The Government of Guyana (GoG) has written to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) requesting the withdrawal of its precautionary measures issued in relation to the alleged human rights abuse of residents at Chinese Landing, Region One.
On Wednesday, Minister of Parliamentary Affairs and Governance, Gail Teixeira, informed reporters during her press conference that the human rights petition filed by the village council, the Amerindian Peoples Association of Guyana, and the Forest Peoples Programme to the IACHR – regarding the alleged abuse of the Indigenous Carib Community of Chinese Landing – is not based on facts.
On July 21, 2023, the IACHR issued precautionary measures to Guyana, highlighting the dire situation faced by the Indigenous Community. The community of 210 allegedly finds itself under siege from miners and even some members of the police force, threatening their very existence.
Following the issuance of the precautionary measures, the government, on August 6, 2023, sent a ‘fact-finding’ team to Chinese Landing to gather information. The minister noted that the government’s submission to the IACHR on the findings was conducted by reputable technical officers.
The minister disclosed that to date, the government has only received an acknowledgment from the IACHR that it has received their submissions to the petition, but not an actual response on the contents of the findings.
Thereafter, Minister Teixeira revealed that in December 2023, the government wrote to the IACHR, this time requesting the withdrawal of the petition. Teixeira said, “In fact, what we did with Chinese Landing, we asked for a withdrawal of the precautionary measures as they are not based on facts it’s a misrepresentation so we asked formally to the IACHR to withdraw the petition against Guyana.”
“They were certain sensitivity with the documents that we do have, they are very, very important in terms of the health findings, in terms of the findings to do with mining, very interesting,” the minister added.
Teixeira mentioned that her view is to wait for a response from the IACHR on the government’s submission before the documents are made public. However, she noted that the complainants should be in possession of the government’s findings. Minister Teixeira said too, “We attached all the appendixes including all the fact-finding mission documents of mining, health, tests that were done on urine for mercury, blood for mercury etcetera.”
A heart-wrenching petition to the IACHR lays bare the grave risks imposed by unauthorized mining encroachments on their sacred titled lands. For far too long, the petition noted that the Carib community has endured a chronic pattern of discrimination and had their rights continually subjugated beneath the interests of mining conglomerates in Guyana.
At the center of the case of concern is a mining permit granted by Guyanese authorities to Mr. W. V. in 1995, without seeking the community’s consent. The petitions allege that residents face harassment and health challenges due to polluted waterways, particularly in the Huri Creek, which is reportedly contaminated with mercury.
