Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a position she has held since 2014. An indigenous leader hailing from the Kankanaey Igorot community in the Philippines’ Cordillera region, she has been fighting for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and rural women since the 1970s, when she helped build an indigenous movement that successfully stopped major dam and logging projects in the Cordillera region.
Since then, Tauli-Corpuz has founded and managed several civil society organizations dedicated to the advancement of indigenous and women’s rights, including the Tebtebba Foundation, of which she serves as founder and executive director. In addition to her duties as UN Special Rapporteur, Tauli-Corpuz also serves as an expert for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, an adviser for the Third World Network, and a member of the United Nations Development Programme Civil Society Organizations Advisory Committee.
In March 2018, Tauli-Corpuz was placed on a list of “terrorists” by the Philippine government, alongside hundreds of other indigenous and human rights defenders, as retaliation for speaking up against the Duterte administration’s human rights violations. She remains in exile from her native Philippines, and continues to fight for Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and women around the world.
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, a position she has held since 2014. An indigenous leader hailing from the Kankanaey Igorot community in the Philippines’ Cordillera region, she has been fighting for the rights of Indigenous Peoples and rural women since the 1970s, when she helped build an indigenous movement that successfully stopped major dam and logging projects in the Cordillera region.
Since then, Tauli-Corpuz has founded and managed several civil society organizations dedicated to the advancement of indigenous and women’s rights, including the Tebtebba Foundation, of which she serves as founder and executive director. In addition to her duties as UN Special Rapporteur, Tauli-Corpuz also serves as an expert for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, an adviser for the Third World Network, and a member of the United Nations Development Programme Civil Society Organizations Advisory Committee.
In March 2018, Tauli-Corpuz was placed on a list of “terrorists” by the Philippine government, alongside hundreds of other indigenous and human rights defenders, as retaliation for speaking up against the Duterte administration’s human rights violations. She remains in exile from her native Philippines, and continues to fight for Indigenous Peoples, local communities, and women around the world.
The Problem of Overlap: The Panamanian government stalls on indigenous land titling on protected areas
by Christine Halvorson
Rainforest Foundation US
The Problem of Overlap: The Panamanian government stalls on indigenous land titling on protected areas
by Christine Halvorson
Rainforest Foundation US
The Problem of Overlap: The Panamanian government stalls on indigenous land titling on protected areas
by Christine Halvorson
Rainforest Foundation US
The Problem of Overlap: The Panamanian government stalls on indigenous land titling on protected areas
by Christine Halvorson
Rainforest Foundation US
The Problem of Overlap: The Panamanian government stalls on indigenous land titling on protected areas
by Christine Halvorson
Rainforest Foundation US
Organization: Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña
Community: Tlapa de Comonfort
Spokesperson Name: Abel Barrera
Organization: ONG Derechos Humanos y Medio Ambiente
Spokesperson Name: : Jose Bayardo Chata Pacoricona (10:50-18:16)
Mexico
Report Findings
The Special Rapporteur visited Mexico in 2017 and observed that threats, harassment, and the criminalization of members of indigenous communities during consultation processes tend to undermine the “free” character of the same. For example, community members of the Yaqui tribe have suffered various attacks, threats, and criminalization for opposing the construction of an aqueduct and a gas pipeline and for demanding consultations and that their free, prior, and informed consent be sought for projects built in their territories. The indigenous leader Mario Luna was detained in 2014 for leading community protests on criminal charges of “illegal deprivation of liberty” and “theft.” Since being released, he has continued to be threatened and attacked, despite calls from the Mexican National Human Rights Commission to ensure his protection and precautionary measures in favor of the Yaqui community issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The serious situation of attacks and violence against indigenous communities was also observed in the Montañas de Guerrero, Sierra Tarahumara, and Chiapas.
At the regional level, the precautionary and provisional measures awarded by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Inter-American Court of Human Rights are of significant importance as they underline the state’s responsibility to ensure the protection and safety of indigenous communities and individuals in imminent danger. The Special Rapporteur deeply regrets that, despite such measures having been awarded by the regional human rights system, national protection measures are often inadequate. This is illustrated by the murder of several indigenous leaders and by the ongoing attacks and threats, for example against the Choréachi and Yaqui communities in Mexico, all of whom had been granted those measures.
See also:
Report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples on her visit to Mexico (June 2018)