The Chinese Landing Village Council yesterday said that it never asked government to stop all mining on its lands as some of its villagers earn their livelihoods this way and it continued to differ with the decision of the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs to dispatch a “fact-finding” mission in response to a resolution of the IACHR.
In a major victory for the village, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on July 21 asked the government to institute protective measures for Chinese Landing following its petition citing transgressions by miners.
After announcing that a fact-finding mission would be dispatched to the Region One village in the wake of the IACHR resolution, the government went further on Wednesday night and announced a temporary halt to mining in the community.
In its statement yesterday responding to the Ministry of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance (MPAG) on Wednesday, the Chinese Landing Village Council said it continues to look forward to engaging in discussions with the Government towards implementation of the request by the IACHR for precautionary measures.
Clarifying key points, it said that the facts raised before the IACHR and in its letter to the Govern-ment are that villagers continue to feel unsafe in their own lands because of the outside miners working on Wayne Vieira’s concession, armed with high-powered rifles, who threaten and harass residents in their lands.
“The Commission has accepted our evidence of these facts on a prima facie standard. It is because of this that we have stated, as we have been requesting for years, that this outside mining – which we have never properly consented to – must stop. We have never asked the Govern-ment to stop all mining on our lands. We feel that we must clarify this, as we note that some of our villagers do small mining for their livelihoods, and we hope that the Government will not cut off our source of livelihood and further infringe upon our rights in its attempt to respect our rights. Should there be any confusion regarding our right to our livelihoods, we are prepared to request clarification regarding our rights from the IACHR”, the village said.
It said that it continues to believe that a “fact-finding mission” is not what the IACHR has requested that the Government do, but rather, that the Government must now work in consultation and agreement with the village to identify the targeted measures needed to protect its rights. It clarified that its submission of May 22, 2023, to the IACHR, was merely in response to the various legal and factual arguments raised by the Government in its own report to the Commission which it had only received on May 15. This was in response to the MPAG’s statement on Wednesday that it had not been privy to the May 22nd submission by the village council. In its statement yesterday, the Chinese Landing Village said its May 22 response raised no new substantive facts that require investigation by the Government.
The village expressed appreciation that there has been continued communication between it and the Government.
“We again offer the reminder that it is the Government’s responsibility to consult and agree with us on the measures to be taken to protect our rights to life and personal integrity. We hope that any discussions we will have together will be in this spirit”, it said.
It also expressed disappointment that in its statement on Wednesday, MPAG chose to “malign” the Amerindian Peoples Association (APA).
“The APA has always supported our village’s struggle for our rights, and we will continue working with the APA as we value their dedication and support. We respectfully request that the Government focus on addressing the threats to our rights rather than its views on the APA”, the statement said.
The village further said that it has agreed to the delayed dates of August 5-6 requested by the Government for an initial meeting, and it has already sent its proposed agenda for that meeting to the Government.
“We look forward to welcoming the Government team to our village and to constructive discussions towards the implementation of the IACHR resolution”, the village said.
The IACHR on July 21 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.
