[IPSM] Underreported Struggles #37, April 2010

[willowtree at mts.net]

FYI: Underreported Struggles #37, April 2010
http://intercontinentalcry.org/underreported-struggles-37-april-2010/

In this month's Underreported Struggles: Paramilitaries attack peaceful 
caravan in Oaxaca; Kayan People win 12-year battle against oil palm; 
Indigenous People issue warning of bloodshed in Brazil; Indian Police 
and Private militias attack indigenous protesters; Canadian company gets 
permission to drill on Kichwa land.

***

Apr 30 - Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth, and texts 
from the People's Conference on Climate Change - Here you will find all 
key documents from the World People’s Conference on Climate Change and 
the Rights of Mother Earth, which gathered more than 35 thousand people 
from 140 countries in Cochabamba, Bolivia. To learn more about the 
conference, see here.

Apr 29 - Controversial Wind Farm on Sacred Land Approved - The Nantucket 
Sound Cape Wind Project was approved this week by US Secretary of the 
Interior Ken Salazar. The controversial wind farm will completely 
undermine an important Wampanoag ceremony and destroy a number of burial 
sites in the region. This is despite the area being determined eligible 
for inclusion on the National Register of Historic Places.

Apr 29 - Passamaquoddy Tribe Members Win Victory in Natural Gas Dispute 
- A group of Passamaquoddy Tribe members in Maine today received notice 
of an important decision by the United States Bureau of Indian Affairs 
(BIA) to cancel a long-term lease for the construction of a liquefied 
natural gas terminal on an area of Passamaquoddy land known as Split 
Rock. The decision represents a victory for both the group and the 
Passamaquoddy Tribe.

Apr 28 - Two dead and three missing after paramilitaries attack peaceful 
caravan - Two people are dead and three are still missing after a 
peaceful solidarity caravan was attacked by paramilitaries in Oaxaca, 
Mexico. The caravan "came under fire" on Tuesday (April 27) "as it 
passed through La Sabana, a town controlled by UBISORT, a paramilitary 
organization that is allied with the ruling Institutional Revolution 
Party (PRI)."

Apr 28 - Dangerous initiative by the World Bank to control land grabbing 
- Seven voluntary principles on land acquisitions announced by the World 
Bank and supported by the UN will legitimize and promote land grabbing 
in Asia, Africa and Latin America. The World Bank claims that these 
acquisitions will promote agricultural investment. In reality they will 
further entrench corporate agriculture for profit and destroy local 
livelihoods.

Apr 28 - United States apologizes to American Indians – but forgets to 
tell them?! - Robert J. Miller comments on the Native American Apology 
Resolution, which Barack Obama signed in December as part of a defense 
appropriations spending bill... Signed, WITHOUT telling any Indigenous 
People.

Apr 27 - First African country ratifies international law for tribal 
peoples - The Central African Republic has ratified International Labour 
Organization Convention 169 on the rights of indigenous and tribal 
peoples. It is the first African country to do so. Convention 169 is the 
only international law for tribal peoples, recognizing their land rights 
and setting standards regarding consultation and consent.

Apr 24 - Indigenous in Argentina "Drowning in Sadness" - The legal 
battle waged by an indigenous community in northern Argentina against 
the government over a project that flooded half of their territory 
highlights the fact that legal title to their land is not enough to 
overcome the marginalisation they have faced for centuries.

April 22 - Indigenous People issue warning of bloodshed over Amazon dam 
- Indigenous leaders have issued a warning that "bloodshed" is imminent 
now that Brazil has granted rights to build the controversial Belo Monte 
hydroelectric dam in the Amazon. The Auction was rushed through on 
Tuesday, April 22, following a set of court injunctions that blocked and 
then unblocked the auction process.

Apr 21 - Fact-finding Delegation Discovers Mexican Community Devastated 
by Mining Activities of Blackfire Exploration - A Canadian delegation 
that visited Chiapas, Mexico following the murder of social activist 
Mariano Abarca and the involvement of several employees of the 
Calgary-based mining company Blackfire Exploration has concluded that 
Blackfire should leave Chiapas, and the Canadian Parliament needs to act 
now to prevent further international mining conflicts from turning deadly.

April 14 - Guatemala's government is not complying with ILO resolution - 
In Guatemala, the National Maya Waqib Kej Coordination is demanding 
Alvaro Colom's administration comply with the ILO resolution demanding 
over thirty days ago the cease of mining activities. See (here for some 
background).

April 14 - West Papua: Land grab to displace locals - Plans for a US$6 
billion food estate in the Merauke region of West Papua has been 
attacked by farmer and environmental organisations as a land grab that 
would destroy 2 million hectares of virgin forest. The project would 
also employ some 6.4 million people — three times the current population 
of Papua.

