Inter-American Court rules Colombia drilling violated native rights

The Costa Rica-based court criticized the Colombian state's authorization of seven resource extraction projects in and around an U'wa reservation created in 1999 in the Sierra Nevada del Cocuy region in the country's northeast.

Since 2000, members of the community have complained that the presence of soldiers and other armed actors in the area has resulted in intimidation, violence and damage to their culture and the environment, the court noted.

Colombia violated rights to collective property, political participation, participation in cultural life and a healthy environment, among others, "to the detriment of the U'wa Indigenous people," the ruling said.

More than two decades after the reservation was created, the process of marking and titling protected territories in favor of the U'wa people has yet to be concluded, the ruling said.

The court ordered measures including altering land titles in favor of the U'wa people, mitigating the environmental damage caused by drilling and mining, and guaranteeing the participation of Indigenous people in decisions concerning their territory.