48
73(62) Most members of the Sawhoyamaxa Community decided to leave said
estates and at present they live along a national road in extreme poverty, without
any type of services, and waiting for the competent bodies to decide on the land
claim they filed.121 This situation was recognized by the President of the Republic of
Paraguay on June 23, 1999, by means of Executive Order No. 3789 whereby the
Yakye Axa and the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Communities of the Enxet-Lengua
People were declared to be in a state of emergency.122
73(63) The foregoing presidential Executive Order recognized that these
communities were deprived of the “access to the traditional means of subsistence
tied to their cultural identity as a result of the prohibition by the owners to their
entry to the habitat they claimed as part of their ancestral territories [, which]
hinders the normal development of the life of these native communities [due to] the
lack of a minimum of food and essential medical care and which is a matter of
concern to the Government which demands an urgent response”; consequently it
decided that the INDI, “in conjunction with the Ministries of the Interior and of Public
121
Cf. statement rendered by Ms. Elsa Ayala before a public official whose acts command full faith
and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 119; statement rendered by Ms. Gladys Benítez-Galarza
before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 28;
statement rendered by Ms. Mariana Ayala before a public official whose acts command full faith and credit
on January 17, 2006, supra note 120; statement rendered by Mr. Carlos Marecos before a public official
whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006, supra note 27; statement rendered by Mr.
Pablo Balmaceda before a publid official whose acts command full faith and credit on January 17, 2006,
supra note 44; book titled “Atlas de las Comunidades Indígenas in el Paraguay" [Atlas of the Indigenous
Communities in Paraguay],” Dirección General de Estadística, Encuestas y Censos [Bureau of Statistics,
Surveys and Censuses], Paraguay, 2002” of the Secretaría Técnica de Planificación de la Presidencia de la
República [Office of the Technical Secretary of State for Planning to the President of the Republic],
Paraguay, 2002. Volume II, pages 400 and 401; Executive Order No. 3789 issued by the President of the
Republic of Paraguay on June 23, 1999 (case file of appendixes to the answer to the complaint, appendix
1, folios 1629 to 1631); report drawn by Mr. Claudio Miltos and Augusto Ortigoza, officials of the Instituto
Paraguayo del Indígena [Paraguayan Institute of Indigenous Affairs] on February 25, 2000 (case file of
appendixes to the complaint, appendix 3, folios 1640 to 1642); video entitled “On the Way to
Sawhoyamaxa” made by TierraViva Organization (case file of appendixes to the complaint, appendix 21);
press release 23/99 issued by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights on July 30, 1999, para.
58; report on the situation of human rights in Paraguay issued by the Inter-American Commission on
Human Rights on March 9, 2001, Chapter IX, para. 8; journalistic article entitled “Diseases and hunger,
indigenous problems” published on October 31, 1994 in ABC newspaper (case file of appendixes to the
complaint, appendix 6, folio 536); journalistic article entitled “Medical care is a luxury in the Enxet
Community”, published in March 1995 in ABC newspaper (case file of appendixes to the complaint,
appendix 6, folio 537); journalistic article entitled “The Enxet Indians marginalized” published on May 8,
1995 in Ultima Hora newspaper (case file of appendixes to the complaint, appendix 6, folio 538);
journalistic article entitled “Diseases and lack of lands keep agony intact” published on April 8, 1995 in
ABC newspaper (case file of appendixes to the complaint, appendix 6, folio 539); journalistic article
entitled “Indigenist regrets the situation of native peoples” published on July 28, 1995 in ABC newspaper
(case file of appendixes to the complaint, appendix 6, folio 540); journalistic article entitled “Indigenous
Communities in Chaco request medical care and food” published on July 31, 1995 in Noticias newspaper
(case file of appendixes to the complaint, appendix 6, folio 541); journalistic article entitled “Indigenous
people fight to survive” published on February 5, 1997 in La Nación newspaper (case file of appendixes to
the complaint, appendix 6, folio 543); journalistic article entitled “Plunged in poverty, native people resist
disappearance” published on October 13, 1994 in ABC newspaper (case file of appendixes to the
complaint, appendix 6, folio 558); journalistic article entitled “For the Indigenous Peolple of Chaco slavery
was not abolished” published on September 6, 1994 in La Corbata newspaper (case file of appendixes to
the complaint, appendix 6, folio 535); journalistic article entitled “Natives exploited by estates in Chaco”,
published on August 5, 1994 in Noticias newspaper (case file of appendixes to the complaint, appendix 6,
folios 533 to 534).
122
Cf. Executive Order No. 3789 issued by the President of the Republic of Paraguay on June 23,
1999, supra note 121.