GIF forum on Suriname border dispute Peaceful resolution, community involvement on issues urged Stabroek News September 16, 2000 Guyana's border dispute with Suriname needs to be resolved peacefully and the government needs to involve the communities along the Corentyne River in the formulation of policies on the issue. These were some of the points brought out in presentations at the second forum organised by Guyana Is First (GIF) on Guyana's border problems on Friday. The first had dealt with Venezuela's rejection of the 1899 Arbitral Award as a full, final and perfect settlement of the border between Guyana and Vene-zuela. This forum was held at Le Meridien Pegasus in October last year and was declared open by Foreign Minister, Clement Rohee, and the Guyana Defence Force (GDF) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs were represented. Friday's forum was held at the Hotel Tower and apart from a videotaped presentation by Rohee declaring the forum open, neither the GDF nor Foreign Ministry were represented. GIF Chairman, Dr Frank Beckles, explained that Rohee was in New York and the GDF had explained that it could not participate unless it had received a signal from the government that it was right to do so. However, a GDF spokesman told Stabroek News that the army was surprised that it had not received an invitation from GIF since it had taken part in the planning of the programme and had shared its thoughts on the issue with the organisers. The spokesman, Capt Wycliffe McAllister, said that the army had agreed with the organisers that it would participate on one of the panels if the government was represented on it and if that condition could not be met, it would have been prepared to respond to comments from the floor. A GIF spokesman has since promised to check that an invitation had been sent to the GDF. The seminar examined three themes - the Guyana/ Suriname Border; the Legal Processes Governing the Establishment of Boundaries: Land and Maritime; Ongoing Problems Facing Border Dwellers/Entrepreneurs. Border claims' pattern In dealing with the first of the themes, Cedric Joseph, a former university lecturer, diplomat and head of the presidential secretariat, saw a pattern in the manner in which Suriname pressed its border claims simultaneously with Venezuela. He said the actions of the two states, described as coincidental in 1899 and 1962, could fairly be describ-ed since then as being in collusion. He observed that these claims were nearly always pursued at times of domestic tension in Guyana. He noted that Guyana's portrayal of Suriname as the aggressor did not receive uncritical acceptance in CARICOM and outside the region as its claim as against Venezuela did. This, he said, influenced the position taken by CARICOM of which both countries are members. Joseph suggested that a more appropriate response to Suriname's expulsion of the CGX oil rig from what it considered its maritime jurisdiction should have been an immediate militarily surgical strike in self-defence followed by the appropriate diplomatic offensive. This, he said, was acceptable for states of equal strength/weakness. Joseph, looking at Guyana's military capability and preparedness, questioned whether its intelligence had an evaluation of the military capacity and preparedness of Surinamese army. Joseph noted that there was no formal agreement on the border and the nearest thing to such an agreement was the 1939 draft between Holland and the United Kingdom, the negotiations on which were interrupted by World War II. After the war, the Netherlands did not find it convenient to conclude the treaty. That treaty, Joseph observed, reflected the understandings arrived at over the years between the two colonial powers. One of these understandings, he said, was that Suriname's border with Guyana was the left bank of the Corentyne River and that the New River Triangle was Guyana's territory. Joseph noted that Guyana's occupation of the New River Trian-gle had been portrayed to the Surinamese people as being illegal. With regard to the maritime boundary, Joseph said that Guyana had a strong legal case as it used the principle of equidistance to determine Guyana's maritime boundary with Suriname. Joseph also raised the concern about which issue Guyana should seek to settle first, adding that Guyana must independently arrive at that decision. Strong case Harold Sahadeo, a former ambassador to Venezuela and director-general of the Foreign Ministry, agreed with Joseph that Guyana's case was strong. Reviewing the options available to Guyana in seeking to resolve the issue, he said that he would not recommend referral of the issue to the International Court of Justice (ICJ). Instead, he felt that the matter should be pursued bilaterally with the support of CARICOM, adding that it was time for CARICOM to develop the mechanism which would allow its member states to resolve their disputes within its framework. Sahadeo observed in passing that developing countries had an aversion to the ICJ because of its western orientation and their fear of outside interference. He observed that the African states had developed a mechanism in the Organisation of African Unity for resolving disputes and in its charter there was no reference to the ICJ. 1980 coup Rashleigh Jackson, former foreign minister, in dealing with the diplomatic initiatives, suggested that the impact of the military coup in 1980 on the psyche of the Surinamese bureaucrats who negotiate with Guyana should be studied. Jackson submitted that the traumatic experience of the coup and the subsequent