El 29 de julio de 2021, la Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Indígenas de la Cuenca Amazónica (COICA) y Equitable Origin (EO) lanzaron el curso «Derecho a la Consulta y al Consentimiento Previo, Libre e Informado», desarrollado en el marco del proyecto Centro de Fortalecimiento de los Derechos de los Pueblos Indígenas (CEFO Indígena), implementado por Equitable Origin, COICA, el Consejo Regional Indígena y Popular de Xpujil (CRIPX) y la Red Indígena de Turismo de México (RITA).

El curso será impartido a través de la plataforma de educación virtual de COICA, inaugurada en 2020 con el propósito de fortalecer las capacidades de los pueblos indígenas para la defensa de sus territorios, el fortalecimiento de la autogobernanza territorial y el bienestar de sus comunidades, bajo el lema «Amazonía viva, humanidad segura».

Las postulaciones se reciben desde el 28 de junio de 2021. El curso se desarrollará entre el 29 de julio y el 30 de septiembre de 2021 y ofrecerá 22 cupos para participantes indígenas de México, Perú y Ecuador.

Participarán 21 líderes y lideresas de la Confederación de Nacionalidades Indígenas de la Amazonía Ecuatoriana (CONFENIAE), la Asociación Interétnica de Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana (AIDESEP), el Consejo Regional Indígena y Popular de Xpujil (CRIPX) y la Red Indígena de Turismo de México (RITA).

Objective

El curso busca fortalecer los conocimientos de los y las participantes indígenas para orientar a sus comunidades y organizaciones en procesos de consulta sobre cuestiones que afectan sus vidas y sus territorios. Asimismo, pretende fortalecer sus capacidades para la defensa de sus derechos, dando a conocer los mecanismos nacionales e internacionales disponibles para presentar denuncias por violaciones a los derechos de los pueblos indígenas.

Module I: International legal instruments that establish the right to free, prior and informed consultation.

Module II: The right to free, prior and informed consultation.

Module III: National legal frameworks recognizing the right to free, prior and informed consultation in Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador.

Module IV: National protection mechanisms and procedures for reporting rights violations in Mexico, Peru, and Ecuador.

Module V: International protection mechanisms.

Course Leads and Instructors

Tabea Casique Coronado, Director of Education, Science and Technology at COICA, will lead the course. It will also include the participation of other leading experts on Indigenous issues, detailed below:

Alexis Tiouka - Specialist in Human Rights and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, represented the Indigenous Peoples of French Guiana during the negotiation of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

Lía López Martínez - Specialist in the Rights of Indigenous Peoples with an emphasis on sustainable community development and biocultural relations. She has facilitated processes for the construction of Biocultural Community Protocols in Mexico.

Rodrigo de la Cruz - Specialist in Intellectual Property, Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge has held important positions with the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Peoples, among others.

Yajaira Curipallo - Legal expert and delegate of the Ombudsman's Office in Pastaza, Ecuador. She has worked in various processes for the defense of human rights and is part of various groups at the local and national level, for example, the Foundation for Human Rights and Nature's “Equality in Diversity”.

Martín Vásquez Flores- Lawyer specialized in environmental law, forest and wildlife law, human rights, and rights of Indigenous Peoples. He has led community development projects and participated in free, prior, and informed consultation processes.

Lenín Sarzosa Santos - Trial Lawyer, strategic constitutional litigation, and in criminal matters defense of cases of criminalization of social leaders, and Human Rights defenders. Political legal collaborator of CONAIE, CONFENIAE and MICC.

Max Silva Sánchez - Lawyer specialized in the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, works as AIDESEP's legal specialist with an emphasis on community forest management issues and prior consultation processes.

Elisa Cruz Rueda - Lawyer and university professor specialized in Indigenous Rights. She is part of the legal team that litigates the first Amparo filed against the Mayan Train, as a CRIPX plaintiff.

Rubén Pinto Vargas - Specialist in the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and legal pluralism. He is a legal advisor to CIDOB and other indigenous organizations; in the request for precautionary measures and the presentation of petitions before the IACHR.

Raúl Lunasco - Lawyer by profession, graduated in 2009 from the National University of Ucayali and graduated from the University of Huanuco; with specialization in the New Criminal Procedure Code (NCPP), and Oral Litigation, by Universidad Cesar Vallejo. He continued his work in the defense of Indigenous Peoples. He has experience working in Panama, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Belize, the United States, and Spain. In recent years he has been an advisor to the Aidespe Ucayali Regional Organization (ORAU), and the Inter-ethnic Association for the Development of the Peruvian Jungle (AIDESEP).

Miguel Barboza - Miguel has an LL.M in International Human Rights Law from Notre Dame University. He currently works for the Konrad Adenauer Foundation under the Rule of Law Program Latin America and is responsible for the area of Indigenous People and Business and Human Rights. Miguel is currently based in Colombia but has ample work experience in human rights work in Latin America.