In a landmark decision, an African regional body has found the Kenyan government guilty of violating the rights of the country’s indigenous Endorois community, by evicting them from their lands to make way for a wildlife reserve. The decision, by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, creates a major legal precedent by recognising, for the first time in Africa, indigenous peoples’ rights over traditionally owned land and their right to development. The decision was adopted by the African Commission in May 2009 and approved by the African Union (AU) at its January 2010 meeting in Addis Ababa. Endorois land was originally appropriated by the Kenyan government in the 1970s to create the Lake Bogoria National Reserve.
The complaint was lodged with the African Commission in 2003, claiming that the Kenyan government had violated the African Charter by failing to recognise and protect the Endorois’ ancestral land rights and refusing to compensate the community adequately or grant restitution of their land.
ancestral land
Landmark decision rules Kenya’s removal of indigenous people from ancestral land illegal
West Papua Report - May 2009
Contents:
* West Papua Advocacy Tam member Octo Mote spoke before the U.S. Congressional human rights commission regarding threats to the environment and human rights in West Papua
* ETAN and WPAT fault as insufficient Secretary Clinton's call for "a degree of autonomy" for West Papua*
* Repression and violence in West Papua escalates dramatically in April
* U.S.-based human rights groups call for an investigation of the violence and for dialogue
* Papuan clergy and civil society leaders also call for investigation of the violence
Brazilian court ruling backs Amazon reservation
Brazil's Supreme Court sided Thursday with Amazonian Indians in a land dispute that some have called critical for determining the future of the rainforest that sprawls the size of Western Europe.
The court ruling upholds the Raposa Serra do Sol reservation for 18,000 Indians who lay claim to their ancestral land, despite a handful of large-scale farmers who also occupy the territory in the northernmost reaches of Amazon jungle bordering Venezuela.
Vete & the Struggle for Land Rights in Vanuatu (9m 12s - 2008)
The Vete Association takes direct action to reclaim their customary lands from the Vanuatu Government and foreign investors, occupying vacant lands and gratifying on 'private property'. 85 of their members are currently summoned to court as yet without charges, and plan to contest based on Vanuatu's constitution article 73 which states 'All land in the Republic of Vanuatu belongs to the indigenous custom owners and their descendants.
With 5 Members Missing, the Mamanwa Hold Strong
At least 400 members of the Mamanwa tribe in Surigao del Sur, northwestern Mindanao, are in their second week of a blockade against four mining companies: Taganito Mining Corporation (TMC), Oriental Synergy Mining Corporation (OSMC), Case Mining Company (CMC) and Platinum Group Mining Company (PGMC). The Mamanwa previously sent notices of termination to the companies, informing them that they will longer be permitted to mine their ancestral territories because the companies have never paid them any royalty fees. Under the Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (IPRA), Indigenous People in the Philippines are entitled to “a royalty payment… which shall not be less than 1% of the Gross Output of the mining operations in the area.”
The Secret War Against the Defenseless People of West Papua
In 1993, I and four others travelled clandestinely across East Timor to gather evidence of the genocide committed by the Indonesian dictatorship. Such was the depth of silence about this tiny country that the only map I could find before I set out was one with blank spaces stamped "Relief Data Incomplete." Yet few places had been as defiled and abused by murderous forces. Not even Pol Pot had succeeded in dispatching, proportionally, as many people as the Indonesian tyrant Suharto had done in collusion with the "international community."
Indigenous rights ignored!
ONE event on the sidelines of the climate talks in Poland dealt with the negative effects of the proposed forestry solution to climate change called Reducing Emission from Deforestation and Forest Degradation (REDD).
Victor Hugo Vela told of the problems faced by the Chiquotano tribe in Bolivia with the controversial Noel Kempff Mercado Climate Action Project.
Into its 11th year, the project is one of the earliest carbon sequestration scheme initiated by The Nature Conservancy with the government of Bolivia. It is projected to avoid emissions of 25 to 36 million tonnes of carbon dioxide over 30 years.
West Papua Report - February 2009
West Papua Report - February 2009
This is the 57th in a series of monthly reports that focus on developments affecting Papuans. This series is produced by the non-profit West Papua Advocacy Team (WPAT) drawing on media accounts, other NGO assessments, and analysis and reporting from sources within West Papua. This report is co-published with the East Timor and Indonesia Action Network (ETAN) Back issues are posted online at http://etan.org/issues/wpapua/default.htm Questions regarding this report can be addressed to Edmund McWilliams at edmcw@msn.com.
Summary
Unconfirmed reports indicate that Indonesian security forces may have begun sweep operations targeting villages in the central highlands following the alleged theft of four weapons from a police station by individuals claimed by the police to be armed pro-separatists. Amnesty International, noting the sentencing of still more Papuans for peaceful protests, has called for their release and an end to intimidation of peaceful dissenters. The Jayapura District Court has freed a human rights advocate but only after 15 months of detention, including a 15-month trial. President Yudhoyono, under heavy guard, visited Manokwari but failed to meet with ordinary Papuans. The Indonesian central government has significantly underfunded education for Papuans, violating national law and pledges contained in the moribund "Special Autonomy legislation. The inadequate support for Papuan education also perpetuates the inability of Papuans to compete with better educated migrants. Freeport security personnel have joined with notorious BRIMOB police units to evict traditional gold miners. In separate violence in nearby Timika, the apparent police killing of one man led to violent rioting in which four were wounded. Franciscans International has published a " Factsheet" which offers insights regarding current trends and developments in West Papua. Survival International reports indications of increased repression and State violence in West Papua, noting in part the re-emergence of Indonesian-military backed militias. The West Papua Advocacy Team appealed to US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to address human rights abuse in West Papua and end assistance to an unreformed, unaccountable and rights abusing Indonesian military that is not under civilian control. Correction: The January 2009 West Papua Report, under the heading "Military Occupation of West Papua Continues Despite Absence of Security Threat," due to a drafting error, conveyed the false contention that Papuan human rights groups, religious leaders and academics had only adopted a non-violent struggle for rights "over the past decade." In reality, these groups and individuals have consistently pursued their rights through nonviolent means since the beginning of their struggle.
SOS Amazon! – World Social Forum Lends Indigenous Leaders and Supporters Opportunity to Defend Amazon Rainforest
<p>BELEM, Brazil- As world leaders focus on severe economic crisis in their homelands, an estimated 100,000 activists travelled from all over the world to attend the World Social Forum in Brazil. Critical environmental impacts in the Amazon rainforest regions brought Indigenous tribal representatives from across Latin America, environmentalists and supporters together for the multi-day event. One full day during the World Social Forum will focus on issues impacting the Amazon rainforest and the resident tribal nations who dwell there.
</p>
<p>Led by Indigenous people from all across Latin America, over 1000 participants formed a human banner, using their bodies, to draw attention to the increasingly precarious situation of the Amazon rainforest. The wording was formed around the massive silhouette of an indigenous warrior taking aim with a bow and arrow. photo courtesy of Lou Dematteis/Spectral Q. </p>
<p><img name="" src="/files/images/sosamazon2.jpg" width="500" height="538" alt="Amazonian protest" /></p> 
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