Documento - Los gobiernos deben dejar de imponer proyectos de
desarrollo en los territorios de los pueblos indígenas 8 August
2012 Index: AMR 01/005/2012 Governments must stop imposing
development projects on Indigenous peoples’ territories
Governments across the Americas continue to discriminate against
Indigenous peoples by denying their right to have a say on
decisions which may have devastating consequences for their
cultural survival. Motorways, pipelines, hydroelectric dams and
open-cast mines are some of the development projects which
governments continue to carry out on or near Indigenous
territories without obtaining their free, prior and informed
consent. The right to consultation, as established in various
international human rights standards, is key for Indigenous
peoples. They have a special relationship with their territory
and environment and their cultural survival depends on it. As
Eriberto Gualinga from the Sarayaku Indigenous community in
Ecuador has put it “for us, the rainforest is life.