Mayan Land right Belize establishes commission to protect indigenous land rights

Belizean Attorney General and Legal Affairs Minister Vanessa Retreage has officially appointed members of the Toledo Maya Land Rights Commission to implement the Caribbean Court of Justice's consent order for protecting the land rights of indigenous peoples.

Lisel Alamilla, Randall Sheppard and Noreen Fairweather were appointed to the commission, an Attorney General's Office representative told EFE via telephone on Wednesday.

Alamilla will chair the commission, which will establish a structured framework to ensure collaborative consultation and participation of key stakeholders, mainly focusing on 23 villages in Toledo.

The commission was created to comply with the court's orders, which require the government to adopt affirmative measures to identify and protect rights arising from Maya customary land tenure. EFE