Indigenous People’s Rights
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples states that indigenous communities have rights to “give or withhold their free, prior and informed consent to actions that affect their lands, territories, and natural resources,” including ancestral lands and waters. These rights are further protected under the International Covenant on Economic Social and Cultural Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, as well as labor agreements like the International Labour Organization Indigenous and Tribal People’s Convention. However, in practice, these rights are often either unrecognized or blatantly ignored.[36]
In the United States, indigenous communities, especially those who are part of tribes that have not been recognized by the states, face threats to their water use for subsistence, fishing, and business, as well as for the survival of their cultural practices. The state of California, for instance, recently converted the waterways that had been used for the Winnemem Wintu’s puberty ceremony to a recreational park, putting the tribe’s privacy and access at risk.[37]
Indigenous people in the United States lack clean water and sanitation at a rate of 13%, more than twice the national average.[38]
And there are parts of the United States inhabited by Native Americans and Alaskan Natives where the proportion of homes that lack complete water and sanitation facilities reaches nearly 40%.[39]
In Guatemala, where UUSC works with the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas of Sipakapa (AIPAS) and the Commission for Peace and Ecology (COPAE), international mining firm Goldcorp began extractive metal mining on Sipakapense land without carrying out any of the consultation with indigenous people that international law requires under provisions for free, prior, informed consent.[40]
Water is, indeed, vital to all life on earth, but many argue that securing the human right to water for indigenous people is particularly critical. It not only supports daily existence and livelihoods, but often holds spiritual or cultural importance for the continuation of threatened indigenous traditions and institutions.[41]
Partner Spotlight: AIPAS and COPAE
UUSC has a longtime relationship with the Association of the Indigenous Peoples of the Americas of Sipakapa (AIPAS) in Guatemala. The Sipakapanese people have worked tirelessly to mobilize and empower their local indigenous communities to protect their water quality, rights, and access.
The Sipakapaneses organized when their communities came under threat from international mining company Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine operation. The Guatemalan government had granted hundreds of mining permits in the San Marcos region without complying with international and domestic laws on free, prior, informed consent of the affected indigenous communities.
Sipakapense activist Juan Tema explains that he was motivated to begin his advocacy because of “the problems that were generated from having the mine in the area . . . when our communities don’t have water service and don’t even have access to water.”[42] To meet their needs, people collect rains in the winter, go to rivers in the summer, and sometimes have to buy water (by the gallon from people who do have water access).
He notes that the Sipakapenses have done research and “learned that these kinds of mines can’t operate without water. And worst of all, they use enormous quantities of water, which also puts at risk the quality of those enormous quantities of water. . . . There have been many studies on the quality of water and one of the most dangerous problems are the elevating levels of heavy metals.” The Sipakapenses began to experience water scarcity. More than 50% of their homes do not have water. And on top of all of that, Tema reports, “We have lack of confidence in the water that we actually have.”[43]
Tema explains that at first they educated people about their human right to water and about the possible affects of the mine. They did an inventory of water resources and found that many of the natural springs and streams have disappeared. In 2008, UUSC worked with AIPAS and the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology (COPAE) to train community members to monitor their water quality near the mining operation. The Sipakapaneses then used that data to bring a complaint through the Guatemalan court system and ultimately to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), and they won precautionary measures to protect their water access.
UUSC expert volunteers and staff worked with Sipikapa community leaders to monitor and report on water quality and compel Goldcorp to provide reclamation for the affected area. The Sipakapanese participated in a national commission to determine whether Guatemala would comply with the IACHR’s ruling. In 2012, the Sipakapaneses and COPAE were successful, convincing the government to hold the mine accountable for environmental violations and enact legislation to install community water systems in Sipakapa and San Miguel Ixtuacan.
These victories are extraordinary, but Tema reports that the Sipakapenses continue to face obstacles to realizing the human right to water. He reports, “We have a serious problem with the way the precautionary measures are being implemented. . . . The mine had agreed to pay, but now they are saying they do not have a responsibility to pay. They’ve pushed that on the government.” The Sipakapenses have been cut out of recent negotiations.
Tema expresses thanks to UUSC for being dedicated supporters, when other support faded. As the struggle continues, he notes that he and his colleagues do not get paid for their work, they have no benefits, and yet they must continue to work for a solution. As Tema declares, “We are doing this for the people. We don’t want this problem to go on. We need to have it resolved.”[44]
[36] B.W. Morse, “Indigenous Peoples and Water Rights: Does the United Nations’ Adoption of the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples Help?,” Journal of Water Law 20, no. 5–6 (2009): 254–67; Barbara Rose Johnston et al., Water Cultural Diversity, and Global Environmental Change (Dordrecht: Springer, 2012), xviii; Daphina Misiedjan and Joyeeta Gupta, “Indigenous Communities: Analyzing their Right to Water under Different International Legal Regimes.” Utrecht Law Review 10, no. 2 (May 2014): 77–90.
[37] United Nations, “As with So Many Other Human Rights, Indigenous Peoples Suffer Disproportionate Violations of Right to Safe Water, Sanitation, Permanent Forum Told,” HR/5061 (May 24, 2011), http://www.un.org/press/en/2011/hr5061.doc.htm.
[38] United Nations, Report of the Special Rapporteur on the Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation, Catarina de Albuquerque: Mission to the United States of America, A/HRC/18/33 (August 2, 2011), 14.
[39] Jennifer Lai, Brittany Tucker, Stephen Gasteyer, and Julius Moss, “Dry Counties: Variance in Lack of Household Access to Complete Plumbing Facilities in the United States,” Conference Presentation, American Sociological Association, Chicago, Ill., August 22, 2015.
[40] On Common Ground Consultants, Inc., Human Rights Assessment of Goldcorp’s Marlin Mine: Executive Summary (2010), 12, http://www.hria-guatemala.com/en/docs/Human%20Rights/OCG_HRA_exec_summary.pdf.
[41] OHCHR, “The Right to Water,” Fact Sheet 35, 23, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Publications/FactSheet35en.pdf.
[42] Juan Tema, interview by author, December 10, 2014.
[43] Juan Tema, interview by author, December 10, 2014.
[44] Juan Tema, interview by author, December 10, 2014.
