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117. In the instant case, as discussed above, many Moiwana community members
have remained in French Guiana, owing to fears for their safety and the failure of the
State’s criminal investigation. Nevertheless, in 1993 a minority of the community
members returned to Suriname and were placed in a temporary reception center in
Moengo – yet, many remain in the reception center to this day, as they haven’t been
provided with a suitable alternative. Ms. Difienjo expressed indignation at the State’s
approach to the refugees in general; she testified that, although Moiwana community
members have written the State letters, government officials have very rarely visited
them in French Guiana or attended to their needs: “they consider us like dogs: you
can kill them, you don’t have to pay that much attention to them.” As established
previously (supra paragraph 86(18)), since their flight from Moiwana Village in 1986,
both the refugees in French Guiana and those who never left Suriname have typically
faced impoverished conditions and lack access to many basic services.
118. In sum, only when justice is obtained for the events of November 29, 1986
may the Moiwana community members: 1) appease the angry spirits of their
deceased family members and purify their traditional land; and 2) no longer fear that
further hostilities will be directed toward their community. Those two elements, in
turn, are indispensable for their permanent return to Moiwana Village, which many –
if not all – of the community members wish to accomplish (supra paragraph 86(43)).
119. The Court observes that Suriname has disputed that the Moiwana survivors
suffer restrictions upon their travels or residence; in that regard, the State asserts
that they may indeed move freely throughout the country. Regardless of whether a
legal disposition actually exists in Suriname that establishes such a right – upon
which the Tribunal deems it unnecessary to rule – in this case the Moiwana survivors’
freedom of movement and residence is circumscribed by a very precise, de facto
restriction, originating from their well-founded fears described above, which excludes
them only from their ancestral territory.
120. Thus, the State has failed to both establish conditions, as well as provide the
means, that would allow the Moiwana community members to return voluntarily, in
safety and with dignity, to their traditional lands, in relation to which they have a
special dependency and attachment – as there is objectively no guarantee that their
human rights, particularly their rights to life and to personal integrity, will be secure.
By not providing such elements – including, foremost, an effective criminal
investigation to end the reigning impunity for the 1986 attack – Suriname has failed
to ensure the rights of the Moiwana survivors to move freely within the State and to
choose their place of residence. Furthermore, the State has effectively deprived
those community members still exiled in French Guiana of their rights to enter their
country and to remain there.
121. For the foregoing reasons, the Court declares that Suriname violated Article
22 of the American Convention, in relation to Article 1(1) of that treaty, to the
detriment of the Moiwana community members.