A landmark case is currently pending at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights that might help shape the future of indigenous political rights. On April 23, 2003 the organization Yabti Tasba Masraka Nanih Asia Takana (YATAMA) submitted, with the legal assistance of the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL) and the Centro Nicaraguense de Cerechos Humanos (CENIDH), a petition against the Nicaraguan State for the alleged violation of YATAMA’s political rights.
The YATAMA vs. Nicaragua case is significant because it marks the first time a State government has been sued before the highest regional judicial tribunal for violating political rights by denying political participation of indigenous communities.
YATAMA is an indigenous regional political party from the Atlantic Coast region of Nicaragua. The region is dominated by various ethnic groups including the Miskitos, Sumos, and Ramas. During the Sandinista government the Miskitos were considered a counterrevolutionary organization which resulted in their political and social repression. For example, in Febuary 1981 thirty Miskito leaders were detained, including Brookly Rivera who is currently a YATAMA representative. Hundreds of Miskitos were arbitrarily arrested under vague accusations of counterrevolutionary activities, and in some cases tortured and illegally incarcerated. During the 1980’s, YATAMA responded to the constant abuses and violations endured by indigenous people by acting as a political-military organization, matching the government’s repression with force.
In the 1990’s YATAMA demobilized and committed to integrating into the Nicaraguan democratic process, being the first political representation from the Atlantic Coast. YATAMA decided to run candidates in two electoral regions of the larger Atlantic Coast region for the elections of mayor and deputy mayor on the municipal level in November 2000. They ran candidates in both the North Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAN) and South Atlantic Autonomous Region (RAAS). In the RAAS, the YATAMA candidates ran in an alliance, but when the alliance did not materialize, YATAMA appealed to the Supreme Electoral Council to participate independently of the alliance. They were denied. YATAMA filed many appeals to the Council, exhausting all their legal pathways without success. On August 15, 2000 the Council declared that the YATAMA candidates could not participate in any of the regional elections, including the RAAN.
Committed to the rights of indigenous people to have a political voice, CEJIL and CENIDH have fought since 2000 to force the government to consent to YATAMA’s participation. Representing the interests of YATAMA, they brought the case before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. The Commission decided that that the state had violated the political rights of the YATAMA candidates and recommended that the Nicaraguan government repair the situation and prevent similar situations from occurring. The government failed to comply with the Commission’s recommendations. On June 16, 2003 the case was presented before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the decision is still pending.
Both CEJIK and CENIDH believe that this case brings hope of ending violations against the indigenous communities from the Atlantic Coast and YATAMA. The CEJIK and CENIDH also hope that the Inter-American System will in the future spread its jurisprudence to protect the rights of indigenous people everywhere: Para CEJIL y CENIDH esta nueva etapa en el caso trae esperanzas para que las violaciones cometidas en contra de la comunidad indígena de la Región Atlántica de Nicaragua no quede impune, se resarzan los daños causados a los candidatos de Yatama y se logre ampliar la jurisprudencia del Sistema Interamericano respecto a los derechos de los pueblos indígenas.
