30
117.
Given the permanence of the invasion of settlers and the systematic failure of the State to
respect the agreements reached, on June 13, 1999, the Special Kuna General Congress of Madungandí
issued Resolution No. 1, which provides:
To demand of the Panamanian authorities the enforcement of Law 24 of 1996, subject to the
following actions: …
2. With respect to the settlers
a. Total eviction of the settlers found in the Kuna Comarca of Madungandí for failure to carry out
the agreements entered into between the authorities of Madungandí and the settlers, and above all
Law 24 of January 12, 1996.
b. To determine the authority of the sub-district, mayor’s office, governor’s office who will be in
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charge of seeing to the implementation of the agreements entered into.
118.
After that resolution, a meeting was held on July 21, 1999, at the National Bureau of
Indigenous Policy with the presence of the National Environmental Authority, the mayor of Chepo, the
Bureau of Agrarian Reform, the office of the governor of Panamá province, among other agencies and
offices. The purpose was “to seek a definitive solution to the land conflict between the Kuna indigenous
ethnicity of Madungandí and the peasants who have emigrated from the central provinces, settling in the
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communities of Wacuco, Loma Bonita, and Curtí.”
119.
Subsequently, the Ministry of Economy and Finance, through the “Darién Sustainable
Development Program,” financed by the Inter-American Development Bank, carried out the project of
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“Mesas de Concertación of the Bayano Zone.” In the context of this program meetings were held for
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dialogue with the authorities of the Kuna people and of the Emberá communities of Ipetí and Piriatí.
According to the information produced by the parties, on August 18, 1999, a meeting was held that
included the participation of the indigenous authorities; leaders of the peasants who had settled in Loma
Bonita, Curti, and Wacuco; and governmental authorities. As a result of that meeting, on August 19, 1999,
an “Agreement of Commitments” (“Acuerdo de Compromisos”) was signed. It established as follows:
1.
2.
3.
4.
That a rapid study of land tenure and appraisal of the disputed lands be carried out.
This study should be presented to the Secretariat for Inter-Institutional Coordination of the
Sustainable Development Program through a Multidisciplinary team with the participation
of Agrarian Reform, technical personnel, and commissioners of the Kuna Comarca of
Madungandí and from the peasant sector.
Request of the Technical Coordinating body and the Inter-American Development Bank
(IDB) that the necessary for carrying out the land tenure study be secured.
The study will take as a basis the other studies performed previously and should be done
on a priority basis. In addition one should take into consideration the censuses previously
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agreed upon by both parties.
…continuation
such as the use of mechanized equipment on their crops, …. Destroying the barbed wire fences by Wacuco.” Annex 11. Final
assessment document of the Mesa de Concertación of the Bayano Zone, July 2, 1999. p. 29. Annex 31 to petitioners’ initial petition
of May 11, 2000.
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Annex 37. Resolution No. 1 of the Extraordinary Kuna General Congress of Madungandí, June 13, 1999. Annex E to
Petitioners’ brief of additional observations on the merits, received by the IACHR on December 18, 2009.
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Annex 38. Minutes of the meeting held July 21, 1999, at the National Bureau of Indigenous Policy. Annex to the State’s
brief of July 9, 2001, received by the IACHR July 13, 2001.
139
Annex 11. Final assessment document of the Mesa de Concertación of the Bayano Zone, July 2, 1999. Annex 31 to
petitioners’ initial petition of May 11, 2000. p. 3.
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Annex 21. Executive summary of the Mesa de Concertación of the Bayano Zone, July 2, 1999. Annex 31 to petitioners’
initial petition of May 11, 2000.
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Annex 20. Final Report of Conclusions and Plan of Action of the Mesa de Concertación of the Bayano Zone, August
25, 1999. Annex 32 to petitioners’ initial petition of May 11, 2000; and Annex 20 to the State’s communication of June 29, 2001.