News from Survival International

‘Alternative Nobel Prize’ winners appeal to Botswana President over Bushmen

Fri, 03 Sep 2010 09:17:00 +0100

Xoroxloo Duxee died of dehydration after the Bushmen's well was disabled.
© Survival

Over 30 laureates of the Right Livelihood Award, known as the ‘alternative Nobel Prize’, have signed an open letter to President Khama of Botswana urging him to allow the Bushmen access to water.

The appeal comes as world experts arrive in Stockholm for World Water Week, and ahead of the Right Livelihood Award conference in Bonn, 14-19th September. It follows the UN’s adoption of water as a human right in July.

Describing the government’s actions as ‘inexcusable’, the laureates’ letter urges it to ‘allow the Bushmen access to water on their lands, and work with them to ensure a sustainable future for everyone’.

The laureates express concern for the welfare of the Bushmen of Botswana’s Central Kalahari Game Reserve, who have been banned from accessing a well which they rely on for water. ‘Without access to water, a fundamental human right’, the letter says, ‘they are struggling to sustain their way of live on their ancestral lands’.

In 2002, the Bushmen were evicted from their lands by the Botswana government and dumped in resettlement camps outside the reserve. With Survival’s help they took the government to court, and four years later won a landmark High Court ruling declaring their right to live in the reserve. In 2005, the Bushmen’s organization, First People of the Kalahari, was awarded an ‘alternative Nobel Prize’ for their struggle for their rights.

Despite the ruling, the government refuses to allow the Bushmen to recommission a well, which it sealed and capped during the 2002 evictions, forcing the Bushmen to make arduous journeys to fetch water from outside the reserve. At the same time, it has drilled new well for wildlife and allowed Wilderness Safaris to build a luxury tourist lodge with swimming pool on Bushman land. In the near future it is also likely to issue a licence for a diamond mine on Bushman land, for which new wells will be drilled, on condition that the mine will not provide water to the Bushmen.

In July, a High Court judge dismissed the Bushmen’s application for permission to use the well, expressing sympathy for the government’s argument that the Bushmen have ‘brought upon themselves any discomfort they may endure’.

Bushman spokesperson, Jumanda Gakelebone, said, ‘We are grateful to all the laureates for helping us. Khama should know that a lot of human rights activists all over the world are watching’.

The letter reads:

Dear President Khama,

We, the undersigned, all winners of the ‘alternative Nobel prize’, are greatly concerned for the welfare of our friends and fellow laureates, the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Without access to water, a fundamental human right, they are struggling to sustain their way of life on their ancestral lands.
All the Bushmen want is to be able to use a well which they used before they were illegally evicted from their lands. To deny them this is inexcusable.
We urge you to allow the Bushmen access to water on their lands, and work with them to ensure a sustainable future for everyone. In the words of Roy Sesana, ‘We aren’t here for ourselves. We are here for each other and for the children of our grandchildren’.

Yours sincerely,

Ibrahim Abouleish (Egypt)
Marcos Aran, International Baby Food Action Network (Mexico)
András Biró/Hungarian Foundation for Self-Reliance (Hungary)
Carmel Budiardjo (UK)
Tony Clarke (Canada)
Erik Dammann/The Future in Our Hands (Norway)
Hans-Peter Duerr (Germany)
Samuel Epstein (USA)
Anwar Fazal (Malaysia)
Festival Internacional de Poesía de Medellín (Colombia)
Johan Galtung (Norway)
Wes Jackson/The Land Institute (USA)
Katarina Kruhonja (Croatia)
Ida Kuklina/The Committee of Soldiers’ Mothers of Russia (Russia)
Manfred Max-Neef (Chile)
Pat Mooney (Canada)
Alice Tepper Marlin (USA)
Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People (Nigeria)
Nicanor Perlas (Philippines)
Raúl Montenegro (Argentina)
Juan Pablo Orrego/ Grupo de Acción por el Biobío (Chile)
Kerala Sastra Sahitya Parishad (India)
Right Livelihood Award Foundation (Sweden)
Mycle Schneider (France)
Suciwati, wife of late Munir (Indonesia)
Hannumappa Sudarshan, VGKK (India)
Vesna Terselic (Croatia)
Trident Ploughshares (UK)
John F. Charlewood Turner (UK)
Judit Vásárhelyi, on behalf of Duna Kör (Hungary)
Alla Yaroshinskaya (Russia)

Download the full letter.

