by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Nov 24, 2013 | Colonialism & Conquest, Indigenous Autonomy, Mining & Drilling
By Ron Corben / DW
A new report on minorities and indigenous people warns that the global ‘intensification’ in the exploitation of natural resources is leading to mounting conflicts for the world’s 370 million indigenous people.
The report for 2012 by the London-based human rights group, Minority Rights Group International (MRG), says indigenous peoples “in every region of the world” face the risk of being “driven from their land and natural resources.”
The land and resources are all “vital for their livelihoods, their culture and often their identity as a people,” Vital Bambanze, chair of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, said in the report.
From the Batwa of the Great Lakes region in Central Africa, and the Endorois and Ogiek in Kenya, to hill tribes in northern Thailand, Bedouin in the Middle East and Uighurs in China’s Xinjiang province – all “struggle to maintain their cultural integrity against their respective governments’ desire to put national development first,” Bambanze said.
Unprecedented demand for resources in Asia
The report says the unprecedented demand for natural resources across Asia is “feeding ethnic conflict and displacement and is a severe threat to the lands, livelihoods and the way of life of minorities and indigenous people.”
Carl Soderbergh, an MRG spokesperson, warns the situation faced by indigenous groups is deteriorating world-wide.
“In terms of the trends globally what has been happening over the last decade is that there’s been an intensification of the exploitation of natural resources pushing into areas populated by minorities and indigenous peoples,” Soderbergh told DW.
In regions such as Latin America, the issues faced by communities centered on mining and logging, in North America on tar-sands mining, there were conflicts over wind farms and iron ore mining in the Arctic, while in Africa, indigenous communities faced the leasing of thousands of hectares of land for corporations or foreign governments.
“All governments are chasing a dominant development paradigm in which today minorities and indigenous peoples don’t really have a place and that is a problem,” he said.
In China, investment in mining has forced herders off traditional grazing lands and ancestral villages in regions such as Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, as well as in Tibet.
In Vietnam, over 90,000 people, mostly ethnic Thai, were relocated to make way for the Son La hydropower plant with Vietnamese scientists saying many were left without access to agricultural land.
Meanwhile, in Cambodia’s Prey Lang Forest region, home to the Kuy indigenous people, official land grants of tens of thousands of hectares of forest for mineral extraction, timber and rubber plantations have forced many people to give up their traditional livelihoods.
Conflict has also been evident in Indonesia in areas of increased palm oil plantation development and the mining industry in Papua.
Investment from China seen as a driver for economic growth
Nicole Girard, the rights group’s Asia Program Director, says levels of conflict over land is increasing in South East Asia, driven by foreign investment, including from China.
“It’s definitely increasing, the resource exploitation in indigenous people’s territories; in Southeast Asia, the economies of Laos and Vietnam are opening to more foreign investment, including lots of Chinese investment and including Burma,” Girard said.
Girard says the increased fighting in Myanmar’s ethnic controlled Kachin State over the past year is directly linked to conflict over resource investment largely by Chinese businesses.
Myanmar, led by the military-backed civilian government of President Thein Sein, has been undergoing reforms over the past year to improve its human rights situation. But Naw San, General Secretary of the Students and Youth Congress Burma (Myanmar) says despite steps to peace talks with ethnic groups in Myanmar, the development process is still not inclusive.
“We are still worried that, like in the past, investment and development projects will be dealt with by the central government and that there will be (no real) engagement or consultations with the process on the ground,” Naw San told DW.
“What the ethnic (communities) need now is national equality,” he said.
Two thirds of Indigenous People live in Asia
The Asia Indigenous People’s Pact (AIPP) Foundation, in a separate report, noted that two thirds of the world’s 370 million self-identified indigenous peoples live in Asia.
And those people, according to the AIPP Foundation, “are currently marginalized and subordinated economically, politically and culturally.”
They are “overrepresented among the poor, illiterate, malnourished and stunted,” it said.
AIPP’s report says for many in the region “militarization, (the) plundering of resources, forced relocation, cultural genocide and discrimination in everyday life are common experiences.”
The report pointed to the construction of dams in Asia, which since the 1960s, has led to “massive displacements, loss of livelihoods, and food insecurity of indigenous peoples in India, the Philippines, Laos and Malaysia.”
