The Right to Cultural Identity in the Case Law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights: A New Global Standard for the Protection of Indigenous Rights and Future Generations?

Abstract

This paper examines the protection of the right to cultural identity in the case law of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), where this question has appeared in connection with the rights of indigenous peoples. Although not expressly guaranteed in the American Convention on Human Rights (ACHR), the right to cultural identity has received protection in the IACtHR9s case law through an evolutionary interpretation of the rights to life and property, and other provisions under the ACHR. A landmark decision in the 2020 case of Lhaka Honhat Association v. Argentina has put into a new perspective the protection of the right to cultural identity. For the first time, it was clearly established that cultural rights are autonomous and judicially enforceable under Article 26 of the ACHR. The ICtHR9s revolutionary approach offers new opportunities for the judicial protection of environmental rights claims, contributing to the debate on sustainable development and the protection of future generations as well. The ICtHR has risen to be a regional standard-setting treaty body in the Inter-American system. Simultaneously, its far-reaching approach to protecting cultural identity and land rights has made the IACtHR9s case law a genuine reference point for other universal and regional international human rights organs.