Book Description

The Guide to Indigenous Peoples' Rights in the Inter-American Human Rights System is one of an IWGIA's handbook series and aims to provide indigenous peoples and organizations with practical information to support their effective use of Inter-American human rights mechanisms and procedures for the vindication of their rights. While these procedures are far from perfect and certainly will not remedy all human rights problems, their use by indigenous peoples has led to concrete gains at the national and local levels in the past and can be expected to continue to do so in the future. Their use also further reinforces and develops indigenous rights norms at the international level, which provides additional strength to local and national advocacy and reform efforts. The guide sets out in detail how the Inter-American human rights system works. It summaries what rights are protected, with a focus on those of particular importance to indigenous peoples. It also provides detailed guidance on how to submit petitions to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Summaries of relevant cases and judgments that have already passed through the system or ones that are in progress are also included. These cases and judgments show how the system deals with indigenous rights and provide concrete examples of how a case can be moved through the system, a illustrating some of the points made in the section on how to submit a petition. Finally, the last chapter of the book deals with the Proposed American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. Throughout the text, links are made to web sites containing relevant documents and the full text of cases or reports discussed.