Commissioner of the corresponding district will be advised of this application 279 and, eventually,
it will be decided and the applicant will be advised of the decision by the Minister of Spatial
Planning, Land and Forestry Management himself.280 The Court has noted that the procedures
established in this instrument refer, in general, to the granting of State-owned land to individuals
or legal persons who reside in Suriname,281 and are unrelated to specific claims concerning the
land of indigenous peoples such as those examined in this case. Moreover, the State did not
specify how the procedure could provide satisfactory redress for the violations alleged by the
Kaliña and Lokono peoples; particularly, considering that they lack legitimacy to request the award
of the land, because the State does not recognize the collective legal personality of the indigenous
peoples (supra para. 112).
248. Furthermore, the Court notes that, in his report of August 18, 2011, the Special
Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples of the United Nations asserted that it was evident
that Suriname must adopt legislative provisions or regulations that would provide adequately
specific and concrete protections and procedures to secure the rights of indigenous and tribal
peoples. Thus, in light of the judgments delivered by the Court in the Moiwana and Saramaka
cases, he recommended that priority should be placed on developing specific legal provisions on
two point: (i) a procedure to identify and title indigenous and tribal lands, and (ii) a procedure
for consulting with, and seeking consent of, indigenous and tribal peoples for resource extraction
and other activities affecting their lands.282
249. Consequently, the Court considers that the norms analyzed in this case do not include
administrative or judicial remedies establishing procedures for the protection of the right to
collective property of indigenous and tribal peoples.
250. Nevertheless, the Court takes into consideration that, during the public hearing in this
case, the State indicated that it was “aware that the laws of Suriname do not yet comply with
international standards,” and therefore asked the Court to provide it with guidance in order to
resolve the complex issues related to the recognition of the rights of indigenous and tribal
peoples in Suriname.
251. Thus, the Court finds that, pursuant to its case law, as well as to other relevant
international standards, in order to ensure the human rights of the indigenous peoples, the
domestic remedies should be interpreted and applied taking the following criteria into account:
1. The recognition of collective legal personality as indigenous and tribal peoples,283 as well
as individual legal personality as members of such peoples;284
2. The recognition of legal standing to file administrative, judicial or any other type of action
collectively, through their representatives, or individually, taking into account their customs
and cultural characteristics;285
278
Cf. Article 5 of the Decree Granting State-owned Land of June 15, 1982 (evidence file, folio 2692).
279
Cf. Article 7 of the Decree Granting State-owned Land of June 15, 1982 (evidence file, folio 2693).
280
Cf. Articles 8, 9 and 10 of the Decree Granting State-owned Land of June 15, 1982 (evidence file, folio 2693).
281
Cf. Article 2 of the Decree Granting State-owned Land of June 15, 1982 (evidence file, folio 2691).
282
Cf. Report of the former Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, of August 18,
2011, paras. 17, 34 and 35. Available at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IPeoples/SR/A-HRC-18-35Add7_en.pdf.
283
Cf. Case of the Saramaka People, supra, para. 172.
284
Cf. Case of the Sawhoyamaxa Indigenous Community, supra, para. 188, and Case of the Xákmok Kásek
Indigenous Community, supra, para. 249.
64
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