In this report, the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, examines the situation of indigenous peoples in El Salvador and makes a series of recommendations based on information gathered during the visit that he paid to the country from 13 to 17 August 2012.
The long-standing oppression of indigenous peoples in El Salvador and the suppression of the manifestations of their identity as such have led to the loss of many important aspects of that identity and to the loss of a great deal of the wealth of cultural and human assets which it once encompassed. These indigenous peoples have survived and made their presence felt in the country, however, and the Government of El Salvador has recently taken steps to accord recognition to indigenous peoples and to promote respect for their rights as such.
Despite the Government’s determined effort to redress indigenous peoples’ history of marginalization in El Salvador, however, these peoples continue to suffer from the effects of the loss of cultural knowledge and of a fully developed capacity to give expression to their identity and to avail themselves of the corresponding rights. This loss is compounded by the extreme poverty and marginalization in which the country’s most underprivileged sectors live.
The State should undertake more concrete action than it has so far to recover and preserve cultural manifestations such as ancestral languages and traditions and to incorporate them into its social protection systems, including those in place in the areas of health and education, economic assistance programmes, land tenure programmes and programmes designed to strengthen indigenous peoples’ own forms of organization.
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