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MLA says UN expert urges government to respect Maya property rights

By on July 7, 2015
Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

Victoria Tauli-Corpuz

Punta Gorda town, Toledo. Tuesday, July 7, 2015. The Maya Leaders Alliance (MLA) today issued a press release, highlighting what it says is a warning from a United Nations expert that the arrest and charging of village leaders of Santa Cruz and others stemming from the Rupert Myles incident shows “troubling disregard for Maya property rights,” by the government of Belize.

The MLA statement says that the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of Indigenous Peoples Victoria Tauli-Corpuz is urging the government of Belize “to ensure respect for the rights of the Maya people to non-discrimination and traditional property.”

Tauli-Corpuz writes, “under international human rights standards, indigenous peoples have the right to use, develop and also to control the lands, territories and resources that they possess by reason of traditional ownership.”

Among those arrested following the detention of Rupert Myles is the Alcalde of Santa Cruz Manuel Pop and the chairman of the village Aram Canti.

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