An important example too includes indigenous peoples all over the Americas attempting to protect their rights over ancestral lands in the face of developmental projects. Such projects typically involve the action of transnational companies seeking and obtaining title over such lands without prior consent and consultation of indigenous peoples as obligated in international law and too often with the permission, acquiescence or willful blindness of the states itself. The role of the police in these encounters is not as the upholder of established rights. Rather, typically, the police protect the projects but not the people. Core Similarities between Minorities before the Criminal Justice System Minority groups are clearly not identical, but it is apparent that there are a number of important similarities that we can observe when interrogating their interaction and experiences before the criminal justice system. One other parallel that we can note is the linkage between discrimination and poverty. The Commission has noted in several of its Reports, that indigenous peoples and Afrodescendants continue to occupy the lowest income groups in the Americas. We continue to observe with alarm that the phenomenon of persistent poverty, a historical paradigm, endures. In our view, poverty is both a cause of discrimination in the criminal justice system and an exacerbating factor. Further, discrimination fuels poverty. Aftermath of Clashes with the Criminal Justice system – enduring cycles of poverty and disenfranchisement The glaring gaps and deficiencies of the legal framework in protecting minorities against discrimination and inequality have long term impact which reach beyond the arrest, conviction or incarceration. The