Declaring that it takes seriously IACHR recommendations on Chinese Landing residents, the Guyana Government last night announced a series of steps including the assembling of a multisectoral fact finding team to visit the community.
On Friday the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) issued a resolution on a petition by the mainly Amerindian residents of Chinese Landing in Region One and asked the Guyana to take precautionary measures to protect them.
A report on the resolution was carried in Tuesday’s edition of Stabroek News and yesterday’s release by the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance was the first comprehensive response to the IACHR edict.
Presenting the background to the dispute to show that it has in the past tried to address the problem, the statement by the ministry said that all these facts and more were presented to the IACHR in the State’s April 17, 2023 submission in response to the Chinese Landing petition.
However, the ministry said that the Government of Guyana acknowledges the decision of the IACHR in Resolution No. 41/23 to issue precautionary measures and takes very seriously the recommendations made.
As a result, it said that the Government of Guyana has already completed an initial planning meeting to address the precautionary measures among senior government officials including the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, the Minister of Amerindian Affairs, the Minister of Natural Resources and the Minister of Home Affairs, along with the Commissioner of Police (ag), heads of the GGMC, Legal Advisors of the Attorney General’s Chambers and technical staff of the respective ministries and agencies. In this meeting, a plan of action was agreed upon, and steps are now being taken to ensure that a number of actions are implemented.
The ministry listed these as follows:
1. A new multisectoral fact-finding team is being assembled of government officials to be deployed into Chinese Landing to further evaluate the social and environmental issues which need to be addressed based on the IACHR summary of its decision and guided by the terms of reference for the team.
This team will report directly to the high-level committee being coordinated by the Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance.
2. In keeping with the requirements for permission to be sought from the Toshao and Village Council before entering their community, a letter of request based on the IACHR Resolution has been sent to the Toshao of Chinese Landing, Orin Fernandes to indicate the Government’s interest in sending in the fact-finding team. Regrettably, the ministry said that up to the time of the dissemination of this release, the request for permission to enter remained pending.
3. Upon the completion of the fact-finding mission, the release said that the high-level committee will invite representatives of the Chinese Landing Village Council, the mining company and miners operating in the area as well as relevant agencies to engage in talks about mutually beneficial and amicable measures which can be adopted in the interest of protecting the fundamental human rights of all concerned. This is in keeping with the precautionary measures issued which mandate that the state must consult and adopt measures.
4. Submit a formal reply to the IACHR, informed by the results of the fact-finding mission, consultations and further investigations.
5. Work with the community of Chinese Landing to develop a permanent monitoring mechanism, established within the community, which will have a clearly defined responsibility to monitor and report on all issues which could constitute threats. This mechanism will allow for reports to be recorded, dispatched to the relevant authorities and acted upon in a timely manner. Any reports of infringements on human rights in contradiction of the constitution and legislation of Guyana will be investigated and acted upon accordingly.
6. The relevant authorities will undertake further scientific studies to ascertain impacts of environmental factors. The types of studies will be informed by consultations with the community and relevant experts, the release said.
It added: “The Government of Guyana remains committed to ensuring that the rights of all persons in Guyana are protected, especially the most vulnerable. This commitment is evident in all the efforts that the government has made to improve the lives of Amerindian peoples across the country and to realize culturally appropriate development in Amerindian villages through annual presidential grants, relief grants, Amerindian Development Fund grants and other additional grants from carbon credits, scholarships, and expansion of health and education services”.
It said that the efforts to address the issues in Chinese Landing date as far back as the interventions implemented by Government since 2006. However, these interventions were nullified repeatedly by the several rulings of the court.
Notwithstanding, the release said that all good-faith efforts will be made to ensure that the State is in compliance with the precautionary measures issued by the IACHR.
“The Government of Guyana also takes this opportunity to urge all parties involved to cooperate during this process and have good sense prevail to ensure that all possibilities for adequate resolution can be explored and implemented in the best interest of the Amerindians peoples of Chinese Landing and the wider society”, the release added.
In providing background on the matter, the release said that after the request for precautionary measures was submitted on March 8 this year to the IACHR, the government undertook a series of processes to ensure that an unbiased and comprehensive response informed by facts, evidence and records could be submitted to the IACHR.
