ORDER OF THE
INTER-AMERICAN COURT OF HUMAN RIGHTS
OF NOVEMBER 23, 2011
CASE OF THE SARAMAKA PEOPLE V. SURINAME
MONITORING COMPLIANCE WITH JUDGMENT
HAVING SEEN:
1.
The Judgment on preliminary objections, merits, reparations, and costs
(hereinafter, “the Saramaka Judgment” or “the Judgment”) delivered by the InterAmerican Court of Human Rights (hereinafter “the Inter-American Court,” “the Court,” or
“the Tribunal”) on November 28, 2007, in which it:
DECLARE[D],
Unanimously, that:
1.
[t]he State violated, to the detriment of the members of the Saramaka people, the right
to property, as recognized in Article 21 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in
relation to the obligations to respect, ensure, and to give domestic legal effect to [that] right
[established in] Articles 1(1) and 2 thereof, in [accordance with] paragraphs 78 to 158 of th[e]
Judgment[;]
2.
[t]he State violated, to the detriment of the members of the Saramaka people, the right
to juridical personality established in Article 3 of the American Convention on Human Rights, in
relation to the right to property recognized in Article 21 of [that] instrument and the right to
judicial protection under Article 25 thereof, as well as in connection to the obligations to
respect, ensure, and to give domestic legal effect to those rights, in accordance with Articles
1(1) and 2 thereof, [all of this in accordance with] paragraphs 159 to 175 of th[e] Judgment[;]
3.
[t]he State violated, to the detriment of the members of the Saramaka people, the right
to judicial protection, as recognized in Article 25 of the American Convention on Human Rights,
in conjunction with the obligations to respect and guarantee the rights established under
Articles 21 and 1(1) thereof, in [accordance with] paragraphs 176 to 185 of th[e] Judgment.
AND DECIDE[D],
Unanimously, that:
[…]
5.
[t]he State shall delimit, demarcate, and grant collective title over the territory of the
members of the Saramaka people, in accordance with their customary laws, and through
previous, effective[,] and fully informed consultations with the Saramaka people, without
prejudice to other tribal and indigenous communities. Until [the] delimitation, demarcation, and
titling of the Saramaka territory has been carried out, Suriname must abstain from acts which
might lead […] agents of the State […] or third parties acting with its acquiescence or its
tolerance to affect the existence, value, use[,] or enjoyment of the territory to which the
members of the Saramaka people are entitled, unless the State obtains the free, informed[,]
and prior consent of the Saramaka people. With regar[d] to the concessions already granted
within traditional Saramaka territory, the State must review them in light of the […] Judgment