Statement denouncing the murder of Jerhy Rivera Rivera

 “…because sometimes a man is born in a land that is that land. And the land in which that man is buried is that man. And the men who are later born from that land are that man…” Zero Hour, 1971, Ernesto Cardenal

El CLACSO Working Group The Central American Isthmus: rethinking the centers And the O Istmo network denounces and condemns a new murder of an indigenous leader in the canton of Buenos Aires, Puntarenas in Costa Rica, less than a year after the murder of Sergio Rojas Ortiz.

Jerhy Rivera Rivera, leader and indigenous Brörán was murdered on the night of February 24, 2020 in the Indigenous Territory of Térraba, after the violent harassment that the community received during the two previous nights had been denounced, by organized landowners, illegal possessors of indigenous lands who with threats and aggressions besieged the families in their own community.  

Human rights and the collective rights of Indigenous peoples are being violated in this Central American country, which boasts a long tradition of civility and democracy. There is a clear disconnect when it comes to Indigenous peoples, as despite the existence of national and international legal instruments (Law No. 6172 of 1977, which guarantees Indigenous lands; the ratification of ILO Convention 169 in 1993; and the adoption of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007 and the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2016), these have been consistently and unjustifiably disregarded by the State.

Neither the precautionary measures imposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) (No. 321-12) in April 2015 on leaders and people from the territories of Salitre and Térraba were sufficient, since Sergio Rojas Ortiz The petitioner and direct bearer of protection was murdered on March 18, 2019, a crime that remains unsolved. Jerhy Rivera Rivera As a member of the Brörán people of Térraba, he also carried these measures, and this was the second attempt on his life in a cycle of violence that began on February 22 of this year and has not yet ceased. Both murders are tragic events for his people and a sign of emergency in the country's democratic system.

Indigenous leaders from Térraba, Salitre, and other Indigenous territories continue to receive open death threats on social media, and Térraba is currently experiencing days of social tension and anxiety due to collective harassment and arson attacks on farms and homes. Non-Indigenous people are aware of their illegal land tenure, and many continue to resort to explicit violence and murder, facing moral and legal impunity from the Costa Rican state.

There is no possible reason that justifies the legal non-application and ineffectiveness of the Costa Rican State, which has a solvent state apparatus and significant resources in social policy, possibly the largest in the Central American region. Only social discrimination and racism can justify such inaction and inequality.  

The state has proposed an Indigenous Land Recovery Plan (PRTI), a belated response to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), but it is inadequate to address the crisis, the violence perpetrated by non-Indigenous people, and the social conflict. It fails to consider the characteristics of Indigenous peoples, the specific challenges posed by informal land reclamations, and the emergence of grassroots organizations. The plan is being implemented slowly and inefficiently, without adequate social and community outreach, and without the transparency required in this context.

Attention to physical security and social peace in these communities is inefficient and untimely because it is reduced to police action and emergency protocols, when it should be established as part of a comprehensive approach to the conflict, built from the ground up, preventively, through permanent social and civil management by civil officials in situ in and with the communities, organizations and leaders. As well as monitoring and addressing the actions of landowners and their workers.

Researchers from the University of Costa Rica, the State Distance University, public universities, as well as the Ombudsman's Office and social organizations have consistently pointed out the weaknesses and errors of these proposals, warning of the consequences and the risk to life that the inadequate measures could generate and are generating.

We demand The Costa Rican State must implement a strong and structural approach to land tenure in indigenous territories by all public bodies, with concrete and effective actions.

we demand Prompt and complete justice for the Indigenous people of Térraba and Salitre. An end to the social racism manifested in state inaction and in the violent and ethnophobic actions of non-Indigenous people, which seem to be perpetuated by the indifference of Costa Rican society.  

We demand Timely protection, negotiated and based on civil care, respectful and relevant to the cultural, social, geographical and administrative conditions of the indigenous communities and recovered areas in all territories of the canton of Buenos Aires and Pérez Zeledón.

In solidarity with the indigenous people of Salitre and Térraba, we join this Public statement written by their leaders and we invite the CLACSO community to spread it among its working groups, universities, institutions and civil organizations.

Central America
March 4 2020
CLACSO Working Group
The Central American isthmus: rethinking the centers