•
The Amerindian Act of 2006 has many conditions that limit our rights. They are too many to list here,
however, key problems with the Act are that it:
Does not recognise the inherent rights of Indigenous Peoples to our lands, territories and resources;
States that untitled lands are owned by the State. This is made worse by the fact that the Act also
puts unjust limits on eligibility for title;
Lacks effective protections for the rights of Amerindian communities that still don’t have title over
their land;
Still excludes all creeks and rivers from Indigenous title;
Allows mining and logging concessions to be issued over untitled traditional lands without prior
consultation and consent. In the case of logging, Amerindian communities don’t even have to be
notified;
Allows the government to establish protected areas on our traditional lands without due process,
Free, Prior and Informed Consent or compensation;
Gives the government arbitrary powers to interfere in the functioning and decision-making of
Indigenous Peoples’ governing bodies; and
Violates Indigenous rights under international law.
All these problems may seem impossible to overcome, but there are important opportunities for our
communities to push for reforms. For example, because of climate change and the Low Carbon Development
Strategy, many countries and international agencies are paying more attention to Guyana than they ever did before.
Did you know:
•
•
Many countries that give money to the government or
fund development projects in Guyana have safeguards
that are supposed to be followed. Some of those
safeguards include commitments to protect Indigenous
rights. See Box 3. If our rights are not being respected,
we should make sure that these donors know by writing
letters or visiting their offices in Georgetown. We need
to ask them to respect their own commitments and to
require Guyana to respect national and international
law as a condition of getting funding.
International agencies also have standards to
follow. The World Bank decided to stop supporting
Guyana’s Protected Areas Project in 2006 because the
Amerindian Act does not meet the World Bank’s own
rules about safeguards for Indigenous Peoples.11 But
even though the Act has not changed the World Bank is
now supporting REDD+ in Guyana. We should let World
Bank officials know that we expect them to follow their
own rules.
Box 3:
Norway, Guyana and Indigenous rights
Norway funds the LCDS and Reduced
Emissions from Deforestation and Forest
Degradation (REDD+) program in Guyana.
The Memorandum of Understanding
between Norway and the Government
of Guyana says Indigenous Rights will be
protected under the LCDS and REDD+
(Section 2.c).1 Can our rights be protected if
the laws of Guyana actually violate them?
No!
See “Memorandum of Understanding.” November
2009. Available to download from the Internet at
http://www.regjeringen.no/upload/MD/Vedlegg/
Internasjonalt/miljosamarbeid_utviklingsland/mou__
norway_guyana.pdf
1
We have to continue to work with companies and other project proponents to get them to respect our rights, even
if the laws of Guyana don’t!
11 See La Rose, Jean and Marcus Colchester. “Our Land, Our Future: Promoting Indigenous Participation and Rights in Mining, Climate Change
and other Natural Resource Decision-making in Guyana.” May 2010. Page i. Available on the Internet at http://www.nsi-ins.ca/english/
research/progress/21.asp
A practical guide for Indigenous Peoples in Guyana
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