Belize government defies Supreme Court ruling; grants oil company ...

The government of Belize has peacefully granted an American oil company drilling rights to confined Maya lands inside the Sarstoon Temash National Park (STNP) in the Toledo District of southern Belize. The surreptitious go is in defiance of an historic Supreme Court ruling that inveterate Belize’s obligation to adhere to the international standard of informed consent, says the Sarstoon Temash Institute for Indigenous Management (SATIIM).

SATIIM, a community-based indigenous environmental organization that co-manages the STNP, found out that Belize had granted a permit to US Capital Energy only after it learned that the company had suddenly returned to the confined lands.

The company isn’t wasting any time, says SATIIM. “A truck equipped for seismic drilling has already arrived along with a drill-ready tractor. Plants were cut for two seismic lines in Sunday Wood village, with rumors of plans to cut more in the village of Crique Sarco.”

SATIIM points out with fantastic concern that the government disastrous to inform them–or anyone else–that a drilling permit had been issued, adding:

This is merely the latest ‘surprise’ in a shameful history of secrecy that started one morning in 1997. Five Indigenous communities in Southern Belize woke up to learn that the government had confirmed their ancestral land a national park in 1994. Ever since, these communities have struggled to defend their land at each turn.

Notably, in 2006 they won a temporary injunction against seismic testing in this confined area, where an entirely new ecosystem was just learned. Another ruling from the Supreme Court inveterate Maya rights to land and assets and Belize's obligation to conform to international standards of informed consent established when it signed the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007.

Nonetheless, the government has kept all contact with US Capital Energy surprise. SATIIM questioned for information in several letters to the Prime Minister, Deputy Prime Minister and Chief Forest Officer. The government has ignored each one.

SATIIM is now demanding that the government respect: 1) the rule of law; 2) environmental justice; 3) economic equality; and 4) its obligations under UNDRIP and legal rulings by Belize’s highest courts.

Most of all, SATIIM is demanding an end to the government secrecy surrounding US Capital Energy’s new operations in southern Belize.

SATIIM and the Indigenous communities have also agreed to use “any means necessary” to make the government and the oil company comply with national and international law.

For updates on the situation, keep an eye on www.satiim.blogspot.com

If you want to speak out in support of the Indigenous Peoples, you can send a letter of concern to:

1. Hon. Dean Oliver Barrow
   Prime Minister of Belize
   secretarypm@opm.gov.bz
2. Hon. Gaspar Vega
   Deputy Prime Minister
   Minister of Natural Assets and
   The Environment
   Phone: +501 822 2226
   Phone: +501 822 2249
   Fax: +501 822 2333
   Email: minister@mnrei.gov.bz
   Email: info@mnrei.gov.bz

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