Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant persons

Indigenous peoples and Afro-descendant persons

416. 
     In the case of indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, violence to a large extent grows out of the struggle for land and territory, which is exacerbated by the conditions of inequality and discrimination facing these groups and the attendant barriers to their access to justice. In this section, the Commission shall address the situation of indigenous peoples and Afro-descendants in Honduras, especially the situation of Miskito divers.
     

417. 
     The IACHR highlights with concern the information that indicates that indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples suffer from higher levels of poverty than the rest of the country's population. In that regard, the Concluding observations on the combined initial and second to fifth periodic reports of Honduras of the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination observed that the indigenous peoples and Afro-Honduran communities were particularly badly affected by poverty and social exclusion (especially the Garifunas and the English-speaking Afro-Hondurans).⁵⁷⁰ Malnutrition and the lack of access to services was constantly presented by civil society organizations as a problem for these groups that needed immediate attention because, as a result of it, the indigenous peoples were being forced to leave their communities.⁵⁷¹
     

418. 
     The CERD referred to the figures provided by Honduras, which indicated that poverty is affecting 88.7% of indigenous and Afro-Honduran children (relative poverty―10.4%; extreme poverty―78.4%).⁵⁷² It also indicated that, according to data provided by the State, poverty is a particular problem among Tolupan, Lenca, and Pech children, where figures of over 88% are reported.⁵⁷³ In particular, the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples record lower literacy rates than the rest of the population, high levels of malnutrition, and a high rate of contagious and infectious diseases. These inequalities are more marked among indigenous and Afro-descendant women. The maternal mortality rate among indigenous women is also substantially higher than that among non-indigenous women.⁵⁷⁴
     

419. 
     The CERD urged Honduras to continue implementing social inclusion policies and identity-based development programs that reduce inequalities and poverty with a view to eliminating structural and historical discrimination in the State.⁵⁷⁵ It also recommended that action be taken to break the link between poverty and racism, inter alia, by the adoption of special measures or affirmative action.⁵⁷⁶ Such action should include multilingual intercultural education activities, bearing in mind the need to strengthen or revive the languages of the indigenous peoples and Afro-Honduran communities.
     

420. 
     Furthermore, at meetings held during the visit, the Commission noted with concern that leaders and defenders of the Garifuna People complained that the State was rendering their identity and culture invisible by not calling them Garifuna, but rather "Afro-Hondurans," in addition to constantly targeting them as victims of racism.⁵⁷⁷ On this point, as the Commission indicated in the case involving the Garifuna community of Triunfo de la Cruz and its members (Case 12.548), the Garifuna people, the product of cultural syncretism between indigenous and African peoples, have asserted their rights in Honduras as an indigenous people.⁵⁷⁸ The Garifuna people have preserved their own cultural forms, organizations, and social and cultural institutions, their way of life, worldview, customs, practices, ceremonial rites, language, clothing, and their special relationship to the earth. Those factors make the Garifunas a unique culture and ethnic group, whose members share social, cultural, and economic characteristics not found in other sectors of Honduran society, particularly the special relationship with the land they occupied historically, as well as their collective notion of ancestral property.⁵⁷⁹ Regarding this, the IACHR urges the State to recognize and protect the identity of the Garifuna People and protect them against racial discrimination. About this specific matter, the IACHR points out that prevailing attitudes of discrimination involving race contribute to the vulnerability of the indigenous peoples. On occasion, these attitudes are the reasons behind acts of violence, as they contribute to stereotypical and discriminatory perceptions against the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples. On other occasions, these attitudes are evident in the disdainful responses from state authorities and society in general and in the omissions made when providing assistance when it is needed, which renders the indigenous peoples more vulnerable and therefore more prone to becoming potential victims.
     

421. 
     The IACHR also received information of concern about the impact of some events on further spreading poverty in these communities. For example, the Garifuna Community of Santa Rosa indicated that, because of the activities of businessmen who are growing African palm trees for oil in the Department of Colón, the course of the Aguán River has changed, and this has had devastating consequences for their environment and their access to water, because of the high salt content of the river, in collusion with local authorities.⁵⁸⁰ Likewise, the members of the Community of Nueva Armenia indicated that they had been the victims of extortion and that several of their houses had been burned down. Members of the Community of Cristals indicated that their water supply, over which the community had ancestral rights, had been allegedly destroyed by the local authority. The IACHR urges the State to investigate these complaints and to identify those responsible, where appropriate.
     

422. 
     During the visit, the Commission went to the indigenous community of San Juan and was able to ascertain the disastrous state of the main streets. “In summer there is a bulldozer because there are tourists and they repair the street for them, but then it gets damaged again,” remarked a young Garifuna to the delegation.
     

423. 
     The Commission visited the health center of this community, but it had no physician but rather a local resident with nursing skills. When asked about this, a Garifuna woman explained to the IACHR: “There is no doctor and there are no medicines. If you get really sick, you have to go all the way to Tela in a taxicab and it costs 100 lempiras or more.” In addition, residents of Colonia D’Antoni voiced their concern about alleged continuous pollution as a result of hospital waste from the Hospital Regional Atlántida, which is affecting the population.
     

424. 
     Civil society organizations indicated that there is no legislation or regulation enforcing the rights recognized in Convention No. 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO), ratified by the State in 1994. They complained that the Law on Employment and Economic Development Zones (Zonas de Empleo y Desarrollo Económico―ZEDES) “has placed the Garifuna People in imminent danger of being expelled from the northern coastal region of Honduras.”⁵⁸¹ They allege that this law envisages the establishment of "model cities" and that five of them would be in Garifuna communities who had not been consulted about it. As for the State, it informed the IACHR during the visit that it "recognizes the right of ethnic groups to protection and holding of land." As an example of this, it indicated the recent transfer of land to some "indigenous peoples."
     

425. 
     The IACHR urges the State of Honduras to implement public policies that tackle the needs of the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples, especially socioeconomic marginalization, by means of effective measures that combat poverty and improve education and employment. Any initiative, program, and policy for the indigenous and Afro-descendant peoples must be adapted to their needs and concerns and must be consulted with these groups.
     

426. 
     The State must also step up its actions to respect and guarantee land and adopt the state measures needed to fulfill its obligation to ensure prior, free, and informed consultation of the indigenous peoples about projects to be developed on their land and territories and that affect their natural resources, taking into consideration the special relationship between these peoples and the land and natural resources.