Right of association of the Wayuu people and their registration with the Ministry of the Interior

Association of indigenous Traditional Authorities Shipia Wayuu v. Ministry of internal Affairs 

Date:  04/24/2019

Judge-Rapporteur:  Gloria Stella Ortiz Delgado

Facts.  The Association of Traditional Shipia Wayúu Indigenous Authorities and 65 other traditional indigenous authorities, filed a legal action against the Office of Indigenous Affairs, Roma People, and Minorities of the Ministry of the Interior. They requested the protection of their constitutional rights to their indigenous culture, identity, customs, and traditions, and association, allegedly violated by the Governmental office by imposing on them excessive bureaucratic formalities which prevent them from being legally recognized members of their own communities.

Issue:  Do formal requirements to registration violate the ethnic rights of the indigenous people whenever the former go against their traditional customs?

Ruling and reasoning. The court considered that the formal requirements to register the indigenous people and the demand that their leaders be democratically elected, ignore the concept of “traditional authority” that is recognized according to their tradition by kinship presuppositions - elder man by maternal blood line - and the concurrence of qualities for the exercise of authority, but it is not chosen through democratic mechanisms.

Based on that, the Chamber concluded that the aforementioned requirements do not correspond to the traditions and customs of the Wayúu indigenous people, and therefore, violate their rights to cultural identity, participation, autonomy, and association. 

Consequently, the invoked protection was GRANTED and a series of orders were issued to enforce the protection of the rights of the indigenous community.