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Ce jour : 329 informations libres : [1-25] [26-50] [51-75] [76-100] [101-125] [126-150] [151-175] [176-200] [201-225] [226-250] [251-275] [276-300] [301-325] [326-329]
Norwegian government blacklists Malaysian timber giant Lundi 30 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| A logger handles trees felled in the Penan's region. © Andy Rain/Nick Rain/Survival |
The Norwegian government has excluded the Malaysian timber giant Samling from its pension fund on ethical grounds. Samling is logging the last remaining forests of the hunter-gatherer Penan tribe.
Norway’s Ministry of Finance sold its shares in Samling on the recommendation of its pension fund’s Council on Ethics, which investigated Samling’s activities and found evidence of systematic illegal logging and ‘extensive damage to forests and the environment.’
Announcing the divestment from Samling and two other companies, Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen said, ‘The decision to exclude these companies… is based on the Council on Ethics assessment that they are contributing to or are themselves responsible for grossly unethical activity.’
Samling has devastated much of the land of the Penan tribe of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo. The Penan rely on the forest for food and shelter, and its destruction by logging companies has left them impoverished.
In December 2009, five Penan communities filed two lawsuits against Samling subsidiaries. A case by other Penan communities has been pending since 1998.
One Penan man told Survival, ‘Samling is trying to log all the trees in our forest. When they enter the area we will lose everything.’
Survival International’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘If all responsible investors, particularly those using public money, avoided companies which violate tribal peoples’ rights and destroy their lands, it would send a clear and long overdue signal to corporations around the world. These companies should simply be boycotted, so the Norwegian disinvestment is a very good step in the right direction.’
Download the Norwegian Council on Ethics recommendation
Brazil’s President signs ‘death sentence’ for Amazonian river Vendredi 27 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Kayapó Indians at a protest against the Belo Monte dam © T Turner |
Brazil’s President Lula has signed a contract allowing the construction of the hugely controversial Belo Monte mega-dam on the Amazonian Xingu River to go ahead.
Lula said, ‘I think this is a victory for Brazil’s energy sector’.
Belo Monte, if built, will be the third largest dam in the world. It will devastate the local environment and threaten the lives of the thousands of indigenous people living in the area, whose land and food sources will be seriously damaged.
Experts have warned that the project has serious design flaws. It was described by Walter Coronado Antunes, former Environment Secretary of São Paulo state, as ‘the worst engineering project in the history of hydroelectric dams in Brazil, and perhaps of any engineering project in the world’.
Indians, together with human rights and environmental organizations have traveled to Brazil’s capital, Brasília, to protest against Lula’s signing of the contract. They said, ‘The government has signed a death warrant for the Xingu river and condemned thousands of residents to expulsion’.
Brazilian and international organizations have published a Declaration against the Belo Monte dam, describing the signing of the contract as a ‘death sentence for the Xingu River’, and a ‘scandalous affront to international human rights conventions, Brazilian law and the Brazilian constitution’.
Marcos Apurinã of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), said, ‘Our government is presenting itself as an example to the world. But here in Brazil, at least for indigenous peoples, it is not exemplary at all!’.
They have organized several protests against the project. Hundreds of Indians are currently participating in a protest, alongside experts, human rights and environmental organizations, and Brazil’s Public Ministry, against the Belo Monte dam, as well as the dams on the Madeira, Teles Pires and Tapajós rivers.
Survival International recently published a report highlighting the devastating impacts that dams are bringing to tribal peoples worldwide.
Indians urge Brazil’s next President to protect ancestral land Jeudi 26 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Indians at landmark protest for land rights. Brazil. © Gustavo Macedo/ Survival |
Indians representing many of Brazil’s 233 tribes have demanded that the country’s next President map out their ancestral land which has been taken from them for industrial projects, cattle ranching, and soya planting.
They also call for the suspension of large-scale industrial projects which will irreversibly damage their land, improved health and education services, and a more participatory role in the restructuring of FUNAI, the government’s Indian affairs department.
These demands are set out in a letter sent to the presidential candidates following a landmark protest against the theft of indigenous land and the killing of their leaders.
More than 600 Indians attended the protest, which took place in Mato Grosso do Sul state to draw attention to the critical situation of the Guarani Indians who live there.
The Indians state in their letter, ‘Here, cattle, sugarcane, eucalyptus and soya are worth more than the life of an indigenous child, more than a human life’.
Anastácio Peralta Guarani said at the protest, ‘The big companies step all over us, but we must not become disheartened – we must fight!’
A Guarani Indian from Laranjeira Nanderu community, which has been living on the side of a highway for almost two years, said, ‘Many babies have died. Many people are ill because we don’t have food or water. We are dying there’.
Earlier this week, a group of Guarani Indians met with President Lula and demanded that their land be protected. Ambrósio Vilhava, star of the film ‘Birdwatchers’, told Lula that the Indians’ land must be mapped out immediately.
Brazil’s presidential election is due to be held on 3 October.