Bushmen launch appeal over right to water

Wed, 01 Sep 2010 09:36:00 +0100

Xoroxloo Duxee died of dehydration after the Bushmen's water borehole was disabled.
© Survival

The Bushmen of Botswana have lodged an appeal against a High Court decision that denied them access to water on their ancestral lands.

In July, Justice Walia dismissed the Bushmen’s application for permission to use a well on their lands inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, expressing sympathy for the government’s position that ‘having chosen to settle at an uncomfortably distant location, [the Bushmen] have brought upon themselves any discomfort they may endure.’

The ruling came a week before the UN formally recognized water as a fundamental human right. It has also been condemned by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights, Africa’s key human rights body, for denying the ‘right to life’ enshrined in the African Charter.

In 2002, the Bushmen were evicted from their lands by the Botswana government; a move declared by the High Court as illegal and unconstitutional. However, despite the ruling, the government continues to prevent Bushmen from returning home by banning them from accessing a well which they rely on for water. Without it, they are forced to make arduous journeys to fetch water from outside their reserve.

The Bushmen launched legal proceedings in a bid to gain access to the well, which the government sealed and capped during the 2002 evictions. Even though the Bushmen have said they will raise the funds required to operate the well, the government claims that they need permission to do so and has refused to give it.

At the same time, the government has created new wells for wildlife in the reserve, allowed the opening of a Wilderness Safaris tourist lodge with swimming pool on Bushman land, and is due to give the go ahead for a diamond mine at one of the Bushman communities.

Botswana’s president, Ian Khama, who sits on the board of Conservation International, has described the Bushmen’s way of life as ‘an archaic fantasy’.

Bushman spokesman, Jumanda Gakelebone, said, ‘Like all human beings, we can’t live without water. We, the Bushmen, are appealing for our basic human right, and the world is watching’.

Norwegian government blacklists Malaysian timber giant

Mon, 30 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0100

A logger handles trees felled in the Penan's region.
© Andy Rain/Nick Rain/Survival

The Norwegian government has excluded the Malaysian timber giant Samling from its pension fund on ethical grounds. Samling is logging the last remaining forests of the hunter-gatherer Penan tribe.

Norway’s Ministry of Finance sold its shares in Samling on the recommendation of its pension fund’s Council on Ethics, which investigated Samling’s activities and found evidence of systematic illegal logging and ‘extensive damage to forests and the environment.’

Announcing the divestment from Samling and two other companies, Minister of Finance Sigbjørn Johnsen said, ‘The decision to exclude these companies… is based on the Council on Ethics assessment that they are contributing to or are themselves responsible for grossly unethical activity.’

Samling has devastated much of the land of the Penan tribe of Sarawak, in the Malaysian part of Borneo. The Penan rely on the forest for food and shelter, and its destruction by logging companies has left them impoverished.

In December 2009, five Penan communities filed two lawsuits against Samling subsidiaries. A case by other Penan communities has been pending since 1998.

One Penan man told Survival, ‘Samling is trying to log all the trees in our forest. When they enter the area we will lose everything.’

Survival International’s director Stephen Corry said today, ‘If all responsible investors, particularly those using public money, avoided companies which violate tribal peoples’ rights and destroy their lands, it would send a clear and long overdue signal to corporations around the world. These companies should simply be boycotted, so the Norwegian disinvestment is a very good step in the right direction.’

Download the Norwegian Council on Ethics recommendation

Brazil’s President signs ‘death sentence’ for Amazonian river

Fri, 27 Aug 2010 18:24:00 +0100

Kayapó Indians at a protest against the Belo Monte dam
© T Turner

Brazil’s President Lula has signed a contract allowing the construction of the hugely controversial Belo Monte mega-dam on the Amazonian Xingu River to go ahead.

