Positive developments have occurred in Honduras where the authorities have increasingly created national programmes for Garifuna and other indigenous peoples.
As an indigenous and tribal people, Garífuna are entitled to rights and freedoms through the national Constitution as well as through ILO Convention No. 169, of which Honduras is a signatory. According to Article 346 of the Constitution, the Honduran government must ’adopt measures to protect the rights and interests of indigenous communities in the country, especially the lands and forests where they have settle’. However, Garifuna activists say that the current government disputes their status as a people, based on the belief that they came to the country from elsewhere, to which Garifuna themselves point out that they were present in Honduras long before the country became independent. Moreover, Article 107 of the Constitution prevents the sale of coastal lands to foreigners, but overseas tourism interests have been quick to find loopholes.
The Garífuna community is particularly exposed to discrimination and human rights violations. Against a backdrop of entrenched discrimination, violence against Garífuna members also persists. For example, after two Garífuna members were killed with extreme brutality Amnesty International sent a public letter in November 2013 to all presidential candidates highlighting the various structural challenges that Garífuna members face. These include inadequate access to public services and decision-making processes, the absence of justice regarding crimes and abuses against the Garífuna, and the weak enforcement of the right to free, prior and informed consent. It called for greater protections for both Garífuna and indigenous communities from rights violations by state officials and non-state actors.
Tourism-related issues pose the greatest danger on the mainland and at least four Garífuna communities on the north coast of Honduras are under unprecedented threat of disappearance. For over two centuries the remote isolation of the Honduran coast and the social marginalization of Garífuna beachfront communities served as a measure of protection. However, a new dynamic began to emerge following public statements in 2001 from the Honduran Tourism Secretary which claimed that hundreds of kilometres of pristine sun-drenched North Coast beaches were being wasted and should be ‘developed for strong tourism.’ In the years that followed many Garífuna have been evicted from their land in the Tela Bay region in northern Honduras, such as in Tornabé by government designation of a National Park and an environmental protected area. This property was later transferred to the Honduran Tourism Institute (IHT) which engaged in joint ventures with private sector interests.
Tela Bay has been developed into a major tourist destination by the Tela Bay Touristic Development Society (DTBT). The first of the Tela Bay hotel resorts opened in 2013 and in September 2014, armed police evicted approximately 400 Garífuna individuals from land that was later illegally sold to San Pedro Sula businessmen.
Repression has occurred against Garífuna leaders and communities working to defend communal territory, resources and culture from the mega-project. They have faced arson attacks, trumped up criminal charges, as well as abduction and threats at gunpoint by paramilitaries hired by real estate companies seeking to pressure Garífuna to sell their land.
Nevertheless, Garifuna community leaders have continued their struggle. After petitioning the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in 2003, the Commission took their case to the Inter-American Court on Human Rights in 2013, specifically the Honduran government’s violation of the collective property rights as well as the lack of judicial remedies for two Garifuna communities – Triunfo de la Cruz and Punta Piedra. After two years of deliberations, the Court ruled in favour of the communities in 2015. In December 2016, the Fraternal Black Honduran Organization (La Organización Fraternal Negro Hondureño, OFRANEH) noted that the government had still not begun implementation of the Court’s decision.
In addition to the violence and urgent land rights issues, Garifuna community leaders are also worried about the continued outflow of Garifuna migrants, especially to the United States. The migration was especially intense during 2013 and 2014, with as many as 60 Honduran Garifuna reportedly riding each day on top of the notorious and dangerous ‘La Bestia’ freight train heading north across Guatemala and Mexico to the United States border. The route is controlled by traffickers who demand large fees. Garifuna women who return have reported that they ended up in exploitative working situations. Garifuna activists note that some of their schools are virtually empty because of a large number of children also migrating to the United States. They worry about the threat this population depletion poses to the continued survival of Garifuna culture.
Source link : https://minorityrights.org/communities/garifuna-2/
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Publish date : 2024-01-23 08:27:58
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