Wednesday, December 3, 2014

Declaration of the Forum on Indigenous Communication Abya Yala


Declaration of the National and International Forum on Indigenous Communication and Public Policy:
Debates and Practices
Popayán, Cauca - Abya Yala [Colombia] November 26-29, 2014
 

November 29, 2014

Indigenous Communication and Territorial Realities

International Context

The Forced Disappearances of Ayotzinapa

Whereas on September 26th in the Mexican municipality of Iguala de la Independencia, in the state of Guerrero, municipal police attacked students from the Rural Normal School of Ayotzinapa in several episodes of violence, a criminal assault leaving six people dead, twenty wounded and the forced disappearance of 43 students of the Rural Normal School Raúl Isidro Burgos;
Faced with such critical realities and processes affecting of our Nations of Indigenous Peoples across all of Abya Yala:

We commit to:

Denounce and bring permanent visibility to these realities, mobilize and join forces from within our respective communication processes to demand respect for the territories, processes and rights of our Nations of Indigenous Peoples.

Express our solidarity with the peoples of Mexico and demand of the Mexican State accountability and to drastically punish the responsible parties of the forced disappearance of 43 indigenous students Ayotzinapa, Iguala in the state of Guerrero.  We demand an end to impunity and the criminalization of the protests realized in the past two months. We join the worldwide outcry: "They were taken alive, we want them back alive!"
In Ecuador:

We condemn the persecution, prosecution and criminalization of indigenous and social leaders in Ecuador.
In Colombia:

The Afro Colombian, campesino, indigenous as well as popular social sectors of Colombia are experiencing situations that threaten their ancestral territories and survival as peoples, due to displacement, forced recruitment, restricted mobility and occupation of their territories.

The Nasa Communities of Putumayo communities demand respect for their territories against the expropriation that has been driven by the oil industry and the territorial disputes between armed groups.

Indigenous and campesino communities have mobilized to block construction of the dam El Quimbo to demand enforcement of agreements with the national government of Colombia, protecting them against displacement from their territories.

Afro-Columbian women of Suarez Cauca who have mobilized to demand respect for their territories being exploited by large scale mining corporations have suffered repression by the government.

Two members of the Guardia Indigena (Indigenous Self Defense Guard) were killed by FARC in Toribio Cauca in early November and on November 25th a defender of the territory was prosecuted and condemned to prison by the law of the state of Colombia;


Public Communication Policies

Whereas the indigenous movement in Colombia, represented by five national indigenous organizations, has developed a proposal for Public Policy of Indigenous Communication within the framework of the Permanent Committee of National Communication;

We commit to:

Support the proposal of Public Policy of Indigenous Communication developed by indigenous organizations in Colombia and call for its adoption and implementation by the State of Colombia, allocating resources and the necessary guarantees for immediate implementation with the participation of indigenous peoples.

Continue to provide feed back into these processes of Public Policy with our communities and implement its applicability with practical actions based from our territories, as well as disseminate the participatory construction of the Public Policy of Indigenous Communication and share its contents as a contribution to international regional processes and as an initiative in practice of the mandates of the two continental Summits of Indigenous Communications of Abya Yala.

Third Continental Summit of Communication

In consideration that from 17 to 20 September a Pre-Summit Preparatory Meeting was held in La Paz, Bolivia to prepare for the Third Continental Summit of Indigenous Communication of Abya Yala, whereupon the National Commission under charge of the Unity Pact of Indigenous Organizations under the direction of the Indigenous Audiovisual Coordinator of Bolivia (CAIB) was formally installed and where proposals were elaborated, and recommendations made for the realization of the 3rd Summit;

Likewise, it is recommended that the indigenous organizations responsible for follow through at the international level of the first and second summits to empower themselves with the responsibilities of these mandates and offer political orientation in order to not make the mistake that would allow NGOs to take over ownership of these processes with different objectives than that of the purposes of the proposed by the Original Nations.

That the National Organizing Committee of the Third Continental Summit of Indigenous Communications has scheduled a number of preparatory activities, such an event in May 2015 to review and approve the methodology through which the institutions participating in the International Operations Commission must participate.

We commit to:

Position the III Continental Summit of Indigenous Communications as a key strategic event to assert the right to communication as an essential human right in the exercise other human rights which should be acknowledged with greater importance in the new millennium.

Support the national processes in Bolivia for the organization of the Third Continental Summit of Indigenous Communications, and promote the participation of the diverse indigenous communication processes in the scheduled events.
Collective strategy and advocacy

Considering the need to unite forces and achieve a greater international political projection in order to make visible and contribute to the exercise of the right of communication of indigenous peoples.

We commit to:

Strengthen the networking efforts to unite our initiatives and experiences at the national and international levels of indigenous communication and elaborate a virtual platform in expression of the right to indigenous communication in order to facilitate the coordination of actions and to exchange resources and experiences.

Form an intercultural legal working group to monitor the situation of the right of communication of Indigenous Peoples and develop legal initiatives of international scope from the foundations of "Original Law".

Involve and engage the international agencies of the United Nations and the Inter-American System of Human Rights (IACHR-OAS, Inter-IDH) in order to make visible the Right of Communication of Indigenous Peoples and insist that the States to promote their respect and application.

Promote partnerships with international institutions and networks to make common cause with the Right to Communication and the establishment of regulatory frameworks that promote indigenous community radio and television media.
   
It is proposed that the commissions that were generated from the First and Second Summit be reestablished along with their members.

It is proposed that in the area of Formation of Indigenous Communicators efforts should be made to unify or coordinate the different organizational experiences that already exist.

In terms of strengthening thee Formation of Indigenous Women Communicators, it is proposed to join in the efforts that already exist.

It is proposed that the virtual platform be reactivated.
   
Regarding the Observatory it is proposed to join with the efforts being realized already in the various continental processes.
   
Regarding the slogan or slogans is proposed that each production (graphical, radial and audiovisual) that is generated from the organizations and groups included the slogan: "On the Road to the 3rd Continental Summit of Indigenous Communication, Bolivia 2016".
    
It is agreed to integrate training initiatives of Formation of Indigenous Communicators with those initiatives established by the Indigenous Peoples and Nationalities such as the Network of Indigenous Intercultural and Community Universities of Abya Yala- RUIICAY.


Indigenous Games

Whereas the Inter Tribal Committee of Brazil is promoting the Games of Indigenous Peoples as a global event that shall contribute to visualize the presence and richness of Indigenous Peoples:

It is agreed:

To contribute to the dissemination and convocation of the Indigenous Games and facilitate a complementary preparatory meeting of coordination to advance the trajectory of the indigenous agenda of international communication.


People's Summit on Climate Change

Whereas from December 8 -11 there will be held in Lima, Peru, the People's Summit on Climate Change as an alternative event of indigenous peoples and civil society to the Conference of the Parties of the United Nations Convention on Change climate or COP 20, during which a World March will be held in Defense of Mother Earth on December 10 under the slogan: "Change the system, not the climate."

It is agreed:

In support of the People's Summit on Climate Change, and the World March in Defense of Mother Earth, the Indigenous Communicators of Abya Yala shall disseminate the contributions that are developed from this alternative effort from the perspective of Indigenous Peoples.

We salute the 90th anniversary of the Kuna Revolution February 2015 in Panama.

Popayán, Cauca - Abya Yala [Colombia] November 2014

CRIC 
Consejo Regional Indígena Regional del Cauca - CRIC

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Translation: TONATIERRA