[Onthebarricades] Indigenous protests, global South, Apr-Aug 2008

[Andy]

ON THE BARRICADES:  Global Resistance Roundup, April-August 2008
https://lists.resist.ca/cgi-bin/mailman/listinfo/onthebarricades
http://tech.groups.yahoo.com/group/globalresistance/

*  WEST PAPUA:  Protester killed during Papuan flag protest
*  MALAYSIA:  Indigenous Kenyah blockade Sarawak logging for a month
*  INDIA/UK:  Orissa adivasis visit UK in mining protest
*  BRAZIL:  Indigenous people protest Xingu dam proposal
*  TAIWAN:  Bunun indigenous people protest "poaching" arrests
*  PHILIPPINES:  Indigenous people close mountain mine
*  ASSAM:  Adivasis rally
*  INDIA, Karnataka:  Forest dwellers warn of protest over sales crackdown
*  INDIA, Tamil Nadu:  Scheduled Tribe protests unauthorised mining
*  INDIA, Orissa:  Adivasis protest Tata Steel in land dispute
*  THAILAND:  Dam protesters put curse on prime minister
*  FIJI:  Reservoir blockade ends after talks, but issue simmers
*  PAKISTAN:  "Tribesmen" protest police prosecution of elders
*  PHILIPPINES:  Indigenous groups protest mining
*  NIUE:  Dissident leaves country for duration of summit

http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/224594,one-dead-in-rioting-in-indonesias-papua-province.html

One dead in rioting in Indonesia's Papua province
Posted : Sat, 09 Aug 2008 11:00:33 GMT
Author : DPA
Category : Asia (World)

Jakarta - One person died from gunshot wounds Saturday after Indonesian 
police opened fire in an attempt to stop rioting in the country's 
easternmost province of Papua, media reports said. MetroTV reported the riot 
broke out after police officers removed an outlawed Free Papua Movement 
separatist flag, raised by a group of people at the end of rally in Wamena 
district town of Papua's Jayawijaya regency to mark an international day of 
indigenous' rights.
The removal triggered anger and escalated into rioting when thousands of 
people attacked the police with arrows, bows and rocks. Police fired warning 
shots to stop the violence.
According to Fadal al-Hamid, head of the local indigenous community 
organizing the rally, one person died from gunshot wounds.
The Jayawijaya district police chief blamed the rally leaders for the 
rioting by allowing participants to raise separatist flags.
The Bintang Kejora (Morning Star) flag has long been a symbol of the 
region's separatist rebellion, with the Papuan Tribal Council urging the 
government to recognize the flag as a cultural symbol of Papuans.
In Jakarta, about 100 Muslim hardliners staged a rally outside the US 
embassy to protest a call by Washington for the release of two Papuan 
activists.
The Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir's protest came after 40 members of the US 
Congress sent a letter to Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono 
urging an "immediate and unconditional" release of the activists on human 
rights grounds.
Philep Karma and Yusac Pakage were sentenced to 15 and 10 years respectively 
in 2005 after a court found them guilty of treason after they raised an 
outlawed separatist flag, the Morning Star.
The Free Papua Movement is a small rebel group that has fought for secession 
in the predominantly Melanesian Papua, formerly Irian Jaya province, since 
the former Dutch colony of Western New Guinea became part of Indonesia in 
1964.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/08/09/asia/AS-Indonesia-Papua-Violence.php

Protester killed at independence rally in Papua

The Associated Press
Published: August 9, 2008

JAKARTA, Indonesia: Police fired warning shots to break up an independence 
rally Saturday in Indonesia's easternmost province of Papua. One person was 
killed during the protest, but police denied responsibility.
Thousands gathered in Wamena, the capital of the mountainous district of 
Jayawijaya, to celebrate Indigenous Rights Day when a tribal group raised a 
separatist flag, said Forkorus Yaboisembut, a leader of the Papuan Tribal 
Council and one of the organizers.
In Indonesia, raising the Papuan independence flag is a crime punishable by 
life in prison.
Police demanded they remove the flag and then fired warning shots, killing 
one man with a bullet to the chest, Yaboisembut said.
Local police Chief Lt. Col. Paulus Waterpau acknowledged one man was killed 
at the rally but denied his men were responsible for the death. Waterpau 
said many separatists were carrying traditional weapons, including spears, 
and the victim may have been accidentally killed by fellow protesters in the 
chaos.
Separately, 100 Muslim hard-liners rallied outside the U.S. Embassy in the 
Indonesian capital, Jakarta, to protest a letter sent by 40 U.S. Congress 
members calling for the "immediate and unconditional release" of two Papuans 
jailed in 2005 for raising separatist flags.
Filep Karma and Yusak Pakage were sentenced to 10 and 15 years respectively.
"Americans should not interfere in Indonesia's internal affairs," members of 
the hard-line Islamic group Hizbut Tahrir chanted during the noisy 
demonstration, which ended without incident.
Indonesia took over Papua from Dutch colonial rule in 1963. Its sovereignty 
over the region was formalized in 1969 through a stage-managed vote by about 
1,000 community leaders, which critics dismissed as a sham.
A small, poorly armed separatist movement has battled Jakarta's rule ever 
since. About 100,000 Papuans — one-sixth of the population — have died in 
military operations.