Lula said, ‘I think this is a victory for Brazil’s energy sector’.

Belo Monte, if built, will be the third largest dam in the world. It will devastate the local environment and threaten the lives of the thousands of indigenous people living in the area, whose land and food sources will be seriously damaged.

Experts have warned that the project has serious design flaws. It was described by Walter Coronado Antunes, former Environment Secretary of São Paulo state, as ‘the worst engineering project in the history of hydroelectric dams in Brazil, and perhaps of any engineering project in the world’.

Indians, together with human rights and environmental organizations have traveled to Brazil’s capital, Brasília, to protest against Lula’s signing of the contract. They said, ‘The government has signed a death warrant for the Xingu river and condemned thousands of residents to expulsion’.

Brazilian and international organizations have published a Declaration against the Belo Monte dam, describing the signing of the contract as a ‘death sentence for the Xingu River’, and a ‘scandalous affront to international human rights conventions, Brazilian law and the Brazilian constitution’.

Marcos Apurinã of the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon (COIAB), said, ‘Our government is presenting itself as an example to the world. But here in Brazil, at least for indigenous peoples, it is not exemplary at all!’.

The Indians have warned that if the dam is constructed, a ‘war’ could start and the Xingu could become a ‘river of blood’.

They have organized several protests against the project. Hundreds of Indians are currently participating in a protest, alongside experts, human rights and environmental organizations, and Brazil’s Public Ministry, against the Belo Monte dam, as well as the dams on the Madeira, Teles Pires and Tapajós rivers.

Survival International recently published a report highlighting the devastating impacts that dams are bringing to tribal peoples worldwide.

Indians urge Brazil’s next President to protect ancestral land

Thu, 26 Aug 2010 19:15:56 +0100

Indians at landmark protest for land rights. Brazil.
© Gustavo Macedo/ Survival

Indians representing many of Brazil’s 233 tribes have demanded that the country’s next President map out their ancestral land which has been taken from them for industrial projects, cattle ranching, and soya planting.

They also call for the suspension of large-scale industrial projects which will irreversibly damage their land, improved health and education services, and a more participatory role in the restructuring of FUNAI, the government’s Indian affairs department.

These demands are set out in a letter sent to the presidential candidates following a landmark protest against the theft of indigenous land and the killing of their leaders.

More than 600 Indians attended the protest, which took place in Mato Grosso do Sul state to draw attention to the critical situation of the Guarani Indians who live there.

The Indians state in their letter, ‘Here, cattle, sugarcane, eucalyptus and soya are worth more than the life of an indigenous child, more than a human life’.

Anastácio Peralta Guarani said at the protest, ‘The big companies step all over us, but we must not become disheartened – we must fight!’

A Guarani Indian from Laranjeira Nanderu community, which has been living on the side of a highway for almost two years, said, ‘Many babies have died. Many people are ill because we don’t have food or water. We are dying there’.

Earlier this week, a group of Guarani Indians met with President Lula and demanded that their land be protected. Ambrósio Vilhava, star of the film ‘Birdwatchers’, told Lula that the Indians’ land must be mapped out immediately.

Brazil’s presidential election is due to be held on 3 October.

David v. Goliath: Indian tribe in ‘stunning’ victory over mining giant

Tue, 24 Aug 2010 09:41:00 +0100

The Dongria Kondh and their supporters have won a momentous victory.
© Toby Nicholas/Survival

A tribe in India has won a stunning victory over one of the world’s biggest mining companies. In an extraordinary move, India’s Environment Minister Jairam Ramesh has blocked Vedanta Resources’ controversial plan to mine bauxite on the sacred hills of the Dongria Kondh tribe. 

Mr Ramesh said Vedanta has shown a ’shocking’ and ‘blatant disregard for the rights of the tribal groups’. The Minister has also questioned the legality of the massive refinery Vedanta has already built below the hills.

