MercoPress. South Atlantic News Agency

UN says companies must compensate indigenous peoples

Businesses have to consult indigenous communities and must also share any profits

A United Nations report released last week said that industrial and energy projects set in motion before the official adoption of Chile’s “Convention 169” in September should still compensate indigenous communities for current and future effects caused by their projects.

The original Convention 169 was created by the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 1989 and guarantees indigenous communities a wide range of remedies if their lands are usurped by business developments.

Convention 169 was ratified in Chile in September, 2008, after languishing in Congress for 17 years. But enforcement of the Convention only took effect a year later – September, 2009.

The Convention will require local businesses and industries to carry out environmental impact reports if their investments infringe on indigenously held properties, and compliance is to be reviewed every three years.

Businesses not only have to consult indigenous communities that could be affected by projects, but must also share any profits or other benefits with them, and give compensation in the case of displacement or relocation .

Chile’s Convention 169 report, issued by U.N. Special Reporter on Indigenous Affairs James Anaya, cited several specific regional projects that need “re-evaluation” because they are not in compliance with the Convention. These include SN Power hydroelectric centres in Regions XIV and VIII, water treatment plans in Region IX and cellulose plants in Region XIV.

Anaya notes that the plans for these projects began before the Convention took effect in Chile, therefore the convention’s stipulations don’t strictly apply. Still, he advised that the projects should be held accountable under the Convention for current and future effects on indigenous communities.

Activities on the SN Power Region XIV Hydroelectric plant, one of Anaya’s cited projects, were temporarily suspended in 2008 due to opposition from local indigenous groups.

Construction for the plant is tentatively set to begin in 2013.

By Allison D. Morris - Santiago Times