<
https://news.mongabay.com/2024/06/landmark-ruling-grants-protections-to-local-and-indigenous-communities-for-now/>
"A court in Suriname has halted development on hundreds of thousands of
hectares of Amazon Rainforest, much of it occupied by local and Indigenous
people. The landmark ruling could give new autonomy to native communities and
make it harder for projects to develop on primary forest in the future.
The court approved an injunction filed on behalf of twelve Indigenous and
maroon groups who were concerned about losing approximately 535,000 hectares
(1,322,013 acres) of rainforest to agricultural development. The projects would
have been carried out by Mennonites, the Ministry of Agriculture and private
entities.
“This gives an interim measure of protection to local and Indigenous
communities,” said John Goedschalk, head of Climate Change Advocacy Services,
who has been fighting the land deals. “This battle isn’t over, but this is a
good first step.”
After reviewing the injunction, the court said the government doesn’t have the
right to grant land without free, prior and informed consent, a process in
which developers meet with residents to explain how projects would impact daily
life. Without that process, burial grounds, areas for hunting and other
cultural traditions of tribal living could be at risk, the court said in its
ruling.
Suriname is the only country in South America that doesn’t legally recognize
ancestral territory for Indigenous, maroon and other local peoples. While the
Inter-American Court of Human Rights has touched on the issue in past cases
regarding Suriname, this is the first time that a domestic court has
acknowledged territorial rights for local and Indigenous people.
“This is a new precedent in Suriname,” Antoon Karg, the attorney who filed the
injunction in March, told
Mongabay. “…The rights that had previously been
denied to the Indigenous and maroon communities on a national level now have a
basis for enforcement.”"
Via
Fix the News:
<
https://fixthenews.com/good-news-capital-punishment-mental-health-rwanda-pollution-europe/>
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
