Los Achuar de la Amazonía Peruana
Read the text of ILO Convention 169 – United Nations
The rights of the world’s indigenous peoples are protected by ILO Convention 169.
On December 5, 1993, through Legislative Resolution N° 26253, the Peruvian government approved ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries. Since then, the Convention has been part of Peru’s legislative framework.
Article 14 stipulates that governments must recognize indigenous people’s right to their land.
Article 6 and Article 15 stipulate that governments must hold prior consultations with indigenous people when planning activities that involve the use of natural resources within their territories.
"1. In applying the provisions of this Convention, Governments shall:
a) 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. "
"1. The rights of ownership and possession of the peoples concerned over the lands which they traditionally occupy shall be recognised. In addition, measures shall be taken in appropriate cases to safeguard the right of the peoples concerned to use lands not exclusively occupied by them, but to which they have traditionally had access for their subsistence and traditional activities. Particular attention shall be paid to the situation of nomadic peoples and shifting cultivators in this respect.
2. Governments shall take steps as necessary to identify the lands which the peoples concerned traditionally occupy, and to guarantee effective protection of their rights of ownership and possession.
3. Adequate procedures shall be established within the national legal system to resolve land claims by the peoples concerned."
"2. In cases in which the State retains the ownership of mineral or sub-surface resources or rights to other resources pertaining to lands, governments shall establish or maintain procedures through which they shall consult these peoples, with a view to ascertaining whether and to what degree their interests would be prejudiced, before undertaking or permitting any programmes for the exploration or exploitation of such resources pertaining to their lands. The peoples concerned shall wherever possible participate in the benefits of such activities, and shall receive fair compensation for any damages which they may sustain as a result of such activities."