Bernice See, an AIPP coordinator, said governments give priority to economic ventures and investments over people’s rights.
See called on Asia’s governments to respect the UN’s Declaration of the Rights of Indigenous peoples and the provisions calling for the “free prior of informed consent from any development that comes into their territory.”
“These governments should have the moral obligation to respect these agreements. The declaration should be used as a framework for dealing with indigenous people,” she said.
From DW: http://www.dw.de/indigenous-peoples-threatened-by-resource-exploitation/a-16065981
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Oct 29, 2013 | Indigenous Autonomy, Lobbying
By Latin American Herald Tribune
Brazil’s first regional federal court suspended the environmental permit for the massive Belo Monte dam project in Amazonia and ordered an immediate halt to construction, Efe learned on Monday.
Judge Antonio de Souza Prudente’s ruling came in response to a motion from federal prosecutors.
Work on what would be the world’s third-largest dam began in March 2011, despite opposition from indigenous people, farmers, fishermen and environmental activists.
Prudente’s decision is subject to review, but a environmental permit will not be issued until the project meets all the conditions laid down in the original permit.
The judge also urged consultation with the affected indigenous communities and threatened to fine the Norte Energia consortium 500,000 reais ($228,000) per day until it complies with his ruling.
The decision likewise bars Brazilian government development bank BNDES from signing any contracts with Norte Energia until the environmental issues are adequately addressed.
The $10.6 billion hydroelectric complex will flood a 503-sq.-kilometer (195-sq.-mile) area, affecting more than 60 communities.
Due to oscillations in the flow of the Xingu River, guaranteed minimum capacity generation from the Belo Monte Dam will be 4,571 MW, or roughly 40 percent of its maximum capacity of 11,233 MW, according to government estimates.
The first regional court has already stopped work on Belo Monte on a previous occasion, in March 2012, but the Supreme Federal Tribunal overturned that ruling two months later.
From Latin American Herald Tribune: http://www.laht.com/article.asp?ArticleId=1128195&CategoryId=14090
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Oct 4, 2013 | Colonialism & Conquest, Indigenous Autonomy, Obstruction & Occupation
By Ahni / Intercontinental Cry
Nearly 1,500 Indigenous Peoples from across Brazil on Wednesday occupied a central road in the federal capital Brasília known as the Esplanade of Ministries, paralyzing traffic in both directions.
A part of the National Indigenous Mobilization convened by the Articulation of Indigenous Peoples of Brazil (APIB), the protesters are trying to stop a legislative assault that threatens to severely undermine or extinguish Indigenous rights in the country.
As examined in “Indigenous April 2013: Declaration Of Indigenous National Mobilization In Defense Of Indigenous Territories,” this legislative assault consists of several bills and decrees, including:
Proposed Amendments to the Constitution (PECs) numbers 038/99, 215/00 and 237/13, Bill 1610/96, the bill for Complementary Law (PLP) 227/12, and the Portarias (ministerial orders) 419/11 and 7957/13.
- PEC 38 would give the Senate power to approve processes of demarcation of Indigenous lands, determining that “the demarcation of Indigenous lands or units of environmental conservation respect the maximum limit of 30% of the surface area of each state”;
- PEC 215 gives Congress exclusive authority to decide the boundaries of all Indigenous lands;
- PEC 237 permits the possession of Indigenous lands by rural producers;
- PLP 227 limits federal lands that can be used for demarcation;
- Portaria 419 intends to streamline the licensing of public projects by means of the reduction of Indigenous rights, of the rights of traditional communities and of the environment;
- Portaria 7957 creates the Environmental Operations Company of the National Force of Public Security to permit the use of military force against Indigenous Peoples who oppose the large-scale projects of the PAC (Program for Acceleration of Growth), especially hydroelectric dams;
- PL 1610, allows mining in Indigenous lands.
Prior to occupying the Esplanade of Ministries, the diverse group of protesters in Brasília, who represent more than one hundred ethnicities, attempted to enter the National Congress. The Indigenous Peoples were met with pepper spray.
