Mexico's rights body urges cultural heritage protections in new indigenous law

Mexico's National Human Rights Commission (CNDH) has called for robust protections for cultural heritage and direct participation of indigenous peoples in the development of a new General Law on Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples. The commission stressed that the proposed law presents a crucial opportunity to strengthen legal safeguards for the material and immaterial cultural heritage of these communities.

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The construction of the new law represents an opportunity to strengthen the legal protection of the material and immaterial cultural heritage of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples and communities.

The CNDH's statement comes as the federal government initiated a consultation process on June 29 for the legislative initiative. The commission pointed to its own General Recommendation 35/2019, which documented instances of national and foreign companies appropriating, plagiarizing, and commercially exploiting indigenous designs, textiles, artistic expressions, and traditional knowledge. This occurred within a context of insufficient legal mechanisms to prevent such actions.

In response to these findings, a Federal Law for the Protection of the Cultural Heritage of Indigenous and Afro-Mexican Peoples was enacted in 2022. However, the CNDH emphasizes that the current discussion of a new, broader legislation requires the full recognition of collective authorship and rights over cultural heritage. It also calls for effective coordination with existing federal laws to ensure the new law's practical application.

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In a context of insufficient legal mechanisms for their protection, we documented cases of appropriation, plagiarism, and commercial exploitation of designs, textiles, artistic expressions, and traditional knowledge of indigenous communities by national and foreign companies.

The commission further proposed strengthening the National System for the Protection of Cultural Heritage by increasing resources, consolidating its National Registry, and issuing its regulations. A key priority for the CNDH is the "de-commodification" of cultural heritage, asserting that the expressions, knowledge, traditions, and cultural manifestations of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples are living heritage, not mere commodities for commercial exploitation.

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The expressions, knowledge, traditions, and cultural manifestations of indigenous and Afro-Mexican peoples constitute a living heritage and not solely assets subject to commercial exploitation.