communities that they affect and the people they employ.” 64 As part of its 2013 Position
Statement on Indigenous Peoples and Mining, the ICMM has outlined measures that its
members have committed to in order to ensure respect of indigenous and tribal peoples’
rights. This includes a commitment to “work to obtain the consent of indigenous
communities for new projects (and changes to existing projects) that are located on lands
traditionally owned by or under customary use of indigenous peoples and are likely to have
significant adverse impacts on indigenous peoples, including where relocation and/or
significant adverse impacts on critical cultural heritage are likely to occur.” 65 ICMM
members are not committed to applying this retrospectively to projects in advanced
planning or operations, as is the case of the Merian project.66
Judgments of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights
The Inter-American Court of Human Rights (“the Inter-American Court”) has specifically
affirmed the collective rights of the indigenous and tribal peoples of Suriname, including
collective rights over lands and natural resources, as guaranteed by the American
Convention on Human Rights. The three judgments affirming these rights include: Moiwana
Village v. Suriname 67 of 2005; Saramaka v. Suriname 68 of 2007; and Kaliña and Lokono
Peoples v. Suriname 69 of 2014.
In the case of Moiwana village v. Suriname, the Inter-American Court found that Suriname
violated Article 21 of the American Convention on Human Rights protecting the right to
property, and ordered Suriname to adopt legislative, administrative, and other measures
necessary to ensure Moiwana property rights over traditional territories from which they
were expelled, as well as to provide for the use and enjoyment of these territories and to
create “an effective mechanism for the delimitation, demarcation and titling of said
traditional territories.” 70
64
See: http://www.icmm.com/en-gb/society-and-the-economy/mining-and-communities/humanrights
65
ICMM, Indigenous Peoples and Mining Position Statement, May 2013, http://www.icmm.com/engb/members/member-commitments/position-statements/indigenous-peoples-and-mining-positionstatement. The ICMM’s 2013 position statement replaces an earlier position statement from 2008.
66
See: http://www.icmm.com/publications/pdfs/5433.pdf. ICMM members were expected to
implement the commitments in the position statement by May 2015. The commitments do not
apply to projects that had started the approvals and permitting processes at the time of the
adoption of the position statement.
67
Moiwana Village v. Suriname, Judgment of 15 June 2005, Inter-Am Ct. H.R., (Ser. C) No. 124 (2005).
68
Saramaka People v. Suriname, Judgment of 28 November 2007, Inter-Am Ct. H.R., (Ser. C) No. 172
(2007).
69
Kaliña and Lokono Peoples v. Suriname, Judgment of 15 November 2015, Inter-Am Ct. H.R., (Ser.
C) No. 309 (2015).
70
Moiwana, para. 209.