Leonides Quiroz, Speaker for the Wounaan people and Native Future Higher Education scholarship recipient, participated today in a hearing on Indigenous Rights in Panama at the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in Washington, D.C.

Leonides Quiroz at Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

Representatives of the Naso and Ngobe tribes were also present, and the speakers obtained the written support of the highest indigenous authorities of the four other Panamanian indigenous groups. Native Future, Akin Gump L.L.C., Cultural Survival, and La Alianza para Conservacion y Desarrollo helped the indigenous representatives request and prepare for the hearing.

The hearing began with Leonides laying out the legal case that the government of Panama had neglected its duty to ensure the indigenous groups’ fundamental right to land, equality before the law, and to the benefits of culture, as guaranteed by the OAS Declaration of the Rights and Duties of Man. He pointed out the incompleteness of the comarca system, the absence of mechanism to title communal lands outside the comarca, and the refusal of the government to protect indigenous land against cattle ranchers and other invaders.

After Leonides finished speaking, Felix Sanchez of the Naso tribe presented evidence of the Panamanian government’s improper granting of hydroelectric concessions and police repression of peaceful indigenous protests. The Panamanian government delegation responded to the indigenous delegations allegations, arguing that indigenous groups in Panama already have “enough” land, and that the lands did not pertain ancestrally to the indigenous groups that claimed them. The government also noted that a high-level committee on indigenous issues had been convened to address indigenous issues in Panama, and that legislation that would provide a mechanism for the titling of collective lands is currently active in the Panamanian legislature.

Finally, both sides answered questions from the 5-member panel of Commissioners. The indigenous representatives were able to rebut the governments arguments on the ancestrality of their lands and present arguments about why the proposed collective lands legislation would not adequately address their concerns.

Leonides recently completed his course of study of law at the University of Panama, becoming the first university graduate of the Wounaan tribe and first Native Future Higher Education graduate.

For rough edits of a film about the proceedings, click here (Part I) and here (Part II)

For more photos, click here.