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This document consists of observations submitted by the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) and a legal team to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) in June 2003. It responds to objections raised by the State of Chile regarding the admissibility of a petition filed by Mapuche-Pehuenche families from the Ralco-Lepoy Indigenous Community. The petition alleges that the construction of the Ralco hydroelectric dam by the company Endesa, authorized by the Chilean state, violates fundamental rights including the right to life, personal integrity, property, and the preservation of indigenous culture and spirituality through the flooding of ancestral lands.

The Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL) provides observations on the first draft of the World Intellectual Property Organization's (WIPO) response to a request from the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). CIEL argues that WIPO must recognize the CBD's leading role in biodiversity issues and ensure that international intellectual property rules are modified to prevent the misappropriation of genetic resources and traditional knowledge through mandatory disclosure requirements.