indigenous peoples
live in drugs growing areas. A Quechua leader in Bolivia,
for example, was picked up and tortured by the security
police in 1989 because they believed he had protected a drug
trafficker, a charge he denied.
     "Prosecutions for such human rights abuses virtually
never happen - whether those responsible are state agents,
death squads or hired guns," Amnesty International said. In
Chile, the agents who arrested, "disappeared" and tortured
Mapuche Indian leaders following the coup in the early 1970s
were never brought to justice and in Brazil most killings of
indigenous peoples are never prosecuted.
     Indigenous peoples have at times been confronted by a
different side of the law, however, being subjected to
arbitrary detention and unfair trials. Last year in Mexico,
members of the Ch'ol and Tzeltal indigenous communities
peacefully protested against police abuse and discrimination
in the courts, with more than 100 of them arrested, kicked,
beaten and most of those threatened with death before being
released without charge. And in the USA, Amnesty
International has expressed concern about the fairness of
trials of American Indian Movement leaders, including
Leonard Peltier who was convicted of the murder of two
Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) agents. In his case
there is concern that fabricated evidence was used to
extradite him from Canada and that FBI misconduct prejudiced
the fairness of his trial.
     "The leaders of indigenous movements have often been
singled out for attack when they speak out on environmental
issues, land claims or discrimination and are seen as a
threat to government policies," Amnesty International said.
In Ecuador, for example, indigenous leaders involved in land
disputes have been particularly singled out as targets of
abuse including harassment, torture and killing.  Despite
that risk, groups defending indigenous rights have been
formed in increasing numbers in recent years. A number of
major protest marches have been held in countries like
Bolivia and Ecuador, relatives of victims have joined
together in Guatemala and indigenous peoples are
increasingly forming regional or international organizations
to press for their rights to be respected.
     "From the local to the international level, the message
is that the centuries of violating the rights of the
region's original inhabitants must end once and for all,"
Amnesty International said. "That's a message to governments
not only in the Americas, but also in other regions of the
world."
                            -30-

{The above report is available from AIUSA, 322 Eighth
Avenue, NY, NY 10001, at a cost of $9.75 including shipping
and handling.}