Legal decision
Huilcamán Paillama et al. v. Chile ruling, 2024
The Inter-American Court found Chile responsible for rights violations and recognised Indigenous self-determination as an independent legal right.
What happened
On 18 June 2024, the Inter-American Court ruled against Chile and recognised Indigenous self-determination as an independent right under the American Convention.[1]
Sources for this page
Each number marks a specific claim. Notes give the source, its locator and how it relates to the claim.
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1.
Claim: On 18 June 2024, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights ruled in Huilcamán Paillama et al. v. Chile, arising from 1992 protests by the Consejo de Todas las Tierras following a First Mapuche Tribunal declaration that the Chilean state had illegally dispossessed Mapuche lands; the Court found Chile internationally responsible for rights violations in the criminal proceedings against the protesters and, in this and a related judgment, recognised Indigenous self-determination as an independent right under Article 26 of the American Convention, covering both a community's internal governance and its external political participation.
- Expanding Frontiers of Indigenous Self-Determination: Recent Developments at the Inter-American Court (American Society of International Law (ASIL)) link, Ruling and self-determination findings section. Source record