CONCURRING AND DISSENTING OPINION
OF JUDGE AUGUSTO FOGEL PEDROZO
I have participated in the judgment delivered by the Court in the XÁKMOK
KÁSEK case and I have dissented with regard to some operative paragraphs
of the judgment on the grounds described in the deliberations, which
include the following considerations:
I. Concurring Opinion. Rejection of the State’s request to suspend the
proceedings
1.
In item 1 of Chapter XIII “Operative Paragraphs,” I expressed my
agreement with the rejection of the State’s request to suspend these proceedings, on
the grounds described in paragraphs 36 to 50, and also because, although the
different names of the ethnic group indicated by the representatives of the Xákmok
Kásek Community constitute a problem for the transfer of ownership of the property,
since the registration laws require due clarification of the change that occurred, this
can be overcome by the expert appraisal conducted recently by the State’s expert,
who stated that the Xákmok Kásek Indigenous Community are part of the Sanapaná
people, who belong to the same linguistic family as the Enxet-Lengua people. In
Sanapaná villages, the families often coexist with members of the Maskoy linguistic
group 1 (which Kalish refers to as Enlhet-Enenlhet). From a cultural point of view, it is
difficult to determine to which people the children of couples from two different
peoples belong, and it is necessary to determine to which people they are assigned
by carrying out research among the members of the Community.
2.
In the 2002 Indigenous Peoples Census, the Xákmok Kásek Community
settled in the Salazar Ranch was identified as Sanapaná. Also, in the book “Los
Indígenas del Paraguay” by José Zanardini and Walter Biederman, the Salazar Ranch
is identified as one of the places where the Sanapaná ethnic group known as Xákmok
Kásek lives. Furthermore, in 2003, the representatives of this community took part
in meetings of Sanapaná communities in order to establish an Association of
Sanapaná Communities.
II. Dissenting opinion. Right to Communal Property, Judicial Guarantees and
Judicial Protection
3.
Regarding the State’s violation of the right to communal property, judicial
guarantees and judicial protection, according to paragraph 170 of the judgment also
in relation to the alleged violation of Article 21 of the American Convention, it is my
understanding that the right to property cannot be interpreted in isolation, but rather
taking into consideration the whole legal system in which it operates, as well as
domestic and international law.
4.
The Paraguayan Constitution guarantees private property – both individual
and corporative – and the communal ownership to which the indigenous peoples
have a right. Article 63 recognizes and guarantees the right of the indigenous
peoples to preserve and develop their ethnic identity in their respective habitat. In
addition, Article 64 of the Constitution indicates that:
1
Zanardini, José and Walter Biedermann. Los Indígenas del Paraguay. Asunción. 2006.
1