http://www.breitbart.com/article.php?id=D92F3CGG2&show_article=1

Independence protester killed in Indonesia's Papua+

Aug 9 08:25 PM US

JAKARTA, Aug. 10 (AP) - (Kyodo)—A man was killed in the Indonesian 
easternmost province of Papua after police fired warning shots when a group 
of independence supporters raised a separatist flag, a police official and a 
local traditional leader said Saturday.
The incident occurred when thousands of people were gathering in a soccer 
field in the town of Wamena to mark the U.N. Indigenous People's Day.
While the ceremony was ongoing, a group of men suddenly entered the field 
and hoisted the Morning Star, the flag of the separatist Free Papua Movement 
or OPM, along with Indonesia's red-and-white national flag and the U.N. 
flag.
Fadal al-Hamid, head of the Papua Traditional Community, said police fired 
warning shots following the hoisting of the separatist flag, but the group 
of independence supporters threw stones back at the policemen.
"A clash occurred and I was informed that a man, identified as Otinus 
Tabuni, was shot to death," al-Hamid said.
"I regretted the incident because we never expected that the flag would be 
hoisted during the peaceful ceremony," he added.
Abdul Aziz, police chief in Jayawijaya Regency that supervises Wamena, 
however, said he has not received any reports that someone had been killed 
during the clash. "We will check," he said.
Over the past three decades, Papua has frequently been the scene of violence 
between separatists and government security forces that has claimed 
thousands of lives.
OPM rebels, who are fighting for an independent state, have kidnapped many 
locals as well as foreigners in an effort to gain international attention 
and support.
Indonesia took over the western half of New Guinea Island from Dutch 
colonialists in 1963 and incorporated the territory into Indonesia after a 
1969 U.N.-sanctioned plebiscite.
Papua is home to some of the world's largest gold and copper mines and also 
has extensive forest reserves.
Jakarta has attempted to dampen separatist sentiment by offering Papuans a 
greater say in provincial-level government. It has also offered provincial 
authorities a larger share of local forestry, fishery, oil, gas and mining 
revenues.

http://news.aol.com/story/_a/independence-protester-killed-in/n20080809202609990006?ecid=RSS0001

Independence protester killed in Indonesia's Papua+
AP
Posted: 2008-08-09 20:26:34
JAKARTA, Aug. 10 (Kyodo) - A man was killed in the Indonesian easternmost 
province of Papua after police fired warning shots when a group of 
independence supporters raised a separatist flag, a police official and a 
local traditional leader said Saturday.

The incident occurred when thousands of people were gathering in a soccer 
field in the town of Wamena to mark the U.N. Indigenous People's Day.

While the ceremony was ongoing, a group of men suddenly entered the field 
and hoisted the Morning Star, the flag of the separatist Free Papua Movement 
or OPM, along with Indonesia's red-and-white national flag and the U.N. 
flag.

Fadal al-Hamid, head of the Papua Traditional Community, said police fired 
warning shots following the hoisting of the separatist flag, but the group 
of independence supporters threw stones back at the policemen.

"A clash occurred and I was informed that a man, identified as Otinus 
Tabuni, was shot to death," al-Hamid said.

"I regretted the incident because we never expected that the flag would be 
hoisted during the peaceful ceremony," he added.

Abdul Aziz, police chief in Jayawijaya Regency that supervises Wamena, 
however, said he has not received any reports that someone had been killed 
during the clash. "We will check," he said.

Over the past three decades, Papua has frequently been the scene of violence 
between separatists and government security forces that has claimed 
thousands of lives.

OPM rebels, who are fighting for an independent state, have kidnapped many 
locals as well as foreigners in an effort to gain international attention 
and support.

Indonesia took over the western half of New Guinea Island from Dutch 
colonialists in 1963 and incorporated the territory into Indonesia after a 
1969 U.N.-sanctioned plebiscite.

Papua is home to some of the world's largest gold and copper mines and also 
has extensive forest reserves.

Jakarta has attempted to dampen separatist sentiment by offering Papuans a 
greater say in provincial-level government. It has also offered provincial 
authorities a larger share of local forestry, fishery, oil, gas and mining 
revenues.

http://www.fpcn-global.org/content/Malaysian-Indigenous-People-Face-Arrest-Logging-Blockade

Malaysian Indigenous People Face Arrest at Logging Blockade
rains Posted at 08:48 on Sun, 06/22/2008

A month-long blockade of logging roads by indigenous people in the state of 
Sarawak, Malaysia set to protest illegal logging on their communal lands is 
about to be broken up by police.
More than 100 indigenous Kenyah people gathered at the blockade site on the 
upper Moh River on the island of Borneo claim that the blockade is their 
only way of calling on representatives of the Samling Timber Company and 
government authorities to have a consultation and meet with them to listen 
to their problems and demands.
Otherwise, they say, the Samling Timber Company will continue to ignore 
their demands and plights. Kenyahs blockade a logging road on the Upper Moh 
River. The banner says, "Samling, do not rob the wealth from the poor 
people's land and give it to the rich in the city." (Photo courtesy Borneo 
Resources Institute)
According to the Borneo Resources Institute in Miri, which issued a 
statement today on behalf of the Kenyah peoples, ever since Samling started 
its logging operations in the upper Baram area, the indigenous communities 
have suffered the environmental impacts of logging.
They say the company simply encroached into their communal land and forest 
areas to carry out logging activities, without any consultation and 
consideration for their source of livelihood.
The Kenyahs have forwarded some "reasonable demands for social benefits and 
development of the community as they are the rights stakeholders that should 
be fairly benefit from forest resources in their area," the Borneo Resources 
Institute says.
The Kenyah say they resorted to the blockade action after the company and 
the state forest agency ignored their demands and their rights of access and 
claims to the benefits of their natural forest resources.
Since the blockade was erected, Samling's logging activities have ceased. 
Hundreds of timber logs that had been felled are stacked up along the sides 
of the logging road because the Kenyahs have stopped all the logging trucks 
and other logging machines from entering the area and transporting timber 
from the area. Kenyah people with logs felled by Samling Timber Company on 
traditional lands. (Photo courtesy Borneo Resources Institute)
The Kenyahs have written a letter to the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, a 
state government agency, requesting that the agency carry out an urgent 
physical inspection of all logs that have been illegally felled by Samling 
in the area.
They also called upon the Sarawak Forestry Corporation to stop Samling from 
carrying out its operation until all inspection of timber logs has been 
completed.
Their request has been ignored.
Believing that they have no other alternative and being compelled to bring 
attention to their plight, the indigenous Kenyahs of Kedaya Telang Usan area 
in Baram Region have resorted to staging this protest, which is still 
continuing.
On May 29, upon receiving complaints from the Samling Timber Company, a 
group of personnel from the Sarawak Forestry Corporation, went to the 
blockade site to remove the wooden barricades, but they were restrained from 
dismantling the blockade.
As a result, the Sarawak Forestry Corporation filed a court action 
requesting a Warrant of Arrest, which has been granted by the Magistrate 
Court in Miri.
Police personnel from the Marudi Police Station were ordered to the blockade 
site to enforce the Warrant of Arrest on June 14. So far, no arrests have 
taken place.
MIRI, Sarawak, Malaysia, June 17, 2008 (ENS) - from: 
http://www.ens-newswire.com/ens/jun2008/2008-06-17-02.asp

