Negación de derechos, negación de justicia: los Embera Katío

Abstract

Aim: This article explains the situation of displacement to which the Embera Katío people were forced as a result of the construction of the Urrá 1 hydroelectric power plant (Alto Sinú-Córdoba), depriving this minority group of its territorial and cultural heritage and causing its imminent disappearance as a community. Methods: The document shows how political and judicial corruption—through its questioned decisions—caused the Embera Katío community to be “expelled” from their ancestral territories and relocated in the urban area of the municipality, where they could not carry out their agricultural, educational, religious, fishing and navigation, etc. activities. Therefore, its members were subjected to a process of adaptability to a new life system until “disappearing” as an ethnic group. Results: Despite the existence of national and international legislation that protects the rights of indigenous communities and minorities, there was no effective application of the law in this case so that, when the Constitutional Court intervened, it faced accomplished facts. Conclusion: The judicial authorities’ failure to timely obey the orders of the National Constitution and international treaties led to a situation of eviction, displacement and subsequent disappearance by acculturation of the Embera Katío community from Alto Sinú.