Information Update
2 May 1997
Indigenous Community in Suriname Demands that Mining Companies Leave its
Territory
The Indigenous community of Kwamalasemutu in Suriname has demanded for the
second time this year that mining companies leave its land and that its
rights to own and control those lands be recognized and respected.
Kwamalasemutu is a Trio community of approximately 1500 persons located in
the far South of the Suriname rainforest near the border with Brazil. The
latest cause for complaint involves the granting of a gold and diamond
concession to Surinamese company, Margo Mining. The community was not
consulted or informed about the decision to grant the concession.
In a letter to the Ministry of Natural Resources, community leaders stated
that the Margo Mining concession was totally unacceptable to them and a
violation of their rights as Indigenous peoples. They demanded that the
concession be revoked and that their ancestral lands be legally recognized
and demarcated as soon as possible. Surinamese law does not guarantee
Indigenous and Tribal land and resource rights. The Association of
Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname (VIDS) also raised the issue with
the Government. To date neither community leaders or the VIDS have
received any response and the Government seems unwilling to do anything
constructive about recognizing Indigenous and Maroon land rights (see,
VIDS letter to the President on Land Rights Commission, below).
Margo Mining is receiving funds from the Dutch Government's Ministry for
Development Cooperation to conduct Environmental Impact Assesments (EIA)
in three of its other concessions in Suriname. According to a joint
Dutch-Surinamese Commission for Environmental Impact Assessment, the
purpose of this funding is to compile an EIA that will provide Dutch and
Surinamese authorities and potential investors "with relevant information
on the environmental effects of the [mining] project in order to foster an
environmentally sound, socially acceptable, economically feasible and well
informed decision making process" (emphasis added) Whether this funding
also applies to the concession near Kwamalasemutu is unknown. What is
clear, however, is that Margo Mining's operations on Trio land are not
socially acceptable to those directly affected by them.
The Dutch Government funded EIA's also require that the issue of "land
rights, traditional or otherwise" and the direct and indirect impacts on
local communities must be accounted for. This would appear not to be
relevant in the case of Kwamalasemutu
Previously, community leaders had written to the Government to complain
about the activities of Canadian company, Golden Star Resources (based in
Denver, Colorado) and its Surinamese partner, NaNa Resources. NaNa
Resources was granted a 200,000 hectare concession, which included the
village and a Nature Reserve, after community leaders signed a statement
of no objection in 1995. Community leaders claim that they were tricked
into signing the letter by Golden Star and NaNa and that they didn't
understand its terms or implications. They also claim that when they
tried to have the letter and concession canceled, they were refused and
intimidated.
Golden Star and NaNa even enlisted the help of former military dictator
and present head of the ruling National Democratic Party, Desi Bouterse to
silence the community. Bouterse has also been backing Golden Star in
disputes with the Maroon community of Nieuw Koffiekamp and Golden Star
technicians threatened to bring him to the Indigenous community of
Casipora when they complained about Golden Star's presence on their land.
The technicians said that if the villagers didn't cooperate they would
bring Bouterse, who would put them in line like he had with troublesome
Indians in Kwamalasemutu. An investigation conducted by the VIDS in
January 1997 found the community's complaints of intimidation and trickery
to be valid (see, VIDS Press Release, below).
Golden Star's soil and geochemical samples from the area were not
positive. Consequently, they are presently inactive around
Kwamalasemutu. Villagers fear that they will return and bring more
problems with them. Margo Mining, on the other hand, is active and shows
no signs of leaving the area despite community objections to their
presence. Community leaders stated in their letter to the Minister that
they fear that tensions will escalate into violence if Margo is not
required to leave.
PRESS RELEASE (Original in Dutch)
14 January 1997
People of Kwamalasemutu Want Golden Star Resources to Leave their Land and
Ask that their Land Rights be Recognized by the Government
A delegation from the Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in
Suriname (VIDS) went to Kwamalasemutu last week to investigate complaints
raised by village leaders concerning the activities of Canadian mining
company, Golden Star Resources and Surinamese company, NaNa Resources.
