Rights group urges Panama to strengthen rights protection within climate relocation decree – JURIST
Human Rights Watch submitted recommendations on Tuesday to Panama’s Ministry of the Environment regarding a draft executive decree that would regulate national, sectoral, and municipal responses to climate change and adaptation, the biodiversity crisis, and the degradation of ecosystems. The submission emphasizes the need for a rights-based approach to planned communities facing climate-related displacement for a decree that includes provisions for a national protocol on planned relocation.
In the submission, HRW highlighted the experiences of Indigenous communities such as the Gardi Sugdub and Ukupa in the Guna Yala region, which have faced delays and inadequate support in relocation efforts. HRW further stressed the importance of incorporating the perspectives of affected communities from the outset, ensuring their autonomy and right to free, prior, and informed consent in relocation decisions. The organization also welcomed the inclusion of human rights language in Article 32 of the draft.
The draft decree, announced by government officials from Panama’s Ministry of Environment, following a meeting with HRW in February, will provide “a legal foundation for a national protocol on planned relocation”. During the meeting, the officials recognized the climate issues faced by indigenous communities in Panama.
This latest comes after Human Rights Watch released a report in August 2023, criticising the Panamanian government’s lax efforts in supporting climate change-related relocation efforts to assist coastal indigenous peoples in the country. This also comes after HRW released another report in April 2024, finding that both Panama and Colombia are failing to protect and safeguard hundreds of thousands of migrants and asylum seekers crossing the Darién Gap.
The Panamanian Ministry of the Environment is currently in the process of conducting a public consultation on the draft decree, seeking input from stakeholders to inform its finalization.
