it may a ff ec t th e indigenous people and r e iterat es that this should
be see n i n th e light of the principle of p rop ortionality .
The Court's Assessment
151 . Article 4 of th e Charte r stipulates that:
" Human beings are inviolable. Every human being shall be entitled to respect for his
life and the integrity of his person. No one may be arbitrarily deprived of this right"
152.
The right to life is the cornerstone on which the realisation of all other rights and
freedoms depend. The deprivation of someone' s life amounts to eliminating the very
holder of these rights and freedoms. Article 4 of the Charter strictly prohibits the
arbitrary privation of life. Contrary to other human rights instruments, the Charter
establishes the link between the right to life and the inviolable nature and integrity of
the human being. The Court finds that this formulation reflects the indispensable
correlation between these two rights.
153. The Court notes that the right to life under Article 4 of th e Charter is
a right to be e njoyed by an individual irrespective of the group to which
he or she belong s. The Court also u nd e rstands that t he violation of
economic, socia l and cu ltural rights (inc luding through forced evictions)
may generally engender cond ition s unfavourable to a decent li fe. 39
Howeve r, the Court is of the vi ew that th e sole fact of eviction and
de privation of economic , social and cultural rights may not necessarily
result in th e violation of the right to life under Article 4 of th e Cha rte r.
39
In Yakye Axa Indigenous Community v Paraguay Judgment of 17 June 2005 (Merits, Reparations and
Costs) Ser C No 125 paragraph 161, the IACtHR found a violation to the rig ht to life by reasoning that: "
.... when the right to life is not respected, all the other rights disappear, because the person entitled to them
ceases to exist... Essentially, this right includes not only the right of every human being not to be arbitrarily
deprived of his life, but also the right that conditions that impede or obstruct access to a decent existence
should not be generated" and further that "the fallout from forcibly dispossessing indigenous peoples from
their ancestral land could amount to an Article 4 violation (right to life) if the living conditions of the
community are incompatible with the principles of human dignity". T he Com miss ion adopted a s imilar
re aso ning in th e Endorois Case-see paragraph 216.
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