Moiwana massacre

Moiwana massacre Bloedbad van Moiwana
Part of Surinamese Interior War
Location	Moiwana, Marowijne, Suriname
Date	29 November 1986; 37 years ago (1986-11-29)
Attack type	Massacre
Weapons	Automatic weapons, hand grenades, machetes, dynamite
Deaths	At least 39 people, primarily women and children
Perpetrators	Suriname National Army

The Moiwana Massacre was a massacre perpetrated by the Suriname National Army on the Maroon village of Moiwana on 29 November 1986.

The massacre occurred during the Surinamese Interior War between the national army led by Dési Bouterse and the Jungle Commando led by Ronnie Brunswijk.^[1]

On 29 November 1986, a military unit of 70 men was sent by the government to Moiwana as it was thought to be one of Brunswijk's stronghold. The soldiers systemically massacred the residents of the village. The soldiers blocked off both ends of the village and shot every villager they encountered for over 4 hours. Many houses in the village were burned down.

Maroons fleeing genocide left Suriname for neighboring French Guiana where they lived in several refugee camps set up by French authorities to handle the massive influx of refugees. The Maroons were not granted the status of refugee so that they would not be eligible to work or receive welfare benefits. They lived in these camps until the early 1990s when France and Suriname signed peace accords to repatriate the stranded Maroons back to Suriname.^[2]

On 15 July 2015, the Inter-American Court of Human Rights held the government of Suriname responsible for the massacre and mandated they compensate survivors and victims' relatives and prosecute those responsible for the killings.^[3]

On 15 July 2006, the President of Suriname Ronald Venetiaan apologized to the Gaanman of the Ndyuka Gazon Matodya on behalf of the government for the massacre. 90% of 130 survivors and relatives of the victims were compensated $130,000 each from the government.^[4]

Media related to Moiwana massacre of 1986 at Wikimedia Commons