(Videostill from «Grang Krutu»,
Meeting, 26 august 2006 in Gunsi)

... the following persons, proposed by the Commission, the representatives and the State, render their testimonies by affidavit:

A) Witnesses


Proposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the representatives:

1. Silvi Adjako
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the personal and communal impact of the logging operations, and
(ii) the efforts to obtain redress for the alleged destruction of subsistence resources..

2. Hugo Jabini
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the Saramaka people’s efforts to seek protection for their rights to lands and resources;
(ii) attempts to settle the case with the State;
(iii) logging activities in Saramaka territories and their impact, and
(iv) the measures employed by the Saramaka people to document their traditional use of their territories..


Proposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights

3. Eddie Fonkel
who will specifically testify about:
(i) Saramaka customary law as it pertains to land and resource ownership;
(ii) Saramaka treaty rights, and
(iii) the alleged contemporary occupation of Saramaka lands and resources.


Proposed by the representatives

4. George Leidsman
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the alleged forcible displacement of the Saramaka in the 1960s and its consequences and effects.


Proposed by the State

5. Jennifer Victorine van Dijk-Silos
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the purpose and achievements of the Presidential Land Rights Commission;
(ii) how the goals, developments and achievements of said Commission relate to the land rights of the Saramaka people and other maroons living in Suriname, and
(iii) future steps and actions of said Commission regarding land rights in Suriname, in particular with relation to the Saramaka people..

6. Michel Filisie
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the efforts undertaken by the Ministry of Regional Development in relation to land rights of the Saramaka people in Suriname.

7. Gazon Mathodia
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the role of the Gaa’man when he was elected to that position, and
(ii) current developments within his community in relation to how the younger generations of maroons currently view the Gaa’man.

B) Expert-Witnesses

Proposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the representatives:

8. Peter Poole
whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) the elaboration of maps of the Saramaka territory;
(ii) conclusions that can be drawn from the maps and aerial photos of logging activity on Saramaka lands, and
(iii) the evidentiary probity of aerial photographs, in particular in relation to logging operations and settlement patterns in Saramaka territory.

9. Mariska Muskiet
whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) Surinamese property law, and
(ii) domestic remedies in Surinamese law.


Proposed by the representatives

10. Robert Goodland
Robert Goodland, whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) the alleged impact of logging operations on the Saramaka people;
(ii) the alleged ongoing impacts of the Afobaka dam on the Saramaka people, and
(iii) Suriname’s plans to increase the storage capacity of the Afobaka dam in relation to the current situation of the Saramaka people.

11. Martin Scheinin
whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) the relationship between Article 1, specially subparagraph (2), of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, and Articles 21 (Right to Property) and 3 (Right to Juridical Personality) of the American Convention on Human Rights.


Proposed by the State

12. Magda Hoever-Venoaks
whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) the legal status of the provisions affording remedies to interested parties in Suriname’s Mining Act;
(ii) the legal status of the provisions affording remedies to interested parties in
Suriname’s Forestry Management Act, and (iii) the legal status of other remedies provided for in administrative and/or constitutional law in Suriname.



To convoke the Inter-American Commission, the representatives and the State to a public hearing that will take place at the seat of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, on May 9, 2007, starting at 3:00 p.m., and on May 10, 2007, starting at 9:00 a.m., in order to receive their oral arguments on preliminary objections and on possible merits, reparations and costs in the present case, as well as testimony from the following witnesses and expert witness:

A) Witnesses


Proposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the representatives:

1. Wazen Eduards
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the work of the Association of Saramaka Authorities to counter the alleged incursion of logging companies in Saramaka territory, the alleged impact of these companies’ operations and the alleged lack of prior consultation and consent in relation to those operations;
(ii) Saramaka efforts to protect their rights domestically, including the steps taken by the Saramaka to reach consensus internally, and
(iii) Saramaka customary laws concerning their ownership rights and the importance of the land and security of tenure for the maintenance of Saramaka cultural integrity, identity and spirituality.

2. Ceasar Adjako
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the alleged arrival of the logging companies on the lands of the Matjau clan, destruction of the forest and Saramaka subsistence farms and resources, and the alleged violation of Saramaka sacred sites;
(ii) the alleged involvement of the Surinamese army in protecting the loggers, and
(iii) the alleged lack of consultation or consent for the logging operations in Saramaka territory and the impact of these operations in cultural, physical, and emotional terms for his clan and the Saramaka people as a whole.


Proposed by the State

3. Rudy Strijk
Rudy Strijk, who will specifically testify about:
(i) the role of the office of the District Commissioner of Sipaliwini regarding applications for concessions in said district and actions taken by said office towards Saramaka local authorities in this respect.

4. Albert Aboikoni
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the alleged disagreement within the Saramaka people leading to the establishment of separate entities, distinct from that of the Gaa’man, that represent the Saramaka people;
(ii) the actions undertaken by these entities towards the Gaa’mans who succeeded Gaa’man Mr. Songo Aboikoni;
(iii) his actions as acting Gaa’man towards the Saramaka people and the entities after Mr. Songo Aboikoni passed away, and
(iv) the current role and status of the Gaa’man of the Saramaka people in practice in the State of Suriname.

5. Rene Ali Somowapiro
who will specifically testify about:
(i) the role of the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB) regarding applications for concessions in the Upper Suriname River area;
(ii) the role of the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB) pertaining to supervisions of concessions issued to individuals and entities;
(iii) the role of the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB) in relation to the issuance of “Community Forest” to indigenous and maroons living in Suriname;
(iv) the role of the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB) with respect to the issuance of timber logging permits (“HKV’s”) on behalf of indigenous and maroon villages, and
(v) the role of the Foundation for Forest Management and Production Control (SBB) with regard to the special arrangements of timber logging permits (“HKV’s”) and “Community Forest” between local authorities of the indigenous and maroons and third parties.

B) Expert Witnesses


Proposed by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and the representatives:

6. Richard Price
whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) Saramaka people’s social structure, traditional land tenure systems and customary law;
(ii) Saramaka’s economy, hunting, gathering, fishing and farming;
(iii) Saramaka’s spiritual relationships to land, territory and resources;
(iv) the alleged impact of the Afobaka dam on the Saramaka people;
(v) Saramaka’s rights and relations with the Surinamese State, and
(vi) reparations.


Proposed by the State

7. Salomon Emanuels
whose expert opinion will specifically refer to:
(i) the position and role of the Gaa’man of the Saramaka maroons in Suriname;
(ii) the position and role of the lös (clans) of the Saramaka maroons in Suriname;
(iii) the procedure within the Saramaka people regarding decisions on land rights involving the Saramaka people as a whole, and
(iv) the interrelations between the local authorities of each Saramaka clan.

To call upon Mr. Adiante Franzoon, a translator offered by the representatives, to provide translation services during the public hearing for the witnesses who do not speak English or Spanish, and require the representatives to cover all costs related to said translation service.

The Dokument can be downloaded as pdf ....

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