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Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169) - Bolivia (Plurinational State of) (RATIFICATION: 1991)

The Committee notes the detailed information relating to Parts IV, V, VI and VIII of the Convention provided by the Government in the report received in October 2013. The Committee hopes that in its next report the Government will continue to provide full particulars of the effect given to the provisions of the Convention. The Committee refers the Government to its observation of 2013 and invites it to address the following matters in its next report.

Article 1 of the Convention. Recognition and identification of indigenous peoples. Afro-Bolivians. The Committee notes with interest that article 3 of the Political Constitution of the State, in force since February 2009, treats Afro Bolivians as a community. The Government states that Afro-Bolivians are not an indigenous people, but article 32 of the Constitution establishes that they shall enjoy ... “in all relevant areas, the economic, social, political and cultural rights which the Constitution ascribes to original indigenous and campesino nations and peoples”. The Committee also notes the results of the 2012 National Population and Housing Census. According to the census, out of a total of 6,916,732 respondents, 2,806,592 claimed membership of an Afro-Bolivian or an original indigenous and campesino people. In reply to the 2009 direct request, the Government indicates that the State institutionally validates the declaration of identity made by the people filing it and applying for land title and/or conversion of original community lands and/or original indigenous and campesino territory. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the operation of the Register of Identity of Original Indigenous Peoples (RIPIO) and the measures taken to ensure that no specific groups of the national population that should be covered in the scope of the Convention find themselves excluded.

Special measures. The Committee notes that in the course of 2012, five municipalities finished drafting the requisite statutes for conversion and obtained conversion into original indigenous and campesino autonomies (AIOCs). Six other indigenous municipalities are in the process of completing the formalities for conversion, under the provisions of Act No. 31 of 19 July 2010, the “Andrés Ibáñez” Autonomy and Decentralization Framework Act. The Committee invites the Government to describe in its next report how the AIOCs have contributed effectively to enabling indigenous peoples to take control of their own institutions and ways of life and of their economic development (Articles 4 and 7).

Conditions of work. Prohibition and punishment of compulsory personal services. The Committee notes the legislative provisions provided by the Government in its report, and in particular Supreme Decree No. 388 of 23 December 2009 issuing regulations for verifying, monitoring and determining the existence of servitudes, forced labour and analogous forms of forced labour. The Government also indicates that the departmental and regional labour directorates have been strengthened so that they can carry out mobile inspections that include actions to eradicate forced labour. The Committee invites the Government to continue to provide information on the labour inspection activities to enforce the provisions of the Convention on the prohibition and punishment of personal services (Article 11), recruitment and conditions of employment (Article 20), and penalties imposed. The Committee also refers the Government to its comments on the application of the Forced Labour Convention, 1930 (No. 29).

Customary law and administration of justice. The Committee takes note of Act No. 73 of 29 December 2010, the Jurisdiction Demarcation Act. It asks the Government to provide in its next report examples of decisions by the competent courts reflecting the plurality of legal systems enshrined in the national legislation.

Lands. In its 2009 direct request, the Committee noted that the statute of 14.7 million hectares had been determined. In the report received in October 2013, the Government indicates that all those involved are owners of the land they occupy and that collective ownership of land is applied throughout the national territory. The Committee requests the Government to indicate in its next report the surface area of the lands that have effectively been registered for original indigenous and campesino communities (AIOCs) and the surface area of the lands making up original indigenous and campesino municipal districts (DMIOCs).

Article 32. Cross-border contacts and cooperation. Protection of the Ayoreo people. The Government indicates that a segment of the Ayoreo people lives in “voluntary isolation” and, according to witnesses, moves between the southern part of the department of Santa Cruz and the Paraguayan border. The Government adds that in the framework of the Amazon Cooperation Treaty Organization (ACTO) work is under way for the development of a regional agenda to protect indigenous peoples living in voluntary isolation and initial contact. The Committee invites the Government to include in its next report information on the initiatives taken jointly with Paraguay to address the requirements of territorial unity for the Ayoreo people, and other agreements concluded with neighbouring countries (for example, with Chile and Peru regarding the Aymara communities) concerning the subjects covered by the Convention.