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Existe consenso en la comunidad internacional en relación a que el agua y el saneamiento son derechos humanos esenciales, prerrequisitos para el goce de los restantes derechos. Por ello, el derecho internacional de los derechos humanos impone a los estados obligaciones de protección, promoción, respeto y garantía, aplicables también a la defensa de los derechos humanos al agua y el saneamiento. Sin embargo, la realidad actual es preocupante, en tanto que, en las Américas, se han documentado índices elevados de enfermedades, junto con la incorporación de proyectos de extracción minera en ecosistemas de reserva protegida, que transforman el hábitat e inciden negativamente en los recursos hídricos. Esto, sin profundizar en las personas que fallecen por la ausencia de agua potable y saneamiento.
A la par, el panorama es más complejo cuando el estudio se hace desde una perspectiva étnica, en tanto que, personas afrodescendientes, indígenas y tribales, padecen de manera acentuada afectaciones de este tipo en la región. Son personas especialmente vulnerables por la forma diferente en la que habitan y se apropian del territorio. En general, sus rituales ancestrales, entre otros valores culturales, se han visto afectados por la economía del extractivismo que se teje en toda la región.
Este es un panorama aproximado, siendo necesario contextualizar este referente en lo relativo al continente americano, para entender, finalmente, los retos pendientes. Para explicar lo anterior, se presentará un estudio socio-jurídico, basado en el método documental, pero con un enfoque étnico. Este se concentra en poblaciones afrodescendientes, indígenas y tribales y está soportado, entre otras cosas, en reportes e informes emanados del sistema universal e interamericano de protección de los derechos humanos, para comprender las necesidades y exigencias en esta materia, pues preocupa que estos colectivos ocupan un lugar representativo entre las personas que viven en la pobreza y pobreza extrema.
El objetivo central del artículo no solo es visibilizar los desafíos en las Américas para colectivos étnicos desde los estándares internacionales de protección de los derechos humanos, en lo relativo al agua y saneamiento como derechos básicos, sino también, desde un enfoque diferencial étnico/ancestral, reivindicar las particularidades que demandan las poblaciones indígenas, afrodescendientes y tribales, como grupos tradicionalmente excluidos y estigmatizados.
El enfoque étnico es importante, en tanto que, la etnicidad como categoría de análisis permite identificar rasgos distintivos referentes no solo a la herencia africana, sino una cultura propia con necesidades particulares, como el reconocimiento de territorios étnico/ancestrales y su identidad lingüísticocultural.
Puntualmente, el artículo estudia las diversas respuestas conceptuales y jurídicas, relativas a la problemática del agua y el saneamiento en el continente americano, incluidos los enfoques internacionales y sociales, desde diferentes puntos de vista, esto es, las directrices de órganos, organizaciones y organismos internacionales, junto con la perspectiva de los movimientos sociales.
A partir de lo anterior, el artículo se desarrolla en cinco partes así: en la primera, se desarrolla una contextualización de la población objeto de estudio; seguidamente, se explica el planteamiento del problema, asumiendo como tesis central la precariedad del derecho al agua y saneamiento desde una perspectiva étnica. En la tercera parte, se hace un estudio conceptual del derecho humano al agua y saneamiento. En lo que respecta, a la cuarta parte, explica los estándares internacionales de protección de los derechos humanos en esta materia, para entender la responsabilidad de los estados en las Américas y, finalmente, la quinta parte describe los hallazgos y retos pendientes en la región.
There is consensus in the international community that water and sanitation are basic human rights, prerequisites for the enjoyment of the remaining rights. For this reason, international human rights law imposes on States obligations of protection, promotion and guarantee, also applicable to the defense of human rights to water and sanitation. However, the current reality is worrying, while in the Americas, high rates of disease have been documented, along with the incorporation of mining projects in protected reserve ecosystems, which transform habitat and negatively affect resources hydric. This, without delving into the people who die due to the absence of drinking water and sanitation.
At the same time, the panorama is more complex when the study is carried out from an ethnic perspective, since Afro-descendant, indigenous and tribal people suffer afflictions of this type in the region in a marked way and they are especially vulnerable due to the different way in which inhabit and appropriate their territory. In general, their ancestral rituals, among other cultural values, have been affected extractive economy that is woven throughout the region. This aspects have a notable influence on the eradication of the poverty and of certain diseases, especially when Afro-descendant, indigenous and tribal people occupy an important and representative place, among people living in poverty and extreme poverty.
