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Survival International News
30.06.2009
Peru's government has given the green light to an Anglo-French company to drill for oil in the Amazon, just thirteen days after more than 30 people died in protests against the exploitation of the rainforest.
The project, located on land inhabited by two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is believed to be Peru’s biggest oil discovery in thirty years. The company, Perenco, a major gas supplier to the UK, has in the past denied any uncontacted Indians live there.
Until recently, Perenco had been blocked from entering the area by local indigenous protesters. With help from Peru’s armed forces, the company managed to break through the blockade on at least one occasion.
High-ranking figures in Peru’s government hope that Perenco’s project will transform the Peruvian economy. While protests against the company were taking place, Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, an Oxford University polo blue and scion of one of the wealthiest families in France, met Peru’s President Garcia in Lima and pledged to invest $2bn in the project.
The government’s green light comes just days after protests elsewhere in northern Peru were violently broken up by police, leading to the deaths of both police officers and indigenous protesters. The exact numbers are still unknown. Survival has issued an eyewitness account of the violence.
Perenco intends to build new platforms and wells involving airlifting in, amongst other things, 42,000 sacks of cement. It admits that ‘contamination of soil’, ‘contamination of water’ and the flight of game and birds are possible consequences of its work. All these are essential to the survival of the uncontacted Indians who live there. More seriously, the Indians face the very real threat of contagion from diseases to which they have no immunity.
Survival’s Director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘Anyone who hoped that the dreadful violence of the past few weeks might have made Peru’s government act with a bit more sensitivity towards the indigenous people of the Amazon will be really dismayed at this news. The timing couldn’t be worse – the government is trying to present a more friendly image in public, but as far as the oil companies are concerned, it looks like business as usual.’
For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org
The project, located on land inhabited by two tribes of uncontacted Indians, is believed to be Peru’s biggest oil discovery in thirty years. The company, Perenco, a major gas supplier to the UK, has in the past denied any uncontacted Indians live there.
Until recently, Perenco had been blocked from entering the area by local indigenous protesters. With help from Peru’s armed forces, the company managed to break through the blockade on at least one occasion.
High-ranking figures in Peru’s government hope that Perenco’s project will transform the Peruvian economy. While protests against the company were taking place, Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, an Oxford University polo blue and scion of one of the wealthiest families in France, met Peru’s President Garcia in Lima and pledged to invest $2bn in the project.
The government’s green light comes just days after protests elsewhere in northern Peru were violently broken up by police, leading to the deaths of both police officers and indigenous protesters. The exact numbers are still unknown. Survival has issued an eyewitness account of the violence.
Perenco intends to build new platforms and wells involving airlifting in, amongst other things, 42,000 sacks of cement. It admits that ‘contamination of soil’, ‘contamination of water’ and the flight of game and birds are possible consequences of its work. All these are essential to the survival of the uncontacted Indians who live there. More seriously, the Indians face the very real threat of contagion from diseases to which they have no immunity.
Survival’s Director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘Anyone who hoped that the dreadful violence of the past few weeks might have made Peru’s government act with a bit more sensitivity towards the indigenous people of the Amazon will be really dismayed at this news. The timing couldn’t be worse – the government is trying to present a more friendly image in public, but as far as the oil companies are concerned, it looks like business as usual.’
For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org
30.06.2009
Peru’s government is gearing up to investigate the tragic violence in the Amazon last month that left more than 30 people dead, over a hundred injured, and many still missing.
A government committee has ten days to choose the investigating team, which will be led by members of the Catholic Church and is being created after a recommendation by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya. Peru’s prime minister, Yehude Simon, has said that the team will include representatives from all sectors of society to avoid any accusations of bias.
The preparations are being made after continuing speculation about events in Bagua, northern Peru, where the violence took place. A high-ranking police officer recently suggested that soldiers from the Peruvian army escaped from their barracks to fight on the indigenous protesters’ side, but these claims have been dismissed by an Armed Forces spokesman.
Meanwhile, a Peruvian judge has rejected charges brought against Alberto Pizango, the leader of Peru’s national Amazon Indian organisation, AIDESEP, and four other AIDESEP leaders. The charges are likely to be re-filed. Pizango has had to flee the country and is currently a political exile in Nicaragua. Read Survival's eye-witness report on the events in Bagua.
A government committee has ten days to choose the investigating team, which will be led by members of the Catholic Church and is being created after a recommendation by the UN’s Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya. Peru’s prime minister, Yehude Simon, has said that the team will include representatives from all sectors of society to avoid any accusations of bias.
The preparations are being made after continuing speculation about events in Bagua, northern Peru, where the violence took place. A high-ranking police officer recently suggested that soldiers from the Peruvian army escaped from their barracks to fight on the indigenous protesters’ side, but these claims have been dismissed by an Armed Forces spokesman.