David v. Goliath: Indian tribe in ‘stunning’ victory over mining giant Mardi 24 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| The Dongria Kondh and their supporters have won a momentous victory. © Toby Nicholas/Survival |
A tribe in India has won a stunning victory over one of the world’s biggest mining companies. In an extraordinary move, India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blocked Vedanta Resources’ controversial plan to mine bauxite on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe.
Mr Ramesh said Vedanta has shown a ’shocking’ and ‘blatant disregard for the rights of the tribal groups’. The Minister has also questioned the legality of the massive refinery Vedanta has already built below the hills.
The news is a crushing defeat for Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal , Vedanta’s majority owner and founder.
Free broadcast-quality footage of Dongria Kondh and interview with Survival campaigner available: contact mr@survivalinternational.org or (+44) (0)20 7687 8734/ (+44) (0)7583 249 275/ (+44) (0)7504 543 367
Media kit with background info and hi-res photos
In recent years the project has come under unprecedented attack. The Norwegian and British governments, the Church of England, organizations such as Survival, and even insurance giant Aviva have all criticized the company and its ethics.
Survival has been in the forefront of a global campaign against the mine for several years. Survival recruited celebrities such as Michael Palin and Joanna Lumley to champion the tribe’s cause; its supporters have written over 10,000 protest letters to the Indian government, and more than 600,000 people have watched Survival’s film ‘Mine’. The tribe’s plight even came to the attention of ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron, and the Dongria became known as the ‘real Avatar tribe’.
The struggle has pitted the 8,000-strong tribe, nearly all of them illiterate, against the might of an $8bn company and its founder, himself worth some $6bn. The Dongria Kondh have mounted numerous protests, and two of their leaders were abducted and beaten before being released, in an atmosphere of increasing violence.
In recent days an inquiry panel set up by Minister Ramesh recommended the mine be blocked, saying that Vedanta had acted illegally and with ‘total contempt for the law’.
Survival campaigner Dr Jo Woodman, who experienced first-hand the atmosphere of intimidation in the Dongria’s hills, said today, ‘This is a victory nobody would have believed possible. The Dongria’s campaign became a litmus test of whether a small, marginalized tribe could stand up to a massive multinational company with an army of lobbyists and PR firms and the ear of government. Incredibly, the Dongria’s courage and tenacity, allied with the support of many people in India, and Survival’s supporters around the world, have triumphed.’
Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The era when mining companies could get away with destroying those in their path with impunity is thankfully drawing to a close, though it remains significant that Vedanta fought for its plans to the end, repeatedly denying everything the tribespeople said. The concerned public must remain vigilant about these so-called development projects – companies simply cannot be trusted voluntarily to abide by human rights standards, particularly when dealing with tribal peoples who can’t know what they’re up against.’
African Commission rules outspoken academic wrongly deported from Botswana Samedi 21 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Bushmen children © Survival |
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has declared that outspoken academic, Professor Kenneth Good, was wrongly deported from Botswana after criticizing the lack of democracy in the country.
Professor Good worked as professor of political studies at the University of Botswana for fifteen years before being expelled from Botswana in 2005. His deportation came shortly after he released a paper in which he criticized automatic presidential succession in Botswana.
The then president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, branded Good ‘a threat to national security’ and described him as ‘an undesirable inhabitant of Botswana’.
Professor Good has also been a fierce critic of the government’s treatment of the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, arguing that ‘the weakness of democracy has facilitated [the subordination] of the San [Bushmen]’.
The Commission issued a scathing critique of the Botswana government’s presidentialism and the weakness of the judicial institutions. Vindicating Good’s actions, it declared that the Botswana government violated various articles of the African Charter, and ordered it to pay adequate compensation to Good, and to take steps to bring the country’s Immigration Act in line with international human rights standards.
However, the Botswana government has responded by refusing to honour the Commission’s ruling. Foreign Affairs Minister, Phandu Skelemani, told reporters, ‘We are not going to follow on the recommendation made by the Commission; it does not give orders, and it is not a court. We are not going to listen to them. We will not compensate Mr Good.’
Speaking about the ruling, Professor Good said, ‘This represents a victory for academic freedom and human rights, and a blow against presidentialism and non-accountability. It is a landmark African legal decision, which Botswana is obliged to uphold under international law. To ignore its findings is to embrace rogue statehood’.
Lt General Ian Khama automatically succeeded Mogae as president in 2008, a move which Good says has brought about ‘an escalation in the militarization and personalization of power in Botswana’. Since becoming president, Khama has continued the policy of subordination of the Bushmen, and has banned them from accessing a borehole which they rely on for water on their lands.
Penan tribe demand a say in dam project Vendredi 20 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Work is in full flow on dams in the Penan's area. © Survival |
Penan tribespeople in Borneo have demanded a say in a hydroelectric dam being built on their land.
Construction of the Murum dam in the Malaysian state of Sarawak is well underway, and will flood the land of at least six Penan villages. The Penan were not properly consulted before the project began.
Now a ‘social and environmental impact assessment’ is being prepared for the project, despite construction being at an advanced stage.
