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September 2016 The Executive Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) has agreed to update its Indigenous Peoples Policy, after an investigation found the bank breached it and other operational policies when it approved an investment in the Mareña Renovables Wind Project. The project, slated for development on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in Oaxaca, Mexico, was to be the largest...

The recent Texas Federal District Court ruling in Brackeen v. Zinke, which struck down portions of the Indian Child Welfare Act and declared ICWA a race based statute, is the latest development in a long campaign by anti-Indian groups and the federal government to get rid of one of the most important principles in federal Indian law: that laws benefiting...

In May 2018, the United States Supreme Court agreed to review a decision by the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals regarding whether Congress disestablished the Creek Nation’s reservation under 18 U.S.C. § 1151(a). The case, Carpenter v. Murphy, calls on the Court to determine whether the Creek Nation’s reservation in Oklahoma was diminished or disestablished and whether the state had...

It’s been two years since the Executive Board of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) pledged to review and update its Indigenous Peoples Policy – part of the response to the Center’s complaint against the IDB-financed Mare ñ a Renovables Wind Project in Oaxaca, Mexico. The project had drawn intense opposition from indigenous communities that feared the wind turbines and infrastructure...

We are seeing evidence that engaging the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights in Agua Caliente’s fight to protect thier rights to thier lands and resources is putting pressure on the Guatemalan government and the agencies that have refused to give the community their land titles. In July, Guatemala’s Congress forced FRONTIERRAS, the country’s land titling agency, to explain why it...

Indian Law Resource Center responds to young Maya girl’s death in U.S. custody [Washington D.C., December 14, 2018] – The Indian Law Resource Center expresses its deep sadness and concern at the recent death of Jackeline Caal, a 7-year-old Maya Q’eqchi’ girl from Guatemala who died while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Patrol at a medical facility...

Earlier this week we marked the 70th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. The UDHR became a benchmark in international human rights when it was adopted by the United Nations in 1948 – explicitly recognizing the inherent and inalienable rights and freedoms we all are entitled to as human beings, regardless of our sex, race, religion, or other...

The death of a yet another indigenous Maya child from Guatemala while in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection demands that the United States adjust its approach and end its inhumane and cruel immigration policies and practices -- giving special attention to the care and treatment of children seeking asylum at the border. Seven-year-old Jakelin Amei Rosmery Caal...

SUCRE, BOLIVIA – On Wednesday, February 13, 2019, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights convened a public hearing in Sucre, Bolivia in order to discuss the human rights situation of indigenous peoples in Brazil. During the hearing, the Articulação dos Povos Indígenas do Brasil (APIB), the Coordenação das Organizações Indígenas da Amazônia (COIAB), and the Articulação dos Povos e Organizações...