12
48. For the first time in the Case of the Kichwa Indigenous Community of Sarayaku
v. Ecuador, the Court established that the violation of the rights to consultation,
to indigenous community property, and to cultural identity, but also to the judicial
guarantees and judicial protection, had been perpetrated in detriment of the
Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku.38
49. Additionally, the Court established that the injured party was the Community and
considered that:
On previous occasions, in cases concerning indigenous and tribal communities or peoples, the
Court has declared violations to the detriment of the members of indigenous or tribal
communities and peoples. However, international law on indigenous or tribal communities and
peoples recognizes rights to the peoples as collective subjects of international law and not only
as members of such communities or peoples. In view of the fact that indigenous or tribal
communities and peoples, united by their particular ways of life and identity, exercise some
rights recognized by the Convention on a collective basis, the Court points out that the legal
considerations expressed or indicated in this Judgment should be understood from that
collective perspective.39
50. Upon ordering pecuniary reparations for non-pecuniary damages, the Court
considered the specific damage caused in detriment of the Community, referring
to “the suffering caused to the People and to their cultural identity, the impact
on their territory, […] as well as the changes caused in their living conditions and
way of life.”40
51. This important development was made, as stated by the Court, following the
corresponding international regulations, referring specifically to Article 3(1) of
Convention 169 of the ILO, which states that: “[i]ndigenous and tribal peoples
shall enjoy the full measure of human rights and fundamental freedoms without
hindrance or discrimination. The provisions of the Convention shall be applied
without discrimination to male and female members of these peoples;”41 and to
Article 1 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples:
“[i]ndigenous peoples have the right to the full enjoyment, as a collective or as
individuals, of all human rights and fundamental freedoms as recognized in the
Charter of the United Nations, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and
international human rights law.”42
and Case of Bámaca Velásquez v. Guatemala. Merits. Judgment of November 25, 2000. Series C No. 70,
para. 179.
38
Cfr. Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador. Merits and Reparations.
Judgment of June 27, 2012. Series C No. 245, para. 341(2) and (4).
39
Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador. Merits and Reparations. Judgment of
June 27, 2012. Series C No. 245, para. 231.
40
Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku v. Ecuador. Merits and Reparations. Judgment of
June 27, 2012. Series C No. 245, para. 323. See also Case of the Kuna Indigenous People of Madungandí and
the Emberá Indigenous People of Bayano and their Members v. Panama. Preliminary Objections, Merits,
Reparations, and Costs. Judgment of October 14, 2014. Series C No. 284, para. 246.
41
International Labor Organization (ILO), Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in
Independent Countries, adopted on June 27, 1989 and in force since September 5, 1991.
42
The Court also referred to United Nations, Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights,
General Comment No. 17, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/GC/17, of November 2006, paras. 7, 8, and 32; General
Comment No. 21, U.N. Doc. E/C.12/GC/21, of November 2009, paras. 8 to 9; African Charter on Human and
Peoples’ Rights of 1986, Articles 20 to 22.