In a statement released earlier this month, Penan from the affected villages ask what will happen if the impact assessment is not approved. Penan man Surang Alung says, ‘What will the government do to recover back the land, forest, rivers and natural resources that have been destroyed?’
The statement by the Pelieran-Murum Penan Affairs Committee urges the state government not to approve the impact assessment until it has been publicly scrutinized, and to take their opinions into account.
The Penan have told the government that if they must leave their land to make way for the dam, they want to choose where they move to. But the palm oil giant Shin Yang has moved into the area they have suggested, and is planning a huge plantation. ‘Shin Yang has entered the area illegally without our consent. If it is allowed to extensively clear and fell the forest, there will be no more forest left for our community to sustain our livelihood,’ say the Penan.
The Murum dam is the first in a new series of large-scale hydroelectric projects being planned by the Sarawak state government, which will displace thousands of indigenous people.
Survival International published a new report last week highlighting a worldwide boom in dam building for ‘green’ energy, and its devastating impact on tribal peoples.
Amazon Indians fight controversial mega dam Jeudi 19 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Indians protesting against the Belo Monte dam in the Amazon © Verena Glass |
Hundreds of Indians from throughout the Brazilian Amazon participated in a landmark protest to highlight the threat to their survival posed by large infrastructure projects, in particular the hugely controversial Belo Monte dam.
Over 500 Indians from 27 tribes converged near the Xingu River in the Amazon, on which the Belo Monte dam is planned to be built, bearing the message: ‘Defend the Xingu: Stop Belo Monte’.
The protest followed the publication last week of a new Survival International report highlighting a worldwide boom in dam building for ‘green’ energy, and its devastating impact on tribal peoples.
If built, Belo Monte would destroy rainforest and reduce fish stocks on which Indians in the area depend for their survival. The influx of immigrants during the construction of the dam threatens to bring violence and disease to the Indians.
Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapó tribe said at the protest, ‘We must never give up, because we are fighting for a right that is ours! Nature is life, it has sustained us until today, so we have to defend Nature as our father and mother who give us life….Is this [dam] what we really want, my friends? Let us stand together against Belo Monte!’.
Following a series of discussions about the dam, the protesters released a Declaration calling for Belo Monte and other large infrastructure projects in the Amazon to be halted.
The protest was organized by the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon.
Around 800 Indians are protesting this week in Mato Grosso do Sul state, south of the Amazon, against the assassination of their leaders, the theft of their land and other threats to their survival. The Indians at this protest are particularly emphasizing the critical situation of the Guarani Indians.
Brazilian Indians celebrate creation of their own health service Mercredi 18 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Yanomami woman. Yanomami Indians and Indians of many other tribes are celebrating the creation of their own health service © Fiona Watson/Survival |
Tribal peoples all over Brazil are celebrating the creation of a new branch of the Ministry of Health which will be responsible for providing health care to the country’s Indians.
The Brazilian Senate voted unanimously to approve the new body, to be called the ‘Indigenous Health Secretariat’, following years of campaigning by Indians and organizations supporting them.
The Senate’s decision is a landmark victory for the Indians, and prompted celebrations amongst members of several tribes who had gathered in Brasília to hear the vote.
The Indians hope that the new organization, by focusing solely on indigenous communities, will be able to provide a more efficient health care service than the heavily-discredited system to which they currently have access.
Edmilson Terena of the Terena tribe said, ‘We have to reorganize a system which has fallen into chaos in the last ten years. Now, things are set to improve’.
Clóvis Ambrósio of the Wapixana tribe added, ‘Now we must start planning to change everything. By the end of the year we need to have planned out our new health system in the Secretariat’.
The Indigenous Health Secretariat will take over from the work of the National Health Foundation (FUNASA), which has been accused of corruption and criticized for not adequately serving the Indians’ needs.
FUNASA was recently involved in a scandal in which thousands of Yanomami Indians in the Amazon were cut off from medical assistance for over two months.
Senator Lúcia Vânia, who voted in favor of the measure, said, ‘The government is taking a step forward by creating a new Secretariat in the Ministry of Health and ensuring that indigenous peoples can enjoy a high standard of health care’.
Philippine mining plans blocked Mardi 17 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Palawan children scoop-fishing in Singnapan river, Ransang, Rizal Municipality. © Dario Novellino |
The Palawan tribe of the Philippines is celebrating after a local government panel refused to give the go-ahead to mining giant MacroAsia to mine on their traditional territory.
Survival supporters, indigenous groups and others had lobbied the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) in the run up to the panel meeting. The PCSD also heard evidence from a Palawan indigenous leader and other experts about the Palawan communities’ opposition to mining on their land, and how MacroAsia’s explorations have been predominantly in highly protected areas of virgin forest.
The council, which had been expected by many to merely rubber stamp the environmental approval, giving the green light for mining to begin, declared that more investigation was needed before a decision could be reached. It ordered wide-ranging investigations, including into the impact of mining on the indigenous peoples’ culture and livelihood and the legality of local government endorsements of the project.
During the meeting, Palawan indigenous leader Artiso Mandawa said, ‘It will not be difficult to establish that the people of Brookes Point are overwhelmingly against any mining. This is what we indigenous peoples and farmers have been trying to communicate to the government for the past two years through public demonstrations and rallies, but they did not listen.’
