53
Arguments of the Commission
123. The Commission did not specifically submit arguments of law regarding the
alleged violation of the right established in Article 21 of the American Convention.
Arguments of the State
124. The State also did not expressly present arguments of law regarding the
alleged violation of the right established in Article 21 of the American Convention.
The Court’s Assessment
125. The Court once again notes that the Commission did not submit explicit
arguments regarding the alleged violation of the right enshrined in Article 21 of the
American Convention. Yet it recalls (supra paragraph 91) that the representatives
may argue other violations of the Convention than those alleged by the Commission,
as long as such legal arguments are based upon the facts delineated in the
application.70
126. Furthermore, as established in the chapter concerning Article 22 of the
American Convention (supra paragraph 108), the Court may properly exercise
jurisdiction over the ongoing nature of the community’s displacement from its
traditional lands, which constitutes a situation that persisted after the State
recognized the Tribunal’s competence in 1987 and continues to the present day.
*
*
127.
*
Article 21 of the American Convention provides:
1. Everyone has the right to the use and enjoyment of his property. The law may
subordinate such use and enjoyment to the interest of society.
2. No one shall be deprived of his property except upon payment of just
compensation, for reasons of public utility or social interest, and in the cases and
according to the forms established by law.
[…]
128. In the preceding chapter regarding Article 22 of the Convention, the Court
held that the State’s failure to carry out an effective investigation into the events of
November 29, 1986, leading to the clarification of the facts and punishment of the
responsible parties, has directly prevented the Moiwana community members from
voluntarily returning to live in their traditional lands. Thus, Suriname has failed to
both establish the conditions, as well as provide the means, that would allow the
community members to live once again in safety and in peace in their ancestral
territory; in consequence, Moiwana Village has been abandoned since the 1986
attack.
70
Cf. Case of De la Cruz-Flores, supra note 59; Case of the “Juvenile Reeducation Institute,” supra
note 59, para. 125; and Case of the Gómez-Paquiyauri Brothers, supra note 59, para. 179.