***********************************************
WORLDWIDE
BIODIVERSITY/FOREST CAMPAIGN NEWS
ACTION
ALERT-->Venezuelan Indians Face Dispossession
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Forest
Networking a Project of Ecological Enterprises
1/25/95
OVERVIEW
& SOURCE
The
following action alert was posted in econet's rainforest
conference
by the World Rainforest Movement, based in Great
Britain. It informs us that the Karina Indians of
Central
Venezuela
"face the alienation of their lands for development
on the
grounds that they are extinct as a people and their
land
titles - which date back to the time of
colonial rule -
are
therefore invalid." The Action
Alert requests letters on this
matter. Please help out!
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/**
rainfor.genera: 157.0 **/
**
Topic: VENEZUELA: INDIANS FACE DISPOSSESSI **
**
Written 9:28 AM Jan 25, 1995 by gn:wrm in
cdp:rainfor.genera
**
From:
Forest Peoples Programme <wrm>
Subject:
VENEZUELA: INDIANS FACE DISPOSSESSION - ACTION NEEDED
_________________________________________________________
WORLD RAINFOREST MOVEMENT
_________________________________________________________
URGENT
ACTION
VENEZUELA:
KARINA INDIANS FACE LEGAL DISPOSSESSION
Karina
Indians (Caribs [Kari'nya]) of Monagas State of Central
Venezuela
face the alienation of their lands for development
on the
grounds that they are extinct as a people and their
land titles
- which date back to the time of
colonial rule -
are
therefore invalid.
Venezuelan
NGOs are calling for international support to put
pressure
on the Chairman and members of the Supreme Court of
Justice
in Venezuela to rule in favour of the Karina.
The
Indians threatened with land alienation point out that
their
land titles were accorded them in 1783 and were again
registered
in the regional cadaster in 1967 and recognised by
the
National Agrarian Institute and the Ministry of Justice.
The
regional authorities of the Maturin Municipal Council
passed
a Municipal Ordinance declaring the lands unoccupied in
1987
and are now seeking to reallocate some 10,564 hectares of
the
Karina's land to third parties. The Karina have thus filed
a case
in the Supreme Court asking that the Municipal
Ordinance
be declared null and void.
The
case, one of the first in Venezuela to deal with Indian
land
claims in the courts, is considered crucial by local
NGOs.
If the court finds against the Karina - declaring them
extinct
as a people - it will be a major setback to all of the
country's
150,000 Indians, whose claims to their lands are
often
more tenuous than those, like some of the Karina, who
secured
land titles in the colonial era. As one local NGO
points
out:
'The case is of a great importance since
it deals not
only with these people's land rights but
also with the
acceptance of the very existence of the
country's
indigenous peoples as integral parts of
the nation.'
PLEASE
FAX LETTERS ALONG THE FOLLOWING LINES TO THE CHAIRMAN
AND
MEMBERS OF THE SUPREME COURT - C/O FAX:
+ 582 483 9329
Suggested
text:
Presidente
de la Corte Suprema de Justicia
Caracas
Venezuela
c/o
fax: + 582 81 1654
Dear Mr
Chairman,
We have
been most alarmed to learn of the case of the Karina
Indians
of the community of Jesus, Jose y Maria de Aguasay of
Estado
Monagas whose land rights have been denied by the
Municipal
Council of Maturin on the grounds that they are
extinct
as a people.
We
understand that the Karina have appealed to the Supreme
Court
to secure their legitimate rights to their ancestral
lands,
which were recognised over two centuries ago by the
colonial
authorities.
We are
thus appealing to you to treat this case with the
utmost
care and to find in favour of the Karina Indians' whose
rights
are recognised in both Venezuelan and international
law.
We
would remind you that this year is the first in the United
Nations'
International Decade of the World's Indigenous
Peoples
and there is heightened international attention being
paid to
these peoples' fair treatment.
Yours
sincerely
......
For
more information: WRM, 8 Chapel Row, Chadlington, OX7 3NA,
England
Fax: +44 1608 676 743 or contact UNUMA on Fax:+582
4839329
###RELAYED
TEXT ENDS###
You are
encouraged to utilize this information for personal
campaign
use; including writing letters, organizing campaigns and
forwarding. All efforts are made to provide accurate,
timely
pieces;
though ultimate responsibility for verifying all
information
rests with the reader. Check out our
Gaia Forest
Conservation
Archives at URL=
http://forests.lic.wisc.edu/forests/gaia.html
Networked
by:
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Enterprises
Email
(best way to contact)-> gbarry@forests.org
Phone->(608)
233-2194 || Fax->(608) 231-2312