http://story.philippinetimes.com/index.php/ct/9/cid/2411cd3571b4f088/id/389615/cs/1/

Orissa tribals come to UK to protest mining in their sacred hills
Philippine Times
Sunday 3rd August, 2008
(IANS)
A delegation of Orissa tribals has come all the way to London to confront 
the owner of a company planning to mine bauxite from a hill considered 
sacred by them.

Members of the Dongriyha Kondh tribe barged their way into the annual 
general meeting of Vedanta Resources to describe how the company was 
destroying the environment even before the mining has begun.

The pressure resulted in Vedanta's founder and chairman Anil Agarwal making 
a commitment, for the first time, to comply with international law. 'I can 
only promise that we will only start work if we have complete permission of 
the court and the people,' he told shareholders, according to The 
Independent.

The issue has caused a furore in both India and the UK and the matter is in 
the courts. A top UK charity has tried to highlight the plight of the 
tribals by adopting a tit-for-tat approach. It has sent an appeal for the 
destruction of the St Paul's cathedral in London in case the company goes 
ahead with the destruction of the hills.

Vedanta Resources of the UK got the permission to set up a plant in the 
protected forest area of Nyamgiri Hills of Orissa to mine bauxite. A factory 
has come up on the site, but mining operations are yet to start as it is a 
protected area and, under the Indian constitution, it cannot be handed over 
to private hands unless permitted by the resident tribals.

The problem for Vedanta began with the tribals saying the hills are sacred 
to them and protesting the setting up of the mine. Environmental groups 
backed them, saying the layer of bauxite on the hills acts as a sponge for 
the monsoon rains, releasing the water steadily throughout the year and 
ensuring fertility of the forests and crops.

Last year a three-member bench of the Supreme Court ruled that Vedanta could 
not mine the hills - but allowed its Indian subsidiary Sterlite to reapply 
on condition that it plough five per cent of its profits into conservation 
and tribal development. The Indian court's final verdict on the new 
application is expected later this week.

http://www.newindpress.com/NewsItems.asp?ID=IEL20080803011741&Page=L&Title=World&Topic=0

Orissa tribals come to UK to protest mining in their sacred hills
Sunday August 3 2008 11:39 IST
Venkata Vemuri | IANS
Get a 30% discount on Calls to India.
LONDON: A delegation of Orissa tribals has come all the way to London to 
confront the owner of a company planning to mine bauxite from a hill 
considered sacred by them.

Members of the Dongriyha Kondh tribe barged their way into the annual 
general meeting of Vedanta Resources to describe how the company was 
destroying the environment even before the mining has begun.

The pressure resulted in Vedanta's founder and chairman Anil Agarwal making 
a commitment, for the first time, to comply with international law. "I can 
only promise that we will only start work if we have complete permission of 
the court and the people," he told shareholders, according to The 
Independent.

The issue has caused a furore in both India and the UK and the matter is in 
the courts. A top UK charity has tried to highlight the plight of the 
tribals by adopting a tit-for-tat approach. It has sent an appeal for the 
destruction of the St Paul's cathedral in London in case the company goes 
ahead with the destruction of the hills.

Vedanta Resources of the UK got the permission to set up a plant in the 
protected forest area of Nyamgiri Hills of Orissa to mine bauxite. A factory 
has come up on the site, but mining operations are yet to start as it is a 
protected area and, under the Indian constitution, it cannot be handed over 
to private hands unless permitted by the resident tribals.

The problem for Vedanta began with the tribals saying the hills are sacred 
to them and protesting the setting up of the mine. Environmental groups 
backed them, saying the layer of bauxite on the hills acts as a sponge for 
the monsoon rains, releasing the water steadily throughout the year and 
ensuring fertility of the forests and crops.

Last year a three-member bench of the Supreme Court ruled that Vedanta could 
not mine the hills - but allowed its Indian subsidiary Sterlite to reapply 
on condition that it plough five per cent of its profits into conservation 
and tribal development. The Indian court's final verdict on the new 
application is expected later this week.

