Report No. 58/09
The Inter-American Commission concluded that petitioners' claim, alleging that Panama's construction of a dam in their ancestral lands led to flooding and constituted a violation of their collective rights, is admissible as an alleged violation of Article 21, and further retained the possibility of admissibility under the principle of iura novit curia as an alleged violation of Articles 8, 24, and 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights, to be determined in the merit stage. As to admissibility under Articles 4, 7, 10, 12, 17, and 19 of the Convention, the Court ruled the claim inadmissible due to lack of sufficient information. Articles 21, 8, 24, and 25 of the American Convention recognize the right of American peoples to property, fair trial, equal protection and judicial protection, while Articles 4, 7, 10, 12, 17, and 19 recognize the right to life, personal liberty, compensation in the event of a miscarriage of justice, freedom of conscience and religion, family, and rights of the child, respectively.