Colombia's Constitutional Court orders protection for Jiw indigenous people

The Constitutional Court of Colombia has ordered immediate protection for the Jiw Zaragoza 7 – Naexal Lajt, a semi-nomadic indigenous community living in extreme precariousness in the Guaviare department. The community has endured five forced displacements caused by armed conflict, internal clashes, and flooding.

The Court characterized the community's situation as “forced sedentarism,” noting that being confined outside their ancestral territory is equivalent to “cultural extermination” for a people whose identity depends on hunting, fishing, and gathering practices. The ruling highlighted that the community suffers from subhuman living conditions, including overcrowding, lack of basic sanitation, acute childhood malnutrition, and limited access to health and education.

Furthermore, the Court identified a “systematic and prolonged pattern of state omission.” For over three years, various government entities failed to assume responsibility for the community's protection, passing the case between authorities. The Court has ordered the immediate provision of potable water, basic sanitation, and humanitarian assistance to address this structural crisis.