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4921427

Indians Protest Brazil Hydro Dam Project
Brazilian Indians gather at Xingu River to end 5-day protest against Amazon 
dam
By ALAN CLENDENNING Associated Press Writer
ALTAMIRA, Brazil May 23, 2008 (AP)
The Associated Press

Hundreds of Amazon Indians capped a five-day protest against the 
construction of a multibillion dollar dam by swimming in the river they say 
it will destroy.

Indigenous people protest against the construction of a dam in Altamira, 
Brazil, Friday, May 23,...
Indigenous people protest against the construction of a dam in Altamira, 
Brazil, Friday, May 23, 2008. A proposed hydroelectric Belo Monte dam, to be 
built in the Xingu River, background, would be the world's third largest for 
power production but claims are growing that it could kill the Indians' 
fish, displace 15,000 people and help destroy the rain forest. (AP 
Photo/Andre Penner)
(AP)
"Xingu, alive and free forever!" sang the crowd as feathered and painted 
women bathed their children in the half-mile (0.8-kilometer) wide river and 
men splashed about to show how they hunt for fish they fear the dam will 
eradicate.
"We're here to defend our river," said Moxia Parakana, a chief who uses his 
tribe's name for his last name. "If the dam is built, where are we going to 
live? The fish will go away."
Critics say the dam will swallow rain forest, kill off native fish and flood 
an area so large that 16,000 people will be displaced.
The gathering in this small city of 70,000 was a peaceful end to an event 
that saw tensions rise when an engineer for the national electric company 
was attacked after giving a speech on why Brazil needs the dam.
Indians wielding machetes pushed Paulo Fernando Rezende to the floor on 
Tuesday, ripped off his shirt and left his right shoulder with bloody gash 
that had to be closed with stitches.
Indians in Brazil frequently carry weapons both on and off their 
reservations.
Dam opponents claimed Rezende's injury was blown out of proportion in an 
attempt to shut Indians out of planning on the dam.

"They must be consulted and they haven't been," said Roman Catholic Bishop 
Erwin Krautler, whose diocese encompasses Altamira and many isolated 
communities along the Xingu River. "Indians have been massacred in Brazil 
for centuries and no one ever did anything for them."
The US$6.7 billion (euro4.3 billion) Belo Monte dam is projected to produce 
6.3 percent of Brazil's electricity by 2014, feeding clean energy to the 
country's southeastern industrial base, its rapidly developing northeastern 
coast and the jungle manufacturing zone of Manaus along the Amazon River.
Critics say the rising water will transform 87 miles (140 kilometers) of 
flowing river into stagnant puddles, submerge thousands of homes, kill fish 
that Indians and others depend upon, and increase mosquito-borne diseases 
like malaria.
Bishop Krautler also says it will cause deforestation of the Amazon rain 
forest for cattle ranches and farms, leading poor farm workers into debt 
slavery and encouraging land grabs by the region's infamous "pistoleiros."

Indigenous people protest against the construction of a dam in Altamira, 
Brazil, Friday, May 23,...
Indigenous people protest against the construction of a dam in Altamira, 
Brazil, Friday, May 23, 2008. A proposed hydroelectric Belo Monte dam, to be 
built in the Xingu River, would be the world's third largest for power 
production but claims are growing that it could kill the Indians' fish, 
displace 15,000 people and help destroy the rain forest. (AP Photo/Andre 
Penner)
(AP)
Idalino Nunes de Assis, who heads a group of poor riverside dwellers, said 
the government has failed to recognize that "the Xingu is our way of life, 
and we depend on it."
"The Xingu does not deserve to be condemned to death," he said.
http://www.allheadlinenews.com/articles/7011022560
Amazonian Indians Violently Protest Brazil's Planned Xingu River Dam
ShareThis
May 21, 2008 4:45 p.m. EST
Amy Beeman - AHN
Brasilia, Brazil (AHN) - A group of Amazonian Indians, donning feathers and 
face paint, attacked a representative from Brazil's National Electric 
Company after he made a presentation explaining the effects a proposed 
hydroelectric dam would have on traditional communities living in the remote 
region near the Xingu River.
The Associated Press reported that Eletrobras engineer Paulo Fernando 
Rezende sustained a large gash on his shoulder, but insisted he was okay, 
after the angry group of Kayapo Indians surrounded him wielding machetes and 
clubs.
One Indian told the AP that Rezende is lucky to be alive, adding that now 
officials should know they should not build the dam, called the Belo Monte.
The Brazilian government said the proposed $6.7-billion hydroelectric dam 
would help meet the growing energy needs of Brazil with an estimated 11,000 
megawatts of power.
However the damn, if built, is expected to displace 15,000 indigenous 
Amazonian Indians who regularly fish the river, depending on it as a vital 
source of food.
The Kayapo Indians vowed to go to war if Brazilian officials give the go 
ahead to the proposed dam.
If built, the Belo Monte will be the third largest hydroelectric dam in the 
world.

http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/05/22/america/LA-GEN-Brazil-Dam-Protest.php

Brazil Indians end dam protest ahead of schedule after engineer is attacked

The Associated Press
Published: May 22, 2008
ALTAMIRA, Brazil: The organizer of a weeklong protest against an Amazon dam 
project says the group will cancel Friday's demonstration march to the Xingu 
River on fears of spiraling violence.
Marcelo Salazar says he fears counter-demonstrators might retaliate for an 
attack on an Eletrobras engineer. Paulo Fernando Rezende was slashed with a 
machete Tuesday after speaking about the dam to protesters. The attack made 
front-page headlines and outraged many Brazilians.
Some 1,000 Indians gathered this week to protest the proposed US$6.7 billion 
(€4.3 billion) Belo Monte dam on the Xingu. The dam would flood 170 square 
miles (440 square kilometers) of the Amazon river basin, displacing 15,000 
inhabitants.