After the decision not to endorse the mining plans he cautioned, ‘This is just an initial victory for the indigenous peoples and our supporters.’
Vedanta’s India mine slammed in devastating government report Lundi 16 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| A Dongria Kondh woman. © Jason Taylor |
Plans by Vedanta Resources to mine on Dongria Kondh land in eastern India ‘threaten the survival’ of the tribe, according to an official government investigation whose report has just been released.
In a devastating report, a committee set up by India’s Environment Minister has ruled that Vedanta has acted illegally and with ‘total contempt for the law’; that local officials have ‘colluded’ in the company’s illegal activity and falsified documents; that ‘it is established beyond any doubt that the [mining] area is the cultural, religious and economic habitat of the Dongria Kondh ’; and that to allow Vedanta’s mine would be ‘illegal’.
India’s Minister of Environment and Forests has already said he will use the report to decide whether to give Vedanta permission to begin mining.
Vedanta’s scheme to mine the land of the Dongria Kondh tribe has become one of the most notorious projects in the world, with investors including Aviva and the Church of England attacking the company. Human rights activist Bianca Jagger and celebrities including Joanna Lumley and Michael Palin have given their support to the Dongria tribe, who have been peacefully resisting the mine for years.
A previous investigation for the Environment Ministry found that Vedanta’s mine ‘may lead to the destruction’ of the Dongria Kondh as a tribe. The report concluded that mining should not be allowed.
Stephen Corry, Director of Survival said today, ‘This report is utterly scathing about Vedanta’s behaviour and confirms what Survival and others have been saying for years. The investigators have discovered that both Vedanta and the local authorities have already broken the law. The findings are unequivocal – mining will destroy the Dongria Kondh and should not be allowed. Let’s hope this is the final nail in the coffin for Vedanta’s plans.’
Abducted Dongria Kondh released Vendredi 13 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Lodu Sikaka was released three days after his abduction. © Survival |
The two Dongria Kondh tribesmen abducted by gunmen on Monday have both been released. Sena Sikaka was dumped at the side of the road on Tuesday evening, while Lodu Sikaka was released yesterday.
Lodu and Sena both claim their armed abductors were plain-clothed policemen. Lodu was interrogated and beaten during his detention, and only released after he was made to sign a written statement. It is not clear what the statement says.
Lodu and Sena have both been campaigning against the creation of a bauxite mine on their land in the Niyamgiri Hills, Odisha state. The proposed mine, a joint project between UK company Vedanta Resources and the Orissa state government, has become one of the most controversial projects in India.
An interview with Lodu Sikaka was broadcast on the UK’s Channel 4 News following Vedanta’s recent AGM, where the company’s appalling human rights record came under fire from high profile investors including Aviva. Several investors including the Church of England have already sold their shares in Vedanta over the project, and the British government declared that the Dongria’s rights have been violated.
The Dongria Kondh’s plight has been dubbed ‘the Real Avatar’ because of similarities to the storyline of James Cameron’s blockbuster. The tribe’s struggle has been supported by a number of celebrities including Joanna Lumley, Bianca Jagger, and Michael Palin.
A team of experts commissioned by the Indian government earlier this year concluded that Vedanta’s mine was likely to ‘lead to the destruction of the Dongria Kondh’ as a people. The results of a second official investigation into the mine will be published later this month. The head of the investigative team has told journalists to expect his report to be ‘another bomb’.
Survival’s director Stephen Corry said, ‘While I welcome the news that Sena and Lodu have now been released, it does not undo the injustice they have suffered and the ongoing injustices being committed against the Dongria Kondh people.’
UN expert demands governments enforce indigenous rights Jeudi 12 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Innu children, Canada. The Canadian government does not yet support the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. © Serge Jauvin/Survival |
The UN expert on Indigenous Peoples, Professor James Anaya, has challenged governments to respect international standards for tribal rights.
Speaking on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples, Professor Anaya said, ‘Indigenous peoples continue to see their traditional lands invaded by powerful actors seeking wealth at their expense, thereby depriving them of life-sustaining resources.’
The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples sets important standards for countries to follow. Almost all governments now support these principles, after Australia and New Zealand removed their previous objections this year. Canada has committed to supporting the Declaration this year, and the United States is currently reviewing its objections.
However Professor Anaya pointed out that, ‘Today the Declaration remains more a reminder of how far there is to go… than a reflection of what has actually been achieved on the ground.’
He added, ‘The faithful implementation of the Declaration must be the focus of concerted attention by governments worldwide, the UN system, and other actors.’
Although the Declaration represents an important international standard, it is not legally binding. Survival is campaigning for governments to sign the only legally binding international convention on tribal peoples, the ILO Convention 169.
Earlier this year, the Central African Republic became the first African country to sign the Convention. Nicaragua shortly followed, bringing the global total to twenty two.
