Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2025, publiée 114ème session CIT (2026)

Convention (n° 169) relative aux peuples indigènes et tribaux, 1989 - Costa Rica (Ratification: 1993)

The Committee notes the observations of the Costa Rican Federation of Chambers and Associations of Private Enterprise (UCCAEP) communicated with the Government’s report.

Article 3 of the Convention. Human rights. The Committee notes that, in its annual report for 2024–25, the Office of the Ombudsman highlighted the lack of prompt and effective justice in the murders of indigenous leaders Sergio Rojas and Jehry Rivera and warned of escalating violence in territories such as China Kichá and Cabagra, where the human rights defenders’ lives continue to be at risk. The Committee also notes the 2022 Report of the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, which contains information on various attacks against indigenous leaders. According to the Rapporteur, the most common underlying cause is indigenous people’s lack of land tenure security, with some farmers systematically resorting to violence, particularly in the south of the country (A/HRC/51/28/Add.1).

The Committee notes this information with concern. The Committee recalls that for indigenous peoples to exercise the rights enshrined in the Convention, governments must take appropriate measures to ensure an environment free from violence, pressure, fear and threats of any kind. In these conditions, and in the light of the report of the Office of the Ombudsman, the Committee requests the Government to take the necessary measures to: (i) guarantee the protection of the life and integrity of indigenous peoples, their representatives, leaders and defenders; and (ii) investigate and punish the perpetrators and/or instigators of any acts of violence, intimidation and persecution that have been reported. Please provide information in this respect.

Article 6. Consultation. The Committee notes with interest the adoption of Executive Decree No. 40932 of 6 March 2018 establishing the “general mechanism for consultation with indigenous peoples”, which is used whenever administrative measures, bills promoted by the executive branch or private bills which may affect indigenous peoples are envisaged. The Committee observes that the mechanism: (1) regulates the steps to be followed by the State and private natural or legal persons to obtain the prior, free and informed consent and/or agreements of indigenous peoples; (2) is mandatory for the central public administration, while local governments may request its use on a voluntary basis; (3) provides that the legislative and judicial branches, the Supreme Electoral Tribunal, municipalities, state universities, autonomous and semi-autonomous institutions, public enterprises, as well as private enterprises that manage public assets or exercise public powers, may apply these regulations as a frame of reference; (4) establishes the Technical Unit for Indigenous Consultation (UTCI) as the body responsible for the technical and financial management of indigenous consultation processes; and (5) provides that indigenous peoples shall establish a territorial indigenous consultation body for each territory.

The Committee also notes that the consultation procedure consists of eight preclusive stages, namely: (a) request for consultation; (b) admissibility of the request for consultation; (c) preparatory agreements for consultation on various aspects, such as times, locations, funding, advisers, interpreters, forms of convocation, submission and characteristics of information, deadlines for analysis of information; (d) exchange of information; (e) internal assessment by the indigenous people; (f) dialogue, negotiation and agreements; (g) finalization of the consultation process; and (h) compliance with and monitoring of agreements.

The Committee notes that the UCCAEP points out that the general mechanism for consultation with indigenous peoples was not developed in a tripartite manner, excluding representatives of the private enterprise sector from its development, even though the document affects third parties.

Moreover, the Committee notes that the Office of the Ombudsman, in its annual report for 2024–25, identified two challenges relating to the implementation of the mechanism: the need to strengthen information sessions on, awareness-raising and promotion of the mechanism in public institutions and among indigenous peoples; and the need to strengthen human resources to ensure that consultations are held. The Committee also notes that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, in his 2022 report, agrees that more staff need to be recruited, the capacity to duly handle all the requests for consultations needs to be enhanced and staff knowledge of indigenous peoples’ rights needs to be improved (A/HRC/51/28/Add.1).

The Committee encourages the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure the smooth functioning of the general mechanism for consultation with indigenous peoples and requests that it provide information on: (i) the establishment of territorial indigenous consultation bodies in all indigenous territories; (ii) the consultations requested and held under the mechanism, including the consultations requested by indigenous peoples themselves, the difficulties encountered and the agreements reached; (iii) the procedure available for filing complaints for non-compliance with the agreements reached and examples of the cases examined; and (iv) how actors for whom the mechanism is not mandatory, including the legislative branch, hold the consultations provided for in the Convention.

