The Panamanian government's failure to grant all indigenous peoples title to their land or to even create an indigenous land titling mechanism is a violation of the Naso's rights under their country's Constitution, which recognizes that indigenous peoples are entitled to their traditional lands. The government's failures in this regard even more clearly violate the American Convention on Human Rights, which Panama has ratified, as well as other international human rights laws.

Panama has agreed to be bound by the judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which has repeatedly ruled that governments must recognize indigenous land claims and create land titling mechanisms. And in 2007, the Supreme Court of nearby Belize found that the Belizean government's failure to recognize and protect indigenous lands was both unconstitutional and a violation of international law.

The World Bank and the Naso

For years, the World Bank has been pursuing a land titling project to promote the demarcation and titling of rural lands in Panama,

including indigenous lands. The land claims of the Naso have been specifically recognized by this project, but the Panamanian government has not passed the necessary enabling legislation. The lawyers at Akin Gump are in discussions with the Bank on how to remedy this situation.

The work begins

A team of lawyers from Akin Gump traveled to Panama in April 2008 and met with the Naso in their communities. The lawyers have been reviewing the history of the Naso's land claims and are beginning their efforts to advocate for those claims in a number of arenas. The lawyers traveled to Panama again in June to meet with government officials, national Assembly leaders, and others. Additional trips are sure to follow.

At the international level, the team will be seeking help from the United Nations Special Rapporteur on indigenous people, and from the Organization of American States. The lawyers are considering bringing a case on behalf of the Naso to the Inter-American Human Rights system as well.

The Naso are clearly entitled to legal recognition of their traditional lands. With help from the team at Akin Gump, that goal may at last be within reach.

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Naso of Panama

The close ties of indigenous people with the land must be understood as the fundamental basis of their cultures, their spiritual life, their integrity, and their economic survival.

- Judgment of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in 2001 in the Case of the Mayagna (Sumo)Awas Tingni Community v. Nicaragua.