Maya Land Rights Battle in Belize Courts

July 2014, Adele O. Ramos
INDIGENOUS
LAND
RIGHTS:
The case of the
Toledo Maya
By Adele O. Ramos
July 28, 2014

Claims that there are a total
of 42 Maya villages in
Southern Belize.
At the time of the publication,
the population of the Maya
was numbered at 14,000.
Today they are said to
comprise 10% of Belize's
population, or about 30,000
people.

Legal disputes between the Maya of Toledo and
the Government of Belize began in the
1990s.
Problem: logging

However, oil drilling is at the heart of
today's debate

Large-scale logging and oil
exploration – threats to their
traditional way of life.

In 2000, the Government of Belize, under the
former political administration, had entered into a
10-point agreement with the Maya.

Point 6 of that agreement says:
That the GOB recognizes that the Maya People
have rights to lands and resources in southern
Belize based on their long-standing use and
occupancy.

Point 7 of the agreement said:
That the first consideration of the partnership
between the GOB and the Maya Leaders will be
the establishment of a program to address the
urgent land needs of the Maya communities of the
south, including the surveying and distribution of
lands or establishing and protecting communal
Lands, depending on the various needs of the
Maya communities.

The GOB and the Maya leaders shall develop,
within four (4) months after the signing of this
agreement, a framework and
target dates, as well as administrative and
other measures for the implementation of the
programme.

Maya lands have still not been demarcated;
And they contend that the failure of the
Government of Belize to even acknowledge
their customary land rights propelled them to
seek the court's redress.

The initial claim of 2007 was filed in the Belize
Supreme Court by only two Maya villages:
Conejo and Santa Cruz.

In October 2007, the Supreme
Court issued a landmark ruling

Former Chief Justice Abdulai Conteh
decided the following:
That the Maya of Toledo do have
land property;
That they are able to assert
derivative rights and interests with
respect to those lands.

The Chief Justice said in this
decision that the principle of
customary Maya land tenure
extended to the other Maya
villages in Toledo.

THE DISTRICT OF TOLEDO
TOL

“…to determine,
demarcate and provide
official documentation of
these villages’ titles and
customary rights…
without prejudice to the
rights of neighboring
Villages.”

Questions about true ancestry
The Government of Belize maintained in court that the
Maya of Toledo are not the true descendants of the
Maya who had occupied southern Belize before
Spanish conquest in 1540.
Their expert, Dr. Jaime Awe of the Institute of
Archaeology of Belize, told the court that the area was
occupied by the Manche Chol, who are different from
the Kekchi and Mopan Maya now inhabiting the
region.
The Government of Belize argued that the Maya were
Guatemalans trying to take a chunk of Belize territory
in line with the unfounded claim over half of Belize.

Questions about true ancestry
The Maya had their own expect witness, Dr. Richard
Wilk of Indiana University, who pointed to 18th
century
maps – new evidence – which the expert said had
signaled the presence of “pagan Indians” in southern
Belize during the period in question.
Wilk provided evidence which claimed that these Maya
were ancestors of those who returned to Belize within
the past few decades, to what they deem to be their
ancestral homeland.

Subsequent legal rounds
2011 – The Barrow (United Democratic Party)
administration appeals the second Supreme Court
ruling.
July 2013 – the Court of Appeal issued its decision in
the matter.

The Court of Appeal Decision
“The unchallenged evidence in this case has shown
that, from the earliest years of the colony of British
Honduras, British policy was to accommodate Maya
land use and to encourage Maya settlement…
“The earliest Crown Lands Ordinance, which was
passed in 1872, specifically provided for the creation
and survey of reserves at the Crown’s expense
wherever Maya villages existed. The general pattern
of accommodation of Maya land use continued well
into the 20th century.”

The controversy:
The Court of Appeal dismissed a series of orders which
Conteh had made in favor of the Maya villages, as well
as an injunction restraining the Government taking
certain actions with respect of the lands without the
informed consent of the Maya.
Conteh had stated that the Government of Belize has
an obligation to adopt affirmative measures to identify
and protect the rights of the Maya, and went on to
order the Government to work along with the Maya to
develop legislative, administrative or other measures
necessary to identify and protect Maya customary
lands, in conformity with traditional practices.

Court of Appeal
president disagrees
The Court of Appeal president, in his
minority decision, said that he disagreed
that “on the evidence, there exist the
essential historical and ancestral links
between the original inhabitants of what is
today the Toledo District and the
respondents…”
Sosa said that he was also unable to agree
with Dr. Conteh that the Maya claimants
have entitlements to the land in question.

Subsequent legal rounds
June 2014 – Supreme Court Justice Michelle Arana
orders court-connected mediation in dispute over oil
exploration in Southern Belize.
Both parties have appealed to the Caribbean Court of
Justice – the court of highest jurisdiction under the
Belize Constitution. Only 23 villages are now parties
to the appeal.

The Government
sticks to its position
Prime Minister Dean Barrow has said that the status quo in
Toledo will remain until the matter is decided by the Caribbean
Court of Justice.
Back in 2010, the Maya had asked the Government to drop its
appeal so that the matter could be speedily resolved.
In May 2013, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights
has called out the Government of Belize for having allowed
private companies to carry out oil exploration and exploitation
and logging activities in the traditional lands of Maya
communities under permits issued by State authorities without
first consulting with the Maya.

Case before the CCJ
BZCV2014/002
The Maya Leaders Alliance & The Toledo
Alcaldes Association on behalf of the
Maya villages of Toledo District & 23
Others on their own behalf & on behalf of
23 other Maya villages v The Attorney
General of Belize

Questions?
THANK YOU!

Maya Land Rights Battle in Belize Courts

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