Observation (CEACR) - adoptée 2024, publiée 113ème session CIT (2025)

Convention (n° 169) relative aux peuples indigènes et tribaux, 1989 - Nicaragua (Ratification: 2010)

Articles 2 and 33 of the Convention. Coordinated and systematic action. The Committee notes Executive Decree No. 71-98 of 2021 issuing regulations under the Act on the organization, competence and procedures of the executive authorities, which sets out the areas of competence of the Secretariat for the Development of the Caribbean Coast in relation to the indigenous communities in the region. These include: (i) promoting communication between the Government, the regional authorities and the leaders of indigenous communities; (ii) leading the coherent operation of Government action in respect of the autonomous regions; (iii) strengthening regional indigenous institutions; and (iv) coordinating consultation processes with the population of the Caribbean Coast.

The Committee also notes the adoption of the Caribbean Coast and Alto Wangki Bocay Development Plan 2019–29, published on the website of the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources (MANERA). The Development Plan was formulated in collaboration with the regional governments of the Caribbean Coast and the local indigenous governments of Alto Wangki and Bocay. The Development Plan has four focus areas: socio-cultural development; local economic development with a focus on climate change; productive and economic transformation; and the strengthening of autonomous institutions. The Committee also notes the information provided in the Government’s report on the adoption of the National Plan to Combat Poverty 2022–26, which provides for the strengthening of the governance of communal property systems on the Caribbean Coast through the formulation of local development plans in the 23 indigenous and Afrodescendent territories which were previously demarcated and titled by the Government. The plans have to be in conformity with a green economy model, institutions for the protection of territories, the protection of cultural property and the promotion of the family, rural and urban economy.

The Committee also notes that both the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in their respective concluding observations of 2021 and 2023, expressed concern at the allegations that the indigenous authorities elected in community assemblies are not recognized by the Government, and that parallel governments have been set up to replace legitimately constituted communal authorities, which is prejudicing political participation and consultation procedures and facilitating the usurpation of indigenous territories (E/C.12/NIC/CO/5 and CERD/C/NIC/CO/15-21). The Committee also notes that, in its concluding observations of 2022, the United Nations Human Rights Committee referred to the obstacles faced by indigenous and Afrodescendent communities, and particularly women, to participate in decision-making bodies and State institutions, especially in communal governments and indigenous territorial governments (CCPR/C/NIC/CO/4).

The Committee notes this information with concern. It notes with regret the absence of information from the Government on the operation of the participatory mechanisms for the various indigenous peoples in the country in the formulation of policies and programmes that affect them, both within the framework of the autonomous regime of the Caribbean Coast and outside the autonomous regional context.

The Committee requests the Government to indicate the manner in which it ensures coordinated and systematic action, with the participation of indigenous peoples through their representative institutions, in the policies and programmes that affect them (at the national, regional and community levels). It also requests the Government to provide information on the measures adopted in the various areas covered by the Caribbean Coast and Alto Wangki Bocay Development Plan 2019–29, and on the action intended for indigenous peoples implemented within the framework of the National Plan to Combat Poverty 2022–26, and to indicate the manner in which it ensures that these measures are taken in cooperation with the peoples covered by the Convention (in both the Caribbean and Pacific regions).

Article 3. Human rights. Climate of violence on the North Caribbean Coast. In its previous comments, the Committee noted the existence of a climate of violence on the North Caribbean Coast as a result of disputes related to land occupation and it requested the Government to take measures to investigate and punish such acts of violence and ensure the safety of the indigenous peoples. The Committee deplores the fact that the Government has not provided information on this subject taking into account the gravity of the situations that have occurred.

The Committee also notes that, according to the report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights of 11 February 2021, between October 2019 and January 2020, the national police registered 20 murders, two disappearances and two persons injured in connection with property disputes in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region. It also referred to the killing of ten indigenous men and seven injured persons in incidents allegedly related to land disputes in the same region. In this regard, the Government indicated that investigations had been carried out into these incidents and that the Supreme Court of Justice has established an inter-institutional commission to prosecute all the cases involving violations of the rights of indigenous peoples (A/HRC/46/21).

The Committee further notes that the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, in its Annual Report for 2023, reiterated its concern at the increase in violence against indigenous peoples and Afrodescendent communities, and at the continued attacks, criminalization and harassment of indigenous communities on the Caribbean Coast of Nicaragua and at their displacement as a result. The Committee also notes that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in its ruling of 27 June 2023, extended the provisional measures ordered in 2016 to eradicate the climate of violence afflicting the North Caribbean Coast as a result of disputes over land ownership and requested the Government to take the necessary measures to protect the right to life and personal safety of the members of the Mayanga indigenous people who live in the Wilú community, who had been displaced in response to acts of violence by third parties and representatives of the State. The Committee further notes that, in its concluding observations of 2024, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women noted with concern reports of physical, psychological and sexual violence against indigenous women, particularly in the Bosowás reservation and the Mayangna Sauni indigenous territory (CEDAW/C/NIC/CO/7-10).

