ADMISSIBILITY OF INDIGENOUS TERRITORIAL DEMANDS ON THE INTER-AMERICAN COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHTS

Abstract

Initially, the article presents a history of the formation of the inter-regional system of protection of human rights, highlighting the creation of the Inter[1]American Commission on Human Rights. From the analysis of a series of cases decided by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, the paper evaluates, first, how the organ interprets the conditions of admissi[1]bility of demands who report violations of indigenous rights, particularly those related to the recognition of lands traditionally occupied by these people. Then, based on previous theoretical and before the concrete fact of dozens of cases submitted to the court, the work proposes a qualitati[1]ve analysis of how the admissibility requirements have been interpreted by the Commission. In conclusion, one can point to a certain flexibility of the said committee for the admission of these demands, which signals receptiveness to demands related to indigenous lands. For methodological purposes, the analysis was limited to the cases submitted to the Commis[1]sion in the period that begins with the establishment of the Rapporteurship on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (1990), which detains the expertise in dealing with these matters.