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FEBRUARY 27, 2001

The State Department on Monday released its annual report on human rights conditions around the world, criticizing foreign countries for their poor records on free speech, treatment of women, and police harassment.

Singling out a number of Latin American counties, the United States is also focusing on the social status of indigenous peoples. In particular, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Colombia are cited for mistreatment, discrimination, and violence against Native peoples.

All three countries have been the location of movements in which indigenous people have been significantly affected. In Ecuador, Indian tribes and nations joined with military forces last year to oust former President Jamil Mahuad.

Last month, tribes protested government-ordered public transportation increases and fuel subsidy cuts, resulting in the deaths of at least four civilians. But in a positive move, President Gustavo Noboa earlier this month signed an agreement with the Confederation of Indigenous Nationalities and suspended the hikes.

Other problems remain, however, according to the State Department. Indigenous rights are recognized by Ecuador's Constitution but discrimination, poverty, poor health services, and lack of education threaten the nation's indigenous.

"With few exceptions, indigenous people are at the lowest end of the socioeconomic scale," said the report.

The report also criticizes the status of indigenous people in Columbia. Paramilitary groups have killed members of Indian tribes and American Indians from the United States have been affected.

In March 1999, a group called Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC), one of the major guerilla groups in the country, kidnapped and killed American indigenous activists Terence Freitas, Lahe'ena'e Gay, and Ingrid Washinawatok. Attempts by the Colombian government to arrest or prosecute FARC officials for the killings have failed, however, and the State Department says indigenous people continue to "suffer disproportionately" at the hands of guerilla groups.

Like Ecuador, the Colombian Constitution recognizes indigenous rights. Reservations have been established but the State Department says land rights of tribes continue to be threatened by armed outsiders.

Tribes also fight encroachments by others, including Occidental Petroleum, an American company whom the Colombian government approved for oil drilling near the U'wa Reserve. Talks between the tribe and the government were halted last year.

Otherwise, the State Department says 80 percent of indigenous people in Colombia live in extreme poverty, 74 percent receive wages below the legal minimum, and most "traditionally have been relegated to the margins of society."

Get the Report:
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices (US State Dept February 2001)

Relevant Links:
In Memory, Ingrid Washinawatok - numa.niti.org/news
Friends & Relatives of the People, Ingrid Washinawatok, Terence Freitas and Lahe'ena'e Gay - www.ienearth.org/colombia.html