 The news is a crushing defeat for Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal , Vedanta’s majority owner and founder.  

Free broadcast-quality footage of Dongria Kondh and interview with Survival campaigner available: contact mr@survivalinternational.org or (+44) (0)20 7687 8734/ (+44) (0)7583 249 275/ (+44) (0)7504 543 367

Media kit with background info and hi-res photos

In recent years the project has come under unprecedented attack. The Norwegian and British governments, the Church of England, organizations such as Survival, and even insurance giant Aviva have all criticized the company and its ethics.  

Survival has been in the forefront of a global campaign against the mine for several years. Survival recruited celebrities such as Michael Palin and Joanna Lumley to champion the tribe’s cause; its supporters have written over 10,000 protest letters to the Indian government, and more than 600,000 people have watched Survival’s film ‘Mine’. The tribe’s plight even came to the attention of ‘Avatar’ director James Cameron, and the Dongria became known as the ‘real Avatar tribe’. 
 
The struggle has pitted the 8,000-strong tribe, nearly all of them illiterate, against the might of an $8bn company and its founder, himself worth some $6bn. The Dongria Kondh have mounted numerous protests, and two of their leaders were abducted and beaten before being released, in an atmosphere of increasing violence. 

In recent days an inquiry panel set up by Minister Ramesh recommended the mine be blocked, saying that Vedanta had acted illegally and with ‘total contempt for the law’. 

Survival campaigner Dr Jo Woodman, who experienced first-hand the atmosphere of intimidation in the Dongria’s hills, said today, ‘This is a victory nobody would have believed possible. The Dongria’s campaign became a litmus test of whether a small, marginalized tribe could stand up to a massive multinational company with an army of lobbyists and PR firms and the ear of government. Incredibly, the Dongria’s courage and tenacity, allied with the support of many people in India, and Survival’s supporters around the world, have triumphed.’

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said today, ‘The era when mining companies could get away with destroying those in their path with impunity is thankfully drawing to a close, though it remains significant that Vedanta fought for its plans to the end, repeatedly denying everything the tribespeople said. The concerned public must remain vigilant about these so-called development projects – companies simply cannot be trusted voluntarily to abide by human rights standards, particularly when dealing with tribal peoples who can’t know what they’re up against.’

African Commission rules outspoken academic wrongly deported from Botswana

Sat, 21 Aug 2010 16:00:00 +0100

Bushmen children
© Survival

The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has declared that outspoken academic, Professor Kenneth Good, was wrongly deported from Botswana after criticizing the lack of democracy in the country.

Professor Good worked as professor of political studies at the University of Botswana for fifteen years before being expelled from Botswana in 2005. His deportation came shortly after he released a paper in which he criticized automatic presidential succession in Botswana.

The then president of Botswana, Festus Mogae, branded Good ‘a threat to national security’ and described him as ‘an undesirable inhabitant of Botswana’.

Professor Good has also been a fierce critic of the government’s treatment of the Bushmen of the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, arguing that ‘the weakness of democracy has facilitated [the subordination] of the San [Bushmen]’.

The Commission issued a scathing critique of the Botswana government’s presidentialism and the weakness of the judicial institutions. Vindicating Good’s actions, it declared that the Botswana government violated various articles of the African Charter, and ordered it to pay adequate compensation to Good, and to take steps to bring the country’s Immigration Act in line with international human rights standards.

However, the Botswana government has responded by refusing to honour the Commission’s ruling. Foreign Affairs Minister, Phandu Skelemani, told reporters, ‘We are not going to follow on the recommendation made by the Commission; it does not give orders, and it is not a court. We are not going to listen to them. We will not compensate Mr Good.’

Speaking about the ruling, Professor Good said, ‘This represents a victory for academic freedom and human rights, and a blow against presidentialism and non-accountability. It is a landmark African legal decision, which Botswana is obliged to uphold under international law. To ignore its findings is to embrace rogue statehood’.

