Int’l human rights body calling on Guyana to take immediate action against abuse of Amerindians by gold miners and police

Jul 26, 2023 News

---

Kaieteur News – The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) recently issued Resolution 41/2023, in which it called on Guyanese authorities to implement a series of measures to protect the Indigenous Carib Community of Chinese Landing. According to the international body, the Carib community which has approximately 210 people is currently at serious, urgent risk of suffering irreparable harm to their human rights by miners and even some members of the police force.

Details of those risks are outlined in a petition to the international body which was filed by the village council of the indigenous Carib community of Chinese Landing, the Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana and the Forest Peoples Programme.

It was noted that members of the indigenous community are at risk in the context of alleged unconsented mining encroachment on titled lands. The applicants consider that this situation is part of a pattern of long-standing discrimination against indigenous peoples and the prioritization of mining interests over indigenous peoples’ rights in Guyana.

According to the information provided by the applicants, Guyanese authorities had granted a medium-scale mining concession to Mr. W. V. in the titled lands of the Chinese Landing Carib indigenous community in 1995 (an area of land known as Tassawini), without consulting or seeking the consent of the community.

The information by the applicants further indicated that the Amerindian Act of 2006 requires medium-scale miners to sign an agreement with a village council before they begin mining activities in their lands.

According to the applicants, in 2010, following repeated complaints by the village, a Guyana Geology and Mines Commission (“GGMC”) officer issued a cease work order on Mr. [W.V.] on the basis that Mr. [W.V.] had no agreement with Chinese Landing to mine and as such was in violation of the Amerindian Act of 2006.

Mr. [W.V.] subsequently brought a claim against the GGMC to court, and the case made its way through the Guyanese judiciary and even landed before the Caribbean Court of Justice (“CCJ”). There, it was ruled that GGMC officers had no authority to issue cease work orders to enforce the Amerindian Act 2006 because there was no established mechanism in the Act to allow GGMC officers to enforce that law.

In March 2021, the proposed Amerindian beneficiaries brought their case to the judiciary. It is reported that, in September 2021, the Guyana High Court dismissed the claim filed by the Chinese Landing indigenous community against GGMC and Mr. W. V. concerning the mining concession, without allowing the case to proceed to trial. The proposed beneficiaries appealed, and a decision is pending.

In the meantime, the applicants stated that the Tassawini mining site which sits in the middle of the village’s titled lands is negatively affecting the village and its members’ lives, safety, livelihoods, well-being, health, and family life. It is alleged that mine workers threaten village members, which prevents them from engaging in their livelihood activities both in the Tassawini area and other parts of the village.

According to the application, violations against the village began intensifying in 2018 and worsened after the 2021 decision from the High Court. It is alleged that this judicial decision led to an increase in unwanted mining activity in the lands lawfully held by the Chinese Landing indigenous community, which would irreparably damage its traditional way of life and its environment.

The applicants further alleged that the cited 2021 judicial decision has also resulted in an upsurge of a series of incidents of intimidation and assaults against the persons proposed as beneficiaries. These incidents are alleged to have been perpetrated by miners and members of the Guyanese police, acting in support of the miners. The application stated that some of these incidents were documented by the affected community in letters written to State authorities appealing for State intervention and assistance, coverage in the press and by an anthropologist’s report on the situation in the village. According to the request, women and children are especially threatened.

DESTRUCTION, SICKNESS & POLLUTION

Apart from the allegations of verbal and physical abuse, the applicants also expressed concern that over the past year, mining activities in the Tassawini area have intensified, with an increase in the amount of heavy-duty equipment entering the village, growing deforestation and environmental destruction.

The applicants reported that from 2017 to 2021, the mining area lost 264 hectares of forest, five times the amount lost from 2012 to 2016. It was also stated that the Huri Creek, which runs alongside the Tassawini mining area and is one of the village’s main sources of fresh water, is no longer useable by villagers unless water levels are high enough that cleaner water flows back in from the Barama River. Residents also cannot use the Barama River for drinking water anymore and some are reportedly getting rashes after bathing in the river.

The commission was also told that the increased and visible pollution of the rivers and health impacts villagers are experiencing from use of the rivers testifies to that expansion of mining activity. For example, the proposed beneficiaries reported that the use of the Huri Creek water causes rashes, vomiting, and diarrhea.

According to the request, residents of Chinese Landing are most concerned about mercury pollution, as they are aware that miners in the area use mercury to recover gold in a process called amalgamation. The mining area allegedly currently lacks any specialized equipment to ensure the safe use of mercury.

The proposed beneficiaries also noted that there are no adequate settling or tailings ponds in the mining area, with tailings ponds that do exist overflowing into the Huri Creek. Instead of building proper tailings ponds or dams, miners have been seen creating temporary structures such as a mud wall to divert the water. Miners have also sometimes dumped tailings directly into the creeks, the resolution outlined.

The applicants also indicated that they have reported the situation to different State authorities, both verbally and in written communications. In addition, the situation of the Chinese Landing Community was also reported to the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (“CERD”), which issued recommendations to the State of Guyana. In accordance with the applicants, there have been no effective measures taken to date. After widespread media attention to the situation the State met with the Chinese Landing Toshao on July 14, 2022, and promised to send a team to investigate.

While the Guyana authorities have sent teams in to inspect the mining activities, the applicants alleged that there have been no investigations into the incidents of violence and threats against village members, nor there has been any assessment of the environmental, health, and social impacts of the mining. It was also alleged that miners “appear to have advance notice of government team inspections, allowing them time to conceal unregistered equipment”.

Additionally, officials from the Environmental Protection Agency allegedly informed the proposed beneficiaries, in August 2022, that they did not take water samples from Huri Creek to test for mercury or other pollutants because they had not come prepared for any equipment for water testing.

COMMISSION’S DECISION

Taking all points into account, the Commission 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.

It also called for the Guyana Government to 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 the commission’s precautionary measure, so as to prevent such events from reoccurring.

The IACHR is a principal and autonomous body of the Organization of American States (OAS), whose mandate stems from the OAS Charter and the American Convention on Human Rights.

The Inter-American Commission has the mandate to promote the observance and defense of human rights in the region and acts as an advisory body to the OAS on the matter.

---

• Chinese Landing, Forest Peoples Programme, Indigenous Carib Community, Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), irreparable

---