Accompaniment of Original Peoples/ Panama
HREV/LAC carries out a range of accompaniment processes of original peoples in Panama. In most cases there is a close link between economic megaprojects (mining, hydroelectricity, major infrastructure projects…) and threats to the territorial rights, political autonomy and the cultural survival of several of the peoples present in Panama.
HREV provides accompaniment to various original peoples in the country and has supported the submission of reports to United Nations committees, legal proceedings of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, independent observer missions to conflict areas and at times of conflict, and has helped to publicise indigenous problems and proposals both nationally and internationally.
See the Report on discrimination against the indigenous peoples of Panama for the 76th Session of the UN CERD Committee (Download )
These are some of the peoples and our work:
Naso Tjër Di
The Naso people, about 4,000 people, have been fighting for decades to achieve recognition for their territory and their political autonomy through the establishment of a Comarca (an officially-recognised indigenous region), as provided for by Panama’s legislation. However, non-indigenous politicians have delayed the creation of the Naso Tjër Di Comarca and have jeopardised the territory, located in a coveted area of Panama’s jungle, by the Costa Rican border.
Hydroelectric plants on the Bonyik River and the ambitions of cattle-ranchers and large landowners in the communities of San San and San San Drui have led to forced displacement, the persecution of leaders, repression…
HREV has accompanied the Naso in their struggle for the last two years, giving support by defending human rights and raising awareness of their cause, both nationally and internationally.
Ngäbe-Buglé
The Ngäbe and the Buglé, the majority original people in Panama, have been engaged in a hard struggle against mining and tourism megaprojects which are threatening their poverty-stricken Comarca. There have been blatant attacks on their political autonomy, persecution of their leaders and excessive and unjustified use of force by the State.
There was a particularly serious crisis in 2010 when the state security forces brutally broke up an Ngäbe protest in Bocas del Toro province, leaving at least 10 dead and 800 injured. HREV produced the only detailed independent report on the human rights violations committed during the crisis.
HREV supports these peoples by acting as independent observers of their processes and collaborating at times of crisis by attending to victims of human rights abuses as well as in raising awareness of their situation.
Read the Report on Human Rights Violations during the Changuinola protests
Read about the Election Observer Mission in the Ngäbe-Buglé Comarca
See the video on the Changuinola protests
Emberá-Wounaan
HREV has acted for years as an observer and supporter of the Emberá-Wounaan communities on the Pacific border between Panama and Colombia.
Persecution by Panama and Colombia’s security forces, being branding as collaborators with the irregular armed groups operating near the communities, as well as harassment by drugs-traffickers, mean that the small communities in this region are at constant risk of temporary displacement, and their members of being arrested and charged.
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