Meanwhile, a Peruvian judge has rejected charges brought against Alberto Pizango, the leader of Peru’s national Amazon Indian organisation, AIDESEP, and four other AIDESEP leaders. The charges are likely to be re-filed. Pizango has had to flee the country and is currently a political exile in Nicaragua. Read Survival's eye-witness report on the events in Bagua.
30.06.2009
The founder and chairman of a Malaysian timber company that has logged the forests of the Penan tribe for decades has been given an honorary knighthood.
Tiong Hiew King, the billionaire founder of the Rimbunan Hijau Group, has been awarded the honorary knighthood by the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, reportedly for services to commerce, the community and charitable organizations in Papua New Guinea, where his company also operates.
The hunter-gatherer Penan tribe of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo, have been struggling for more than twenty years to prevent logging companies, including Rimbunan Hijau, destroying the forests they rely on for their survival.
The Swiss organization Bruno Manser Fund has dubbed Tion Hiew King ‘Knight of the Chainsaw’.
Source: Bruno Manser Fund
Tiong Hiew King, the billionaire founder of the Rimbunan Hijau Group, has been awarded the honorary knighthood by the British monarch Queen Elizabeth II, reportedly for services to commerce, the community and charitable organizations in Papua New Guinea, where his company also operates.
The hunter-gatherer Penan tribe of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of the island of Borneo, have been struggling for more than twenty years to prevent logging companies, including Rimbunan Hijau, destroying the forests they rely on for their survival.
The Swiss organization Bruno Manser Fund has dubbed Tion Hiew King ‘Knight of the Chainsaw’.
Source: Bruno Manser Fund
22.06.2009
The Peruvian Congress has voted to repeal two controversial Amazonian laws after protests that led to the death of an unknown number of policemen and indigenous people.
The Congress voted to repeal the laws at the end of last week. The laws undermined indigenous peoples’ rights and made it easier for outsiders to take control of their land.
Peru’s Amazon Indian organisation, AIDESEP, described the government’s decision as ‘historic’. ‘Our struggle and the lives of our indigenous brothers and sisters have not been in vain,’ said AIDESEP’s vice-president, Daysi Zapata Fasabi. ‘(This decision) shows that our struggle is a just one and that no one is manipulating us.’
Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, admitted that the laws were passed without consulting the Amazon’s indigenous inhabitants and that a ‘succession of errors’ was made in the government’s handling of the protests.
The government’s official figure is that 24 policemen and 10 indigenous people were killed during the protests, but those figures are disputed by local sources. According to reports, the mayor of local town Bagua has said that up to sixty indigenous people are still missing.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, has issued a call for an independent investigation into the violence. For photos and eyewitness testimonies, see here.
The Congress voted to repeal the laws at the end of last week. The laws undermined indigenous peoples’ rights and made it easier for outsiders to take control of their land.
Peru’s Amazon Indian organisation, AIDESEP, described the government’s decision as ‘historic’. ‘Our struggle and the lives of our indigenous brothers and sisters have not been in vain,’ said AIDESEP’s vice-president, Daysi Zapata Fasabi. ‘(This decision) shows that our struggle is a just one and that no one is manipulating us.’
Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, admitted that the laws were passed without consulting the Amazon’s indigenous inhabitants and that a ‘succession of errors’ was made in the government’s handling of the protests.
The government’s official figure is that 24 policemen and 10 indigenous people were killed during the protests, but those figures are disputed by local sources. According to reports, the mayor of local town Bagua has said that up to sixty indigenous people are still missing.
The United Nations Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, has issued a call for an independent investigation into the violence. For photos and eyewitness testimonies, see here.
19.06.2009
An eyewitness account of the killings in Peru which caused shockwaves around the world has been published by Survival International. The report contains shocking photos by two Belgians, Marijke Deleu and Thomas Quirynen, who were caught up in the violence and were themselves shot at.
The report, 'Death at Devil's Bend: an eyewitness account' provides a dramatic narrative of the day's events, which ended with a large number of people, both police officers and indigenous protesters, dead. (The exact numbers are still unclear.)
The release of the report comes shortly after the arrival of indigenous leader Alberto Pizango in Nicaragua. Pizango, president of Peru’s Amazon Indian organisation, AIDESEP, sought asylum in that country after being charged with ‘sedition’ against the Peruvian government. Several other AIDESEP leaders have also been charged.
The charges are part of a wider government crackdown. Seven congressmen and -women have been suspended, a radio that broadcast coverage of the violence in the town of Bagua has had its licence withdrawn, and moves are afoot to clamp down on NGOs.
One Cabinet minister has resigned following the violence. Peru’s Prime Minister, Yehude Simon, has said he will also resign when ‘calm’ in the country is restored.Meanwhile, thousands of people around the world have come out in support of Peru’s indigenous people. These include film star Q’orianka Kilcher, of indigenous Peruvian descent, who played Pocahontas in the film ‘The New World’.Download the report 'Death at Devil's Bend: an eyewitness account' (PDF)
The report, 'Death at Devil's Bend: an eyewitness account' provides a dramatic narrative of the day's events, which ended with a large number of people, both police officers and indigenous protesters, dead. (The exact numbers are still unclear.)