They want Golden Star and NaNa to leave their land and they want their
land rights recognized by the Government so that they and future
generations may live in peace and security. Kwamalasemutu is located in
the South of Suriname near the border with Brazil and is one of the
largest indigenous villages in Suriname, with approximately 1500-2000
persons from nine tribes. Kwamalasemutu is also located in a gold and
diamond concession held by NaNa Resources, that also includes the
Sipilawini Nature Reserve. The Nature Reserve is the only place on Earth
that the endangered Oko Pipi frog can be found.
The VIDS was asked to investigate by the Head Captain at the Gran Krutu
of Indigenous and Maroon peoples held recently in Galibi. Complaints
were also raised at the Third Annual Meeting of the VIDS held last year.
The VIDS was informed that in November 1995, late Granman Pesife and the
Captains of the village had signed a letter to the Ministry of Natural
Resources stating that they had no objection to Henk Naarendorp of NaNa
Resources obtaining a concession to prospect for gold and diamonds on
their land. The leaders had refused to sign the letter, that was written
by Naarendorp who stated that he was representing Golden Star, on more
than four separate occasions before finally giving in. The village
leaders said that Naarendorp had put a lot of pressure on them to sign;
that he had used a translator that had misinformed them about the contents
of the letter and; that even today over a year later, they still don't
fully understand what the letter means.
After signing the letter, Naarendorp allowed Golden Star to work in the
concession. Since then, village leaders have had a number of meetings
with Golden Star, Naarendorp and NDP Chairman, Bouterse. Each time they
said that they don't want Golden Star on their land, that they didn t
understand the implications of signing the letter and that they want their
land rights recognized. In the last of these meeting, late Granman Pesife
was told by Bouterse that Golden Star will work on their land and there
will be no more discussion on the subject. International law states that
a lack of understanding of the law on the part Indigenous and Maroon
peoples may not be taken advantage of by the government, multinationals or
anyone else and that any agreements or understandings concluded in this
way are void and unenforceable.
Golden Star is not working in the area now, but the people of
Kwamalasemutu are afraid that when they return they may be forced to
relocate, be denied access to their hunting grounds and agricultural plots
and be mistreated by armed security guards and the police just like the
people of Nieuw Koffiekamp. They are also afraid that Brazilian gold
diggers will invade their land when they discover that Golden Star is
working there and that their environment will be destroyed by the
garimpeiros or the company. The people say that Golden Star has already
polluted the water where they were working and that they have seen deserts
where forests used to stand in Brazil and they don't want this to happen
to their land.
The VIDS supports the people of Kwamalasemutu in demanding that Golden
Star leaves their territory and that their land rights, as defined by
international law, be recognized and respected by the Government. The
same applies to all other Indigenous and Maroon peoples in Suriname,
especially those that find themselves in concessions held by Golden Star,
NaNa Resources or any other of the multinationals that are presently
invading our ancestral lands. This is especially the case for the
Indigenous community of Kawemhakan, also located in a concession held by
Golden Star and NaNa Resources, where Golden Star recently announced
drilling results at a site called Antino that indicate that there may be
commercial quantities of gold in the area. Like the people of Nieuw
Koffiekamp, the people of Kawemhakan were not consulted or even informed
about the granting of a concession on their land. We once again urge the
Government, as did the Gran Krutu held in Galibi, not to give any further
concessions until our land and other human rights are fully recognized in
the Constitution and other laws of Suriname.
____________________________________________
VIDS Letter to the President (Original in Dutch)
TO: President Jules Wijdenbosch, Office of the President of Suriname
Date: 27 January 1997
Re: Commission Land Rights and Indigenous and Maroons
Esteemed President Wijdenbosch:
The Association of Indigenous Village Leaders in Suriname would like to
make the following statement about the Government's Commission on Land
Rights. While we believe that this Commission, chaired by Chas Mejnals,
may represent a first step towards the long overdue recognition of our
land and other rights by the Suriname Government, we are nonetheless
disappointed by the way that it is organized and has conducted its
business so far. We are also concerned that this Commission, like the
Redan Commission on Land Rights that preceded it, may expire without
offering an acceptable and constructive contribution to the recognition of
Indigenous and Maroon land rights.
