The right to a future
How would you feel if you encountered fences, violence, and large machinery in the land you have been calling home for centuries. Unfortunately, this is the day-to-day reality to the Indigenous Peoples communities in Paraguay. They have been isolated from the urbanized world and now see their land, their home being colonized by large soy producers, or the bureaucratic processes mastered by rich landowners. With this destruction of their ancestral land these communities lose their right to a future and have nowhere to go to be able to live in accordance with their traditional livelihoods.
Derecho Al Futuro
To give an insight in the environmental issues and the violation of human rights in Paraguay the report 'Derecho Al Futuro' ('the Right to a Future') was published last August. This report was co-created in the aftermath of the Third Cycle of the UPR (Universal Periodic Review), a process that involves a review of the human rights situation of all United Nation Member States. The report ‘Human Rights, Businesses and Environment’ presented at the Human Rights Council, was the result of a collaborative process in which several local partners took part, together with WWF-Paraguay and VCA (Voices for just Climate Action).
During initial workshops, these actors provided valuable insights in personal challenges regarding the violation of universal human rights such as access to water, food security, and environmental degradation impacting their livelihoods and surroundings.
Failure to protect the human rights
The report shows the stories of 20 specific cases, related to environmental damage, in which the Paraguayan government fails to protect the human rights and environmental degradation of the site with its communities living there. These stories are gathered by investigation journalists and compiled to present an overview of the diversity of challenges Paraguayan communities face. All these challenges are linked to either forestry issues, agribusiness, or the violation of basic universal rights. The most vulnerable to these challenges are often the Indigenous Peoples and local communities who have lived in the forests for centuries and now see the ecosystem services provided by their ancestral land decline.
Deforestation, agriculture & health risks
One of these cases, shows the challenges of a community living in voluntary isolation in the Paraguayan forests, the Ayoreo Totobiegosode people. These Indigenous Peoples are excluded from legal administrative procedures of the ownership rights of this land as their historical land has been assigned to large landowners or real estate companies.
These people, the last indigenous community in voluntary isolation in America outside the Amazon, derive their livelihoods from hunting and gathering in the forest. However, their existence is now being threatened by the rapid pace of deforestation and they are excelled out of the forest, forced to leave their ancestral land, and move into the industrialized society. As a result, the Ayoreo people now must act as forced guardians of the forest, facing fences, large machineries, drug traffickers, violence and violated human rights.
Another case illustrates the effects pesticides have on the 20,000 people living in the rural area of Edelira. These toxins are being sprayed on the crop fields by low flying agricultural planes. This fumigation, however, does not only reach the crop fields, but it also affects the people living near these fields. These agrochemicals have a cumulative effect on the body causing maldevelopment, sickness or even death. Whilst there are provisions in place to guard people and animals from these pesticides, these regulations are rarely observed. The large farm companies are rarely held accountable for their contributions to these health risks and violation of these basic human rights.
Importance of the stories
It is important these stories are told to underline the pressure and consequences these communities face due to ongoing process of land-use change, in favor of large-scale agribusiness and cattle ranching, and their struggle to secure basic universal human rights on the daily basis. These stories also show that current measures, like the 'Zero Deforestation Law' adopted in 2004 by the Paraguayan State for the Eastern Region of the country, are not sufficient and the deforestation in ongoing. The report stresses the need for an ongoing dialogue between and the inclusion of Indigenous communities, local stakeholders, and the Paraguayan state to protect the most vulnerable communities.
The first step within the international dialogue has been taken by the European Union by accepting a deforestation law this September. This law must ensure basic human rights are being met within the producing areas of imported goods. However, the specifics of this new regulation still need to be discussed and thereafter enforced. Within this light it is extremely important these stories are being told to ensure their inclusion and provide a safe future to those who are most vulnerable.
The stories from Paraguay
Read the stories from the report 'The right to a future' and discover how the rights of the people in Paraguay are violated.
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