Bogotá, February 23, 2024. The organizations gathered at the General Assembly of the International Working Group for the Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact (GTI PIACI) issue a COMMON ALERT in order to make an URGENT call to prevent imminent extermination and to request full respect for the rights of Indigenous Peoples in isolation or in their natural state of initial contact in Colombia.
We regionally unite with the voice of the National Organization of Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC), a member of GTI PIACI, to demand compliance with national and international regulations and to avoid the violation of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Initial Contact and Isolation, with particular emphasis on cases under precautionary measures such as Mapayerri, Nükak, and the Yuri - Passé.
In seeking immediate prevention and protection measures, it is our interest to highlight the constant and serious situation of rights violations and threats to the survival of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact. The constant pollution of rivers due to mining activities jeopardizes their survival, and the presence of illegal actors in their territories poses a risk of contact and is a looming threat to the lives of neighboring Indigenous Peoples, who are their primary guardians.
The humanitarian crisis of Indigenous Peoples in initial contact, such as the case of the Nükak Indigenous People, highlights the lack of compliance and effectiveness of public policies to guarantee the rights of these peoples, who are subjects of special protection due to their extreme vulnerability and the constant threats they face for their survival. There is a lack of prevention policies regarding substance abuse and gender-based violations. We must work together to prevent and ensure the non-repetition of cases like that of the young Duber Meiku Nijbe Mujpabu, a Nükak Indigenous individual, who died under strange circumstances in San José del Guaviare (Colombia) in February 2024.
The circumstances surrounding Duver's unfortunate death are part of an extreme vulnerability context for children, adolescents, and youth of the Nukak People, and the Colombian State's failure to address this situation as a public health problem, with a focus on peoples in initial contact. The humanitarian situation of the Nukak People, as well as that of the Jiw People, is severely affected, among other factors, by the consumption of psychoactive substances, sexual violence against children, girls, and women, and the racism that persists in these regions against these peoples.
We REJECT the modification of the FORESTRY AND WILDLIFE LAW (LFFS), which was promoted without consultation and illegally in the Congress of the Republic of Peru. Its approval by insistence represents a serious danger to Indigenous peoples and those in initial contact, jeopardizing their subsistence and integrity as environmental defenders, forests, biological diversity, and their collective rights, allowing the advancement of activities such as illegal logging, agriculture, mining, invasion, and land trafficking, among others.
We DENOUNCE the situation affecting our Indigenous Ayoreo Totobiegosode brothers and sisters in Paraguay, who are being affected by the presentation of the bill "ESTABLISHING THE VOLUNTARY TRUST FOR THE PROTECTION AND PRESERVATION OF THE AYOREO TOTOBIEGOSODE COMMUNITIES IN ISOLATION AND INITIAL CONTACT IN THE CORE AREA OF THE AYOREO TOTOBIEGOSODE NATURAL AND CULTURAL HERITAGE," especially Article 8, which stipulates that INDI has the authority to grant legal personality to silvicultural communities in isolation benefiting from a trust, violating international agreements regarding the defense and protection of territory.
Therefore, GTI PIACI urges authorities and governments to IMMEDIATELY fulfill their legal duties aimed at safeguarding the physical and cultural survival, recognition, and effectiveness of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact, taking decisive measures against mining exploitation, immediate protection, and guaranteeing the rights of these peoples.
We also invite the governments of Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Paraguay, Peru, Suriname, and Venezuela to progress in guaranteeing the rights of Indigenous Peoples in isolation and initial contact in their territories, working together in their protection as many inhabit border areas.
The International Working Group Of Indigenous Peoples In Isolation And Initial Contact (GTI PIACI) extends its hand to provide technical support as needed.
TECHNICAL SECRETARIAT
INTERNATIONAL WORKING GROUP OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES IN ISOLATION AND INITIAL CONTACT (GTI PIACI)
Signed by:
Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP) - Perú.
Amazon Conservation Team (ACT) - Colombia.
Centro de Estudios Jurídicos e Investigación Social (CEJIS) - Bolivia.
Centro de Trabalho Indigenista (CTI) - Brasil.
Consejo Machiguenga del Río Urubamba (COMARU) - Perú.
Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia Brasileira (COIAB) - Brasil.
Equipe de Apoio aos Povos Indígenas Livres (EAPIL) - Conselho Indigenista Missionário (CIMI) - Brasil.
Federación Nativa del Río Madre de Dios y Afluentes (FENAMAD) - Perú.
Grupo Social Fondo Ecuatoriano Populorum Progressio (GSFEPP) - Ecuador.
Grupo Socioambiental Wataniba - Venezuela.
Iniciativa Amotocodie - Paraguay.
Instituto Maira - Brasil.
Land is Life - Global.
Organization of Indigenous Peoples in Suriname (OIS) - Suriname.
Observatório pelos Direitos Humanos dos Povos Indígenas Isolados e de Recente Contato - (OPI) - Brasil.
Organización Nacional de los Pueblos Indígenas de la Amazonía Colombiana (OPIAC) - Colombia.
Organización Regional de los Pueblos Indígenas del Oriente (ORPIO) - Perú.
Organización Regional de AIDESEP-Ucayali (ORAU) - Perú.