(Castellano)
The Ayoreo indigenous communities denounce the intense deforestation activity in and around Faro Moro, in the district of Filadelfia, department of Boquerón, which threatens the life and integrity of the groups living in voluntary isolation in the area, and affects the already settled communities.
The case is of international proportions, as the owner company, Faro Moro Limited, has its legal domicile in the United Kingdom and is legally represented by a Danish citizen.
The amparo and emergency injunction requested by the communities were denied despite the high possibility that a situation of genocide is taking place.
Ayoreo communities and Ayoreo organisations in the district of Filadelfia, Department of Boquerón: Jesudi, 15 de septiembre, 2 de enero, 10 de febrero, Ijnapui, Jogasui communities and the communities of the Campo Loro area (Campo Loro, Ebetogue, Tunucojai, La Esquina) and the organisations Unión de Nativos Ayoreo del Paraguay (UNAP), Asociación Guidaigosode y Ducodegosode Ayoreo de Paraguay (AGDAP), Asociación Garaigosode del Pueblo Ayoreo (AGPA) denounce to national and international public opinion the imminent risk of genocide of Ayoreo groups in voluntary isolation in the Faro Moro.
In a communiqué issued on 20 June, the communities and organisations state that as a result of the development of intense deforestation activities, the presence and displacement of Ayoreo in voluntary isolation, as well as various findings that show that their movements have increased in the vicinity of Faro Moro, located in the district of Filadelfia, department of Boquerón, in the Paraguayan Chaco, is part of the traditional territory of the Ayoreo people. The place is part of the traditional territory of the Ayoreo people and is part of the current habitat of the Ayoreo groups in voluntary isolation, the only ones in this situation of non-contact outside the Amazon basin.
This situation is of concern to the Ayoreo already contacted and reduced a few decades ago, who live in different communities adjacent to the aforementioned property. These settled Ayoreo communities have gone to the judicial authorities requesting an injunction and precautionary measure to stop the deforestation, fearing for their own lives and for those of the remaining isolated groups, who are resisting contact with the colonising society and have decided to maintain their ancestral way of life.
Failure of the Paraguayan state to comply with the Ayoreo’s request and irregular legal process
Alarmed by the increase in the number of sightings caused by the accelerated deforestation activities in Faro Moro, the Ayoreo communities filed a request for a precautionary measure and amparo action on 29 May, requesting an immediate halt to the deforestation activities that threaten their lives and those of the isolated groups. However, far from heeding the requests of the indigenous communities, the court initiated an irregular legal process and denied the amparo despite the imminent danger posed by the work being carried out.
In contravention of the law, the judge notified the tenant company responsible for the works, HEKOPORA S.A., of the appeal lodged by the indigenous communities and refused to notify the real owner of the affected property in Faro Moro, the British company Faro Moro Limited, based in the United Kingdom. This serious decision violates the provisions of the Hague Convention.
Faced with this refusal, the communities lodged several appeals and appeals for reconsideration, which were systematically denied. Even in spite of the ample evidence available, and the testimonies presented by witnesses from the communities. The court and the different institutions of the Paraguayan state ignore the presence of the isolated people. The message is clear: indigenous communities and indigenous peoples in isolation in Paraguay are not entitled to any constitutional guarantees. The former, because their demands are not dealt with according to due process; the latter, simply because they are denied entity by ignoring their existence, making them invisible in the legal system.
The advance of deforestation in the territory inhabited by isolated groups brings them ever closer to the communities, creating a pressing scenario that can provoke unwanted and forced contact, which is extremely serious as it increases the imminent risk of genocide.
This is extremely serious as it increases the imminent risk of genocide. It should be noted in this regard that, although Paraguay is one of the few countries in South America that does not have a law that explicitly protects indigenous peoples in voluntary isolation, it has articles of the National Constitution as well as various signed and ratified international treaties, which it is failing to comply with by allowing the extermination of human groups, recognised as predating the formation and organisation of the State.
The Ayoreo reiterate that this type of situation is not limited to Faro Moro but to the entire Paraguayan Chaco.
