The Amerindian Peoples Association (APA) is disappointed with the government’s response to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) resolution concerning the Chinese Landing Village.
In a release on Monday, the APA stated that it welcomed the July 21, 2023 resolution of the IACHR adopting precautionary measures in favour of the Chinese Landing Village. It added that it has always supported the community in their struggle to reclaim their lands and protect their rights and expressed the hope that the intervention of the IACHR would move the government to take the steps necessary to finally provide the community with some redress.
The release said that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance (MPAG) had issued a release regarding the IACHR resolution which, in the APA’s opinion is indicative of the government’s “ongoing and willful” refusal to recognise the village’s land rights. In addition to being “disappointed”, the association noted that the ministry’s release made several missteps. It did not share the information that Chinese Landing Village has held title to its lands since 1976. And as such, the granting of mining permits to Mr Wayne Vieira in 1995 inside the village’s titled lands without the village’s consent thereby violated the village’s land rights. Also, it fails to mention that the 2017 court case before the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) only addressed the question of whether the GGMC had the authority to enforce the provisions of the Amerindian Act.
“At no point in time during that court case did the GGMC present evidence of Chinese Landing’s title to the court. The CCJ noted that the Ministry of Amerindian Affairs could enforce the Amerindian Act, but at no point since that decision has the Ministry attempted to pass any regulations to actually enforce the provisions of the Amerindian Act requiring village consent to medium-scale mining inside titled lands. In fact, the current Minister of Amerindian Affairs in August 2022 publicly announced that the government had already done all it could for the village”, the APA said.
The APA went on to contend that the decision was seen as a victory by the miners, who then began carrying high-powered weapons around the mining area and engaged in the threatening, intimidating, and assaulting of villagers. Then in 2021, the village, which had not been a party to the previous court cases, brought its own case against Vieira and the GGMC which was dismissed summarily, without giving the village an opportunity to be heard, because the judge concluded that the laws in Guyana protected Vieira’s interest in his mining concessions. The Court of Appeal has since then delayed a hearing in the appeal three times, it added.
The release also pointed out that international human rights bodies have found that these very laws in Guyana that are being cited in these court cases violate Indigenous peoples’ rights and that the conclusion of court cases without consideration of Guyana’s human rights obligations and the inordinate delays in court cases violate Indigenous Peoples’ right to access justice.
“We note here that the government cannot dismiss the village’s human rights concerns merely because certain issues are sub judice. The government is internationally responsible for court decisions that fail to consider its international human rights obligations”, the release added.
The APA explained that the IACHR precautionary measures mechanism addresses situations of serious and urgent risks of irreparable harm. This means, it said, that the IACHR, having reviewed the facts presented by Chinese Landing and by the Government, has found that there is, by a prima facie standard, evidence of a “serious and urgent risk of irreparable harm” to Chinese Landing and its members. Therefore, at this stage, it sees the government’s obligation as one to consult and agree upon the measures needed to be adopted to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of the members of Chinese Landing. The association therefore concludes that for MPAG to suggest that it is going on a “fact-finding mission” suggests that it is refusing to accept the findings of the IACHR.
“Indeed, MPAG’s announced plan suggests that it, at best, does not understand the IACHR’s recommendations, or that, at worst, it is deliberately attempting to undermine the village’s rights. The fact that the MPAG has already made a plan without any consultation with the village shows that it is not listening to the IACHR’s recommendation that it consult and agree upon the measures to be adopted with the village. To suggest that the village meet together with the miners who have been threatening their lives to agree upon `amicable measures which can be adopted’ is insulting at best”, it said.
As the APA sees it, governments are obligated to work to improve the lives of their citizens and to ensure culturally appropriate development and access to health and education services. “Protecting our rights as indigenous peoples, and realizing culturally appropriate development, requires however that we feel safe in our own lands and that our land rights are protected”, the release asserted.
As such, the association calls upon the government to uphold its obligations under international law to respect and protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights including their rights to own, control, manage, and use their traditional lands, territories, and resources and to Free, Prior and Informed Consent. “We further call upon the government to adhere to the requests of the IACHR regarding Chinese Landing – and the IACHR to continue to monitor the situation – to ensure that their rights are protected and there are no further threats, harassment, or acts of violence against the community,” the release added.
