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192. The representatives similarly requested that the Court order the State to, inter alia,
adopt any measures necessary to delimit, demarcate and title the Saramaka people’s
traditional lands and resources in accordance with its customary laws and values; adopt or
amend legislative, administrative or other measures as may be required to recognize and
secure the right of the Saramaka people to give or withhold its free, prior and informed
consent to activities that may affect its lands, territory and resources; offer an official public
apology to the Saramaka people, and establish a development fund with sufficient capital to
invest in health, education, resource management and other projects in Saramaka territory,
all determined and implemented with the informed participation and consent of the
Saramaka people. The representatives also requested pecuniary compensation for the
environmental degradation and destruction of their territory by logging concessionaires, and
for the market value of the timber harvested by the logging companies, adding that any
material or immaterial damage award should be added to this fund and used for the same
purposes.
193. The State denied any international responsibility for the facts alleged in the
application and alleged that the Saramaka people have not proven they have suffered any
material or immaterial damages or that said damages may be attributed to the State.
Consequently, the State asked this Court to dismiss the petitioner’s request for reparations
and costs.
C.1)
Measures of Satisfaction and Guarantees of Non-Repetition
194. In order to guarantee the non-repetition of the violation of the rights of the members
of the Saramaka people to the recognition of their juridical personality, property, and
judicial protection, the State must carry out the following measures:
a)
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 said
delimitation, demarcation, and titling of the Saramaka territory has been carried out,
Suriname must abstain from acts which might lead the agents of the State itself, 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 regards to the concessions already granted within
traditional Saramaka territory, the State must review them, in light of the present
Judgment and the Court’s jurisprudence, in order to evaluate whether a modification
of the rights of the concessionaires is necessary in order to preserve the survival of
the Saramaka people.
The State must begin the process of delimitation,
demarcation and titling of traditional Saramaka territory within three months from
the notification of the present Judgment, and must complete this process within
three years from such date;
b)
grant the members of the Saramaka people legal recognition of their
collective juridical capacity, pertaining to the community to which they belong, with
the purpose of ensuring the full exercise and enjoyment of their right to communal
property, as well as collective access to justice, in accordance with their communal
system, customary laws, and traditions. The State must comply with this reparation
measure within a reasonable time;
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