Georgetown, Guyana
For immediate release to all media houses
April 23, 2025
PRESS RELEASE
AFC Urges Truth, Action, and Justice for Indigenous Peoples at UN Indigenous Forum
As Guyana’s delegation participates in the Twenty-Fourth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII), the Alliance For Change (AFC) calls for honest reflection and urgent action on the rights and realities of Indigenous Peoples in Guyana.
The Forum’s 2025 theme— “Implementing the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) within Member States”—offers a critical opportunity for transparency, accountability, and change. Yet, the statements delivered by Minister of Amerindian Affairs Pauline Sukhai so far fall short of this spirit.
Instead of highlighting ongoing struggles faced by Indigenous communities, including the devastating 2023 Mahdia dormitory fire that claimed 20 young lives under state care, the Minister has offered what appears to be a sugar-coated narrative. This is deeply troubling and unjust to the families still seeking answers and accountability.
The AFC reminds the Minister and the government that justice begins with truth. Acknowledging failures—such as the slow pace of land rights reform, the dismissal of growing reports of sexual violence in hinterland communities and limited domestic redress—should not be seen as political weakness but as democratic responsibility.
It has now been 18 years since the passage of the Amerindian Act (2006), and 19 years since the adoption of UNDRIP. Yet many Indigenous communities still struggle to protect their ancestral lands and access justice. The UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has repeatedly called for revisions to the Amerindian Act to ensure full land rights protections—calls that remain unheeded.
Cases such as Isseneru, Chinese Landing, and the Akawaio and Arecuna peoples of the Upper Mazaruni—who endured over two decades of legal battles—expose the stark reality: without effective mechanisms for redress, communities are forced to seek international intervention. Government criticism of such actions ignores its own failure to create fair and accessible national systems.
The AFC makes the following recommendations:
1. Immediately initiate a transparent and participatory revision of the Amerindian Act (2006) in collaboration with Indigenous leaders.
2. Invite the UN Special Rapporteurs on Indigenous Peoples and on Violence Against Women to conduct a formal country visit to Guyana.
3. Develop a National Action Plan to implement General Recommendation No. 39 (2022) on the rights of Indigenous women and girls.
4. Publicly recommit to the principles of UNDRIP by establishing impartial, Indigenous-led processes to address land, cultural, and human rights violations.
We further call on all Indigenous leaders attending the upcoming National Toshaos Council meeting to stand together and demand a new era of justice, inclusion, and respect.
The AFC stands in full solidarity with Guyana’s First Peoples. We reaffirm our commitment to building a fair and free nation, where every community—coastal or hinterland—can thrive with dignity and justice.
Better Must Come – United Guyana, Fair and Free. End.
Issued by:
Alliance For Change (AFC)
Georgetown, Guyana
April 23, 2025
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