WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
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URGENT ACTION
VENEZUELA: KARINA INDIANS FACE LEGAL DISPOSSESSION
Karina Indians (Caribs [Kari'nya]) of Monagas State of Central
Venezuela face the alienation of their lands for development
on the grounds that they are extinct as a people and their
land titles - which date back to the time of colonial rule -
are therefore invalid.
Venezuelan NGOs are calling for international support to put
pressure on the Chairman and members of the Supreme Court of
Justice in Venezuela to rule in favour of the Karina.
The Indians threatened with land alienation point out that
their land titles were accorded them in 1783 and were again
registered in the regional cadaster in 1967 and recognised by
the National Agrarian Institute and the Ministry of Justice.
The regional authorities of the Maturin Municipal Council
passed a Municipal Ordinance declaring the lands unoccupied in
1987 and are now seeking to reallocate some 10,564 hectares of
the Karina's land to third parties. The Karina have thus filed
a case in the Supreme Court asking that the Municipal
Ordinance be declared null and void.
The case, one of the first in Venezuela to deal with Indian
land claims in the courts, is considered crucial by local
NGOs. If the court finds against the Karina - declaring them
extinct as a people - it will be a major setback to all of the
country's 150,000 Indians, whose claims to their lands are
often more tenuous than those, like some of the Karina, who
secured land titles in the colonial era. As one local NGO
points out:
'The case is of a great importance since it deals not
only with these people's land rights but also with the
acceptance of the very existence of the country's
indigenous peoples as integral parts of the nation.'
PLEASE FAX LETTERS ALONG THE FOLLOWING LINES TO THE CHAIRMAN
AND MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT - C/O FAX: + 582 483 9329
Suggested text:
Presidente de la Corte Suprema de Justicia
Caracas
Venezuela
c/o fax: + 582 81 1654
Dear Mr Chairman,
We have been most alarmed to learn of the case of the Karina
Indians of the community of Jesus, Jose y Maria de Aguasay of
Estado Monagas whose land rights have been denied by the
Municipal Council of Maturin on the grounds that they are
extinct as a people.
We understand that the Karina have appealed to the Supreme
Court to secure their legitimate rights to their ancestral
lands, which were recognised over two centuries ago by the
colonial authorities.
We are thus appealing to you to treat this case with the
utmost care and to find in favour of the Karina Indians' whose
rights are recognised in both Venezuelan and international
law.
We would remind you that this year is the first in the United
Nations' International Decade of the World's Indigenous
Peoples and there is heightened international attention being
paid to these peoples' fair treatment.
Yours sincerely
......
For more information: WRM, 8 Chapel Row, Chadlington, OX7 3NA,
England Fax: +44 1608 676 743 or contact UNUMA on Fax:+582 4839329