Court action seeking protection for the health of indigenous children and youth due to consumption of water contaminated with lead and mercury. The State’s arbitrary failure to diligently protect the right to health. Court order to provide drinking water to the victims, to determine the existence of damages and, if required, to ensure adequate medical treatment is provided.
Due to the State’s failure to fully comply with the decision (the community is only supplied with drinking water on a daily basis), the applicant resorted to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (see Comunidades Paynemil y Kaxipayiñ (#12.010) in this database). In a parallel development, on March 27 2002, Mapuche communities filed an action against Repsol-YPF for the damages caused upon their territory by the company’s oil and gas development operations.
This case is one of the most important precedents of enforceability within Argentine case law. The Court considered the seriousness of the situation, the urgency to protect the affected rights, and the vulnerability of the victims to uphold the illegitimacy of the State’s actions. The defendant’s response succeeded in avoiding evidence-related obstacles and the technical complexity of the matter at stake.
Applicant: Neuquén’s Official Defender of Minors, Ms. Nara E. Osés, on behalf of the children and youth of Mapuche communities Paynemil and Kaxipayiñ (e-mail: naradef@infovia.com.ar).