Asunción, Agencia IP.- During its visit to the Yakye Axa community, the delegation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, headed by Judge Rodrigo Mudrovitsch, highlighted the work done by the Paraguayan State that allowed the families to have alternative lands, guaranteed basic services and an access road that they did not have previously.
«Today, we can visit the community on their alternative lands and not on the side of the road where they remained for years,» said the vice president of the IHD Court, referring to a visit made in 2017, when the condition of the Yakye Axa families was very precarious.
«In 2017, the situation had not changed since the ruling was issued, as its members continued to live in very precarious and dangerous conditions on a small strip of public land, on the side of the road and not on the alternative lands,» recalled Judge Mudrovitsch.
He added that on that occasion, they had only been able to travel the first of the three access sections to the alternative lands, the first thirteen kilometers of the road. «Today, we were able to travel the entire access road to the alternative lands and see the conditions of its construction,» he stressed.
Mudrovitsch pointed out that this access road is essential since its construction conditioned the Yakye Axa community’s acceptance of the alternative lands. The judge also claimed that, concerning the conditions in which the community is found, «some differences are observed in relation to the situation observed on that occasion.»
«The Paraguayan State is making the best of its efforts thanks to inter-institutional support. The Government of Paraguay is committed to ensuring that the benefits are not only extended to the communities for which it has been sentenced but to all Indigenous communities and all Paraguayan people,» said Juan Ramón Benegas, president of the Paraguayan Indigenous Institute, at the same event.
The State official stated that there is «very significant progress» in fully complying with the IACHR ruling and committed the work of all institutions to comprehensive assistance. The purpose of the IACHR’s current visit is to listen to and verify «with our own eyes» both the community’s concerns and the state’s efforts in the pending aspects of the ruling’s implementation.
This visit allows us to supervise the implementation of these measures and compare reality. It also allows us to identify the circumstances hindering full compliance with the pending reparation measures and establish concrete commitments for full compliance, explained Judge Mudrovitsch.
The delegation of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights will conclude its visits to the villages of indigenous communities on Thursday. Tomorrow, Friday, it plans to meet with ministers of the Supreme Court of Justice and the Attorney General of the Republic, among other audiences, within the framework of its mission to the country that concludes that day.