An approach to the scope of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in the fight for Afro-descendant territorial rights

One of the tools used by the Afro-descendant peoples of Latin America and the Caribbean in the fight for their territories has been the recourse to the courts. This article focuses on the role that the Inter-American Court of Human Rights has specifically played in relation to the territorial claims of Afro-descendant peoples. This is an ongoing investigation on the use of justice as a tool for the struggle ofAfro-descendant peoples in Latin America and the Caribbean, which is in a phase of data systematization (judgments, jurisprudence, related studies) with elements of analysis. gradual that should be enriched. Hence the extensive inclusion of the elements of the documentation of the Inter-American Court. Initially we present a panoramic view of the situation of Afro-descendant territories. Then we set out a general framework on the Inter-American Human Rights System and the history of its involvement in cases related to ethnic groups and their territories. Next, a systematization is presented in chronological order of the cases that have reached the Inter-American Court directly related to the demands of Afro-descendant groups and territorial claims. Based on documents of the Court that are part of the respective processes, we return to elements of the arguments and sentences that provide a general idea to understand the scope of said cases. Finally, we develop some initial reflections on the possibilities and limits that the sentences of the Inter-American Court presented have had.