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24794759/

Brazil's Amazon building boom draws protests
Hundreds of indigenous people rallied this week against proposed dam

Andre Penner / AP
Some Indigenous peoples in Brazil's Amazon have mobilized against huge 
construction projects. This tribe traveled by bus to the town of Altamira 
for a protest Wednesday against a proposed dam.

By Alan Clendenning

updated 3:36 p.m. ET May 23, 2008
ALONG THE XINGU RIVER, Brazil - Indians fish from canoes along the curves of 
this Amazon tributary and tend manioc crops near the site of a proposed dam 
talked about for decades — but now pushing forward under Brazil's 
multi-billion-dollar construction spree.
The Belo Monte dam will swallow thick rain forest and harm rare fish, as 
well as the livelihoods and homes of roughly 15,000 people who live in this 
remote area of northeastern Para state, critics say.
Flush with cash from its roaring economy, Brazil is spending $296 billion in 
the next two years alone on huge hydroelectric dams, transcontinental roads 
and other infrastructure to expand industry, boost exports, create jobs and 
help speed the emergence of Latin America's largest country as a world 
economic power.

But at a time when the world is focused on climate change and Amazon rain 
forest destruction, Brazil's boom means paving, flooding and stringing power 
lines through thousands of miles of pristine jungle.
Edivaldo Juruna, a subsistence farmer and fisherman who lives in a 
ramshackle wooden house on a sandbar, worries when he hears the dam will 
flood 170 square miles of Amazon basin and turn a 90-mile stretch of the 
river into stagnant puddles.
"Up there near the city it's going to flood, but down here it's going to dry 
up," said Juruna, an Indian whose last name is the same as his tribe. 
"Everyone's talking about the jobs that will come and that there will be 
energy for Brazil. But no one's talking about the bad side."
Tensions are climbing. Some 1,000 Indians gathered in nearby Altamira on 
Friday and earlier this week to fight the proposed $6.7 billion dam, planned 
as the world's third-largest power producer behind China's Three Gorges and 
Itaipu on the border between Brazil and Paraguay.
Utility official attacked
On Tuesday, painted and feathered protesters attacked a national electric 
company official with machetes and clubs after he spoke to the group; he 
left shirtless and bloody from a gash in his shoulder.
Indians and environmentalists thought they had beaten the dam in 1989, when 
a similar protest drew the rock star Sting and international condemnation.

Silvia Izquierdo / AP
Land burns near an old highway being replaced with a new one in Puerto 
Maldonado, Brazil, last Nov. 1. The new highway will connect let Brazil ship 
exports to Asia from Peru.

But now Brazil has the money for such projects without needing outside help, 
and the dam is scheduled to go out to bid next year.
The country's boom-and-bust cycles are long gone. It paid off its foreign 
debt last year and this month was declared a safe place for foreign 
investors to park money, with a debt upgrade from the Standard & Poor's 
ratings agency.
Critics say the pro-development forces in President Luiz Inacio Lula da 
Silva's government have taken control, the reason cited for famed Amazon 
preservationist Marina Silva's resignation as Brazil's environment minister 
last week.
The Brazilian leader already is battling a spike in rain forest destruction 
and has sent federal police and environmental workers to crack down on 
illegal logging.

http://www.chinapost.com.tw/taiwan/local/hualien/2008/05/01/154368/Bunun%2Dtribesmen.htm

Bunun tribesmen protest police arrest for muntjac 'poaching'

The China Post news staff
Thursday, May 1, 2008

HAULIEN, Taiwan -- A score of Bunun braves, led by their county councilman, 
laid siege to a Yuli police station yesterday, demanding that no charges be 
pressed against two tribesmen who killed a muntjac by mistake.
Lin Chin-lai, 45, and Li Ah-lang, 50, were arrested shortly after 1 a.m., 
while carrying back home a dead muntjac they had shot.
Police were about to refer the two Bunun tribesmen for prosecution in the 
afternoon when Lu Pi-hsien, Hualien county councilman, led the protesting 
braves to besiege the station in suburban Yuli, halfway between Hualien and 
Taitung on east Taiwan.
Under police questioning, Lin and Li said they thought their game was a wild 
boar. The muntjac, known also as a barking deer, is indigenous to Taiwan and 
protected as an endangered animal.
"In the dark," Lin said, "we saw only a pair of eyes." The shooting took 
place around midnight.
He told investigators he was convinced that a boar was his mark. "So I shot 
at it and killed it," he added.
"It's an honest mistake," Li said.
Nonetheless, Yuli police wanted to press poaching charges against the two 
Bunun tribesmen. Bunun are one of Taiwan's largest indigenous peoples, 
entitled to hunt in their reservations.
Lu, the councilor of Bunun descent, blasted police for discrimination 
against the hunters.
"No action has been taken to control poaching and catch non-Bunun poachers," 
Lu charged the Yuli police. "Only those Bunun hunters were arrested during 
the open season," he complained.
He threatened to march at the head of more Bunun braves, if police continue 
to arrest only hunters of their tribe.
Neither of the two arrested hunters was released, however.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/inquirerheadlines/regions/view/20080520-137595/Banahaw-protesters-close-mine-site

