消除种族歧视委员会与一个非政府组织讨论苏里南问题（部分翻译）

消除种族歧视委员会

2015年8月10日

消除种族歧视委员会今天上午听取了苏里南一个非政府组织代表发言，随后，委员会审议了该国的报告。

一位来自森林民族规划（Forest Peoples Programme）的代表称，在苏里南，土著和部落人民没有获得认可，他们无法在法律上享有权益，也无法在法庭上对他们的集体权利寻求保护。所有土地均被视作国家财产，而且法律并未要求与土著人民进行协商。苏里南持续发放多项采矿和伐木特许，违反多项美洲人权法院判决，苏里南拒绝遵守具有法律约束力的判决，因其认为，认可土著人民会对国内其他人民造成歧视，也会对国家和国内人民开发利用自然资源的权利造成干预。委员会应就此言论发表强有力的声明，强调必须遵循国际法认可土著人民并保护他们的集体权利和自身权利。

在随后的讨论中，委员会专家询问苏里南拒绝回应国际法律要求以及不认可土著人民的原因、不认可马龙人为土著人民的原因，以及该国内其他遭受种族歧视的群体。会议问及土著和部落人民有关土地权利总统专员的活动优先次序，还包括苏里南与联合国减少毁林和森林退化所致排放量（REDD）以及森林碳伙伴关系基金的合作及其对土著人民产生的影响。

委员会的下一次公开会议将于今日下午3点举行，开始审议苏里南的第十三至第十五次合并报告。（CERD/C/SUR/13-15）

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Statement on Suriname

A representative of the Forest Peoples Programme said that in Suriname, indigenous people were not recognized. The Committee was aware of the ongoing discrimination faced by indigenous and tribal peoples in Suriname which it had addressed in its recommendations and concluding observations since 2003. Unfortunately, Suriname had not taken any steps to implement them. Indigenous people constituted about four per cent of the population, and tribal people approximately 21 per cent. The lack of recognition of indigenous people extended to the lack of their recognition before the law: they were incapable of holding rights and seeking protection in court of their collective rights which meant that a quarter of the population of Suriname was denied remedy in national courts. The legislation allowed the State to do what it wanted with indigenous land, there was no legal requirement for consultation and indigenous peoples were regarded as living on the State’s land. Suriname continued to issue more mining and logging concessions in violation of several judgements of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which were legally binding. The State refused to comply with those judgements saying that the recognition of indigenous people would be discriminatory to the rest of the population and would interfere with the right of the State and the national population to exploit natural resources. The Committee should make a strong statement regarding that argument and emphasise the need to recognize indigenous peoples and protect collectives and their rights, in accordance with international law.

Discussion on Suriname

During the discussion Committee Experts asked whether there were human rights defenders among the indigenous people and whether the State took any action against those defenders. The representative of the Forest Peoples Programme was also asked to explain the reasons behind Suriname’s refusal to respond to international legal requirements and recognize indigenous people, and what was being done to raise the awareness among non-governmental organizations working on the issue. The Presidential Commission on Land Rights had come up with proposals concerning consultation with indigenous people, noted another Expert, but it seemed that indigenous people did not think land rights were a priority; what were the priorities of indigenous people in Suriname?

Responding to the questions and issues raised by the Committee Experts, the representative of the Forest Peoples Programme confirmed that there were human rights defenders in Suriname, who were usually community-based people and community chiefs who took leadership on issues affecting the people. Each village had a chief who was a member of the national association of traditional leaders. There were no non-governmental organizations in Suriname working actively on indigenous and tribal issues; it was indigenous and tribal people themselves who took on the roles of right defenders. There were reports of threats and harassment of the Saramaka leaders for their statements made before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which had repeatedly reminded the State not to interfere with the statements of witnesses before the Court.

Ninety per cent of the population of Suriname lived in or around the capital city which meant that the rest of the country was very sparsely populated and was considered by the capital as the place to exploit natural resources. The recognition of the indigenous people and their lands was seen as an interference with the national development fuelled by the exploitation of natural resources.

The priorities identified by the Presidential Commissioner on Land Rights included awareness campaign on land rights, developing a protocol on free prior consultation, and developing the laws on traditional authority, but those were not considered priorities by the indigenous and tribal people. The priority was the law recognizing the indigenous people and their land rights, and giving them the ability to make decisions about their land, societies and culture. The land rights and the right to free and prior consultation were important, but they should be addressed by a law, and not in a protocol.

In a further series of questions, Committee Experts asked for clarification on the organization of the court system in Suriname in which seemingly the principle of separation of power was not applied, the reasons for which the Maroon people were regarded as different from and not recognized as indigenous people, what would be the key priorities at the moment, and whether there were other groups in Suriname in addition to indigenous and tribal people, who suffered racial discrimination and should be of concern to the Committee.

Responding, the representative of the Forest Peoples Programme said that there were very few judges in courts of first instance and that court proceedings were very lengthy. Two major human rights violations in Suriname included the December 1982 massacre and the Moiwana massacre of 1982. In 2007 a case was taken up to prosecute the suspected perpetrators, some through military courts and some through civilian courts. It was mind boggling that the sitting President, who had just been re-elected, was one of the suspects in those prosecutions, the representative commented.

The Maroon were recognized by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as tribal people, and Suriname recognized them as indigenous people but did not recognize their rights; the non-recognition of indigenous people in Suriname meant non-recognition of the rights that emanated from the status of indigenous or tribal people. Suriname was not a signatory of International Labour Organization Convention 169, but it was important to say that the implementation of the Saramaka decision by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, and the American Convention on Human Rights provided greater protection than the Convention 169. There were other ethnic groups which experienced discrimination in Suriname, but groups that experienced structural, institutionalized, pervasive discrimination were indigenous and tribal people. Suriname was the only country in Latin America which had done nothing to address the issue of indigenous people.

Answering the question on carbon trading and how it affected indigenous people, the representative of the Forest Peoples Programme said that Suriname had sought funding from the United Nations Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and forest Degradation (REDD) and the Forest Carbon Partnership Facility; the United Nations Development Programme was about to agree partnership with Suriname and it was important that the Committee expressed its opinion on the situation of indigenous people in the country. Some 90 per cent of the forest in Suriname coincided with indigenous and tribal territories, which meant the burden of the REDD process would be largely on the shoulders of indigenous and tribal people, while the benefits would be felt elsewhere.

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