"Indigenous Amazonians win landmark ruling against mercury pollution in Colombia", 9 July 2025

Colombia’s Constitutional Court has issued a historic ruling, finding in favor of Indigenous leaders who say their communities in the country’s Amazonian region are at risk of losing their identity and disappearing due to mercury contamination from gold mining.

The court ordered the protection of these communities due to the high risk they peoples face from the contamination of the water and fish they consume from the Caquetá and Apaporis rivers. The Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development will monitor the contamination studies ordered by the court.

The case was brought to the country’s highest court by five shamans, or “jaguars,” representing 30 Indigenous groups from the Yuruparí region that covers the eastern Colombian Amazon and overlaps into Brazil. Those affected by mercury contamination from mining have since 1989 complained about the serious consequences and problems they’ve faced as a result...

...The 30 affected communities celebrated the measures ordered by the Constitutional Court and say they see them as the result of a long fight against contamination of the water, the fish — their main source of protein — and, consequently, the people.

The impacts from gold mining haven’t been limited to health repercussions as a result of exposure to mercury. The Yuruparí Jaguars say they’ve also seen their traditional medicine, food sovereignty and cultural identity affected.

The court ruling reflected this, declaring that the identity and continued existence of these communities “are at risk, as is their right to health — in the individual and collective dimensions — their food safety and sovereignty.”...

The court also ordered the National Mining Agency and the National Environmental Licensing Authority to suspend the licensing processes for gold mining in the Yuruparí macroterritory. This measure won’t be lifted until “the dialogue processes ordered in this decision are completed and there is a remediation strategy for the water sources.”...