Banahaw protesters close mine site

Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 01:33:00 05/20/2008
TAYABAS CITY – Concerned that illegal treasure-hunting activities could ruin 
Mount Banahaw, more than 1,500 local officials, religious members, 
mountaineers and environmentalists trekked to the mystic mountain on Sunday 
and sealed off hurriedly abandoned mine tunnels and excavation sites.
“The collective action of Tayabasin was their strongest manifestation in 
their condemnation of illegal treasure-hunting activities in Mt. Banahaw,” 
environmentalist lawyer Sheila de Leon, director of the Tanggol 
Kalikasan-Southern Tagalog, told the Inquirer on Monday.
The protesters, led by Tayabas Mayor Faustino Silang, left the city plaza 
and traveled for two hours to the village of Lalo, accompanied by 15 Army 
soldiers sent by Maj. Gen. Delfin Bangit, newly installed commander of the 
military’s Southern Luzon Command based in Camp Nakar, Lucena City.
When they arrived at the excavation site, they hauled stones from a nearby 
river to close the entrance of the lone tunnel and three other holes.
“The local officials plan to seal off the tunnel and holes with concrete in 
the coming days,” De Leon said.
Citing statements from the villagers, she said illegal treasure hunters had 
been digging the place for three weeks, escorted by six heavily armed 
policemen.
The policemen had left the place in a patrol vehicle, the villagers were 
quoted as saying.
Senior Supt. Fidel Posadas, provincial police director, had earlier 
confirmed that the six policemen belonged to the Provincial Police Mobile 
Group based in Candelaria town, which has jurisdiction over Tayabas. But he 
refuted reports of illegal treasure-hunting activities.
Asked what the policemen were doing in the area, Posadas replied: “We have 
an ongoing operation in the area.” He declined to elaborate.
“Apparently, the diggers were tipped off of this protest mobilization. But 
they left a hurriedly scribbled note in a bond paper addressed to the 
protest leaders, admitting that they were really searching for buried 
Japanese treasures,” said Jay Lim, TK program director.
The note, written on a piece of bond paper with the letterhead and logo of 
“The Last Hunters,” vowed that the proceeds of treasure-hunting activities 
would be used to develop the villages.
Lim said the note also contained a mobile phone number, 09298739603. When 
Tayabas Vice Mayor Brando Rea called up the number, a male voice answered 
and introduced himself as a “lawyer” from Lalo.
The “lawyer” insisted that they were not doing anything illegal and claimed 
that the project had the blessings of President Macapagal-Arroyo and ranking 
military officials, which he did not identify.

http://www.rediff.com/news/2008/jun/12adi.htm

Assam: Adivasis to protest against Sonia's visit

K Anurag in Guwahati | June 12, 2008 13:10 IST
Protesting adivasis will hit the streets of Assam on Friday to highlight 
their grievances before United Progressive Alliance chairperson and Congress 
president Sonia Gandhi [Images] during her day-long visit to Guwahati.
Sonia will be addressing a farmers' rally to be organised by the ruling 
Congress party, besides attending an award presentation ceremony organised 
by Assam government in the afternoon.
The adivasis are planning a massive protest even as the ruling Congress is 
making an all out effort to make Sonia's rally a grand success to silence 
opposition political parties, which have launched a state-wide campaign 
against the 'misrule' of the Tarun Gogoi-led Congress government in the wake 
of arrest of the former state education minister Ripun Bora, by the CBI in 
New Delhi on June 3 on a bribery charge.
He was arrested while trying to bribe a deputy superintendent of the central 
investigating agency probing the September 2000 murder of tea tribe student 
leader Daniel Topno, a political rival of Bora.
The ruling party has asked all the 54 party MLAs to bring farmers and other 
people in large numbers from their respective constituencies to the 'kisan 
rally' to showcase the party support base before Sonia, even after the 
embarrassing Ripun Bora episode.
Ripun Bora has already been suspended from the party in a damage control 
exercise carried out with approval from the All India Congress Committee and 
to gag the opposition diatribe.
The All Adivasi Students' Association of Assam is out to derail Congress' 
plan for a massive farmers' rally.
The AASAA has declared a series of month-long agitation programmes that will 
be launched the day Sonia arrives in Assam to register their protest against 
'misrule' of Congress and demanding exemplary punishment to former education 
minister Ripun Bora for masterminding the murder of tea tribe student leader 
Daniel Topno way back in September 2000.

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/08/stories/2008060851550300.htm

Karnataka - Mysore

Tribal sangha warns of novel protest
Staff Correspondent
MYSORE: Chamarajanagara Zilla Budakattu Girijanara Abhivrudhi Sangha has 
urged Chief Minister B.S. Yeddyurappa to take action against Forest 
officials who are allegedly tormenting the tribal people who collect minor 
forest products for their livelihood.
In a memorandum submitted to Mr. Yeddurappa on Friday, the sangha president 
Konuregowda and secretary Sanna Made Gowda have cautioned that they will 
launch a unique protest of selling minor forest products on the premises of 
office of the Deputy Commissioner, Chamarajanagar, if the Chief Minister 
failed to take action against erring officials on June 20.
Ban
They said that over 45,000 tribal people of the Soliga, Jenu Kuruba and Kadu 
Kurba tribes, who have settled in the four taluks of the district, had been 
subsisting by collecting and selling minor forest products for centuries. 
However, Principal Chief Conservator of Forests had banned the collection in 
Biligiriranganabetta Wild Life Sanctuary on February 23, 2004.
It had become difficult for the tribal people to make ends meet because of 
the ban. Without employment, they were forced to migrate to neighbouring 
States in search of livelihood.
The previous coalition government had failed to sort out the issue despite 
protests from the tribal community, they said. Even former President A.P.J. 
Abdul Kalam and former Chief Minister H.D. Kumaraswamy had done nothing even 
hough theye were appraised of the situation, they added.
Forest officials recently raided the houses of tribal people of Yelandur 
division, K. Gudi region and Kanneri Colony, and took away fruits and honey 
collected by them.
Musqueam dissidents call end to protest
ROBERT MATAS