Hundreds of Brazilian Indians gather for protest Jeudi 12 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| The gathering will highlight the plight of the Guarani. © João Ripper/Survival |
Hundreds of Brazilian Indians from across the country are gathering to highlight the killing of their leaders, the theft of their land for industrial projects, and other threats to their survival.
Around 800 Indians representing many of Brazil’s 233 tribes are expected to attend the protest, from 16- 20 August.
The rally is being held in Mato Grosso do Sul state, south of the Amazon, to draw attention to the critical situation faced by the indigenous peoples of that state, especially the Guarani Indians.
The Guarani’s lands have been stolen to make way for cattle ranches and sugarcane plantations, and the Guarani have one of the highest suicide rates in the world.
The protest will also highlight growing anger amongst many tribes who oppose the government’s plans to build a series of huge dams and roads in the Amazon.
It is being organized by the Association of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil and the Forum in Defence of Indigenous Rights.
The Indians have invited all the candidates in Brazil’s upcoming presidential election to the rally.
Survival’s Director Stephen Corry, said today, ‘The current government has woefully neglected Brazilian Indians, and now they’re calling out to the presidential candidates to listen to their needs. They expect the new President to take action to safeguard their lands.’
Anti-Vedanta tribal leaders abducted Mardi 10 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Lodu Sikaka has been abducted. © Survival |
Two leaders of an Indian tribe’s resistance to a controversial mine have been abducted and are now missing, according to local reports.
Lodu (Lado) Sikaka and Sena Sikaka, two Dongria Kondh men from Odisha, eastern India, have been leading their tribe’s peaceful struggle against a massive bauxite mine planned for their land by British company Vedanta Resources.
Reports from the area indicate the two men were ambushed at the base of the hill range where they live, bundled into a vehicle at gunpoint and driven away. No one has heard from the men since, but sources say they are not being held at local police stations.
UPDATE 11 AUG: Sena Sikaka has now been released. Lodu Sikaka is still missing. Some reports suggest he is being held by the police, though the police themselves refuse to confirm this.
An interview with Lodu Sikaka, in which he spoke out against the mine, was aired on the UK’s Channel 4 News last week.
Locals report that paramilitaries combed the men’s village last month and that Sena Sikaka was beaten up. In the same month, the body of another leader from a different village was found dead in mysterious circumstances the day after he met with a team of experts sent by the government to investigate Vedanta.
The root of the problem is a mine planned on Niyam Dongar hill in the Dongria Kondh’s land. The mine is a joint project between FTSE 100 company Vedanta Resources and the Indian state of Odisha.
In December Lodu told Survival, ‘We have always depended on our Niyam Dongar. It is our tradition. And it is our future. We say to Vedanta: if the whole universe came to try to convince us about Vedanta we still would not allow this mine.’
The mine has been broadly condemned. One Indian government team declared the mine was likely to ‘lead to the destruction of the Dongria Kondh’ as a people. Several investors including the Church of England sold their shares in Vedanta over the project, and the British government declared that the Dongria’s rights have been violated.
Stephen Corry, Survival’s director, said, ‘Where is Lodu Sikaka? It is abhorrent that in the world’s largest democracy, a man who speaks out in defence of his land and his community should be ‘disappeared’ in this way.’
Photos and HD video of Lodu Sikaka are available.
"Green" energy boom destroys tribes – new report Lundi 9 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Tribal peoples will be devastated by the current boom in dam-building. © E. Lafforgue/Survival |
To mark the UN Day of Indigenous People, Survival has released a new report highlighting the devastating impact on tribal people of a massive boom in dam-building for hydropower.
Drawing on examples from Asia, Africa and the Americas, Survival’s report Serious Damage exposes the untold cost of obtaining ‘green’ electricity from large hydroelectric dams.
A rapid increase in global dam-building is currently under way. The World Bank alone is pouring $11bn into 211 hydropower projects worldwide.
The impact on tribal people is profound. One Amazonian tribe, the Enawene Nawe, has learnt that Brazilian authorities plan to build 29 dams on its rivers. Across the Amazon, the territories of five uncontacted tribes will be affected.
The Penan tribe in Sarawak face eviction to make way for a dam, and tribes in Ethiopia could be forced to rely on food aid if a dam being built on the famous Omo River is not halted. One man from the Omo Valley’s Kwegu tribe, said, ‘Our land has become bad. They closed the water off tight and now we know hunger. Open the dam and let the water flow.’
Hundreds of Brazilian tribespeople will gather this week to speak out about the controversial Belo Monte dam, which threatens several tribes’ land and vital food supplies.
Survival’s campaigners are available for interview.
Colombian indigenous leader shot dead by hitman Vendredi 6 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Wayúu woman, la Guajira. © Alejandra Quintero Sinisterra |
A Colombian indigenous leader has been shot dead outside his family home in the Colombian city of Riohacha, in the northern province of la Guajira.
Luis Alfredo Socarrás Pimienta of the Wayúu tribe was allegedly shot by a paramilitary hitman who then fled the scene. Following the murder, leaflets were distributed listing the killers’ next targets, which include the names of up to twelve Wayúu people.
