Lokono peoples’ effective access, use and participation in them, in order to ensure the
compatibility of environmental protection and the rights of the indigenous peoples, pursuant to
paragraph 181 of the Judgment, so that maintaining the reserves does not constitute an
excessive obstacle to their rights.326 Thus, any restriction of their rights must comply with the
requirements of legality, necessity and proportionality, and the achievement of a legitimate
purpose (supra para. 155).
iii)
The concessions within the nature reserves on the traditional territory
287. In view of the fact that activities under the mining concession ceased in 2009,327 the
Court finds that it is unnecessary to establish measures relating to the review and revocation of
the mining concession requested by the representatives. However, since the concession does not
end until 2033, the Court notes that, in any case, the State must take the necessary measures to
ensure that no actions are taken that could affect the traditional territory, in particular in the
Wane Kreek Nature Reserve, while the effective participation of the Kaliña and Lokono peoples
by means of a consultation process, has not been ensured, in the terms of paragraphs 206, 207
and 212.
C. Rehabilitation of the territory
288. The Commission asked that measures be taken to rehabilitate the area where the
mining operations in the Wane Kreek Nature Reserve took place, in consultation with the Kaliña
and Lokono peoples. It also asked that an independent study be made of the actual impact on
the soil, forests and rivers, and a remediation plan. The peoples must be consulted in order to
achieve this objective.
289. The representatives called for: (i) the restitution and restoration of the lands in the
hands of third parties, and of those that are within the three protected areas created in the
territory of the Kaliña and Lokono peoples, and (ii) the effective environmental remediation and
rehabilitation of the lands degraded by the mining operations within the territory of these
peoples. Added to this, in their final observations, the representatives emphasized that the
mining activity had caused extensive damage and that the efforts made to rehabilitate the
territory had not been effective. The State did not submit any explicit arguments in this regard;
however, following the on-site procedure, the State submitted a memorandum of the Director of
the Bauxite Institute of Suriname dated August 27, 2015, which indicated that various actions
had been taken to rehabilitate the territory that had been damaged by the mining operations,
without providing any further evidence in this regard.
290. In view of the fact that the State was found responsible for the violation of Article 21 of
the Convention because of the damage caused to the environment and the lands of the Kaliña
and Lokono peoples owing to the bauxite mining operations in the Wane Kreek Nature Reserve
(supra para. 230), and since, to date, the remediation work carried out by the company has
been neither effective nor sufficient, the Court establishes that the State must:
a) Implement the sufficient and necessary actions to rehabilitate the area affected. To this
end, an action plan for the effective rehabilitation of the area must be drawn up, in
conjunction with the company that has been in charge of this rehabilitation, and with
326
Cf. Case of the Xákmok Kásek Indigenous Community, supra, para. 313.
327
Cf. Case of the Kichwa Indigenous People of Sarayaku, supra, para. 299, and Case of the Garífuna Community of
Punta Piedra and its members, supra, para. 327.
74
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