June 26, 2008

http://www.thehindu.com/2008/06/26/stories/2008062653360300.htm

Tamil Nadu - Salem

Protest against unauthorised mining
Staff Reporter
SALEM: The Salem district branch of Tamil Nadu Scheduled Tribe (Malayali) 
Peravai has urged the State government to initiate efforts to prevent 
unauthorised mining in Pithur panchayat. The forum alleged that unauthorised 
mining was going on at various parts of the panchayat which is located in 
Attur taluk.
Illegal quarrying
They also added that people were quarrying stones illegally in the eastern 
parts of Pithur village and a few other parts in the panchayat. Explosives 
were being used for quarrying stones, which was causing pollution. This had 
also affected the farming activities, the forum said.
Reservation
Meanwhile, the district executive committee of the forum passed a resolution 
at a meeting urging the State government to ensure the proper implementation 
of the reservation for tribal students in the professional courses.
Community certificates
The meeting also decided to write letters to the government departments to 
remind them about the forum’s request seeking information (under the Right 
to Information Act) about the issuing of community certificates to tribal 
people.
Resolution
The forum also planned to take the matter to the State Information 
Commissioner, if they did not get the required information from the 
government departments. A resolution to this effect was also passed in the 
meeting.

 http://www.nowpublic.com/world/tribals-protest-against-steel-project-india

Tribals protest against Steel project in India
by Sanjay Jha | June 26, 2008 at 07:48 am | 194 views | 4 comments

by tukuna

Haunted by the fear of displacement over the development in their 
habitat,Tribals in the India's forest have been protesting. This one is 
against the settin up of a steel plant by India's biggest steel manufacture 
Tata steel.
Hundreds of tribal people armed with bows and arrows stormed a proposed 
factory site in Orissa of one of the country's biggest steel companies, Tata 
Steel Ltd, police said on Thursday. About 300 tribal people protesting the 
acquisition of tribal land for the factory set seven vehicles on fire on 
Wednesday and beat up villagers who were employed to build a boundary wall, 
police and company officials said.
Police later chased them away, said K.C. Mund, a senior police officer from 
Bhubaneswar.
The issue of acquiring farmland for factories has become a controversial one 
as industrialisation gathers pace in India. There have been scores of often 
violent protests against major industrial projects in recent years.
Tata Steel signed an accord with the state government in 2004 to build a 6 
million-tonne-a-year steel plant.
At least 14 people, including 13 tribal members, were killed by police 
firing on hundreds of protesters in 2006 during a protest against the 
construction of the boundary wall.
"We will not allow any further displacement in the region due to the 
project," Rabindra Jarika, a protest leader said.
A Tata Steel spokesman said displaced people were being looked after.
"Land losers have been even given work by the company to construct the 
boundary wall," the spokesman said in Orissa.
Tata Steel were forced to shelve plans to start construction in November 
last year.
"We are hopeful about starting work soon, the spokesman said."

http://www.bangkokpost.com/220608_News/22Jun2008_news07.php

Dam protesters ordain forest and cast curses
By Thaweesak Sukkhasem

Villagers in tambon Sa-iab have revived their protest against the Kaeng Sua 
Ten dam by holding a black magic ritual to curse Prime Minister Samak 
Sundaravej, who has revived the controversial project. More than 500 
villagers joined the ritual held by the Yom river in Song district, on which 
the dam is to be erected. They burned an effigy of Mr Samak and sprinkled 
its ash on the river while putting curses on him.
The prime minister announced his support for the dam on World Environment 
Day earlier this month. The tambon Sa-iab villagers are known for their 
fierce protests against the project, as they have managed to thwart it for 
19 years.

A villager puts monks' robes around teak trees in a ceremony to `ordain' the 
forest at tambon Sa-iab of Phrae's Song district. The activity yesterday was 
an attempt to block a government plan to build the Kaeng Sua Ten dam, which 
could flood the forest. — SAROT MEKSOPHAWANNAKUL

''We will not cooperate with any campaigns for the dam and will not 
guarantee the safety of officials who work for the project,'' villagers' 
representative Sudarat Chaimongkon said in a statement.
The government and the villagers disagree on the value of teak forest in and 
near the Mae Yom National Park. Mr Samak believes there is only a degraded 
forest, while the villagers say he is lying.
The teak forest is at the centre of debate because, according to 
environmental activist Harnnarong Yaowalert, 25,000 rai of forest in the 
national park will be flooded if the dam is built.
The ritual yesterday marked the villagers' first move to revive their 
demonstration. They vowed to do all they could to protect the forest.
The villagers also held an ''ordination ceremony'' for the forest. Trees 
with monks' robes around them often survive getting cut down as poachers 
perceive them as sacred objects.
The government says the Kaeng Sua Ten dam would provide a solution to floods 
and drought.