Our criticisms and concerns can be divided into two categories: 1) the
basic philosophy of the Commission and; 2) the operating procedures of the
Commission.
With regard to philosophy, we are convinced that if the Government of
Suriname is serious about recognizing our rights to our ancestral lands
that it should first, publicly acknowledge international law on the rights
of Indigenous and Maroon peoples, which states, among others, that
Indigenous and Tribal peoples have the right to own the lands that they
occupy and use and that we have the right to have these lands physically
demarcated; second, that we have the right to participate meaningfully in
decisions related to the use of our lands; third, that we have the right
to determine our own development priorities in accordance with our
cultures and traditions and; finally, our right to have our institutions
of governance and for the control and management of our land and resources
shall be respected and recognized in the law.
After the recognition of these principles of international human rights
law, the function of the Lands Rights Commission would then be solely to
examine how they are to be implemented in Suriname. These principles are
widely accepted by the international community - the United Nations,
Organization of American States and the International Labour Organization
have all developed international human rights standards that include these
rights -
and are found in the Constitutions and laws of all countries of the
Western Hemisphere and many others all over the World. International
Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on the Rights of Indigenous and
Maroon peoples includes these principles. The Government promised in the
1992 Peace Accord to begin a national discussion on the treaty, and the
present Government promised to implement the Peace Accord. Why has the
Government not invited the ILO and Indigenous and Maroons to start this
discussion? If the Government of Suriname is to comply with its legal
obligations, the Land Rights Commission must accept these principles as
the foundation of its work and then proceed with the details of
implementation.
With regard to the operating procedures of the Commission, we refer to
resolution No. 9 of the Gran Krutu held last November in Galibi, which
said:
During the Gran Krutu we were informed by the District Commissioner that a
`Commission Domain-Land Indigenous Peoples and Maroons' was installed by
the government.
The installation of this Commission by the government, without the
participation, or even knowledge of the rightful representatives of the
interior, in particular the Highest Authority of the Interior, is
unacceptable and again demonstrates a lack of respect for our human
rights. Furthermore, it is completely unclear what the purpose, the tasks
and the authority of this Commission are. We demand that every discussion
or activity, which relates to our land or other rights, takes place with
the full participation and consent of the Highest Authority of the
Interior.
Our rights may not be discussed without our participation. For the Land
Rights Commission to have any credibility and legitimacy, it must include
our freely chosen representatives. We ask why are the hearings of the
Commission not open to the public and why has the VIDS, an association
that includes most of the Indigenous captains from the interior, not been
invited to give testimony to this Commission? The Commission says that it
intends to go to the interior to consult with Indigenous and Maroon
villages. We say that the Government must first accept international
standards as the basis for a meaningful dialogue with the interior about
land rights.
We also ask why the mandate of this Commission has not been made public?
What is the Commission supposed to do? What is its authority? To whom is
it to report? How long will it operate? These are questions that we do
not know the answers to. We are the caretakers of our lands. We must make
sure that the land is safe for our children and their children so that we
may give it to them as our ancestors gave it to us. How can we talk to a
Commission about our land rights, when we do not know the answers to the
questions above.
In conclusion, we ask that the Government and its Land Rights Commission
accept international human rights law as the basis for the work of the
Commission. We also ask that the Commission proceed no further until it
has incorporated the full participation of the freely chosen
representatives of the interior and that it publish the mandate and powers
of the Commission so that we may know this important information.
For further information please contact:
Forest Peoples Programme.
1c Fosseway Business Centre
Stratford Road
Moreton-in-Marsh
GL56 9NQ
England
Ph. 44.1608.652.893
Fax. 44.1608.652.893
EMail: wrm@gn.apc.org
The Forest Peoples Programme is an affiliate of the World Rainforest Movement.