Nicaragua has begun implementing a precedent-setting ruling of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, which ordered the Central American government five months ago to protect the territorial rights of a small indigenous tribe.

The Costa Rica-based court had instructed Nicaragua to pay the 650-strong Awas Tingni community US$50,000 in damages and US$30,000 in legal expenses, and to demarcate and title property claimed by the Awas Tingni and other tribes.

Lombardo Martinez, Nicaragua's ambassador to the Washington-based Organisation of American States (OAS), on Friday handed a US$30,000 cheque to lawyers representing the Awas Tingni.

Martinez called the move ''historic'' and added that legislation had been introduced in Nicaragua to strengthen the territorial rights of all tribes in the country.

''A bill has now been introduced that would start the general demarcation of all indigenous lands, not just Awas Tingni land,'' said Martinez.

The eight-member court had ruled that Nicaragua violated the 1979 Inter-American Convention on Human Rights by denying the Awas Tingni community its rights to property and equal protection under international law. It ordered the country to adopt legislation and administrative measures to demarcate and title property claimed by indigenous communities.

James Anaya, a law professor at the US-based University of Arizona who represented the Awas Tingni before the court, called Nicaragua's latest move to implement the ruling a good start.

''It's the first concrete expression of willingness to implement the court's judgement,'' said Anaya, who also acts as special counsel to the US-based Indian Law Resource Centre.

Timber license

But he said it remained a challenge to get the government to demarcate and title the territory claimed by the Awas Tingni community. He said introducing legislation was not enough and hoped the new administration of President Enrique Bolanos Geyer would take action.

''We want the government to take immediate measures to move forward and demarcate the land,'' said Anaya.

Claudio Grossman, president of Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, an independent body of the OAS, said Nicaragua had until December to begin demarcating and titling Awas Tingni land. But, he told IPS, the Commission would not demand that Nicaragua have everything implemented by December.

''What is important is that the government is proceeding in good faith,'' he said.

Since the 1950s, the Awas Tingni tribe had unsuccessfully requested the Nicaraguan government to demarcate its traditional territory. Fearing that loggers would decimate its natural resources, including wildlife on which the tribe depends for food, the indigenous community sought legal title over the land.

In 1996, Nicaragua granted a 30-year timber license to the Korean company Sol de Caribe SA, or Solcarsa, clearing the way for exploitation of nearly 62,000 hectares of tropical forest on land claimed by the Awas Tingni.

The tribe said it was never consulted about the timber contract, which they vehemently opposed. A protracted fight in local courts culminated in a Supreme Court decision to void the timber license. However, the Awas Tingni said forest loss continued after Solcarsa left. Smaller operations harvested timber, claiming they had government permission, and homesteaders continued to clear forest for cattle grazing, said the tribe.

''We tried all the remedies available in Nicaragua,'' said Steven Tullberg, director of the Washington office of the Indian Law Resource Centre, which has assisted the tribe. Lawyers for the tribe then sought justice through the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Legal relevance

The Commission ruled in favour of the Awas Tingni. But when the government ignored the Commission's requests for remedial action, it referred the case in 1998 to the Inter-American court because Nicaragua had not delineated the community's land, nor compensated it for lost resources.

''Nicaragua failed to define the communal lands of the Awas Tingni, or the lands of other indigenous communities in Nicaragua,'' said Grossman, who also represented the community during court proceedings last year.

Grossman and Tullberg have hailed the court's decision as a landmark victory for indigenous people throughout the hemisphere. They argued that the ruling established an important precedent and a valuable new interpretation of property rights. The decision, they said, could create ripples throughout a region with many land disputes between indigenous peoples and national governments.

''States cannot hide behind their own laws any more,'' said Tullberg. ''Now governments are under international obligation to recognise indigenous lands.''

The ruling also is important, Grossman said, because it proves the strength and relevance of legal institutions throughout the hemisphere that seek to protect human rights.

''It shows the value of the Inter-American system as an avenue to debate, and hopefully settle, very important and complex legal matters,'' he said. (IPS)