Socarrás Pimienta had led several demonstrations over the past year in protest against abuses of the Wayúu’s rights. His death follows the murders of ten indigenous people in la Guajira this year alone.
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has released a statement urging the Colombian state to investigate the killing and bring the perpetrators to justice. It also urges the state to ‘attend to the protection and security’ of indigenous rights defenders ‘to ensure that crimes such as this one do not happen again.’
More than 1,400 indigenous people have been killed in Colombia’s internal armed conflict since 2002 and an estimated 74,000 have been forcibly evicted from their homes. According to Colombia’s national indigenous organization, ONIC, at least 64 out of 102 indigenous Colombian tribes now face extinction.
Survival is supporting ONIC’s recently launched ‘extinction’ campaign to raise awareness of the critical situation faced by Colombia’s indigenous peoples.
European Investment Bank abandons Ethiopia mega dam Jeudi 5 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| The Mursi are one of the tribes that will be affected by Gibe III © Eric Lafforgue/Survival |
The European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced it is no longer considering funding Africa’s tallest dam, in Ethiopia. The hydroelectric dam, called Gibe III, has drawn international criticism because of the devastating effect it is likely to have on the food security of at least eight Ethiopian tribes.
In a statement, the EIB claims to have withdrawn from Gibe III because the Ethiopian government has found alternative funding sources for the dam. However the ICBC, the state-owned Chinese bank recently discussed as a potential funder, recently made it clear that the deal is not yet settled and far from guaranteed.
Before stepping back from Gibe III, the EIB completed a review of existing environment and social impact studies for the dam. The review confirms concerns from Survival and others that the lives of the tribes living in the Lower Omo Valley, downstream of Gibe III, will be fundamentally altered and their food security threatened if the dam is complete. The study also acknowledges that these tribes have not been adequately consulted.
Former UN water advisor condemns Botswana’s treatment of Bushmen Jeudi 5 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Maude Barlow's attack comes a week after the UN declared water a fundamental human right. © IISD |
Maude Barlow, former UN advisor on water, ‘Alternative Nobel’ prize winner and founder of the Blue Planet Project, has condemned the Botswana government’s failure to allow Bushmen to access water.
Barlow’s remarks come a week after the United Nations declared water a fundamental human right, and two weeks after a Botswana High Court judge ruled that the Kalahari Bushmen cannot access a water borehole on their lands.
‘Last week, the UN General Assembly declared that everyone, everywhere, has the right to water’, Barlow said. ‘But now the world witnesses one of Africa’s most prosperous countries denying its first inhabitants the right to sink a well, while promoting mining and safari camps just a few miles away. It’s hard to imagine a more cruel and inhuman way to treat people. One can only conclude Botswana’s authorities view Bushmen as less important than wildlife. Many people around the world will be horrified at what they’re seeing.’
The 192-member Assembly passed a resolution on July 28 that declares access to water as ‘essential to the full enjoyment of life and all human rights’, after receiving 122 votes in favour of the resolution. 41 countries abstained from voting, including Botswana.
Just a week before the resolution was passed, a Botswana High Court judge dismissed the Bushmen’s application for permission to use a borehole on their lands inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Without it, they are forced to make arduous journeys to fetch water from outside the reserve, made all the worse by the government’s recent move to ban some Bushmen from entering the reserve by donkey, which they use to transport water.
In contrast to the UN’s affirmation that states bear the responsibility for the ‘promotion and protection of all human rights,’ Judge Walia expressed sympathy for the government’s argument that ‘having chosen to settle at an uncomfortably distant location, [the Bushmen] have brought upon themselves any discomfort they may endure.’
The Botswana government sealed the Bushmen’s water borehole when it evicted them from the reserve in 2002. Four years later, the Bushmen won a landmark High Court ruling that said they had been evicted illegally and that they have the right to live on their ancestral lands inside the reserve.
However, the government refuses to allow the Bushmen to re-commission the borehole, in a bid to prevent them from exercising their constitutional right to live in the reserve. At the same time, it has drilled new boreholes for wildlife only and allowed the opening of a luxury Wilderness Safaris lodge on Bushman land complete with swimming pool and bar for tourists.
The Bushmen are likely to appeal the ruling.
Borneo human rights lawyer quizzed by police Mercredi 4 Août 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Penan armed with blowpipes block road as logging trucks approach. © Survival 2009 |
Prominent indigenous rights lawyer Harrison Ngau Laing was quizzed by Malaysian Immigration and Special Branch police officers on Monday as he tried to board a plane to Kuala Lumpur.
Officials at Kuching airport in Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo, questioned Harrison about his destination and the purpose of his trip.
In 1987, Harrison was put under house arrest for almost two years and spent 60 days in jail under the Internal Security Act following his support for blockades of logging roads by the Penan and other indigenous people of Sarawak.
Harrison’s passport was impounded by the state immigration authorities. It was returned in 2003, but his movement inside and outside the country is constantly monitored by Special Branch.
Mark Bujang, executive director of the Borneo Resources Institute (BRIMAS), said, ‘The state government is reverting to its old tactics of intimidating and restricting activists from travelling abroad.’
