A/HRC/21/47/Add.2
may exercise the powers set out in article 75, paragraph 17, of the Constitution, case law
establishes that they may not obstruct the actions of the national Government.
33.
On the other hand, and notwithstanding the involvement of the Indigenous
Participation Council in the survey process, indigenous population groups have pointed out
that there is insufficient indigenous participation in the national survey programme, and that
the process of selecting indigenous representatives for the indigenous participation councils
does not reflect the traditional processes followed by the communities.
34.
In addition, although the INAI cadastral survey programme aims to recognize
indigenous land tenure in Argentina, it does not include a procedure for awarding title to
indigenous lands. INAI has taken an important step towards filling this vacuum by drafting
a bill on indigenous communal possession and ownership, which will be submitted to
Congress in 2012. Although indigenous representatives recognize this bill as an important
step, there are concerns about the extent of consultation with indigenous peoples on this
initiative.
35.
Another criticism of the INAI survey programme is that it does not establish any
mechanisms to resolve cases in which communities assert their right to the restitution of
lands of which they have recently been dispossessed, or in which communities and private
landowners put forward conflicting claims for recognition of the land. In addition, the
survey programme does not apply to communities whose members are dispersed
throughout urban areas owing to the dispossession of their ancestral lands several
generations ago.
2.
The extractive and agricultural industries
36.
With regard to the legal uncertainty of indigenous peoples’ claims over their
traditional lands, reference should be made to the extractive and agricultural industries’
current or proposed projects on or near these lands. Argentina has a long history of natural
resource extraction, but, due in part to the liberalization of the laws and policies regulating
these industries in the 1990s, the number of leases granted by the provinces has increased
considerably in the last decade.
37.
Under article 124 of the Constitution, the provinces have the power to dispose of the
resources within their respective territories as they wish. However, the Constitution also
stipulates that the Federal Government retains some jurisdiction over matters involving the
extractive industries. For example, it is the responsibility of the Federal Government to
establish minimum standards on environmental protection, while the provinces set any
regulations needed to supplement these federal standards (art. 41, para. 3). It is also the
responsibility of Congress to ensure the participation of indigenous peoples in the
management of their natural resources, although the provinces have concurrent jurisdiction
in this regard (art. 75, para. 17). At the same time, gaps and some confusion still remain
regarding the division of powers in terms of the exploitation and management of natural
resources in Argentina.
(a)
Effects on the rights of indigenous peoples
38.
Over the years, the projects carried out by the agricultural and extractive industries
in Argentina have undermined a whole series of indigenous peoples’ rights, including their
rights to their lands and natural resources, as well as their rights to, inter alia, food, health
and development.
Agricultural industries
39.
As a result of the expansion of agricultural activities, indigenous peoples have lost
large tracts of their traditional lands. Indigenous families have been moved out of the areas
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