The petition alleges that both the government of Honduras and that of Guatemala failed to secure the human rights of the Miskito communities. The regions they inhabit lack adequate road infrastructure, health care facilities, and schools. Thirty to forty percent of the Miskito people are illiterate. Besides traditional handicrafts and very basic agriculture, which is complicated by regular flooding, there are very little opportunities for employment. Consequently, most Moskito men have no other option than to accept employment by fishing companies as divers because the job does not require any special skills or education.
A petition giving rise to a thematic discussion on economic and social rights of indigenous people in Nicaragua and Honduras was filed by a coalition of several NGOs. The Nicaraguan Center for Legal Assistance to Indigenous People (CALPI http://calpi.nativeweb.org/) was supported by two indigenous organizations – Asociación de Miskitos Hondureños de Buzos Lisiados (AMHBLI) and Miskitu Indiang Mairin Asla Takanka (MIMAT) and the Center for Justice and International Law (CEJIL, http://www.cejil.org/). The petition describes the plight and marginalization of Miskito people, who inhabit the Atlantic coast of Nicaragua and south Honduras. Even though the petition covers a broad range of human rights, at its core is the issue of employment in dangerous deep-sea diving for lobsters, which is the Miskito’s primary source of income.
The petition alleges that both the government of Honduras and that of Guatemala failed to secure the human rights of the Miskito communities. The regions they inhabit lack adequate road infrastructure, health care facilities, and schools. Thirty to forty percent of the Miskito people are illiterate. Besides traditional handicrafts and very basic agriculture, which is complicated by regular flooding, there are very little opportunities for employment. Consequently, most Moskito men have no other option than to accept employment by fishing companies as divers because the job does not require any special skills or education. Deepsea diving for lobsters is a high-risk activity, and far too often results in permanent disability due to decompression illness. The disabled divers, who often feed whole families, do not get any social benefits or adequate health care. The fishing companies do not provide any insurance for the disabled divers, either. Additionally,there is often no formal contract between the diver and the company, making it easy for the companies to get rid of the divers once they have become disabled.
The Miskito people are also almost absent from the public decision bodies in Nicaragua and Honduras, despite forming a considerable part of the population of both countries. A vicious circle begins. Because of the workers’ poor education and general marginalization, they find it hard to become public officials or involved in the public bodies. Without people on the inside, the workers’ problems are paid little attention. Additionally, there is a lack of access to justice due to the workers’ lack of knowledge and education, a language problem (lack of interpreters), the high costs of access to courts, and the absence of free legal aid in practice. The petitioners drew attention to one of the latest documents produced by the Commission, itself, on the importance of access to justice as a guarantee of economic, social and cultural rights (http://www.cidh.org/pdf%20files/ACCESS%20TO%20JUSTICE%20DESC.pdf). The petitioners argued that the governments fail to meet the standards set out by the Commission. In short, the petition is a textbook example of the interdependence and interrelatedness of human rights.
During the hearing, the Commission heard from representatives of all four of the petitioners’ organizations. As it was already the third hearing of the morning the presenters were struggling to catch the attention of some of the four Commissioners (Paolo G. Carozza, Luz Patricia Mejía Guerrero, Sir Clare Kamau Roberts and Víctor E. Abramovich). The petitioners’ requests were, indeed, modest and uncomplicated. First, the petitioners asked the Commission to visit the region and witness for themselves the lives of one of the poorest communities in Central America. Next, the petitionersasked the Commission to issue a press release pointing to the problem andfurther encourage both Honduras and Nicaragua to ratify the Additional Protocol to the American Convention on Human Rights in the Area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights “Protocol of San Salvador.” Lastly, the petitioners asked the Commission to pay a special attention to the case, Lemonte y otros v. Honduras. It seemed to serve as background information for an individual petitioner, which gave rise to the same issues. The case had already been declared admissible., . During the presentation, the petitioners provided a steady projection of colorful, but at times distressing, photos of the everyday life of Miskito people ran as a background illustration to the points made. The pictures, showing not only the depressing effects of social rights violations, but also the simple beauty of the region, worked as an incentive for the Commissioners to visit the region.
Unfortunately, no representatives of the respondent governments addressed the Commission, which left more room for questions from the Commissioners. Yet, the Commissioners probably also considered the petition more as an informative session on human rights problems on the Atlantic coast of Guatemala and Honduras and, consequently, probably would not have asked any sharp questions. Mr. Abramovich was interested to know the reasons for the high rate of accidents among the divers and whether the issues are at all matters of a public debate in their respective countries. President Carozza inquired about the situation of women and children in those regions. Nevertheless, both commissioners asked the petitioners to submit further information in writing.
Overall, the hearing proceeded in a very relaxed atmosphere, which surely was also due to the absence of government representatives. The primary aim appeared to be to make the Commission and public aware of the alleged numerous human rights violations of Moskito indigenous communities in Honduras and Guatemala. It is now up to the Commission whether it will take the issue on board. From the information presented it certainly seems that the plight of Moskito people deserves an immediate attention. The Commission’s work could be instrumental in encouraging the governments to strive at last to improve the dire lives of Moskito people.
Filed under: IACHR, Latin America