http://www.fijitimes.com/story.aspx?id=94162

Fury as water protest ends
Saturday, July 05, 2008
Landowners of Nasealevu at water
THE week-long closure of a reservoir by a group of villagers in the North 
ended on Thursday with a traditional presentation to landowners by the 
Native Land Trust Board, military and the Macuata Provincial Council.
The delegation was led by the Roko Tui Macuata, Ratu Jone Matanababa, to the 
turaga ni yavusa of the Nasealevu clan, Varasiko Manakoro, asking for the 
protest to be called off.
However, the decision has not gone down well with some members of the yavusa 
who have called for another meeting with their head.
They say only two people agreed to end the protest.
The spokesman for the mataqali Lutuvu, Logani, Vatuwa and Nasealevu of 
Nasealevu Village, Timoci Naqica, said the majority of landowners were 
unhappy with the decision to call off the protest.
"We don't like the fact that the meeting about resolving the protest was 
held only between our clan leader and another clan member," Mr Naqica said.
"The majority of the clan members were in the dark and we are still confused 
and irritated that they thought it unfit to hold talks with all of us," he 
said.
"We are not only protesting the non-payment of royalty but we want the road 
to the village fixed because we have dealt with these same people over the 
past years but the same problem happens again," Mr Naqica said.

http://www.thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=126128

 Sahitto tribesmen protest against police Friday, July 25, 2008
By our correspondent

NAUSHAHRO FEROZE: Hundreds of Sahitto tribesmen staged a demonstration and 
blocked the National Highway here on Thursday against lodging of a case by 
the Kandiaro police against their elders.

Nazir Sahitto, Buxial Sahitto and Maqbool Sahitto led the protesters. They 
chanted slogans against the police and burnt tyres on the National Highway, 
suspending the traffic for two hours. Nazir told journalists that some armed 
men had killed a dacoit Long Machi two days ago. He said the dacoit was 
wanted in more than 40 criminal cases. "But the police have registered a 
fake case against us," he added. Later, TPO Syed Hubdar Ali Shah and DSP 
Akbar Wagan negotiated with the protesters.

http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/topstories/topstories/view/20080813-154404/Indigenous-groups-hold-protest-over-loss-of-lands-to-mining

Indigenous groups hold protest over loss of lands to mining
By Abigail Kwok
INQUIRER.net
First Posted 14:45:00 08/13/2008
MANILA, Philippines -- Indigenous groups in the country are in decline 
because of the government's alleged “militarist and aggressive economic 
policies,” a coalition of indigenous groups said on Wednesday.
Groups from Central Luzon, led by the Central Luzon Aeta Association (CLAA), 
marched to the Don Chino Roces Bridge (formerly Mendiola) to protest the 
alleged destruction of their ancestral lands due to mining.
“The urgent and critical situation of the indigenous people’s sector has 
brought us here,” said Nelson Mallari, secretary general of CLAA.
He added that members of the military allegedly harass, intimidate, and 
threaten locals in the area.
The group also criticized the agreement between Nihao Mineral Resources 
International and Geograce Philippines, headed by former Malacañang chief of 
staff Michael Defensor, and China’s Jiangxi Rare Earth and Rare Metals 
Tungsten Group Co. to conduct mining explorations in more than 30,000 
hectares of land in Zambales.
Himpad Mangumalas, spokesman for the Kalipunan ng Katutubong Mamamayan ng 
Pilipinas (KAMP), said the mining explorations would displace Aeta 
communities in the area.
“The Arroyo government is wiping out indigenous communities all over the 
country through its militarist and aggressive economic policies. Another 
reason is that the President does not intend to cease these injustices,” he 
said.
Groups urged the government to stop mining, where priority mining areas of 
the government have now reached to 63, or more than 108,000 hectares.
“The realization of the rights of national minorities to ancestral lands and 
self-determination will only be fully realized when the government is no 
longer bound by capitalist interests. Until then, the indigenous and Moro 
peoples’ rights is only second to the interests of companies interested in 
the resources found in ancestral domains,” Mangumalas said.

http://nz.news.yahoo.com/a/-/top-stories/4919888

Niue politician heading to NZ to protest Pacific summit
August 17, 2008, 5:45 pm
An opposition politician intends to flee Niue in protest at his tiny island 
hosting this week's Pacific Islands leaders' forum summit.
Terry Coe, a former cabinet minister, believes his cash-strapped island can 
ill afford to stage the event -- one of the biggest events in its history --  
so he'll fly to Auckland on Tuesday (NZ time).
He said: "They (the Niue Government) are probably glad I am going because 
the media will not be able to talk to me as the sole independent Opposition 
member. I'll no longer be a thorn in their side."
He said the cost of holding the forum each year, no matter where, could be 
better spent elsewhere.
"Why hold it each year?" he asked. "We have the most sophisticated 
conference systems available now. They could converse by remote and email.
"I see the forum as an ineffective body to cure the region's ills. It's an 
all talk outfit costing a lot of money to run.
"All the money that has been provided by New Zealand would better to go into 
infrastructure to keep people here. The forum is not going to persuade 
people to stay."
Mr Coe said the forum could easily have been held New Zealand , with Niue in 
the chair. Instead the island's economy would have to be bailed out further 
by New Zealand because of the financial strain the event would impose.
He claimed Niue's population had dropped to about 1000, but officials 
refused to reveal actual numbers for fear of adverse reaction from fund 
donors who would then realise Niue was getting more per head of population 
than others.
Niueans needed encouragement to stay and the island's infrastructure 
required the injection of funds.
Toke Talagi, who was elected Niue Premier in June, said Mr Coe "always held 
contrary views".
Mr Talagi said: "The fact that we are holding the forum and we are able to 
cope might be contrary to what he thought was going to happen.
"This has required a lot of effort on our part. People have worked very 
hard. Whatever the outcome of the leaders' discussions, it will not detract 
from Niue's efforts.
"I agree there have been issues with accommodation and transport and these 
issues have been resolved. The proof of the pudding will be that the meeting 
is held. Visitors will decide if it has been hosted successfully by Niue."