2015-2019 San Miguel del Progreso files petition for constitutional protection against “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot”

On 11 December 2015, San Miguel del Progreso, supported by the Human Rights Centre of La Montaña – Tlachinollan (CDHM Tlachinollan), filed a second petition for constitutional protection (amparo) against the “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015” (Declaración de Libertad de Terreno) issued by the Ministry of Economy in the Official Gazette in November 2015(for information on first petition, see Legal Action entitled “2013-2016 San Miguel del Progreso files first challenge to mining concession).

The First Instance Federal Court in Chilpancingo admitted the petition (casefile 1402/2015) and ordered the suspension of any activity affecting the collective agrarian rights of the community in relation to the Corazón de Tinieblas and Reducción Norte de Corazón de Tinieblas mining concessions, pending the resolution of the case. This included the suspension of the “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015”.

The community filed the petition for constitutional protection (amparo) against the authorities on the basis of the impact of the “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015” on the community and its publication in the Official Gazette on 24 November 2015. According to the Mining Law, the publication of a “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot” results in the land being open to individuals or companies seeking new mining concessions. As a result, the petition argued that the declaration violated the agrarian and collective rights of the Me’phaa indigenous community as established in the Constitution and international human rights treaties, including the right to the comprehensive protection of their territory and the right to consultation.

The federal court judge assigned the case, requested two expert evidential reports from anthropologists on the culture and practices on the community of San Miguel del Progreso and the impact of the “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015” on the community. On 28 June 2017, the federal court judge issued her judgement (amparo indirecto 429/2016) finding in favour of San Miguel del Progreso in relation to the violation of their collective rights as an indigenous community, particularly the denial of the right to consultation as established in international human rights treaties. The judge ordered the Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015 to be revoked and without effect, and ordered the Ministry of Economy to respect the rights of the community, especially the right to consultation (CDHM Tlachinollan 2021: 110).

Various federal authorities filed an appeal against the ruling (recurso de revisión agrario 560/2017), but on 31 October 2019, a federal collegiate appellate court issued a settled judgement. This modified some aspects of the lower court sentence, but maintained the primary verdict that the “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015” violated the community’s rights as it was not consulted before the declaration was issued and as such created legal uncertainty and affected the communal rights of the indigenous community (CDHM Tlachinollan 2021: 115).

On 21 November 2019, the Director General of Mines revoked “Declaration of Vacant Mining Lot 02/2015” and on 21 November 2019 the revocation was published in the Official Gazette.