Nomad tribe emerges from forest to prove its existence Jeudi 29 Juillet 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Karapiru, an Awá man who survived the massacre of his family by gunmen. © Fiona Watson/Survival |
Indians from the tiny Awá tribe will stage a three day protest in the Brazilian Amazon from August 1st to 3rd, to prove that they exist and to demand that their land be protected from invasion.
The event, named ‘We Exist: Land and Life for the Awá Hunter-Gatherers’, has been organized by Brazilian indigenous rights organization, CIMI, the local Catholic church and several indigenous groups.
Around 100 Awá Indians are expected to participate in the protest. For most, it will be the first time they have left their forest home.
The protest will take place in Ze Doca, a town near the Awá’s land in Maranhão state in the eastern Amazon. It is in response to remarks by the local mayor’s office denying that the Awá exist.
The Awá are one of only two nomadic hunter gatherers tribes remaining in Brazil. More than 60 Awá have no contact with outsiders and are in grave danger from illegal loggers.
Although Awá lands have been legally recognized, the Indians are being targeted by loggers, who are bulldozing roads into the forests, and by settlers, who hunt the game the Awá rely on, exposing the Indians to disease and violence.
A federal judge ruled in June 2009 that all invaders must leave the Awá territory within 180 days. However, the ruling has since been suspended, and deforestation and invasions are increasing.
Stephen Corry, Director of Survival, said today, ‘Denying the existence of indigenous peoples is self-fulfilling and belongs to the colonial past. It’s also a crime: deny they exist and they won’t exist, they’ll disappear like so many Brazilian tribes before them. If Brazil wants to be viewed as a leading nation, the authorities must no longer tolerate violations like this.’
Survival’s Research and Field Director Fiona Watson, who has visited the Awá, is available for interview.
Avatar’s Na’vi in London to stop Vedanta mine Mercredi 28 Juillet 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Two Na’vi protested outside Vedanta’s AGM. © Survival |
Two Na’vi from James Cameron’s film Avatar today paid a visit to British mining company Vedanta Resources’ Annual General Meeting in Westminster, London.
The Na’vi joined tribal rights organization Survival in a demonstration against Vedanta, over its controversial plan to mine the sacred mountain of India’s Dongria Kondh tribe.
Martin Horwood MP, Chair of the all-party parliamentary group for tribal peoples, also attended the AGM, whilst former Monty Python star Michael Palin sent a message of support: ‘I’ve been to the Nyamgiri Hills in Orissa and seen the forces of money and power that Vedanta Resources have arrayed against a people who have occupied their land for thousands of years, who husband the forest sustainably and make no great demands on the state or the government. The tribe I visited simply want to carry on living in the villages that they and their ancestors have always lived in.’
Vedanta’s AGM was the same day that British Prime Minister David Cameron met Indian PM Dr. Manmohan Singh. Martin Horwood MP wrote to David Cameron urging him to raise the issue of the plight of the Dongria Kondh at the meeting.
The Dongria Kondh tribe have been described as ‘the real Avatar tribe’ because their plight closely parallels that of the aliens in James Cameron’s blockbuster.
Vedanta Resources is majority-owned by billionaire Mayfair resident Anil Agarwal.
In the past month Vedanta has suffered three major blows to its mining plans. India’s Environment and Forests Minister ordered an investigation into the Dongria’s rights to their forest; the Chief Secretary of Odisha state ordered a separate probe on the same topic; and leading Dutch investment firm PGGM announced it had sold its stake in Vedanta over human rights concerns.
Previous shareholders who have sold their stake include the Norwegian government, the Church of England and the Joseph Rowntree Charitable Trust.
Download photos of the demonstration at Vedanta’s AGM (more photos will be available shortly):
 | Two Na’vi protested outside Vedanta’s AGM. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
 | The Dongria Kondh’s plight closely parallels that of the Na’vi from Avatar. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
 | Two Na’vi protested outside Vedanta’s AGM. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
 | Two Na’vi protested outside Vedanta’s AGM. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
 | Vedanta’s CEO was confronted by a large number of protesters from various NGOs. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
 | Vedanta’s CEO was confronted by a large number of protesters from various NGOs. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
Indians hold construction workers hostage at Amazon dam site Mardi 27 Juillet 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| A dam being built in the Brazilian Amazon rainforest. © Survival |
Brazilian Indians are occupying the site of a hydroelectric plant, demanding that they be compensated for the damage caused to them by the dam, that their land rights be upheld and that no more harmful dams be built in the region.
Around 300 Indians from eleven tribes, including about 50 Enawene Nawe Indians, arrived Sunday at the site of the Dardanelos dam in Mato Grosso state in the Amazon, and more Indians are continuing to join the group.
100 construction workers were held hostage at the construction site on Sunday. The protesters have since allowed the workers to leave, with several company officials taking their place. According to reports, nobody has been injured.
The Indians say the dam is being built on a sacred ancient burial ground.
An Enawene Nawe spokesman told Survival, ‘We joined the protest to raise awareness about the damage the dams cause, about the recognition of our land and the dangers of future projects like this’.