events could have had a lasting effect on the Surinamese bureaucrats. He noted that when it became independent Suriname's only natural ally was Holland and it had no natural ties to the Netherlands Antilles. He noted too that at the time of the coup, Suriname was in search of a foreign policy orientation. Also, he said, the upheavals during the years of military rule allowed the Surinamese military to become involved in drug trafficking, recalling the arrest of a Surinamese army commander in Miami, USA. Using notes he had made at various meetings at which Suriname was discussed with government officials from Suriname, Brazil, Canada and the United Kingdom and Holland, he said that the coup had precipitated a deterioration of relations between Suriname and Holland and the military rule was a cause of much concern in the international community. Jackson observed that before the coup and especially after 1969, the diplomatic initiatives were more productive than any held before that year or during the period when Suriname perceived Guyana's military capacity to be deficient. In 1969, Guyana expelled Surinamese police and civilian personnel who were attempting to establish a presence in the New River Triangle. He recalled that when he took over the Foreign Minis-try in 1978, there were many problems with Suriname. These included the seizure of Guyanese fishing boats using the Corentyne River; stopping the balata bleeders using the Corentyne River to get to their work sites; the harassment of the floating shops; and Guyana's seizure of a Korean trawler registered in Suriname which was found fishing in Guyana's waters. He said that these issues were settled quickly because Suriname respected Guyana's capacity to defend and maintain its territorial integrity. Jackson also suggested that in future negotiations with Suriname, Guyana should go into the talks with a full understanding of the psychological profile of the Surinamese government at the time. Also, he said, it must avoid giving conflicting signals to members of the negotiating team. Jackson cautioned that while Guyana's case was strong, based on the principles of the Law of the Sea Convention, it must be noted that the Convention recognised that there could be a dispute between states. He recommended that because of the great distrust between the two sides, confidence-building measures must be put in place so as to indicate a willingness and desire to cooperate and such cooperation should produce tangible results. Involving the ICJ Randolph Choo-Shee-Nam, the only known indigenous United Kingdom-trained chartered surveyor in the West Indies, using a United Kingdom drawn chart, said that Guyana's maritime boundaries had been demarcated in accordance with the Law of the Sea Convention and its map deposited with the United Nations in 1976. He said that neither Venezuela nor Suriname had challenged it. He questioned too the proposition by Sahadeo that the Suriname/Guyana dispute should not be referred to the ICJ, pointing out that not to do so would give the impression that Guyana's case was weak. He said the developed countries such as the United States of America, Canada and the United Kingdom had taken disputes to that forum. However, Dr Barton Scotland noted that if the dispute was to be taken to the ICJ there had to be recognition of a dispute and pointed to Suriname's position that there was no dispute as its boundary was drawn in accordance with its laws. He observed that the US did not agree that its dispute with Iran should be adjudicated by the ICJ nor was India willing to have the court adjudicate its dispute with Portugal. Jackson also pointed out that the discussions with Suriname were about resources and the maps were there if they had to be referred to. Livelihood threatened Ganesh Singh who has been operating in the Corentyne River for some 25 years stressed the need for a peaceful resolution of the issue. He called the CGX incident unfortunate as it interrupted the relationship that was being built with people in Suriname. He suggested increased contact between the service clubs on both sides of the border and the creation of joint-venture opportunities, which would involve investors on both sides of the river. He noted that tension in the relations between the two countries caused immense difficulties for the people who relied on fishing and other activities for a living. He noted that the 80 fishing boats which operated out of Number 66 Village supported some 400 families and that some 200 persons relied on the activities of the 40 that operated out of Corriverton. The fishermen, he said, produced some 4,500 pounds of fish daily for export. In addition, he said there were 13 sawmills and a number of logging operations that were affected when tensions heightened. University lecturer, Dr Rishi Thakur said that he abhorred the contention of arms, explaining that the relevance of the present borders should be questioned as they were drawn by the then colonial powers. He said that one of the questions that should be asked was what the borders had done to the communities which existed in both countries before the borders were drawn. He was at pains to point out that he was not advocating pacifism but felt that it could inform the need for expenditure on arms in a situation where there were competing social needs. Dr Thakur also stressed the need for including the border communities in the formulation of government's policy, urging that the government had to avoid being seen as an army of occupation and imposition. Follow the goings-on in Guyana in Guyana Today