World Trade Organization Appellate Body opinion on 'zeroing procedures' for calculating dumping margins

摘要

The case of the Saramaka People v. Suriname, decided by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights on November 28, 2007, concerned logging and mining concessions awarded by Suriname on territory possessed by the Saramaka people, without their full and effective consultation. The Court examined the rights of tribal peoples in international law and concluded that the members of the Saramaka people have a right to use and enjoy the natural resources that lie on and within their traditionally owned territory and that are necessary for their survival. The Court also declared that Suriname may restrict this right by granting concessions for the exploration and extraction of natural resources only when such restriction does not deny the Saramaka's survival as a tribal people. In this respect, the state must abide by three safeguards: first, effective consultations in every event, as well as free, prior, and informed consent in connection with development and investment projects having major impacts; second, a sharing of benefits derived from development plans; and third, prior and independent environmental and social impact assessment (EIA). In the end, the Court found that Suriname had violated the rights, under the American Convention on Human Rights, to juridical personality, property, and judicial protection of the Saramaka people living in the Upper Suriname River Region, in relation to the obligations to respect, ensure, and give domestic legal effect to those rights.