Apr 10 - NB Indigenous Groups Launch a "generous" $13 billion lawsuit 
against Canada - A coalition of three New Brunswick native groups has 
launched a massive, $13 billion lawsuit against the federal government 
in a bid to "redress the imbalance" indigenous people face in the 
province - including a history of "genocide." The civil suit seeks the 
financial settlement dating back to 1610, as well as a recognition of 
the Mi'kmaq and Métis people's rights and relief over land claims.

Apr 9 - Ecuador: 5000 Indigenous People Protest Against Water Bill - 
Indigenous people from several communities in Ecuador marched in Quito 
in protest against a proposed law to regulate water, which they say is a 
step toward the privatization of water resources.

Apr 9 - Yanomami and Yekuana protest against illegal goldminers - The 
Yanomami and Yekuana People in northern Brazil held a protest this week 
to denounce the illegal invasion of their land by goldminers and to 
demand that the authorities take action to remove them.

Apr 7 - Borneo: Kayan People win 12-year battle against oil palm - More 
than twelve years after going to court, the Kayan native community of 
Long Teran Kanan on the Tinjar river in the Malaysian part of Borneo 
have won an important legal battle against the Sarawak state government 
and IOI Pelita, a subsidiary of the controversial Malaysian oil palm 
producer IOI.

Apr 6 - Mercury Poisoning in Grassy Narrows worse than ever - The health 
impacts of mercury poisoning in Grassy Narrows people are worse now than 
in the 1970's, says a newly translated health study by the world 
renowned Japanese mercury expert Dr. Harada Masazumi. The translated 
study was released today, April 6, 2010, exactly 40 years after the 
Ontario government banned fishing on the Wabigoon River due to high 
level mercury contamination by the Dryden paper mill.

Apr 6 - Penan step up campaign to defend Heart of Borneo nature reserve 
- Penan natives from Sarawak’s Upper Baram region in the Malaysian part 
of Borneo have erected two logging road blockades to prevent their last 
remaining virgin jungle from being logged by the Samling Group, a 
Malaysian timber giant. The blockades have been erected at two 
strategical locations on logging roads near two Penan villages.

Apr 5 - New report shows Peru Government’s betrayal of Indigenous 
Peoples - A new report by ODECOFROC, a group that represents 56 Awajun 
and Wampis communities in the Amazon, reveals a number of government 
betrayals concerning the Indigenous Peoples' territory. These betrayals 
ultimately led to the massive protests last year, which culminated in 
Bagua on June 5.

Apr 5 - Hundreds rally to stop nuclear dump in Northern Territory, 
Australia - Indigenous groups and environmentalists are continuing a 
push to stop a radioactive waste dump being built on Muckaty Station in 
the Northern Territory. the government is "fraudulently" moving ahead 
with the project.

Apr 2 - India: Police and private militias attack indigenous people 
resisting land acquisition - According to eyewitnesses, at least 30 
indigenous protestors sustained serious injuries in an ongoing action by 
about 1,000 police officials and 250 well-armed private civil militiamen 
supporting a land acquisition. The Indigenous People are protesting 
against the government acquisition of their lands and habitats for 
theTata Steel plant and supporting infrastructure.

Apr 1 - Canadian Drilling Threatens Ecuador Reserve - The Canadian oil 
company Ivanhoe Energy obtained a concession from the Ecuadorian 
government for an oil exploitation project inside the UNESCO Sumaco 
Biosphere Reserve, in the Ecuadorian province of Napo. It is projected 
that the project will extract between 4.5 and 7 million barrels of 
petroleum from 30 or more wells. The project has not been sufficiently 
studied and we worry that it will have major social and environmental 
impacts. the Kichwa People intend to mobilize to stop the drilling 
operation.

***

Videos

Palawan: Voices from the Lost Frontier - "Voices from the Lost Frontier" 
exposes the growing threat of mining development on Palawan Island, one 
of the most bio-diverse regions in Asia.

Winona LaDuke: Food, Energy and Sustainability - Anishinaabe Activist, 
Author and Orator Winona LaDuke talks about food sovereignty, renewable 
energy, sustainable development and indigenous paradigms. Recorded in 
Vancouver Washington in February 2010.

We want to shut down this mine - On Friday, March 26, 2010, two hundred 
Indigenous Landowners and concerned citizens stood up in protest against 
the Chinese-owned Ramu nickel mine in Madang Province, Papua New Guinea. 
The peaceful protest was deemed illegal by police and halted.