Mayan leaders back in court on land rights
The Maya Leaders Alliance and the government were back in court this morning. This time the Mayans are asking the Supreme Court to create a mechanism, legislative or otherwise, that will cement a ruling it had previously made in favour of the Mayas confirming communal rights to the land they occupy in Conejo and Santa Cruz. The Alliance is going one step further and is asking the Court and Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh, to put in place a system that will define, demarcate and delimit these lands and also to safeguard their rights. News Five spoke with the parties as they exited the Supreme Court this morning.
Antoinette Moore, Counsel, Mayan Leaders Alliance
“I would hope that we have a very good chance, especially because we have a judgment from October of last yer from this very same court, the Supreme Court of Belize which recognised the customary land rights of the two villages. The villages of Conejo and Santa Cruz are really no different than the other thirty-six Maya villages who practice customary land tenure. What we’re asking for is essentially the same thing for those villages.”
“And then title could be given and it’s that title which is rest respected. It’s that piece of paper. What was established in the last case is you don’t have to have that piece of paper to have your property rights respected. Your constitutional property rights should be respected regardless. And it is the view of my clients that the government of Belize, even with a new administration sadly, continues to disregard, ignore and disrespect the property rights of the Mayan people.”
Lois Young, Attorney for G.O.B.
“For the trial if we don’t crystallize what it is we are dealing with and we just come with these broad constitutional claims-everybody today is on this bandwagon of the constitution. The constitution is an important document, it is the supreme law, but you can’t just grab the constitution and say oh violation of my constitutional rights here, there. There are certain requirements in order for you to claim a constitutional violation.”
Cristina Coc, Director, Julian Cho Society
“We have made tremendous strides over the last twenty-five, thirty years because now today all around the world and in Belize, there’s national recognition of our rights. And as a people we have defended that right and that as a people we continue to struggle and as we look at all social movements around the world, it’s a constant struggle. It’s a constant struggle for positive social change. So I’m encouraged. I think that we are back in court and it’s unfortunate that we have not yet seen those concrete changes, those acts of good faith on the part of the government.”
Marion Ali
“While you’ve highlighted those achievements that the Maya have accomplished, the point was brought up just a while ago in court that you are seeking special rights. How do you explain to the regular Belizean that that’s not what you’re seeking and that they are not entitled to exactly what you guys are seeking? I’m talking about Belizeans of other ethnic groups that have to buy land.”
Cristina Coc
“Well, in Toledo and for the Mayan people particularly, we feel that we have, as a part of our indigenaity, we have rights to the lands we occupy. That has never been titled to us, that has never, not until the court recently recognized those rights, that wasn’t even known. A lot of people were ignorant to the way of life in Toledo, to the way that we live. In fact, for a long time we have been seen as squatters on those lands yet while we continue to work and produce on the land, while we continue to make a livelihood on the land, those lands that we work and our rights to those lands have never been safeguarded which is why you have situations like that in Golden Stream where developers come in and completely ignore the fact that we have been there and we have been working the land. And so because we haven’t had that title, we haven’t enjoyed that title like other Belizeans, that wasn’t even an option for us. So for me the message to other Belizeans would be that we’re not asking to be exempted from anything that other Belizeans have to adhere to. We’re simply saying listen, we have a livelihood to protect, we have a right to life and this is what we depend on for our life.”
Antoinette Moore
“The Mayan people are seeking the enforcement and the protection of the rights that they have. They are not special in the sense that they are human rights, they are fundamental constitutional rights, they are the rights that every other Belizeans has; property rights, right to equality and not to be discriminated against, and a right to life. Those are enumerated in the constitution in chapter two of the Constitution of Belize. Every Belizean has those. Now they may manifest in different ways because of course the Maya people hold their property in a different way than perhaps other Belizeans. This has been the cross of the problem. It seems that getting over this leap of understanding, to me, is part of the problem; to understand that it’s not special rights although there are certainly certain vulnerable groups within the international community that do have what you might call special rights; children, women, indigenous people. There are people who have what are considered—I don’t want to use the word special really—but have certain rights because of their position of vulnerability.”
Lois Young
“What about us black people? What about us black people, we don’t have the same kind of difficult history? That’s getting personal now but if you’re gonna ask me that question well, everybody in Belize has a history that they can categorize as being difficult. Every ethnic race in Belize has a history that’s difficult.”
Marion Ali
“But those demarcations will not box out other Belizeans. If john Jones want to move from Corozal and move into one of those Mayan communities he will not be disallowed right?”
Cristina Coc
“Absolutely not, the only condition is that there is a particular way of life in those communities. So it’s just like Belize City. If I move to Belize City I have to get used to everything and the way of life in Belize City. That’s the exact same thing that would happen if someone were to move to one of those communities.”
Meanwhile on Monday, the other attorney for government, Rodwell Williams, will file a preliminary objection indicating G.O.B.’s position that there should not be a trial and that the claim filed by the entire Mayan community of Toledo should be struck out because it is improper.
