Efforts afoot to institutionalize indigenous justice in ecuador.
| Autor | Saavedra, Luis Angel |
The creation of a justice council for the Kichwa Saraguro people in the province of Zamora (Consejo de Justicia del Pueblo Kichwa Saraguro de Zamora) aims to put into practice Article 171 of Ecuador's Constitution, which recognizes the existence of systems of justice other than the white--or mestizo--system (NotiSur, Nov. 9, 2012). The effort, however, faces a racially-charged governmental challenge as well as voices within the indigenous movement itself that question any institutionalization of their ancestral systems of justice.
Ecuador's Constitution states: "Authorities of indigenous communities, tribes, and nationalities will exercise judicial functions based on their ancestral traditions and their own law within their territory, with guarantees for women's participation and decisions." It specifically points to the existence of a legal system within the indigenous communities, with particularities suited to the diversity of the communities, peoples, and nationalities. The government, however, has systematically denied this.
Article 171 establishes a single limitation for indigenous jurisdiction when it says, "The authorities will apply their own rules and procedures for the resolution of internal conflicts that don't contradict the Constitution or the human rights recognized in international documents." This means that any kind of conflict--or "sorrows," the word used in the Kichwa world--including those arising from murder or rape, could be resolved by the indigenous authorities in their own territories. Ecuador's Constitutional Court has tried to limit the indigenous judicial system with a resolution that tries to stop indigenous judges from resolving conflicts involving the physical integrity of an individual, such as murder and rape. In practice, indigenous communities have ignored the resolution, viewing the court as an appendage of executive power that echoes the racist stance of President Rafael Correa, who is determined to reduce indigenous jurisdiction to a minimum.
The result is a collision of two systems, one accustomed to imposing its will and now backed by the ideology of the executive branch (NotiSur, Jan. 11, 2013), the other recently awakened but centuries old.
A problem of hierarchies
The judges of the white or mestizo system refuse to recognize the jurisdiction of the indigenous courts and attempt to retry cases that have been resolved in the indigenous system. They reject the legitimacy and enforceability of...
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