Costa Rican indigenous organizations denounced that the justice system ordered the eviction of land from a property located within indigenous territory in Puente de Salitre, Buenos Aires de Puntarenas.
The Consejo Ditsö̀ Irìria Ajkö́nu̱k Wakpa (CODIAW) and the Coordinadora de Lucha Sur Sur Sur reported that the judicial eviction orders against the recuperating families of the Bribri de Salitre Village were issued by the Civil, Labor and Family Court of Buenos Aires (Agrarian Matters).
Through this judicial decision, the eviction of the indigenous people is ordered. This has angered the inhabitants of the area, who consider that the decision is incorrect and does not conform to international standards for protecting human rights.
“The judicial decision orders the eviction of the indigenous people, resolutions that contradict all international human rights standards of the native peoples and violate the ancestral and legal right to land,” the organizations claim.
This is the fourth time that the Civil, Labor, and Family Court of Buenos Aires (Agrarian Matters) has issued resolutions ordering the eviction of people belonging to an Indigenous Community of Costa Rica, even though they recognize that the land is located within an Indigenous Territory established by law.
According to the Indigenous Organizations, one of the judges involved in the case “has a relationship by affinity with a person who illegally occupies lands in Indigenous Territories.”
This is not the first time that this type of conflict has occurred between indigenous peoples and the Costa Rican State. Unfortunately, they have been constant.
The farm in dispute is the Kapleña farm of approximately 55 hectares, located in Puente de Salitre, and was recovered on November 2, 2019.
In addition, the organizations mentioned that a non-indigenous person was illegally occupying the land. The affected villages have already denounced this situation.
“He has been involved and publicly and judicially denounced for his participation in several acts of violence against the Bribri people of Salitre, such as attempted homicide, aggression with weapons, threats, and attacks with chemical substances, among others,” they added.
Faced with these eviction orders, two representatives of the 12 Bribris people who recovered, live, and worked on the Kapleña farm formally presented to the Minister of Security the Request for Declaration of Social Vulnerability of Eviction.
The indigenous communities hope that this situation will be resolved as soon as possible and that they can continue living normally on the lands established by law.