During the confrontation, APIB reported that one Tupiniquim participant was wounded with a deep cut to the arm and was sent to the University of Brasília Hospital (HUB) for medical attention.
Rather than take the entire group of protesters on, government officials requested a meeting with a small committee of representatives.
There was no consensus among the leaders, says the APIB. Many declined the offer, “[insisting] that representatives of the government should come out of Congress and talk to all the Indigenous Peoples present.” However, a committee of 31 Indigenous leaders decided to meet with the acting President of the House, Andrew Vargas (PT-PR) to discuss PEC 215 and PLP 227.
At that point, “The Indigenous then decided to stop activity at the Axis Monument, above the Ministry of Justice. The car of government spokesman, congressman Candido Vaccarezza (of the Labor Party-PT of São Paulo), was stopped in the middle of the demonstration and Indigenous participants wrapped his car with toilet paper, and hung bills and coins on the windshield.”
APIB explains that “Vaccarezza is the chairman of the Joint Committee (House and Senate) of the proposed Supplementary Law Bill (PLP) 227, which deals with regulations to Article 6 of the Constitution, in relation to exceptions to the exclusive use of the Indigenous Peoples to their lands.”
At another point during the protest, “[four] large photos were the target of Indigenous arrows, one of President Dilma Rousseff, one of her chief of staff, Gleisi Hoffmann, and the other two, the president of the National Confederation of Agriculture (CNA) and Senator Katia Abreu. Following a ritual dance around the photos, they stepped on them.”
From Intercontinental Cry: http://intercontinentalcry.org/brazil-indigenous-peoples-occupy-esplanade-20268/
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Oct 1, 2013 | Indigenous Autonomy, Protests & Symbolic Acts
By Idle No More Toronto
Idle No More Toronto* is calling on all communities to attend the Nation to Nation Unity in Action: Our Right to Say No picnic and parade in celebration of the Idle No More National Day of Action.
On Monday October 7, 2013 communities across Canada will be gathering to celebrate Unity in Action, and Idle No More Toronto is sending a message that communities have a right to say no to development in their territories and the Canadian government’s changes to Treaty and Aboriginal rights without free, prior and informed consent. This event is open to all allies, media and people wishing to learn more and show solidarity for Indigenous communities who are asserting their jurisdiction in their territories at great risk to themselves by saying no to legislated termination.
Toronto Idle No More will meet at 5 pm at the South East entrance to Trinity Bellwoods Park, for a potluck picnic, speakers Aaron Detlor from the Haudenosaunee Development Institute and author and journalist Judy Rebick along with musical and spoken work performances. At 6:15 pm, there will be a Parade down Dundas that will end at 55 Dundas Street West (at Bay st.) Marchers are welcome to attend the Ryerson University event in Room 1076 at 7 pm entitled “Reframing the Nation to Nation Relationship” with Dr. Pamela Palmater, documentary filmmaker Alanis Obomsawin and youth artist Josh Kendrick, and a screening of Alanis Obomsawin’s The People of the Kattawapiskat River (Captioning available).
Background
Stephen Harper defiantly ignores the Canadian Constitution, Treaties, International Human Rights laws, scientists whom he has muzzled, and arguably, the tenets of democracy. Indigenous people are leading the way for all Canadians who recognize that Stephen Harper’s flawed economic plans are not only unconstitutional, but unsustainable and geared to benefit corporations rather than communities and citizens.
The list of Indigenous communities and people from across Canada who are actively engaged in non-violent, direct-action and resistance is monumental, and too many to name them all. From the East Coast Elsipogtog First Nation resisting SWN Resources seismic testing to frack on their sacred land, to the Athabasca Chipewyan case against the Alberta Tar Sands to the Mathias Colomb Cree defending against a multi-million dollar lawsuit from Hudbay Minerals to the Tahltan Elders defending the Sacred Headwaters from the Fortune Minerals coal mining plan to Hupacasath First Nation leading the way to stop the Canada-China FIPPA, the list goes on and on.
The time is now to stand in solidarity with Indigenous people across Canada, to protect the freedom and democracy that most Canadians identify with – yet for the original peoples of this land, has most often been a myth.
