From: Amerindian Peoples Association <apacoica@guyana.net.gy>
March 21, 2000

Amerindians not consulted on issues
--US State Department report

The 1999 Country Report on Human Rights in Guyana released by the US
Department of State has found that the Amerindians in Guyana are seldom
consulted on issues that affect their way of life.

The report stated that the Amerindian community, which consists of nine
tribal groups, constitutes an estimated eight percent of the population.
Most of the indigenous people live in reservations and villages in remote
parts of the interior and their standard of living is much lower than other
citizens, the report stated.

The Amerindian community has long been advocating that government hold
consultations on issues affecting them, but, according to the report,
"their ability to participate in decisions affecting their lands, cultures,
tradition and the allocation of natural resources is limited."

It pointed out that the lives of the Amerindian people are regulated by the
Amerindian Act--legislation dating from the colonel times designed to
protect the indigenous people from exploitation. The Act gives the
government the power to determine who is an Amerindian and what is an
Amerindian community, to appoint Amerindian leaders, and to annul decisions
made by Amerindian councils.

It also prohibits the sale of alcohol to Amerindians and it is a
requirement that government permission be granted before any Amerindian can
accept formal employment. These provisions are, however, not enforced, the
report said.

It pointed out that in 1998 Minister of Amerindian Affairs, Vibert De Souza
admitted that the Amerindian Act was antiquated and he had expressed a
commitment to update it, but this was not done.

Another issue facing the Amerindians is that government has long maintained
that it is committed to demarcating land that had traditionally been the
home of the indigenous people but this project has experienced several
hiccups.

The report stated that the government holds title to almost all the
nation's land and is free to act as it wishes without consultation.

A total of 75 Amerindian villages was identified by government and it was
reported that 11 of them were successfully demarcated in 1998. The Ministry
of Amerindian Affairs had claimed that, in close consultation with
Amerindian leaders, it would demarcate a total of 40 additional villages in
1999.

However, while a handful of village leaders accepted these new titles, most
leaders rejected the demarcations.

The report said local Amerindian non-governmental organisations (NGO)
regarded government consultations as mere public relations exercises and
demarcation as a means of confining Amerindian communities so that the rest
of what Amerindians considered to be their land could be offered as
concessions to miners and loggers. The NGOs claimed that Amerindian leaders
were not consulted properly and were pressured into uninformed decisions,
it stated.

The government has maintained that it would consider granting additional
land rights to those communities which agree to have their lands demarcated
in 1999. However, as at year end, the government had taken no action to do so.

The Amerindian community is still progressing with plans to stage a march
from the southernmost part of Guyana in the Rupununi District to Georgetown.

The march should not be viewed as politically motivated, Amerindian leaders
have said, but to highlight the issues of concern affecting the indigenous
people of the country.

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Las ochenta organizaciones del norte y del sur activas en la Alianza
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The Amazon Alliance for Indigenous and Traditional Peoples of the Amazon
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non-governmental organizations from the North and South active in the
Alliance believe that the future of the Amazon depends on its peoples and
the state of their environment.
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