By Michael Fisch
Law community
After Guatemalan court orders in 2006 and 2012, state authorities raided two Indigenous community radio stations in the south-central portion of the country. They confiscated transmission equipment and criminally prosecuted some Indigenous radio producers for operating without a state license.
The raids silenced a critical source of community news and cultural expression, says Nicole Friederichs JD’03, director of Suffolk’s Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic (HRIPC). “Imagine for a moment that your favorite local radio station was shut down by the government—and that station was the only source of media that covered your community’s news; the only station broadcasting in your language and reflecting your culture.”
Nine years ago, after being contacted by Cultural Survival, an Indigenous rights organization, Friederichs and her clinic students began representing Guatemalan Indigenous communities in their battle for legal recognition of community radio.
In December, the clinic, its partners, and the communities won their hardfought case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The court ordered the Guatemalan government to halt its raids, stop criminal prosecutions, adopt measures to ensure the recognition of community radio, and reserve parts of the radio spectrum for Indigenous community stations.
Indigenous peoples in Guatemala—who comprise nearly half of the Guatemalan population—have little access to the internet and generally don’t speak Spanish as a first language. Radio programming in their own languages, such as K’iche’, Kaqchikel, and Mam, is often the only gateway to local news and music, and to debate about local and national issues, Friederichs says. But legally accessing radio frequencies has been impossible for Indigenous communities because of to the high cost of state-issued licenses.
Friederichs and Adjunct Professor Amy Van Zyl-Chavarro JD’08 served as legal counsel for the Maya Kaqchikel de Sumpango and other Indigenous communities. Professor Lorie Graham submitted expert testimony, on which the court relied in its analysis. Over the nine years, a few dozen students worked on the case, and five of them were recognized for their contributions to the brief before the court.
Maria Pedro de Pedro of Santa Eulalia presenting to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
HRIPC Director and Practitioner in Residence Nicole Friederichs JD’03
In her closing argument to the court, Friederichs argued that community radio is, for many in the Indigenous community, “the only means by which they can stay informed and participate in the public debates of Guatemalan society.”
Return to Table of Contents
Law community
By Michael Fisch
After Guatemalan court orders in 2006 and 2012, state authorities raided two Indigenous community radio stations in the south-central portion of the country. They confiscated transmission equipment and criminally prosecuted some Indigenous radio producers for operating without a state license.
The raids silenced a critical source of community news and cultural expression, says Nicole Friederichs JD’03, director of Suffolk’s Human Rights and Indigenous Peoples Clinic (HRIPC). “Imagine for a moment that your favorite local radio station was shut down by the government—and that station was the only source of media that covered your community’s news; the only station broadcasting in your language and reflecting your culture.”
Nine years ago, after being contacted by Cultural Survival, an Indigenous rights organization, Friederichs and her clinic students began representing Guatemalan Indigenous communities in their battle for legal recognition of community radio.
In December, the clinic, its partners, and the communities won their hardfought case before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR). The court ordered the Guatemalan government to halt its raids, stop criminal prosecutions, adopt measures to ensure the recognition of community radio, and reserve parts of the radio spectrum for Indigenous community stations.
Indigenous peoples in Guatemala—who comprise nearly half of the Guatemalan population—have little access to the internet and generally don’t speak Spanish as a first language. Radio programming in their own languages, such as K’iche’, Kaqchikel, and Mam, is often the only gateway to local news and music, and to debate about local and national issues, Friederichs says. But legally accessing radio frequencies has been impossible for Indigenous communities because of to the high cost of state-issued licenses.
Friederichs and Adjunct Professor Amy Van Zyl-Chavarro JD’08 served as legal counsel for the Maya Kaqchikel de Sumpango and other Indigenous communities. Professor Lorie Graham submitted expert testimony, on which the court relied in its analysis. Over the nine years, a few dozen students worked on the case, and five of them were recognized for their contributions to the brief before the court.
In its pleadings, the Guatemalan government argued that the country’s telecommunications law was reasonable, as it allowed community organizations to license radio frequencies. But, Friederichs explains, Indigenous communities find it almost impossible to raise the kind of money needed to compete against commercial radio stations for licenses that go to the highest bidder in government auctions.
The court victory is the first known international case to recognize Indigenous peoples’ right to operate their own media, says Friederichs. The IACHR determined that Guatemalan regulations are a “de facto almost absolute prohibition on the exercise of the right to freedom of expression…”
The case sets a precedent for the rights of Indigenous peoples in this hemisphere to access radio frequencies for community broadcasting, as well as for the decriminalization of Indigenous community radio more broadly, Friederichs adds.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which sits in Costa Rica, adjudicates alleged violations of rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights or other relevant human rights treaties in the Inter-American human rights system. That system protects human rights in 35 countries in South, Central, and North America, including the U.S.
“Without Indigenous peoples’ voices to counter a history of colonization and exclusion, the right to freedom of expression, a cornerstone of human rights, is compromised,” says Friederichs. “Community radio is the only
means by which Indigenous communities can stay informed and participate in the public debates of Guatemalan society.”
Partners in bringing the case included Cultural Survival, Inc.; Asociación Sobrevivencia Cultural; and Asociación de Abogados y Notarios Mayas de Guatemala, Nim Ajpu.
Maria Pedro de Pedro of Santa Eulalia presenting to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.
Return to Table of Contents
In its pleadings, the Guatemalan government argued that the country’s telecommunications law was reasonable, as it allowed community organizations to license radio frequencies. But, Friederichs explains, Indigenous communities find it almost impossible to raise the kind of money needed to compete against commercial radio stations for licenses that go to the highest bidder in government auctions.
The court victory is the first known international case to recognize Indigenous peoples’ right to operate their own media, says Friederichs. The IACHR determined that Guatemalan regulations are a “de facto almost absolute prohibition on the exercise of the right to freedom of expression…”
The case sets a precedent for the rights of Indigenous peoples in this hemisphere to access radio frequencies for community broadcasting, as well as for the decriminalization of Indigenous community radio more broadly, Friederichs adds.
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which sits in Costa Rica, adjudicates alleged violations of rights enshrined in the American Convention on Human Rights or other relevant human rights treaties in the Inter-American human rights system. That system protects human rights in 35 countries in South, Central, and North America, including the U.S.
“Without Indigenous peoples’ voices to counter a history of colonization and exclusion, the right to freedom of expression, a cornerstone of human rights, is compromised,” says Friederichs. “Community radio is the only
means by which Indigenous communities can stay informed and participate in the public debates of Guatemalan society.”
Partners in bringing the case included Cultural Survival, Inc.; Asociación Sobrevivencia Cultural; and Asociación de Abogados y Notarios Mayas de Guatemala, Nim Ajpu.
Nicole Friederichs JD’03