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POLITICS: Neglected Surinamese Rebels Threaten Mayhem

Bert Wilkinson

GEORGETOWN, Guyana, Oct 19 2006 (IPS) - They cooperated with the Dutch, the French and the United States to oust an incompetent military government that had seized power in Suriname in the 1980s, but 14 years after their guns fell silent, veterans of that rebellion are again turning their sights on officialdom, complaining about breached promises and threatening mayhem.

In the last week, former rebels from the eastern region near French Guiana sent a written petition to Parliamentary Speaker Paul Somohardjo threatening to blow up state installations if pledges to assist them with jobs, farms, educational opportunities and pensions were not met.

The rebels, most of them descendants of Maroons who defeated white Dutch colonisers during the colonial slave era, have specifically targeted the Afobaka Hydro Power Dam that provides electricity to much of the country, including western-owned gold mines, saying that normal life could come to a halt if officials don’t sit down with them and work out a deal to improve their lot.

The dam is owned by Suralco, a bauxite subsidiary of the U.S. giant Alcoa.

This is not the first time that former rebels have publicly voiced their anger and displeasure with authorities in Suriname, but their threats appear to up the ante to new levels that authorities may want to heed, analysts say.

The rebels are the same ones who fought to topple the military regime of former strongman Desi Bouterse from 1986-91 in a bloody bush war. Guerillas would usually cross the border river into Suriname from French Guiana, strike state installations deep in the country, and skip back to the other side before national forces could organise a response.

The Dutch, Suriname’s former coloniser, and the French have made no secret of their assistance and tolerance of rebel forces, arguing that it was a means to undermine military rule that was taking the country nowhere.

With national resources dwindling in the withering fight, the Washington-based Organisation of American States helped to broker a ceasefire in 1992, persuading the groups to either turn in or put down their guns while authorities focused on improving life in the interior.

The war claimed more than 500 lives, including the massacre at Moiwana village near the French Guiana border.

The government is currently compensating survivors and relatives for the atrocity. More than 50 people were slaughtered in a single operation by soldiers because they believed villagers were lying to them about the whereabouts of rebels.

Moiwana 86, the main human rights group in Suriname, took its name from the village where the massacre occurred, and authorities are investigating the possibility of charging former servicemen and officers.

Now, 14 years after papers were signed, the rebels are becoming restless again and say they feel the need to resort to threats to get attention from authorities.

“We are giving the government one week to at least start with the implementation of the 1992 Peace Agreement. After that things will start to blow up and bullets will fly. We have nothing to lose and are prepared to die for our rights,” former members of the Jungle Commando said in the petition.

“We have fought to restore democracy in the country. We want to work. Government shouldn’t think that we don’t have weapons. We do and we also have explosives. If they don’t help us, people won’t have electricity in the capital,” they said.

The former Dutch colony on South America’s Caribbean coast has settled down nicely since those perilous times of the 1980s when the military toppled the government, in part because authorities had refused to recognise the right of soldiers to form a labour union.

Today, former military leader Bouterse, who ran the country after seizing power in a February 1980 coup, is opposition leader and head of the National Democratic Party (NDP), the largest single party in Suriname, a country of 480,000 people and a member of the 15-nation Caribbean Community, Caricom.

He and other former commanders face possible charges for the 1982 executions of 15 government opponents, including academics, clergymen, labour leaders and four journalists. Bouterse has denied ordering the killings near a fort in downtown Paramaribo, the capital.

Responding to the threats this week, Vice President Ramdien Sardjoe said that the government is taking them seriously. “The hard talk is not conducive to the peace and security and the government is doing its utmost to preserve peace and security for the entire community,” he said.

Two other cabinet members, Defence Minister Ivan Fernald and Chandrikapersad Santokhi of the justice ministry, also seem to want compromise before it is too late.

“We should consider this issue very seriously and all stakeholders should seek a solution through a constructive approach. Nobody wins if it escalates,” Fernald said.

For his part, Santokhi, a former police chief, says that, “If there are problems in executing the agreement than we as government should communicate this with the stakeholders to identify the bottlenecks and seek a solution.”

Other former rebels from the eastern border regions have turned their lives around and entered parliament, chief among them being Ronnie Brunswijk, a former Bouterse bodyguard who led rebel forces.

His party has four seats in the 51-member assembly but rebels say they do not want him to negotiate on their behalf since he no longer properly represents their cause given his great wealth from timber and gold mining.