 in voluntary isolation and initial contact. Over the last weeks, in the Brazilian State of Rondônia, Indigenous organizations have reported the presence of garimpeiros (illegal gold miners) and madeireiros (timber traffickers) who have used the current health crisis as a cover to intensify their profit-driven invasions in the territories where the Karipuna people lives. Furthermore, while mining is illegal in Indigenous reserves under Brazilian law, President Jair Bolsonaro has recently introduced a bill which would open these lands to mining, oil and gas extraction, in the name of the so-called “development.” In a statement, Survival’s Uncontacted Tribes campaigner Sarah Shenker declared, “many of their territories are being invaded and stolen for logging, mining and agribusiness, with the encouragement of President Bolsonaro, who has virtually declared war on Brazil’s indigenous peoples.”
Goldminers working illegally on the territory of the Yanomami People (2003, Brazil). Source: Colin Jones, Survival International.
According to Douglas Rodrigues, specialist in indigenous health at the Universidade Federal de São Paulo, the only emergency plan which can guarantee the survival of these peoples is "the expulsion of the invaders and the protection of all lands where there are indications of [their] presence." In particular, for these Indigenous tribes, the right to self-determination, as guaranteed by the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples among other legal documents, should be understood as the guarantee of respect for their decision to remain in isolation, also called the no-contact principle. In other words, isolation is a strategy of collective preservation, allowing them to maintain their own systems of thought, their cultures, their languages and traditions, as well as to survive the threats caused by any forced contact with the outside world. As such, Article 26 of the American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (2016) enshrines the collective right of Indigenous Peoples in situation of voluntary isolation or initial contact to “remain in this situation and live freely and in agreement with their cultures.” Following the adoption of this Declaration, Armstrong Wiggins, Miskito leader from Nicaragua and Director of the Indian Law Resource Center (Washington D.C. Office), declared, “[n]o Declaration is perfect, but this is an important step in the right direction to protect indigenous peoples. The American Declaration, as a human rights instrument, is a living instrument that will be interpreted in accordance with indigenous peoples’ present-day conditions, in order to better protect their human rights.” What about the right to live in voluntary isolation in the Age of Covid-19 and of an almost-global confinement?
In its resolution No. 1/2020 of 10 April 2020, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights recalled the need for States to respect, promote, and protect the right to live in voluntary isolation and the principle of no contact. Furthermore, States have the international obligation to respect the right to health of Indigenous peoples; in particular, the United Nations Guidelines for Protection of Indigenous Peoples in Isolation and Initial Contact of the Amazon Region, Gran Chaco and Oriental Region of Paraguay, indicate that States must prevent the transmission of diseases to isolated tribes, through the prohibition or limitation of activities of outsiders within their lands, and must ensure their access and use of traditional biomedicine.
However, the responses provided by States in the Amazon region are extremely variable and, overall, trigger concerning uncertainties with regards to the survival of Indigenous peoples. In Colombia, the governor of Magdalena decided to close the national parks of Tayrona and Sierra Nevada as early as 15 March 2020, with the explicit aim of preventing the spread of the Covid-19 virus to the peoples living in these areas. Nonetheless, other States, such as Brazil, appear reluctant to protect the integrity and ensure the survival of 