III Inter-American System
| Date | 01 March 2008 |
| Published date | 01 March 2008 |
| Author | Claudia Martin |
| DOI | 10.1177/016934410802600107 |
| Subject Matter | Part B: Human Rights News |
130 Intersentia
III InTeR-aMeRICan sYsTeM
C M*
During the period covered by this report, the Inter-American Court on Human
Rights (hereinaer the ‘Court’) issued severa l decisions on merits, wh ich include:
Case of Escué -Zapata vs Colombia, Case of Zambrano-Vélez et al. v s Ecuador, Case of
García-Prieto et al. vs El Salvador, Case of Boyce et al. vs Barbados, Ca se of Chaparro
Álvarez y Lapo Íñiguez vs Ecuador, Case of Albán Cornejo et al. vs Ecuador, Case of
the Saramaka People vs Suriname, Case of the Dismissed Congressional Employees
(Aguado – Alfaro et al.) vs Peru.
e present report will analyse the Cour t’s d ecisions in the c ases of Saramaka
People vs Sur iname, Goiburú et al. vs Parag uay and La Cantuta vs Peru and the
immense political and economic implications they have, not only within the respective
countries, but also for the world as a whole. In Saramaka, the Court wrestled w ith
the issues associated wit h ownership of natural resources and in Goibur ú et al. and
La Cantuta, further undersc ored the necessity of holding those culpable for huma n
rights violations th rough extradition.
e full tex t of the decisions mentioned in this repor t can be found in English on
the website of the Court at: w ww.corteidh.or.cr.
1. TRIBAL COMMUNITIES AND PROPERTY RIGHTS
In t he case of the Saramaka People vs Suriname,1 the Court fur ther developed and
solidied the ancestral property rights of tribal communities beyond the Court’s
previous holdings. is case repres ents a signicant advance towards the protection
of indigenous peoples and the preservation of their cultural integ rity. Moreover,
the judgement can be considered a landm ark decision due to the magn itude of its
economic ramications, specica lly the insistence on the restr icted access of the
State to the coveted natural resources found on Saramaka terr itory, such as gold and
* Claudia Martin is Co-Director of the Aca demy on Human Rights and Humanitar ian L aw and
Professorial Lecturer in Residence, American Unive rsity, Washington C ollege of Law (WCL). She
would l ike to thank the ed iting suppor t and comments prov ided by Ana Cec ilia Mul lan, a legal
researcher at the Academy a nd WCL student. Al so, she would l ike to acknowle dge the resea rch of
Fay Mara Comé, a WCL student .
1 Inter-American Court on Hu man Rights, C ase of the Saramaka Peo ple. vs Suriname, Judgement of
28 November 2007, Series C , No. 172.
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