Suriname: Current information on the Jungle Commandos of Ronnie Brunswijk
| Publisher | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada |
| Author | Research Directorate, Immigration and Refugee Board, Canada |
| Publication Date | 1 January 1993 |
| Citation / Document Symbol | SUR12965 |
| Cite as | Canada: Immigration and Refugee Board of Canada, Suriname: Current information on the Jungle Commandos of Ronnie Brunswijk, 1 January 1993, SUR12965, available at: https://www.refworld.org/docid/3ae6ac6358.html [accessed 21 May 2023] |
| Disclaimer | This is not a UNHCR publication. UNHCR is not responsible for, nor does it necessarily endorse, its content. Any views expressed are solely those of the author or publisher and do not necessarily reflect those of UNHCR, the United Nations or its Member States. |
Please find attached a copy of the most recent documents available to the DIRB that refer to the Surinamese Liberation Army (SLA), commonly known as the Jungle Commando (or Commandos), led by Ronnie Brunswijk. The articles report that a peace agreement between the government of Suriname and the SLA was reached in August 1992, after guerrilla hostilities were reportedly suspended in May of the same year.
According to one of the attached documents, the peace treaty included a rebel surrendering of weapons supervised by the Organization of American States (OAS) and the recruitment of members of the SLA into the Police Force of the Interior (Keesing's 1992 1992, 39047). An amnesty for the guerrillas in exchange for their weapons was agreed upon and scheduled to start on 17 August 1992 (Agence France Presse 8 Aug. 1992). The annual review of the Latin American Weekly Report published in December 1992, however, described the situation of the armed conflict in Suriname in 1992 as a "stand-off between security forces and still-not-disarmed guerrillas" (Latin American Newsletters 24 Dec. 1992, 11).
The two most recent references to the peace treaty can be found in the context of a speech by the retired leader of the army Desi Bouterse, who reportedly alluded to Brunswijk's SLA qualifying as "scandalous" the way "the terrorists were pampered" by the government (De Volkskrant 30 Nov. 1992), and in a commentary on the economic situation of Suriname (Caribbean Contact Dec. 1992-Jan. 1993, 8). The author of the article states that "the need to control the economy is believed to be the essential reason why the government signed a peace agreement with illegal armed groups," adding that the ongoing economic problems show that "peace alone cannot bail out Suriname's economy" (Ibid.).
Additional and/or corroborating information could not be found among the sources currently available to the DIRB.
References
Caribbean Contact [Barbados]. December 1992-January 1993. "Suriname's Economy Out Of Control."
De Volkskrant [Amsterdam, in Dutch]. 30 November 1992. "Bouterse Addresses Mass Meeting, Denies Coup Plans." (FBIS-LAT-92-236 8 December 1992, pp. 59-60)
Keesing's Record of World Events 1992. 1992. Vol. 38. Roger East, ed. London: Longman Publishing Group UK, Ltd.
Latin American Newsletters. 24 December 1992. Latin American Weekly Report. "Annual Review: Suriname." London: Latin American Newsletters.
Attachments
Agence France Presse. 8 August 1992. "Signature de l'accord de paix entre gouvernement et rebelles surinamiens." (NEXIS)
. 3 July 1992. "Le gouvernement et la guérilla prêts a signer un accord de paix début août." (NEXIS)
Caribbean Contact [Barbados]. December 1992-January 1993. "Suriname's Economy Out Of Control."
De Volkskrant [Amsterdam, in Dutch]. 30 November 1992. "Bouterse Addresses Mass Meeting, Denies Coup Plans." (FBIS-LAT-92-236 8 December 1992, pp. 59-60)
Keesing's Record of World Events 1992. 1992. Vol. 38. Roger East, ed. London: Longman Publishing Group UK, Ltd., pp. 39047-39048.
Le Monde [Paris]. 14 September 1991. "M. Ronald Venetiaan devra reconstruire une économie minée par le terrorisme."
