In 2010, the International Labour Organization (ILO) Committee of Experts on the Application of Conventions and Recommendations (CEACR) released a report criticizing Guatemala for, despite earlier comments made in 2005, 2006, and 2007, continuing to issue mining licences without consultation with indigenous communities and for failing to compensate indigenous communities for damages sustained or “makeContinue reading “2010 ILO Criticizes Guatemala on Mining and Indigenous Communities [Cerro Blanco]”
Subsoil Violated Right Archives
2005- Community Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]
Between 2005 and 2016, approximately 80 community consultations (consultas comunitarias), also known as popular consultations (consultas populares or consultas), were held across Guatemala, resulting in a large majority of citizens voting against mining and other commercial activities in their territories (Ardon, 2016). The “consulta movement” in Guatemala began in 2005 in response to a hydroelectric project in RíoContinue reading “2005- Community Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]”
2008- Moratoriums on Metallic Mining [Cerro Blanco]
In 2008, the Government of Guatemala, then led by President Álvaro Colom Caballeros of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, instituted a moratorium on issuing new mining licences. This moratorium was triggered by a successful constitutional challenge in 2008 of the country’s General Mining Law, which was raised in the context of opposition toContinue reading “2008- Moratoriums on Metallic Mining [Cerro Blanco]”
2013- IACHR Petition filed by Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples [Cerro Blanco]
In September 2013, the Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples filed a petition against Guatemala before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for systemic violation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala. This petition was filed in response to the Constitutional Court’s 2013 decision, dismissing an action brought by Guatemala’s Western Peoples’Continue reading “2013- IACHR Petition filed by Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples [Cerro Blanco]”
2011-2018 Constitutional Challenge of Draft Regulation on Indigenous Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]
On 23 March 2011, Guatemala’s Western Peoples’ Council of Mayan Organizations (CPO) brought an action before the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of a draft regulation, entitled “Regulations regarding the Consultation Process under the International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries”, which included a 30-day notice period fromContinue reading “2011-2018 Constitutional Challenge of Draft Regulation on Indigenous Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]”
