[IPSM] Underreported Struggles #38, May 2010

[willowtree at mts.net]

FYI: Underreported Struggles #38, May 2010
http://intercontinentalcry.org/underreported-struggles-38-may-2010/

In this month's Underreported Struggles: Eagle Rock Defenders camp 
'crushed' by Police; Indigenous People call on FARC, army to leave their 
territory; Mexico Supreme Court Issues Landmark ruling on Indigenous 
Rights; Kayapo blockade heads into second month

***

50,000 protest against Arizona's "anti-immigration" law - An estimated 
50,000 people showed up on Saturday for the National Day of Action 
against SB-1070 in Phoenix, Arizona. The protest took place just days 
after the Border Patrol Headquarters in Tucson was occupied by 
Indigenous People and non-native supporters. Meanwhile, the blatantly 
racist law begins to catch on in 10 other states.

Hundreds Gather in Northern B.C. Against Enbridge Oil Tanker Plan - More 
than 500 Indigenous People gathered in Kitamaat Village this week to 
oppose the Northern Gateway Pipeline, a controversial project that would 
transport oil from the Alberta Tar sands to the deep sea port in 
Kitamaat. The gathering was held two days after Enbridge filed its 
application for the project.

Eagle Rock Defenders camp ‘crushed' by Police - Dozens of heavily armed 
Police and State Troopers have raided the peaceful defenders camp at 
Eagle Rock in Michigan's Upper Peninsula; "crushing" the month-long 
effort to protect the site from a controversial sulfide mine. 
Immediately following the raid, the mining company Kennecott swiftly 
moved in, demolished the camp and set up a fence around Eagle Rock.

Call on authorities in Brazil to protect the Guarani People! - The 
indigenous Guarani community of Kurussu Ambá is at grave risk of 
violence and destitution unless the Brazilian government steps in to 
protect the Guarani and respect their land rights.

Peasants of Haiti to demonstrate against Monsanto's “humanitarian help” 
- Monsanto corporation and the US embassy in Haiti decided to donate 
nearly 475 tons of GM corn to small farmers of the island, with the 
excuse of helping in the national reconstruction after the earthquake of 
January 12. The joint measure caused the anger of the Haitian peasants, 
who are calling a national demonstration against it next June 5.

Dump site 41 is gone forever - Site 41, the controversial landfill in 
southern Ontario is finally gone for good. The Simcoe County Council has 
voted to rezone the site as agricultural land with a covenant that no 
garbage will be dumped, sorted or treated at the site in the future. The 
welcomed decision, which guarantees the safety of the Alliston aquifer, 
marks the end of a 15-year struggle by farmers, activists, local 
residents and indigenous people to "Protect the Water."

Nicaragua signs international law for tribal peoples - Nicaragua's 
National Assembly has ratified the only international law for tribal 
peoples, International Labour Organization Convention 169, making it the 
22nd country to do so. The Convention sets legally binding standards for 
the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples everywhere. By signing the 
Convention, Nicaragua has committed to respecting and upholding these 
rights.

Brazil: Kayapo blockade heads into second month - It's been exactly one 
month to the day since a group of Kayapo set up a ferry blockade across 
the Xingu River in an ongoing protest against the controversial Belo 
Monte hydro dam. The Kayapo were dispatched to the site on April 22, the 
same day Brazil's government granted rights to a consortium to proceed 
with the dam

Permanent Peoples' Tribunal condemns EU for complicity in social and 
ecological crimes throughout Latin America - The Jury of the Permanent 
Peoples' Tribunal of Madrid has issued their ruling over the 27 
corporations (PDF) accused of human rights and environmental abuses in 
Latin America. Finding the corporations "Guilty", the ruling highlights 
the EU's role in permitting what they termed "a regime of generalized 
permissiveness, illegality and impunity.. in Latin America”.

Mexico: Supreme Court Issues Landmark ruling on Indigenous Rights - In a 
landmark decision, Mexico's high court has ruled that the government 
overstepped its bounds by imprisoning two Otomí women on trumped-up 
kidnapping charges. The decision, which resulted in the immediate 
release of the two indigenous women from a federal prison, creates a 
precedent that allows human rights advocates to use the courts to 
challenge what they believe is government impunity.

India: Aftermath of police attack on Anti-POSCO villages - The situation 
in the three villages of Dhinkia, Gobindapur and Nuagaon is grim. Three 
days after the 15th May assault by police forces on the peaceful 
assembly of villagers in Orissa, nearly every household in these three 
villages have people who are injured and traumatized. All exit points 
from the villages have also been sealed by the police, forcing the 
villagers, even those "with festering wounds and fractured limbs... 
including the elderly" to suffer their ordeal silently in the confines 
of their homes.