This is an approximate panorama, it being necessary to contextualize this reference in relation to the American continent, to finally understand the pending challenges. To explain the above, a socio-legal study will be presented, based on the documentary method, but with an ethnic focus. This will be supported, among other things, in reports emanating from the universal and inter-American system for the protection of human rights, in order to understand the needs and requirements in this matter, resorting to the special rapporteurs at the United Nations Organization - UN, among them, the Special Rapporteur on the Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation; Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; and the Office of the Rapporteur for the Rights of People of African Descent and against Racial Discrimination, this within the framework of the Organization of American States - OAS.
Reports that are essential for the study, while reaffirming, on the one hand, the importance of safe and universal access to water for all, and on the other, the implications of affirmative actions, based on the principle of equality and non-discrimination, in parallel, in vulnerable populations. In this regard, this document studies the commitments related to human rights in the international field, in light of the standards within the framework of the universal and regional human rights system, using the international corpus iuris issued by the UN and OAS, on the right to water and sanitation.
The main objective of the article is not only to make visible the challenges in the Americas for ethnic groups from the international standards of protection of human rights, in relation to water and sanitation as basic rights, but also, from an ethnic/ancestral differential approach to claim the particularities demanded by indigenous, Afro-descendant and tribal populations, as traditionally excluded and stigmatized groups.
The ethnic focus is important since ethnicity as a category of analysis allows identifying distinctive features referring not only to African heritage, but also to a culture of its own with particular needs, such as the recognition of ethnic/ancestral territories and their linguistic-cultural identity.
Specifically, the text studies the various conceptual and legal responses related to the problem of water and sanitation in the American continent, including international and social approaches, from different points of view, that is, the guidelines of organs, organizations, and agencies international, together with the perspective of social movements.
Regarding the human right to water, the article proposes that it should be treated as a social and cultural good, and not fundamentally as an economic good. As an essential element, the human right to water is approached from four perspectives as follows: (1) availability, (2) quality, and (3) accessibility, all of them aligned to (4) the principle of equality and non-discrimination, which for the study, will be addressed independently, but interconnected to the previous ones. Regarding the human right to sanitation, it is approached from the understanding that services must be available and innocuous, acceptable, accessible and affordable.
In this regard, having potable water and sanitation under equitable conditions as an essential component of the enjoyment of all human rights clearly constitutes a responsibility for all States in the region. However, in a continent like the American, characterized by having considerably large cities and very large population, with expansion and development projects that do not limit extractive industries, the situation worsens for the inhabitants of rural areas, who are usually among the poorest.
Based on the above, the article is developed in five parts as follows: in the first, a contextualization of the population under study is developed. On the other hand, in a second moment the problem under study is explained, assuming as a central thesis the precariousness of the right to water and sanitation from an ethnic perspective, that is, in indigenous, Afro-descendant and tribal populations, in the panorama of Latin America and the Caribbean, despite its international recognition as a human right. In the third part, a conceptually comprehensive study is made on the human right to water and sanitation, concluding that, although they are related rights, they are independent and with their own foundations. Regarding the fourth part, it explains the international standards to understand the responsibility of the States in the Americas. Finally, the fifth part describes the findings and pending challenges in the region.
In detail, the close relationship between extractivism, Afro-descendant, Indigenous and Tribal Populations in the region stands out as a conclusion placing some peoples, even in danger of extinction. This a situation that is concentrated, to a greater extent, in the rural context, rather than the urban. This makes it possible to identify, at the same time, a population nucleus more than others, where the right to drinking water and sanitation obviously does not enjoy universality.
Another important and significant finding is the lack of free, prior and informed consent to the indigenous and tribal peoples in the respective governments in the region, prior to the beginning extractive projects on their ancestral land or using resources within the Afro-descendant, indigenous or tribal population’s territory.
On the other hand, although the situation of the States in the Americas is very heterogeneous, it is necessary that government policies at the regional level also dialogue with civil society, since these are crucial to reduce environmental degradation and pollution.
