rights in action
Historic Win
Inter-American Court of Human Rights Rules in Favor of Indigenous Peoples Members of Radio Ixchel in Sumpango, Sacatepequez, Guatemala, one of the plaintiffs in the historic case. Photo by Cesar Gomez.
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CS Advocacy Team n December 17, 2021, the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights announced its decision in the case Indigenous Maya Kaqchikel Peoples of Sumpango vs. Guatemala. The Court ruled that the Republic of Guatemala was “internationally responsible for the violation of the rights to freedom of expression, equality before the law, and participation in cultural life” of Indigenous Peoples. The case, brought by Cultural Survival, Guatemala-based Asociación Sobrevivencia Cultural, and submitted with support from the Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic at Suffolk University Law School, argued that Guatemala’s telecommunications law excludes Indigenous Peoples from accessing their own forms of media via community radio. María Pedro de Pedro (Maya Q’anjob’al) from Radio Snuq’ Jolom Konob’ in Santa Eulalia, Huehuetenango, emphasized the importance of community radio to Indigenous communities. Through radio, she says, “we are protecting our cultural identity, we are protecting our culture, our music, our art, our traditions, our customs, our language, our surnames. . . . The microphone is power.” The historic decision came after decades of activism by members of the Indigenous community radio movement in Guatemala fighting for their freedom to operate radio stations and broadcast information in Indigenous languages to and from their communities. Currently in Guatemala, Indigenous community radio stations are still not legalized more than 26 years since this right was guaranteed in the Guatemalan Peace Accords. They continue to operate in a legal gray zone that has led to frequent persecution by mainstream media conglomerates, the national police, and politicians. “The Inter-American Court correctly holds that freedom of expression is a cornerstone of any democratic society. Therefore, the decision is a major victory for Indigenous
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Peoples in Guatemala and a great opportunity for the Guatemalan State to be a leader in making amends to Indigenous communities, who constitute half of the population. It is also an important precedent for Indigenous Peoples in Latin America as it affirms the rights of Indigenous Peoples to collective and individual freedom of expression, and the right to practice their culture without discrimination,” says Monica Coc Magnusson (Q’eqchi Maya), Cultural Survival’s Director of Advocacy and Policy. Anselmo Xunic Cabrera (Maya Kaqchikel), a member of Radio Ixchel, a community radio station from Sumpango Sacatepequez, Guatemala, said, “This has been a historic struggle for Indigenous Peoples. This decision will have an impact in Latin America and around the world. This sentence is a blow to the State, which has been racist, exclusive, and criminalizing. This news moves the heart.” On April 3, 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights referred the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. From June 9–10, 2021, the Court heard passionate testimonies from representatives of Indigenous community radio stations, experts on the right to freedom of expression and Indigenous rights, and representatives of the State of Guatemala. Currently, one of the only ways to obtain a radio license is by taking part in an auction. However, as Xunic testified during the hearing, “The auctions are discriminatory because from an economic standpoint we can’t pay that amount and we can’t compete as Indigenous Peoples.” José Francisco Calí Tzay (Maya Kaqchikel), UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, emphasized that “access to community radio is critical to the transmission of language and culture” and that “Indigenous Peoples rely on this medium to inform and educate their communities, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. Obstacles to radio frequency access translate to indirect discrimination against Indigenous communities . . . that, de facto, discriminates against Indigenous Peoples, as is the case of Guatemala’s general telecommunications law.”
