Toledo Maya sue G.O.B. over land rights
The debate over communal, traditional and ethnic rights in Belize is not a new one … in fact the reason it comes up so often is that despite all the talk, the issue has yet to be resolved. Leading the charge over the last decade have been Maya activists from the Toledo District. Today they returned to Belize City with an increasingly popular weapon: the constitution and a team of lawyers. News Five’s Kendra Griffith reports.
Kendra Griffith, Reporting
The October 12th, 2000 signing of a ten point agreement between the Maya leaders of Toledo and the Government of Belize was seen as a historic event. The document recognised the indigenous peoples’ right to land and laid a foundation for a working in partnership between the two.
Prime Minister Said Musa [April 12th, 2000]
“We have signed an agreement today and I am committed and my government is committed to ensure that we carry it out with good faith.”
Gregory Ch’oc
“I’m optimistic I guess. I’m optimistic.”
Six and a half years later with no titles in hand and government giving concessions for oil exploration in Toledo, that optimism has turned to frustration and anger. And so this morning, those same Maya leaders have taken their fight to the Supreme Court by filing two constitutional claims.
Greg Ch’oc, Spokesman, Maya Leaders Alliance
“We have come to make a claim for a place at the table where all Belizeans deserve to be.”
Martin Chen, Chair, Toledo Alcalde Association
“We want the government of Belize to respect the rights of the Mayan people. We are not asking for special rights or consideration, we are simply asking the government to respect our ownership of village land based on our longstanding use and occupancy as directed by the constitution of Belize.”
The suits were filed on behalf of the villages of Santa Cruz and Conejo against the Attorney General of Belize and the Minister of Natural Resources and Environment. Antoinette Moore is one of the attorneys for the villagers.
Antoinette Moore, Attorney for Mayas
“In those two lawsuits there are allegations or statements that there have been violations of the human rights of the people of Conejo and Santa Cruz and by extension human rights violations of all the indigenous peoples of Belize. What is said specifically in the lawsuits, that the right to life, the right to equality, and the right to property have not been respected by the government of Belize.”
“You have said in your lawsuit that your right to life, your very right to survival is being violated by the government because you cannot use the land in the ways that traditionally you have always done. You cannot use the land to get your food, you cannot use the land to fish, to hunt, to gather materials you need for medicine, for your housing. You cannot use the land and therefore you and your children, these children in this room cannot survive. That violates your right to life.”
Before an audience of media and residents of communities surrounding Santa Cruz and Conejo, the Maya laid out the grounds for their case.
Manuel Caal, Conejo Resident
“The community of Conejo organised themselves, recognised where their lands are located, embarked on a demarcation process of their land. On the fifth of May last year, we took that map, presented it to the Prime Minister, explained to him how we would like these lands to be managed. Up until the present, we haven’t heard anything from the Office of the Prime Minister. Therefore, we are now saying, no more talking directly with the Prime Minister, we will meet during course of this lawsuit.”
The residents are asking for: a declaration that the villages and its members hold collective and individual rights and title to the land; that government determine, demarcate, and provide official documentation of their titles; and …
Antoinette Moore
“We are also asking that the court order the Government of Belize to stop, to abstain from any further granting of concessions, logging concessions, oil concessions, leasing, selling the land that in fact belongs to the Maya people.”
Moore and the Maya are being assisted in their efforts by Professor James Anaya of the Indigenous Peoples Law and Policy Programme at James E. Rogers College of Law in Arizona.
James Anaya, U.S. Law Professor
“It’s one thing for the government to say it recognises these rights, it’s another thing for them to actually in the practice recognise those rights and it’s not done that.”
“This is not about balkanisation or about giving the Mayas something that other Belizeans don’t have. It’s simply about letting them continue on the lands they already possess and use according to longstanding traditions that have developed over centuries. And this is an issue that has faced countries across the hemisphere and indeed across the world.”
This isn’t the first time that the Maya have taken the government to court. In 1996 the Toledo Maya Cultural Council filed a claim in the Supreme Court challenging among other things, the constitutionality of G.O.B.’s granting of logging concessions in their communities. That attempt failed, but according to Spokesman for the Maya Leaders Alliance, Greg Ch’oc, this time around it’s different.
Greg Ch’oc
“There wasn’t the kind of mobilisation at the community level, there wasn’t the kind awareness building at the community level, and certainly the communities at this time are and have become aware that there has been violation of their human rights, that the activities carried out by government and in some cases politicians, are in fact violating their human rights. … The one in ’96 did not have the kind of momentum that we have now and certainly it’s a different time when Belize as a country is going through a different time, a different era than in 1996.”
Support from the villages does not necessarily mean success in the courts, but the Maya say they will continue the fight for their rights and those of all Belizeans.
Cristina Coc, Director, Julian Cho Society
“Although this lawsuit is a new step for us, it is a part of a long chain of struggle that stretches back long ago before I was born. And this claim will continue until our rights are respected and the Maya have won our rights to land in Toledo. … I want to make very clear to all my brothers and sisters throughout Belize. We are fighting for the rights of all Belizeans.”
Kendra Griffith reporting for News Five.
The efforts of the Maya are bolstered by a 2004 report of the O.A.S. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which found that by failing to delimit, demarcate, title, and otherwise establish the appropriate legal mechanisms, government violated the right to property of the Maya people of Toledo.
