MOSCOW, August 8 (RIA Novosti) – Majority of Ingenious peoples across the Americas are facing systemic injustice on a daily basis, a report published by Amnesty International said Friday.
“Indigenous Peoples in the Americas continue to face a litany of abuse. Entire communities are being denied access to their ancestral lands, while others face violent repression and abuse for peacefully protesting to demand their human rights,” Erika Guevara Rosas, the human rights organization’s Americas director, said, Amnesty International reported.
Compared with other nations in the continents, indigenous peoples are more likely to be poor, underpaid, have lower level of education and life expectancy, as well as higher maternal and infant mortality, the report said. Indigenous women are also facing gender discrimination at a higher rate than other female citizens.
The report, “Indigenous Peoples’ Long Struggle to Defend their Rights in the Americas,” also includes many cases of physical attacks, acts of intimidation and injustice against Indigenous communities in the past year.
It cites a case of victims of forced sterilization in Peru. Over 2,000 indigenous women who were sterilized in the 1990s have been denied justice this year as no charges were filed against government authorities responsible for the sterilization program.
Despite daily discrimination and violence, indigenous peoples have made some positive steps for the recognition of their legitimate demands, according to Amnesty International. For example, in June, Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes enacted a law returning ancestral land to the Sawhoyamaxa indigenous community.
Amnesty International called on all governments across the region to create conditions for indigenous leaders and community members to peacefully defend their rights.
The report was published ahead of the United Nations International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples celebrated on August 9.
The indigenous peoples of the Americas are the pre-Columbian inhabitants of North, South and Central America, and their descendants.
