12
[J]udgment. [Indeed,] not one single word has been drafted that could lead to the
adoption of the required measures.” The representatives further observed that the State,
“at the request of the Saramaka, [invited] the UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of
Indigenous Peoples to visit Suriname, inter alia, to discuss the development of legislation
to recogni[z]e indigenous and tribal peoples' rights, including as ordered by the Court in
the Saramaka People [J]udgment. This visit took place in late March 2011, [and the]
Special Rapporteur submitted a note to the State in April 2011 setting forth his
recommendations and views […]. However, to date, the State has given no indication
that it intends to follow up on [those] recommendations or the Special Rapporteur's offer
of technical support.” The representatives submitted a copy of the Special Rapporteur's
note to the Tribunal.
29.
The Commission considered it “worrisome” that despite “being an order of vital
importance and despite the specific recommendations of the UN Special Rapporteur
submitted [i]n April 2011, the State has not adopted any legislative measures required to
implement the [J]udgment,” nor indicated how it will “follow up” on those
recommendations. It requested that the State provide detailed information regarding the
Special Rapporteur's report and “welcome[d the report's suggestion] that the Surinamese
government ‘seek the assistance of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to
help facilitate and orient initial negotiations.’”
30.
The Court notes that the Judgment ordered the State to implement the measures
of reparation involving changes to its domestic law “within a reasonable time.”18 It also
highlights that it has been almost four years since the Judgment was served, yet the
State has not reported any progress toward the implementation of these orders after the
SSDI project's cancellation in December 2010 (supra Considering clauses 8, 9, and 11).
The Court thus considers it necessary that the State report, in detail, on the steps it is
taking to comply with Operative Paragraphs six, seven, eight, and ten of the Judgment
and submit any bills that it may have proposed to its legislative body. Additionally, the
State must submit a schedule for its compliance with these measures of reparation.
d) Duty to translate into Dutch and publish Chapter VII and Operative
Paragraphs one through fifteen of the Judgment in the State’s Official Gazette
and in another national daily newspaper (Operative Paragraph eleven of the
Judgment)
31.
The State reported that it had published, in Dutch, Chapter VII and Operative
Paragraphs one through fifteen of the Judgment in a national daily newspaper and in
Suriname’s Official Gazette of 19 November 2010, No. 17.002/10 (S.B. 2010 no. 168).
32.
The representatives acknowledged that the State published the Dutch translation
of the Judgment in a national daily newspaper and in the Official Gazette.
33.
The Commission did not specifically refer to this obligation in its most recent
communications to the Court.
34.
In light of the information submitted by the State and the representatives, and
given that there is no dispute between the parties, the Court finds that the State has
complied with Operative Paragraph eleven of the Judgment.
18
Cf. Case of the Saramaka People v. Suriname. Preliminary Objections, Merits, Reparations, and Costs,
supra note 10, para. 194 b), c), d), and f).