Lt General Ian Khama automatically succeeded Mogae as president in 2008, a move which Good says has brought about ‘an escalation in the militarization and personalization of power in Botswana’. Since becoming president, Khama has continued the policy of subordination of the Bushmen, and has banned them from accessing a borehole which they rely on for water on their lands.

Penan tribe demand a say in dam project

Fri, 20 Aug 2010 14:32:43 +0100

Work is in full flow on dams in the Penan's area.
© Survival

Penan tribespeople in Borneo have demanded a say in a hydroelectric dam being built on their land.

Construction of the Murum dam in the Malaysian state of Sarawak is well underway, and will flood the land of at least six Penan villages. The Penan were not properly consulted before the project began.

Now a ‘social and environmental impact assessment’ is being prepared for the project, despite construction being at an advanced stage.

In a statement released earlier this month, Penan from the affected villages ask what will happen if the impact assessment is not approved. Penan man Surang Alung says, ‘What will the government do to recover back the land, forest, rivers and natural resources that have been destroyed?’

The statement by the Pelieran-Murum Penan Affairs Committee urges the state government not to approve the impact assessment until it has been publicly scrutinized, and to take their opinions into account.

The Penan have told the government that if they must leave their land to make way for the dam, they want to choose where they move to. But the palm oil giant Shin Yang has moved into the area they have suggested, and is planning a huge plantation. ‘Shin Yang has entered the area illegally without our consent. If it is allowed to extensively clear and fell the forest, there will be no more forest left for our community to sustain our livelihood,’ say the Penan.

The Murum dam is the first in a new series of large-scale hydroelectric projects being planned by the Sarawak state government, which will displace thousands of indigenous people.

Survival International published a new report last week highlighting a worldwide boom in dam building for ‘green’ energy, and its devastating impact on tribal peoples.

Amazon Indians fight controversial mega dam

Thu, 19 Aug 2010 18:37:00 +0100

Hundreds of Indians from throughout the Brazilian Amazon participated in a landmark protest to highlight the threat to their survival posed by large infrastructure projects, in particular the hugely controversial Belo Monte dam.

Over 500 Indians from 27 tribes converged near the Xingu River in the Amazon, on which the Belo Monte dam is planned to be built, bearing the message: ‘Defend the Xingu: Stop Belo Monte’.

The protest followed the publication last week of a new Survival International report highlighting a worldwide boom in dam building for ‘green’ energy, and its devastating impact on tribal peoples.

If built, Belo Monte would destroy rainforest and reduce fish stocks on which Indians in the area depend for their survival. The influx of immigrants during the construction of the dam threatens to bring violence and disease to the Indians.

Raoni Metuktire of the Kayapó tribe said at the protest, ‘We must never give up, because we are fighting for a right that is ours! Nature is life, it has sustained us until today, so we have to defend Nature as our father and mother who give us life….Is this [dam] what we really want, my friends? Let us stand together against Belo Monte!’.

Following a series of discussions about the dam, the protesters released a Declaration calling for Belo Monte and other large infrastructure projects in the Amazon to be halted.

The protest was organized by the Coordinating Body of Indigenous Organizations of the Brazilian Amazon.

Around 800 Indians are protesting this week in Mato Grosso do Sul state, south of the Amazon, against the assassination of their leaders, the theft of their land and other threats to their survival. The Indians at this protest are particularly emphasizing the critical situation of the Guarani Indians.

Brazilian Indians celebrate creation of their own health service

Wed, 18 Aug 2010 11:57:11 +0100

Yanomami woman. Yanomami Indians and Indians of many other tribes are celebrating the creation of their own health service
© Fiona Watson/Survival

Tribal peoples all over Brazil are celebrating the creation of a new branch of the Ministry of Health which will be responsible for providing health care to the country’s Indians.

The Brazilian Senate voted unanimously to approve the new body, to be called the ‘Indigenous Health Secretariat’, following years of campaigning by Indians and organizations supporting them.

The Senate’s decision is a landmark victory for the Indians, and prompted celebrations amongst members of several tribes who had gathered in Brasília to hear the vote.

