Complaint alleging the State’s failure to acknowledge indigenous communities property rights over ancestral land. Protecting territory through right to private property. Violation of right to life by depriving communities of traditional means of livelihood. State obligation to adopt positive measures to fulfill dignified life standard. Priority treatment of vulnerable groups.
The Inter-American Court stated that it would supervise enforcement and ordered the State to submit a report on measures adopted within one year after the decision was notified.
The Inter-American Court has reaffirmed its wide interpretation of right to life taking into account health, education and food standards set forth in the Protocol of San Salvador. In its interpretation, the Court also considered General Comments by the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the supervisory body of the International Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Applicant: Tierra Viva a los Pueblos Indígenas del Chaco (http://www.tierraviva.org.py) and Centro por la Justicia y el Derecho Internacional (CEJIL) (http://www.cejil.org) on behalf of the Yakye Axa community.