The Committee notes with deep concern the above information, which demonstrates the persistence of a climate of violence and attacks on the life and physical integrity of indigenous communities in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region, which is related to land claims and processes for the clarification of land ownership by those communities. In this regard, the Committee recalls that a climate of violence as described above constitutes a serious obstacle to the exercise of the rights of indigenous peoples set out in the Convention and emphasizes that the absence of prosecutions and convictions of the perpetrators of acts of violence results in an unacceptable climate of impunity which affects the exercise of the rights of indigenous peoples. The Committee strongly urges the Government to take all the necessary measures to ensure a climate free from violence in which adequate protection can be ensured of the physical and psychological integrity of the peoples covered by the Convention. In this respect, it requests the Government to take the necessary measures as a matter of urgency to: (i) investigate all acts of violence committed in the areas inhabited by indigenous peoples on the North Caribbean Coast, clarify responsibilities and prosecute those who are guilty, including within the context of the work of interinstitutional commission established by the Supreme Court of Justice; (ii) protect the life and physical and psychological integrity of the indigenous peoples of the North Caribbean Coast, and particularly indigenous women; and (iii) initiate coordinated action to identify the underlying causes of the disputes which have led to the violence and take action in this regard.

Article 6. Consultations. The Committee notes that the Government has not provided information on the operation of the prior consultation mechanisms on legislative or administrative measures which may affect indigenous peoples directly. The Committee notes that both the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination, the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights and the Human Rights Committee have expressed concern at the absence of effective mechanisms to guarantee that indigenous peoples are consulted on decisions that may affect their rights, particularly to their traditional lands, and at the allegations received concerning situations in which prior consultation has not been implemented fully, or at consultations held with persons who are not authorized to represent the indigenous peoples concerned (E/C.12/NIC/CO/5, CCPR/C/NIC/CO/4 and CERD/C/NIC/CO/15-21). The Committee once again requests the Government to provide detailed information on the measures adopted to carry out consultation processes with the peoples covered by the Convention on any legislative or administrative measures that may affect them directly. It also requests the Government to specify the current legislation governing prior consultation, with an indication of the institution responsible for coordinating and monitoring such processes.

Article 14. Demarcation and land titling processes. The Committee recalls that the demarcation and land titling processes for the lands of indigenous peoples in the autonomous regions of the Caribbean Coast are governed by Act No. 445 of 2002 (the Act on the communal ownership system for the indigenous peoples and ethnic communities of the autonomous regions of the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua and of the Bocay, Coco, Indio and Maiz rivers) and that there is no specific legislation governing the communal property of the indigenous peoples of the Pacific, Centre and North of the country.

In response to the Committee’s request for information on the progress made in the demarcation and land titling processes for indigenous lands, the Government indicates that 125,277 property titles have been issued benefiting a total of 134,491 persons through the Land Administration Project (PRODEP III) and that a topographical survey has been carried out with a view to updating the land register for the lands of the indigenous communities of the Departments of Madríz, Nueva Segovia and Jinotega, namely: 13,452 plots in the municipality of Telpaneca; 4,851 plots in the municipality of San José de Cusmapa; 3,087 plots in the municipality of Sabanas; 5,240 plots in the municipality of Mozonte; and 3,504 plots in the municipality of María de Pantasma. The Committee also notes that, according to the information provided by the Government, in coordination with the National Land Demarcation and Titling Commission (CONADETI), land titles have been delivered in two additional areas, in the territory of Mayangna Sauni Bu and Miskitu Indian Tasbaika Kim.

The Committee further notes that, according to the information of the CONADETI, during the period 2005 to 2022, in the North Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCN) and the South Caribbean Coast Autonomous Region (RACCS), a total of 23 communal land titles and three additional areas were delivered and approved covering a total of 3,881,598.9 hectares (representing 29.7 per cent of the national territory), which have been entered into the Public Land Register. This benefited 313 indigenous and Afrodescendent communities and 284,161 persons. The Committee further notes the Government’s indication that cases in which the real rights are discussed in a territory occupied by indigenous communities are brought to the knowledge of the competent judicial authority, which in turn informs the respective territorial authority so that the communities concerned can intervene in the process.

The Committee further notes that the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, in its 2023 concluding observations, expressed concern at the allegations of the absence of the clarification of title to indigenous lands, which has led to illegal invasions by settlers and non-indigenous persons and to disputes and violence over access to land and natural resources (CERD/C/NIC/CO/15-21).

The Committee requests the Government to continue making efforts to achieve progress in the processes of land titling, demarcation and clarification of title to the lands traditionally occupied by the peoples covered by the Convention and to continue providing detailed information on this subject. It also requests the Government to provide examples of cases of land disputes between indigenous or tribal peoples and third parties that have been resolved by the judicial authorities, and information on current legal procedures.

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

[The Government is asked to reply in full to the present comments in 2025 . ]