The Indians hope that the new organization, by focusing solely on indigenous communities, will be able to provide a more efficient health care service than the heavily-discredited system to which they currently have access.

Edmilson Terena of the Terena tribe said, ‘We have to reorganize a system which has fallen into chaos in the last ten years. Now, things are set to improve’.

Clóvis Ambrósio of the Wapixana tribe added, ‘Now we must start planning to change everything. By the end of the year we need to have planned out our new health system in the Secretariat’.

The Indigenous Health Secretariat will take over from the work of the National Health Foundation (FUNASA), which has been accused of corruption and criticized for not adequately serving the Indians’ needs.

FUNASA was recently involved in a scandal in which thousands of Yanomami Indians in the Amazon were cut off from medical assistance for over two months.

Senator Lúcia Vânia, who voted in favor of the measure, said, ‘The government is taking a step forward by creating a new Secretariat in the Ministry of Health and ensuring that indigenous peoples can enjoy a high standard of health care’.

Philippine mining plans blocked

Tue, 17 Aug 2010 12:55:00 +0100

The Palawan tribe of the Philippines is celebrating after a local government panel refused to give the go-ahead to mining giant MacroAsia to mine on their traditional territory.

Survival supporters, indigenous groups and others had lobbied the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development (PCSD) in the run up to the panel meeting. The PCSD also heard evidence from a Palawan indigenous leader and other experts about the Palawan communities’ opposition to mining on their land, and how MacroAsia’s explorations have been predominantly in highly protected areas of virgin forest.

The council, which had been expected by many to merely rubber stamp the environmental approval, giving the green light for mining to begin, declared that more investigation was needed before a decision could be reached. It ordered wide-ranging investigations, including into the impact of mining on the indigenous peoples’ culture and livelihood and the legality of local government endorsements of the project.

During the meeting, Palawan indigenous leader Artiso Mandawa said, ‘It will not be difficult to establish that the people of Brookes Point are overwhelmingly against any mining. This is what we indigenous peoples and farmers have been trying to communicate to the government for the past two years through public demonstrations and rallies, but they did not listen.’

After the decision not to endorse the mining plans he cautioned, ‘This is just an initial victory for the indigenous peoples and our supporters.’

Vedanta’s India mine slammed in devastating government report

Mon, 16 Aug 2010 12:24:00 +0100

Plans by Vedanta Resources to mine on Dongria Kondh land in eastern India ‘threaten the survival’ of the tribe, according to an official government investigation whose report has just been released.

In a devastating report, a committee set up by India’s Environment Minister has ruled that Vedanta has acted illegally and with ‘total contempt for the law’; that local officials have ‘colluded’ in the company’s illegal activity and falsified documents; that ‘it is established beyond any doubt that the [mining] area is the cultural, religious and economic habitat of the Dongria Kondh ’; and that to allow Vedanta’s mine would be ‘illegal’.

India’s Minister of Environment and Forests has already said he will use the report to decide whether to give Vedanta permission to begin mining.

Vedanta’s scheme to mine the land of the Dongria Kondh tribe has become one of the most notorious projects in the world, with investors including Aviva and the Church of England attacking the company. Human rights activist Bianca Jagger and celebrities including Joanna Lumley and Michael Palin have given their support to the Dongria tribe, who have been peacefully resisting the mine for years.

A previous investigation for the Environment Ministry found that Vedanta’s mine ‘may lead to the destruction’ of the Dongria Kondh as a tribe. The report concluded that mining should not be allowed.

Stephen Corry, Director of Survival said today, ‘This report is utterly scathing about Vedanta’s behaviour and confirms what Survival and others have been saying for years. The investigators have discovered that both Vedanta and the local authorities have already broken the law. The findings are unequivocal – mining will destroy the Dongria Kondh and should not be allowed. Let’s hope this is the final nail in the coffin for Vedanta’s plans.’

Download the report

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‘We live for our Niyamgiri’

The Dongria Kondh have lived in Niyamgiri for thousands of years and their lifestyle and religion have helped nurture the area’s dense forests and unusually rich wildlife.