*Idle No More is not an organization, but a movement, and includes hundreds of Indigenous grassroots organizers from across Turtle Island who are engaged in local resistance struggles against resource extraction corporations and the Canadian government ignoring and defying Treaty rights.
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Sep 12, 2013 | Indigenous Autonomy
By Jeremy Hance / Mongabay
One-hundred and fifty years after a treaty with England granted the Miskito people rights over their land–a treaty which was never fully respected–the government of Honduras has officially handed over nearly a million hectares (970,000 hectares) of tropical forest along the Caribbean Coast to the indigenous people. The Miskito are found along the eastern coast of both Honduras and Nicaragua and number around 200,000.
“This is an unprecedented and historic moment for our peoples,” said Norvin Goff, chairman of Miskitu Asla Takanka (MASTA), a Honduras group representing the tribes.”The entire region is at risk from illegal hunting, logging and clearing of land to graze cattle. The Miskito people can protect it, but only if we have title to those lands.”
Over the last few decades, tropical forests along the Caribbean Coast have been infiltrated by land speculators, loggers, and ranchers, creating conflict between the illegal settlers and the Miskito. The Miskito now have title to seven land areas, comprising 128 communities, and about seven percent of Honduras’ total land area.
The official rights to their land will allow the Miskito to negotiate possible REDD+ treaties in the future. REDD, which stands for Reducing Emissions From Deforestation and Degradation, is a UN program that aims to cut global carbon emissions by paying tropical countries to keep their forests standing.
“We have been doing REDD for 500 years,” notes Goff. “Now we will be able to teach others how we have protected our forests and natural resources, and benefit from our role in helping the world that wants so badly to stop destroying the forests so we can slow climate change.”
Around 40 percent of Honduras is covered in forest, but the country has one of the highest rates of deforestation in Latin America. From 1990 to 2005, Honduras lost 37.1 percent of its forestland. The country is still home to a number of important Neotropical species such as the jaguar (Panthera onca), Baird’s tapir (Tapirus bairdii), giant anteater (Myrmecophaga tridactyla), and mantled howler monkey (Alouatta palliata).
“With a substantial proportion of the total territory of Honduras now owned by Indigenous peoples, we envision the creation of a new development agenda in Honduras, one built with guidance from indigenous peoples and with respect for our customary rights,” Goff said.
From Mongabay: “Indigenous people of Honduras granted one million hectares of rainforest“
by Deep Green Resistance News Service | Sep 2, 2013 | Indigenous Autonomy, Obstruction & Occupation
By J. G. / Deep Roots Collective
Monday morning September 2nd protestors swarmed and created a road block for cars leaving Whiteclay. Activists marched through the town and blocked entrances into the various liquor stores. Today’s action is part of an ongoing campaign to stop liquid genocide on the Pine Ridge Reservation.
The town of Whiteclay lies less than 300 feet from the border of Pine Ridge, where the sale and consumption of alcohol is prohibited. While Whiteclay has a population of 14, there are 4 liquor stores in the town, selling 13,000 can of beer each day mostly to the Oglala Lakota in Pine Ridge making $34 million in revenue annually.
Lauren Lorenruiz came from Salt Lake City, Utah to stand in opposition to liquor sales, “The reason I am here today is because Whiteclay is poison…What we are seeing is a place of exploitation, a place of wrong-doing. These kinds of establishments are designed solely to destroy people so its profit over people and its inherently wrong… It has been tearing apart the Lakota people for over 100 years and we’re ready for it to stop.”
A protestor from Connecticut stated, “As an ally to the Lakota people I think that solidarity is in sacrifice. As a non- native white person I have a form of privilege that I can bring attention to these issues.”
Two days previous, people from all over the country marched into White Clay for the second annual Women’s March and Day of Peace to bring awareness of the harms caused by alcoholism.
Even with the highly contentious vote to legalize alcohol in Pine Ridge Pine Ridge activists remain undeterred. Present at the Women’s Day of Peace, Oglala Lakota activist Olowan Martinez spoke to how alcohol has had a devastating impact on the people of Pine Ridge and continues to be used as a chemical weapon of genocide against the Lakota people and their culture to this day, “They use alcohol to trick us and now we trick ourselves.”