The release of the report comes shortly after the arrival of indigenous leader Alberto Pizango in Nicaragua. Pizango, president of Peru’s Amazon Indian organisation, AIDESEP, sought asylum in that country after being charged with ‘sedition’ against the Peruvian government. Several other AIDESEP leaders have also been charged.
The charges are part of a wider government crackdown. Seven congressmen and -women have been suspended, a radio that broadcast coverage of the violence in the town of Bagua has had its licence withdrawn, and moves are afoot to clamp down on NGOs.
One Cabinet minister has resigned following the violence. Peru’s Prime Minister, Yehude Simon, has said he will also resign when ‘calm’ in the country is restored.Meanwhile, thousands of people around the world have come out in support of Peru’s indigenous people. These include film star Q’orianka Kilcher, of indigenous Peruvian descent, who played Pocahontas in the film ‘The New World’.Download the report 'Death at Devil's Bend: an eyewitness account' (PDF)
Blog
19.11.2008, Johanna Havemann, 0 Comments
R eindeer herding, fishing and pure nature.
Indigenous peoples from four different counties.
The Sámi are the indigenous peoples of the Arctic Area of the Nordic countries. Reindeer husbandry and fishing have always been important livelihoods of the Sámi, who are closely bound to nature, and for whom nature is important.
Sápmi, the Sámi Country, includes areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Sápmi starts at the middle of Norway and includes the eastern regions of the Kola Peninsula. The natural landscape varies greatly in this area.
The Sámis have traditionally divided the year into eight seasons, depending on the changes in nature during the year. These seasons are winter, late winter, spring, late spring, summer, late summer, autumn and late autumn. Each season offers many different possibilities for activities.
To learn more visit: http://www.galdu.org/
Indigenous peoples from four different counties.
The Sámi are the indigenous peoples of the Arctic Area of the Nordic countries. Reindeer husbandry and fishing have always been important livelihoods of the Sámi, who are closely bound to nature, and for whom nature is important.
Sápmi, the Sámi Country, includes areas of Norway, Sweden, Finland and Russia. Sápmi starts at the middle of Norway and includes the eastern regions of the Kola Peninsula. The natural landscape varies greatly in this area.
The Sámis have traditionally divided the year into eight seasons, depending on the changes in nature during the year. These seasons are winter, late winter, spring, late spring, summer, late summer, autumn and late autumn. Each season offers many different possibilities for activities.
To learn more visit: http://www.galdu.org/
27.08.2008, Johanna Havemann, 0 Comments
Italian film ‘Birdwatchers’, selected as one of the films in competition for the Golden Lion Award at the Venice Film Festival, highlights the plight of the Guarani-Kaiowá Indians in Brazil, whose lands are being destroyed to produce biofuels for cars and other vehicles.
Birdwatchers (‘La Terra Degli Uomini Rossi’) is a love story set in rural Brazil between the daughter of a wealthy land owner and a young Guarani shaman apprentice, as their two worlds collide against the backdrop of land invasion, suicides, and rebellion.
The film marks the acting debut of the Guarani Indians in leading roles, including Abrisio da Silva Pedro (Guarani name: Chirivy Poty'i, or ‘beautiful little boy’) as the shaman apprentice. 230 Guarani, who had never acted before were involved in the making of the film. It is written and directed by Chilean/Italian film maker Marco Bechis, and stars Italian actor Claudio Santamaria (Casino Royale), and leading Brazilian actor Matheus Nachtergaele.
[...]
>> http://www.survival-international.org/news/3643
Survival International has opened a fund, in association with the film, to help the Guarani defend their rights, lands and futures:
> http://www.guarani-survival.org/en
Visit the film’s website:
> http://www.birdwatchersfilm.com/
Birdwatchers (‘La Terra Degli Uomini Rossi’) is a love story set in rural Brazil between the daughter of a wealthy land owner and a young Guarani shaman apprentice, as their two worlds collide against the backdrop of land invasion, suicides, and rebellion.
The film marks the acting debut of the Guarani Indians in leading roles, including Abrisio da Silva Pedro (Guarani name: Chirivy Poty'i, or ‘beautiful little boy’) as the shaman apprentice. 230 Guarani, who had never acted before were involved in the making of the film. It is written and directed by Chilean/Italian film maker Marco Bechis, and stars Italian actor Claudio Santamaria (Casino Royale), and leading Brazilian actor Matheus Nachtergaele.
[...]
>> http://www.survival-international.org/news/3643
Survival International has opened a fund, in association with the film, to help the Guarani defend their rights, lands and futures:
> http://www.guarani-survival.org/en
Visit the film’s website:
> http://www.birdwatchersfilm.com/
Goal: raise awareness in order to defend rights and lifes of indigenous peoples worldwide
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