Indigenous People in COLOMBIA today

On the last afternoon of 21st session of the Working Group on Indigenous People, a film about Colombia was screened. It is a documentary about the Indigenous People National Congress of 1999, and its main conclusions. It was brought to the Working Group by UMIYAC (Union de Medicos Indigenas Yageceros de la Amazonia Colombiana), Union of Amazonian Indigenous Medical Doctors users of the Yaje a medical plant, well known in Latin America.

The film was analysing the consequences of the actual human rights abuses in Colombia, on the local indigenous communities, and the implications of this situation on their traditional medicine.

As in other parts of the world, Colombia is living an increase in the popularity of traditional medicine including the medicinal plants. In the film was stressed the importance of property rights on the use of this species, especially for curative purpose. Property Rights are applied in this area, first to avoid people misusing traditional medicine, which generates a bad reputation to these plants, and secondly, to prevent lost of resources that belong to the Indigenous People, as these plants are commercialised by some private companies.

In this film we can see how the Indigenous People in Colombia fight for their rights and for their traditions in a very difficult context. They are not only victims of poverty and exclusion, but they also have been involved, as the rest of the citizens, in a severe armed conflict that is not theirs.

During another session related to the same issue, organised earlier on the same day, Mr Hernando de Jesus Rivera, President of a Columbian Indigenous Committee, stated "Many times transnational companies and illegal armed groups involve us in their economic and military own process, causing Indigenous People migration from their own territory".

By: Paula Bula

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