The judgment of the case Xucuru People v. Brazil: InterAmerican Court of Human Rights between consolidation and setbacks

Abstract

The present article aims to analyse the recent decision against Brazil issued by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Xucuru indigenous people and its members v. Brazil, which was decided in February 2018. The decision is the most recent among the consolidated jurisprudence of the Court on indigenous peoples` rights, as well as the first one against Brazil. The case study is based mainly upon a bibliographic review of primary sources related to the case, as well to the Court´s jurisprudence on indigenous rights. To achieve the central objective, the article is composed of three sections: an analysis of the Court´s jurisprudence on indigenous territorial rights, a further analysis of the decision on the Xucuru case and, finally, an analysis of aspects that were absent in the decision. The article concludes that, in most aspects, the judgment consolidates the Court case law on the territorial protection of indigenous lands. However, the decision is considered flawed in regard to four aspects: the protection of human rights defenders, the mentioning of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, applied remedies and the recognition of the injured party. As the case is very recent, this is the first academic analysis on its content. The Court´s innovative jurisprudence on indigenous rights must be acknowledged, but flaws and limitations in the most recent decision must be pointed out and analysed in order to enable further development and, therefore, provide a most adequate human rights protection.