Colombia: Rural Statute found unconstitutional

[Judi Lynn]

Rural Statute found unconstitutional

March 25, 2009 By Hector Mondragon
Source: IPS

March 21/09 (IPS) - The annulment of the Rural Development Statute by the Constitutional Court opens a new chapter in the confrontation between the government of Colombia, presided over by Alvaro Uribe, and the indigenous peoples of this Andean country.

The Statute, or Law 1152 of 2007, was declared unconstitutional on Wednesday (sentence C-175 of 2009) because it did not fulfill the requirement of prior consultation with indigenous peoples and Afro-Colombian communities.

The Court determined that the processes of participation that were used "were brought forward in an inopportune way, contrary to the principle of good faith" and that "there is no evidence whatsoever that proper consultative procedures, including consultations with the governmental and traditional authorities according to the rules of prior consultation, were followed."

Prior consultation is required by Article 6 of Covenant 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) for all legislative or administrative matters that directly affect these ethnic groups.

The majority of the Constitutional Court ratified the jurisprudence in multiple sentences, requiring a true process of consultation of all affected communities, allowing them full information on projects and the opportunity to propose alternatives.

This is the second extremely important piece of legislation that has fallen for lack of adequate consultation.

The General Forestry Law was declared unconstitutional in January 2008 for this reason, in an historic sentence that collected years of decisions by the Court.

For the court, expressed in Sentence C-030 of 2008 on the forest law, prior consultation implied "making known to the communities, by way of sufficient and representative means, the law, examples of its application and how it will affect the community, and provide the communities with effective opportunities to pronounce on it".

More:
http://www.zcommunications.org/znet/viewArticle/20968