Thousands of Tibetans mobilize to defend Sacred Mountains - A massive 
police crackdown may be imminent in the Tibetan Autonomous Region (TAR), 
where thousands of Tibetan villagers have mobilized to defend their 
sacred mountains from mining exploitation. As many as five thousand 
Chinese troops have been called in to make sure the mining operations 
proceed.

Oaxaca: The Ongoing Extermination of San Juan Copala's Autonomous 
Triquis - Twelve people were kidnapped and disappeared in San Juan 
Copala on May 16, following the ambush of a caravan on April 27, 2010 in 
which two human rights activists were murdered by Unión de Bienestar de 
la Región Triqui (Ubisort) paramilitaries. The twelve disappeared are 
women and children. The kidnapping appeared to be a reprisal for the 
call to send a second, international and larger caravan to San Juan 
Copala, scheduled for June 8. At the close of Sunday May 16, late 
information was received that all the women and children had been freed. 
Nevertheless the denunciation of their disappearance was published to 
illustrate the contempt the state government and the State Commission 
for Human Rights hold for the Triquis.

Colombia: Indigenous call on FARC, army to leave their territory - 
Indigenous communities in the south western department of Cauca have 
implored all armed fighters to leave their territory, following the 
intensification of fighting between left-wing FARC guerillas and the 
Colombian Army that have left many civilians injured, displaced, or dead.

"Scare the uncontacted tribes or tell them to go home," advises Perenco 
- Oil company Perenco has released a plan revealing how its workers 
would react if they meet any voluntarily isolated Indigenous Peoples in 
Peru. Perenco, chaired by one of France's wealthiest men, is hoping to 
build a pipeline into one of the remotest parts of the Peruvian Amazon.

Ecuador: armed attack on Amazon indigenous community - On April 29, a 
group of indigenous Kichwa men from the community of Sarayaku in the 
Ecuadoran Amazon were attacked with dynamite and firearms by invaders 
illegally encroaching on indigenous lands. The assailants fired at 
point-blank range as the Kichwa men were drinking chicha on a jungle 
trail, and three Kichwa were injured. In the end, they had to be carried 
through the jungle for 14 hours to the airstrip in Sarayaku, and were 
then taken to hospital in the town of Puyo by medevac plane.

Indigenous leaders call for crackdown on Canadian mining companies 
abroad - Indigenous leaders from Papua New Guinea came to Parliament 
Hill today to urge MPs to support legislation to clamp down on the 
practices of Canadian mining firms operating in the developing world.The 
members of the Ipili tribe have been asking Barrick Gold Corp. to 
address allegations of human rights abuses and environmental degradation 
at the Barrick-controlled Porgera gold mine. But Toronto-based Barrick 
has denied allegations of human rights abuses, saying such violations 
are not tolerated at the Porgera mine.

Kichwas Preparing to Defend Their Land Against Canadian Drilling - At an 
historic assembly in Ecuador two weeks ago, roughly 1000 Kichwas 
"overwhelmingly" agreed to mobilize against the Calgary-based oil 
company Ivanhoe Energy. Prior to the assembly, Ecuador gave the Canadian 
company drilling rights on the Kichwa's traditional territory within the 
UNESCO Sumaco Biosphere Reserve.

Barrick Gold gets court go-ahead on Cortez Hills - In Dec. 2009, the 
Western Shoshone won a key legal victory over the expansion of Barrick 
Gold's key Cortez gold mine in Nevada. Unfortunately, that victory has 
been hollowed out by a U.S. district court, which ruled that Barrick can 
continue its operations unabated..

Lakotas Prevent Blackhawk Helicopters from Landing at Wounded Knee - 
Military helicopters approaching from the North could be seen by a crowd 
of 60 or so Lakota people, gathered at the base of the hill where 
victims of the 1890 Wounded Knee Massacre lay buried in a mass grave. As 
the three black helicopters passed overhead and started to turn around, 
“Block the helicopters!” could be heard faintly, drowned out by the 
sound of thumping chopper blades and the harsh wind, words shouted by a 
grandmother. The people began to run toward the helicopters, which were 
nearing the mass grave.

Monthly Videos

 From Noble Savage to Righteous Warrior - Kanien'kehaka Educator, Author 
and Activist Taiaiake Alfred talks about the realities and challenges of 
nativism, decolonization and indigeneity in this lecture, entitled, From 
Noble Savage to Righteous Warrior: Regenerating and Reinscribing 
Indigenous Presence.

A bird's eye view of uranium mining near the Grand Canyon - In this 
short video, Roger Clark from the Grand Canyon Trust takes an EcoFlight 
over four uranium mines situated near the Grand Canyon National park. 
This bird's eye view will give you an idea of what's in store for the 
region and its watersheds that bring water to more than 25 million people.

International Conference: Women, Mining and Human Rights - Interviews 
and excerpts from the first international conference of its kind in 
Latin America, "Women, Mining and Human Rights: Beyond the Challenge," 
held in Guatemala City from March 14 to 17, 2010.