National Policy for Children and Youth 2024–36. The Committee notes that in July 2024, the Office of the Ombudsman filed an appeal for amparo against the National Council for Children and Youth for discriminating against indigenous children and youth by excluding them from the consultation process on the National Policy for Children and Youth 2024–36. In its Ruling No. 2025-009107 of 25 March 2025, the Constitutional Chamber ordered that the necessary steps be taken to hold consultations, within 12 months, with indigenous children and youth from all indigenous territories on the public policy on indigenous peoples, using the general mechanism for consultation with indigenous peoples. The Committee requests the Government provide information on the follow-up to Ruling No. 2025-009107 of the Constitutional Chamber.

Articles 8 to 12. Administration of justice. In its report, the Government states that several training and awareness-raising activities on the Convention have been held for judicial officials and that the Subcommittee on Access to Justice for Indigenous Peoples, the Commission on Access to Justice, the Full Court and the Superior Council have adopted practical rules to facilitate access to justice for indigenous populations. These rules establish, inter alia, on-site procedures for receiving complaints, interviews and information sessions; financial assistance for indigenous users in need; and the appointment of interpreters and translators. The Committee also takes note of Act No. 9593 of 2018 on access to justice for indigenous peoples, which provides for, inter alia: (1) priority in the processing and resolution of cases involving indigenous persons as parties; (2) the promotion of alternative dispute resolution, with a restorative perspective and the active participation of the indigenous community concerned; (3) the right to an interpreter and translator paid for by the State; (4) free legal assistance and free access to justice; and (5) the obligation to maintain an up-to-date assessment of the weaknesses and obstacles in the judicial system in terms of access to justice and effective judicial protection to the detriment of indigenous peoples, which will serve as the basis for an up-to-date annual institutional policy on access to justice.

Moreover, the Committee notes that the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples highlighted the continued mistrust of judicial staff at the local level, for reasons that included partiality, failure to investigate attacks on indigenous leaders and racial discrimination against indigenous persons. The Rapporteur also referred to the ineffectiveness of internal mechanisms within the judiciary for punishing discriminatory and racist behaviour by officials, as well as the obstacles faced by indigenous women in reporting acts of violence during land requisition processes and acts of domestic violence (A/HRC/51/28/Add.1). Moreover, the Committee notes that the Office of the Ombudsman, in its annual report for 2024–25, also referred to the violence faced by indigenous women.

While welcoming the measures taken to facilitate access to justice for indigenous peoples, the Committee requests the Government to ensure that there are no practical obstacles preventing these peoples from accessing justice. The Committee also requests the Government to provide information on: (i) the findings of the assessments of the weaknesses and obstacles in terms of access to justice and effective judicial protection, and the measures envisaged in this regard, as provided for in section 12 of Act No. 9593; (ii) the existence of specific problems faced by indigenous women in accessing justice; and (iii) how the application of indigenous law and its coordination with the national legal system is ensured in accordance with the Convention.

Article 14. Lands. With reference to its previous comments, the Committee notes the information provided by the Government on the actions carried out by the Rural Development Institute (INDER) in nine of the 24 indigenous territories (Salitre, Térraba, Cabarga, China Kichá, Guatuso, Altos de San Antonio, Zapatón, Guaymí de Osa and Kekoldi (Cocles)), which consist of: information-gathering, demarcation, census studies, topographical surveys, preparation of files for compensation or eviction for farms and appraisals of farms occupied by non-indigenous persons. The Committee observes that these actions form part of the implementation of the first stage of the National Plan for the Restitution of Indigenous Territories (PLAN-RTI). The plan aims to regularize the indigenous territories of Costa Rica within five years and is divided into three stages (first stage: restitution of nine territories (two years); second stage: restitution of six territories (one year); and third stage: restitution of eight territories (two years)).

The Committee notes that, according to the most recent INDER report available, which is from 2023, the services with the lowest implementation rate (11.67 per cent) are those related to indigenous land management, which do not have an investment budget. INDER identifies the lack of legal staff to carry out the relevant ordinary administrative procedures as limitations or factors that have undermined implementation.

The Committee urges the Government to take the necessary measures to ensure that, in the framework of the action led by INDER, real progress can be made in the restitution of lands, guaranteeing the rights of indigenous peoples over the lands that they traditionally occupy. The Committee requests the Government to provide information in this respect.

The Committee is raising other matters in a request addressed directly to the Government.