It said that the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, as the Ministry responsible for Guyana’s human rights treaty reporting obligations, immediately coordinated a team of technical experts to conduct a visit to Chinese Landing to assess the situation, gather more information, and commence interventions to address the claims made by the applicants.
Heads of agencies including the GGMC, Guyana Police Force and Environmental Protection
Agency were consulted in the preparation of the State’s response to the claims. Recognizing the sub judicial nature of the claims against miner Wayne Vieira, the Government of Guyana said it was focused on addressing the most critical rights issues in the claims, especially those regarding threats, harassment, and violence against the Amerindian people of Chinese Landing, as the law is clear on the consequences of such actions.
“Regrettably, investigations revealed that many of the allegations made to the IACHR were not reported to the relevant local authorities, and as such, there were no records to inform legal proceedings against alleged perpetrators. Notwithstanding, efforts were made to get in contact with the alleged victims – some refused to give statements, some denied such events, while others could not be found or no longer resided in Chinese Landing”, the release added.
Information about the deployment of Joint Patrol teams to Chinese Landing and neighbouring communities, findings from several meetings with the village council and residents, and information about the complete absence of formal reports were also provided to the IACHR, along with key information about the consistent scientific investigations and advancements which showed improved water quality through turbidity testing.
All these facts and more were presented to the IACHR in the State’s April 17, 2023 submission, the release last night said.
In its resolution on Friday, the IACHR said that it has asked the government to advise it within 20 days from Friday’s ruling as to the steps taken.
A statement on Friday from the IACHR said that the petition before it indicates that the members of Chinese Landing (Region 1) are facing threats, harassment and acts of violence in the context of their opposition to mining activities in their lands. The representatives alleged repetitive incidents of threats and harassment, which would occur “daily” or “regularly”; advised of acts against persons in particular vulnerability such as aggression to a young man, attempted rape of a minor, and threat with a knife against an elder person; as well as the extensive use of firearms, with firing incidents. The IACHR said that Chinese Landing residents have also received collective death threats, reportedly perpetrated by mine workers. For example, it said that the toshao, who is the leader of the community, was allegedly warned that if the village wins its lands back, the miners would not leave easily and people would die.
The IACHR noted that the State of Guyana informed on actions to mitigate alleged risks and investigate the reported situation.
Orin Fernandes
“Between May 18th and 22nd, 2022, a patrol was deployed to conduct security threat assessments and disrupt any illegal activities. Between June 26th and 28th, 2022, authorities held several meetings with the various Village Councils and residents, including Chinese Landing, and the Police in Santa Cruz was given directives to conduct routine patrols within Chinese Landing. In addition, on March 26th, 2023, the Regional Commander along with the regional crime inspector and other members of the regional police force conducted follow up investigations at Chinese Landing to address the threat allegations”, the Commission said.
The IACHR however found that no substantial action had been taken against the alleged perpetrators.
“The Commission took note of the actions informed by the State to investigate the beneficiaries’ risk situation. Nevertheless, while the IACHR valued these actions, it noted that they have not resulted in identifying suspects, the start of criminal trials, and/or holding perpetrators responsible. The Commission observed that several claims brought by the beneficiaries on risk events were dismissed by the State as misleading or for lacking evidence, without indicating that investigations have taken place. Likewise, the IACHR took note of the seriousness of the information which indicated the involvement of State police force in the events of risk. In addition, the Commission noticed that the State has not informed on risk evaluations carried out in favor of the beneficiaries and their leaders, particularly considering the collective nature of the risk alleged”, the IACHR stated.
Consequently, the IACHR requested that Guyana:
take the necessary measures to protect the rights to life and personal integrity of the members of the Indigenous Carib Community of Chinese Landing identified as beneficiaries, with a cultural, gender-based, and age-appropriate perspective to prevent threats, harassment, and other acts of violence against the beneficiaries;
consult and agree upon the measures to be adopted with the beneficiaries and their representatives; and
report on the actions taken to investigate the events that led to the adoption of this precautionary measure, so as to prevent such events from reoccurring.
