Urgent Intervention by Inter-American Commission on Human Rights Needed to Stop Eviction of Mapuche Community

A May 24 order from a court in the department of San Rafael, Mendoza, Argentina, could forcibly evict Lof El Sosneado families from their homes and land. As a last resort to prevent the evictions, the community submitted a request for precautionary measures to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, a human rights body of the Organization of American States. The Malalweche Territorial Identity Organization of the Mapuche Indigenous people, and the international civil society organization Earthjustice supported their plea for intervention.

“For generations, our communities have cared for the ixofijmogen, or biodiversity in our language, which is the source of life and knowledge,” said Gabriel Jofre, werken (spokesperson) of the Malalweche Organization. “Mining companies and the provincial government are deploying all their power against Mapuche communities and environmental defenders in order to dispossess us of our territories and our natural wealth.”

The eviction order follows a years-long conflict between the Mapuche community and mining company SOMINAR over the operation of a mine in the community’s traditional territory. Since 2018, the community has been fighting a lawsuit filed by the company to evict families from the community and take possession of their territory. Despite having successfully obtained official recognition of their community and territory from the National Institute of Indigenous Affairs (INAI), a federal agency in Argentina, Mendoza provincial courts have refused to recognize the indigenous community’s territorial rights.

Despite the active eviction order and having engaged in a protracted legal fight with the company, the Lof El Sosneado community is still pushing their case with the Supreme Court of Mendoza. On April 27 the Community reiterated a last-ditch request for the Supreme Court to halt the eviction order through a rarely used lawsuit reserved for cases of major errors in decisions already made.

“This lawsuit represents the last opportunity for the provincial Supreme Court to review its own ruling to ensure full compliance with national and international law, and thus prevent the case from going further in the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights,” said Ricardo Ermili, lawyer for the Malalweche Organization. “On the contrary, if the Supreme Court does not comply with its duty to guarantee the rights of the community, this could end up in another ruling by an international court against Mendoza, like in the famous Mendoza penitentiaries case of 2013 or the Lhaka Honat case in which Argentina was condemned for numerous breaches of indigenous law.”

As a last resort, the community decided to take their case to the Inter-American Commission in February of this year. They requested that the Commission grant precautionary measures in favor of the community. Precautionary measures are a mechanism through which the Commission presses governments to take urgent measures in the face of a serious and urgent threat of irreparable harm to human rights. The Malalweche Organization and Earthjustice reiterated this request on May 15 and warned about the imminent eviction.

“Disregard for the just territorial claims of Lof El Sosneado and other indigenous communities in Mendoza is a violation of the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. This is especially concerning because of the increasing pressure from extractive mining and oil industries on the traditional territory of the Mapuche People,” said Jacob Kopas, a lawyer with Earthjustice. “Argentina has an obligation under international law to guarantee indigenous peoples’ free, prior, and informed consultation and consent for any extractive project in their territory, even if this territory has not yet been formally recognized.”

In December of last year, the Inter-American Commission also issued a public statement calling on Argentina to respect the territorial rights of Indigenous Peoples in the face of forced evictions and recent government actions that could affect the rights of indigenous communities. On another occasion, the Inter-American Commission has intervened on behalf of another Mapuche community, Lof El Buenuleo in the province of Neuquén, which had suffered several forced evictions from their traditional territory.