PRESS RELEASE
For immediate release
April 23, 2007
(Toronto) - On April 23, 2007, Noah Novogrodsky, Director of the U of T Faculty of Law's International Human Rights (IHR) Clinic, Toronto lawyer Paul Schabas of Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP and Belizean lawyer, Hubert Elrington, will help Maya farmers bring their six-year fight for land rights to the Supreme Court of Belize.
In 2001, the Belize government began issuing leases and grants in the village of San Pedro Columbia, an area of land located entirely within a protected Maya Indian reservation in Belize. As a result, Maya villagers have been barred from accessing lands they had lived on and farmed for generations. In 2004, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights found that the Government of Belize has violated international law by failing to recognize Maya property rights and by allowing companies to log and drill for oil on Maya land.
"This land is so precious to me," says Marcelo Cho, one of the Maya farmers launching the lawsuit. "If my land is taken away, I will have nothing."
Over the past four years, Professor Darlene Johnston, the Faculty's principal Aboriginal Law scholar, along with Novogrodsky, U of T law students, and Acting IHRP Director Sarah Perkins, traveled to Belize a number of times to work on the case, gather historical evidence pertaining to the creation of the Indian reservations, and research the law in Belize as well as comparative law in Canada and other Commonwealth jurisdictions. "This is a case that has been close to my heart for more than four years now," says Johnston, who made the initial trip to Belize in 2003 and five additional trips to conduct the majority of the archival and title research. "It was an honour to work with the Maya farmers and help them with such an important issue for their survival and livelihood."
"The Faculty of Law is proud of the extraordinary commitment that faculty, students and our law firm partner, Blakes, have made to this case," says Dean Mayo Moran. "The Supreme Court of Belize will now have the opportunity to set an important precedent in the area of indigenous rights of the Maya of Belize and U of T's Human Rights Clinic will play an important role in the Court's deliberations."
Paul Schabas, a senior counsel at Blakes in Toronto, became involved in the case in 2006 and is working on the case pro bono. "I am delighted to be able to provide much-needed assistance on this important case to people who would otherwise have no ability to get access to justice," says Mr. Schabas.
Hubert Elrington, Paul Schabas and Noah Novogrodsky, will represent the Maya claimants in a case filed in the Supreme Court of Belize on April 23, 2007.
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For more information, please contact:
Jane Kidner, Assistant Dean, External Relations, Faculty of Law, University of Toronto
(416) 978-6702 or j.kidner@utoronto.ca, or, Paul Schabas, Blake, Cassels & Graydon LLP, 416 863 4274 or paul.schabas@blakes.com.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
The Maya are indigenous people whose ancestors have lived in the Central American country of Belize for centuries. Modern Maya people are largely subsistence based farmers and their traditional way of life is marked by vibrant community participation and communal land use practices.
The Maya farmers behind the lawsuit are all members of the village of San Pedro Columbia, which is located entirely within a protected Indian reservation. Indian reservations were first established in Belize by the British in the late 19th century and were expanded in size throughout the 20th century. They were established in recognition of existing Maya land use and in order to set aside land for the use and benefit of the Maya people.
In 2001, the government began surveying the land in the village of San Pedro Columbia, and issuing leases and grants outside of customary land use patterns. Since then, Maya villagers say they have been barred from accessing lands which they have farmed for decades and which their families have lived on for generations. The result has been division and distress in a community that is dependent on the land for its survival.
According to the lawsuit, the leasing program violates the laws of Belize, the Constitution of Belize, and the longstanding rights of the Maya to their land.
The Maya farmers will ask the Supreme Court for a declaration that their village lies within an Indian reservation that the Government of Belize is required to protect in accordance with the laws of Belize, and for recognition of their collective and individual property rights in the reservation lands. They also seek an order prohibiting the government from acts that interfere with the protected status of the reservation such as further leasing and sale of land.
