GENERAL INFORMATION

MOIWANA'86 - HUMAN RIGHTS ORGANIZATION SURINAME

Email: m86@parbo.com

MOIWANA'86 – Human Rights Organization Suriname (M86) is an HumanRights Organization in Suriname, established in 1987 by E. StanleyRensch. The mandate of Moiwana'86 is, based on International Human Rightsinstruments, to the promote and to protect human rights in Suriname. Thework started as a response to gross and systematic human rights violationsduring the military regime in the 1980's. The name Moiwana'86 is to commemoratethe Maroon settlement and its that suffered the massacre in 1986. Moiwanawas located in the District of Marowijne, approximately 128 km to the eastof Paramaribo, the capital of Suriname. During the internal armed conflict,members of the National Army of Suriname massacred about fifty innocentMaroon civilians, including children, (pregnant)women and the elderly atMoiwana on 29th of November 1986. These killings were (and still are) themost serious human rights violations ever to occur in the Suriname history.The Moiwana massacre has never been properly investigated and remains anoutstanding case in Suriname human rights account.

Its main goal is:

to "promote the observance of international standards on HumanRights, in particular civil and political rights (article 2 of the statutes).

To achieve its objective Moiwana'86:

Ù documents and investigateshuman rights violations;

Ù gives publicity of human rightsviolations;

Ù submits human rights violationsto the authorities and stressing their

responsibility to investigate human rights violations, to prosecute

and to compensate victims;

Ù gives assistance to victimsof human rights violations;

Ù promotes the importance ofhuman rights and informing the public,

educational institutions, professional groups, social organizations

and individual persons about human rights and the human rights'

situation in Suriname.