Direct Request (CEACR) - adopted 1987, published 74th ILC session (1987)

Indigenous and Tribal Populations Convention, 1957 (No. 107) - El Salvador (Ratification: 1958)

1. The Committee recalls that the indigenous population of the country represents between two and nine per cent of the total population. The Committee notes that the Government repeats that it is unnecessary to take special measures on behalf of this sector of the population beyond the provisions enshrined in the Constitution.

2. With reference to its previous comments and to the information supplied by the Government in its previous report, the Committee would be grateful if the Government would supply with its next report any information that it considers relevant with regard to the measures taken on behalf of indigenous populations, for example, programmes set up by the Ministry of Education to study and maintain the indigenous culture and the traditions of the country, such as the programmes to which it referred in its previous report that are being carried out under the provisions of article 62 of the Political Constitution.

3. The Committee notes with interest the comments made by the National Indigenous Association of El Salvador, which were transmitted in the Government's report. The Committee would be grateful if the Government would continue to provide information concerning the activities of the National Indigenous Association of El Salvador on behalf of the indigenous communities in which the Government participates; particularly with regard to the conservation of vernacular languages (Maya, Lenca, Nahuatl); indigenous traditions and customs (Articles 7 and 23, paragraph 3, of the Convention); the promotion and economic development of indigenous communities (Article 2, paragraph 1(b), and Article 6); and training ( Articles 17 and 22).

4. The Committee also notes the report submitted to the Ninth Inter-American Indian Congress (Santa Fé, New Mexico, October 1985), which was prepared by the Ministry of Culture and Communications, in which reference is made to a number of activities conducted by the Government in collaboration with the Inter-American Indian Institute.

In this connection, the various sources mentioned above would appear to supply information that is in a number of points contradictory, in particular between the information given by the Government in its reports and that supplied by institutions conducting activities on behalf of the indigenous populations. Consequently, the Committee hopes that when preparing its next report the Government will consult the Ministries which may be involved in the implementation of the measures referred to, and also the National Indigenous Association of El Salvador, in order to be able to supply fuller information with regard to the measures taken on behalf of the populations in question. The Committee would also be grateful if the Government would supply further information, for example, references to ethnographic publications and on the location and living conditions of indigenous populations.