National Garifuna Council Responds to Honduras on Land Rights Concerns

The National Garifuna Council of Belize is responding to the Honduran Government’s latest position on concerns surrounding the treatment of Garifuna communities in San Juan, Honduras. The response comes more than a month after Garifuna supporters from across Belize demonstrated outside the Honduran Embassy in Belize City. The July 14 demonstration followed an eviction operation in San Juan that reportedly left several people injured and community leaders detained. Protesters called on Honduras to respect international rulings recognizing Garifuna ancestral land rights. Following the demonstration, NGC executives met with embassy officials and submitted a letter addressed to the President of Honduras. Now, the Honduran Government has responded. In a letter dated August 19, Ambassador Scarleth Ayon Neda says Honduras is taking steps to protect Garifuna communities and their ancestral territories. The government also says its judiciary continues discussions with human-rights officials and OFRANEH regarding international judgments on Garifuna land rights. Honduras further says five people have been charged in connection with a land dispute and more than three hundred land-registration applications have been rejected as part of efforts to protect ancestral territories. The government also points to recently approved legislation that it says strengthens protections against dispossession and gives Garifuna communities a greater voice in decisions affecting their lands. But after taking their concerns directly to the Honduran Embassy last month, what does the National Garifuna Council make of that response? NGC President Alex Nolberto shares his thoughts.

Alex Nolberto, National President, NGC: “We appreciate the response and the efforts by the Honduran ambassador. We recognize that clearly it’s an official government position and it maintains a status quo, the messaging that the Government of Honduras has been delivering. We don’t think that it was far enough to address the core issue of the dispossession that’s really the core of the issue. So we’re hopeful that additional efforts will be made to continue the conversation, or at least start some meaningful dialogue and to bring the key stakeholders to the table for us to chart a way forward. My understanding is, or at least the claim is that the property or a portion of Garifuna traditional territory, the communal space was sold by allegedly some Garifuna person to these owners but the issue that I’m having with it is that Garifuna territory has been protected and so there is no way that the sale would have been valid because of the protection that comes with Garifuna spaces. So we need some clarity in that regard to see what is going on from the government’s side in relation to the continued protection of Garifuna traditional spaces. The question that I have, how is it possible then for people to sell traditional spaces or Garifuna territory? And so the argument that the government is protecting the interests of the new owner I have an issue with because what happens to the rightful owner and their interests?”

Honduras says it will continue discussions with affected communities and ensure security operations are conducted lawfully and without ethnic discrimination. The National Garifuna Council says it will continue monitoring the situation and standing in solidarity with Garifuna communities in Honduras.