Observation (CEACR) - adopted 2002, published 91st ILC session (2003)

1. The Committee notes the Government’s report received in 2001 and the attached documentation. It notes that the report does not provide information on all the questions raised by the Committee in its previous comments and it requests it to supply detailed information in its next report on the situation in practice. The Committee urges the Government to reply in particular to the points relating to land rights raised in a request that is being addressed directly to it.

2. The Committee also notes the communication from the National Federation of Workers (CNT), in the preparation of which the indigenous organization Tierraviva for Indigenous Peoples in the Chaco participated, and which was received on 1 August 2001 and forwarded to the Government on 27 August 2001. The Committee regrets to note that the Government has not supplied comments on this communication.

3. According to the CNT, on 30 April 2001 the executive authority submitted to the Congress of the Nation, a bill governing the functioning of entities responsible for the national indigenous policy, which would repeal the Indigenous Communities Charter, adopted by Act No. 904/81, and consequently it would abolish the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute (INDI). The CNT states that the above Bill constitutes a serious retrogression in the protection of the right of indigenous peoples and alleges the non-compliance by the Government with its obligation to consult indigenous peoples prior to initiating the legislative process for the formulation of the Bill, in violation of Article 6 of the Convention. The CNT attaches to its communication, among other documents, the statement by the Coordinator of Indigenous Leaders of the Bajo Chaco and the Indigenous Network, presented to Parliament and the executive authority. This statement rejects the bill referred to above and demands the application of Article 6 of the Convention so that the State and the organizations of indigenous peoples can work on a bill which benefits the peoples concerned, and does not violate their rights.

4. The Committee draws the Government’s attention to the fact that the spirit of consultation and participation constitutes the cornerstone of Convention No. 169 on which all of its provisions are based. Article 6, paragraph 1, sets out the obligation of states which ratify the Convention to "consult the peoples concerned, through appropriate procedures and in particular through their representative institutions, whenever consideration is being given to legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly". The Committee therefore hopes that the Government will indicate the manner in which the peoples concerned were consulted before proceeding to any amendment of Act No. 904 and before adopting any legislative or administrative measures which may affect them directly. It also hopes that, when holding such consultations the Government will take into account the fact that the Convention requires them to be held through appropriate procedures and the representative institutions of the peoples concerned. The Committee requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted in this respect and on their outcome. It also requests it to provide a copy of any new legislation adopted, as well as of any draft legislation prepared following consultations with the peoples concerned.

5. The Committee also refers to a communication sent by the World Confederation of Labour (WCL) in October 1997 under Convention No. 29, indicating that the working conditions of indigenous persons in ranches suggest an extensive practice of forced labour for the repayment of debts contracted in ranch shops for the purchase of basic foodstuffs and other products of primary necessity at inflated prices, and that wages are not paid or are paid only at the end of the contract, meaning that the workers have to become indebted to survive, and are also ill-treated. The Government states that the Ministry of Justice and Labour sent out communications in May 2000 to various bodies of the State to inform them of the communication and the comments made by the Committee and to indicate the importance that the Government attaches to the issue of forced labour. The Ministry of Labour proposed in August 2000 that inspections be undertaken in ranches in the Chaco and the INDI placed at the disposal of the Ministry persons with experience of the subject. The Committee nevertheless notes that the Government’s report does not provide information on the effect given to this proposal. It hopes that in its next report the Government will be in a position to indicate whether inspections were actually undertaken, their results and, where appropriate, the measures adopted or proposed and the progress achieved.