77 small hydroelectric dams are planned for the Juruena River, upstream of the Enawene Nawe’s land. Five are already under construction.
Another series of dams is planned for the Aripuanã river, including the Dardanelos dam – the site of the protest – which will affect the Cinta Larga and Arara tribes.
The Indians were not consulted about the projects before they started, and their livelihoods are now threatened.
The Enawene Nawe say that the dams are polluting the river water and killing the fish. This is preventing the Enawene Nawe from performing yãkwa, an important ritual in which they build intricate dams across the smaller rivers and trap fish in large baskets.
This year and last year the Indians caught almost no fish, a disaster for the tribe, for whom fish is a vital part of their diet. The government had to bring tons of farmed fish to the tribe.
The Indians are urging that they be fairly compensated for the damage already incurred by the dams, that their lands be mapped out and protected as a matter of urgency, and that no more dams be built without the Indians’ approval.
Earlier this month, Enawene Nawe and other Indians protested against the dams in the Amazon town of Sapezal.
Sarawak’s Chief Minister faces UK protesters over Penan Lundi 26 Juillet 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Chief Minister Taib Mahmud was met by demonstrators protesting at the destruction of the Penan's rainforest. © Survival |
Sarawak Chief Minister Taib Mahmud faced protests by supporters of the Penan in the UK today, while British MPs have written to him expressing concern over the newly documented cases of sexual abuse of Penan women.
Protestors from Survival and other organizations greeted the Chief Minister in Oxford this morning, where he had travelled with cabinet colleagues to give the keynote speech at the Inaugural Oxford Global Islamic Branding and Marketing Forum. The protestors held placards reading ‘Penan tribe say NO to logging’ and ‘Malaysia: Stop destroying the Penan tribe’. The protest forced the Chief Minister to enter the building through a side entrance.
The chairman of the British parliament’s All Party Parliamentary Group for Tribal peoples, MP Martin Horwood, has written to Taib Mahmud on the occasion of the Chief Minister’s visit to the UK. ‘The Penan have frequently been subject to violence and intimidation at the hands of loggers operating on their land… Without recognition of their land rights, the Penan are struggling to provide for themselves, and are left vulnerable to violence and exploitation’.
Mr Horwood urged the Chief Minister to ‘halt logging and other developments on the Penan’s land without their free, prior and informed consent, according to international law’ and to ‘ensure that Penan women and girls are protected from sexual violence and the perpetrators of such abuse brought to justice’.
Download a copy of the All Party Parliamentary Group’s letter to the Chief Minister
Download photos of the Oxford demonstration:
 | Chief Minister Taib Mahmud was met by demonstrators protesting at the destruction of the Penan's rainforest. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
 | Chief Minister Taib Mahmud was met by demonstrators protesting at the destruction of the Penan's rainforest. Download hi-res image Credit: © Survival |
Michael Palin sends message to support Dongria Kondh Vendredi 23 Juillet 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| Michael Palin © John Swannell |
Actor, presenter and explorer Michael Palin has sent a message in support of the Dongria Kondh tribe of India, who are resisting a mine on their land by FTSE 100 company Vedanta Resources.
In a statement, Michael Palin said, ‘I’ve been to the Nyamgiri Hills in Orissa and seen the forces of money and power that Vedanta Resources have arrayed against a people who have occupied their land for thousands of years, who husband the forest sustainably and make no great demands on the state or the government. The tribe I visited simply want to carry on living in the villages that they and their ancestors have always lived in.’
On July 28th, Vedanta’s Annual General Meeting in London will be attended by protestors from Survival International and other groups keen to draw shareholders’ attention to Vedanta’s human rights and environmental record.
PIRC, the shareholder lobby group, have announced that they are urging shareholders to vote against re-electing three of the company’s directors on human rights, safety and environmental grounds.
Last chance for Palawan tribe to stop mining Jeudi 22 Juillet 2010 :: Survival International :: RSS
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| The impact of nickel mining in the concession of Rio Tuba Nickel Mining Corporation (RTNMC). © Dario Novellino |
The Palawan tribe of the Philippines have one more chance to stop companies from mining on their land. A government panel meeting on July 30th will decide whether or not to give the go-ahead to two companies who have applied to mine on their territory, which is also a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.
Last month, 600 indigenous people and farmers held a rally, calling on the provincial government to prevent two companies, Macro Asia and Ipilan Nickel Mining Corporation (INC), from mining nickel on their land. As a result of these protests the provincial government agreed to freeze the mining applications pending further investigation.
The Palawan provincial government has now endorsed both companies’ mining plans, despite the protests by the indigenous land owners and those objecting to the idea of mining inside a UNESCO World Biosphere Reserve.
The final step in the approval process for the mining applications will take place at a meeting of a statutory panel known as the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development at the end of July.
Maman Tuwa, a Palawan elder, fears that mining will destroy his community. ‘If our mountains are deforested, how are we going to survive? What are we going to plant if the soil of the uplands will be washed down to the lowlands? How are we going to feed our children? We’ll surely die.’
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