A national report on Aboriginal social and economic trends in Australia has shown their condition has deteriorated. In particular it showed that the gap between indigenous and non-indigenous citizens has grown wider in areas like child abuse and domestic violence. It revealed that Aboriginal children are six times as likely to be abused as non-indigenous children. The Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd said it was a devastating report on an unacceptable situation.

 Read more (BBC News)

Bangladesh: Peace still a far cry in the hills

30 June 2009

THE Awami League Election Manifesto of 2008 said -- "The 1997 Chittagong Hill Tracts Peace Accord will be fully implemented. More efforts will be directed towards the development of underdeveloped areas, and special programmes on priority basis will be taken to secure rights of the ethnic minorities, indigenous peoples and other communities, and to preserve their language, literature, culture, and unique lifestyles." Unfortunately during the last six months of the present government, there have been no significant initiatives to implement the CHT Accord.

 Read more (The Daily Star)

25 June 2009

In a report posted on the APN.ru portal, Siberian analyst Dmitry Verkhoturov describes how RusHydro, which seeks to build a hydroelectric dam that will flood a major portion of the traditional lands of the Evenks, has launched a three-pronged campaign against that projects increasingly numerous opponents

  Read more (eesti.ca)

Indigenous Australians are 13 times more likely to be jailed than the rest of the population and the government must step up efforts to tackle drug and alcohol dependency in Aboriginal communities, researchers said today.  Almost a quarter of all male prisoners and a third of female detainees in Australia are indigenous, the Australian National Council on Drugs said in a report.

 Read more (bloomberg.com) 

The indigenous population of Peru has won an important victory in their ongoing struggle to retain control over their resource-rich ancestral land. After weeks of militant protests, Peru’s congress was forced to revoke two land laws enacted in 2008 by President Alan Garcia as part of a free-trade agreement with the United States. The two laws stated that the government would decide how the land would be used and who could use it. Protesters exposed the deal for what it truly was—an open door for foreign companies to exploit the land and steal the oil, gas and other natural resources that belong to the people of Peru. Indigenous groups organized roadblocks, demonstrations and strikes, which Garcia ordered the police to break up. The Peruvian government, however, was unable to squelch the resistance, despite the fact that the police killed over 30 people and injuring many more.

 Read more (PSLweb)

22 June 2009

“We woke up with new hope in our hearts” said the new Prime Minister of Greenland, Kuupik Kleist, in his speech on 21st June, the day self-government became a reality in Greenland. “It is as if we woke up to a country covered in new snow and we make the first foot prints in it…”

In a referendum in November 2008, Greenlanders voted overwhelmingly for self-government. This allows Greenland, among other issues, to take over responsibility for areas such as criminal justice and oil exploration. Kalaallisut (Greenlandic) becomes the official language of Greenland and Greenlanders are recognised under international law as separate people from Danes. The agreement furthermore allows Greenlandic people to decide whether they will seek independence and when it should be done, if ever.

IWGIA wishes Greenland and its new government all the best for the future and the implementation of self-government.

 Siku News
 The Greenland-Danish Self-Government Commission’s Report on Self-Government in Greenland
 Draft Act on Greenland Self-Government
 Greenland Self-Government Referendum 2008
 From remote island to Self-Government - Greenland’s journey towards independence

Mau Forest Complex remains our home and there is no price or compensation which can please or appease our ancestors. It is in the interest of all us to protect our mother earth and moreso the remains of our great grandfathers and the generations to come. Exchanging it for compensation is calling a curse for us all. This day is for Kenyans and the world at large to know that we are not about to leave our ancestral home. Mau is our home and we shall resist any move to get us out of our home. From time immemorial, we have coexisted with our forest. We love and adore our livelihood and therefore we are conservators of this forest. We did not come from any other district and those who came found us enjoying the blessings of fauna and flora i.e the trees and the animals thereof. The taskforce which was set by the Rt.Hon.Raila Odinga, the Prime Minister of Republic of Kenya had strong terms of reference to take into consideration the interests of forest dwellers like Ogiek. It is unfortunate that the taskforce did not take the Ogiek issues into consideration. Threats have been looming in the air that all the people in Mau forest must leave for conservation to take place.

 Read the full Ogiek Memo here (doc)

19 June 2009

More than 24 million liters of toxic agrochemicals are employed in Paraguay every year, causing deformations, health problems — even death — and environmental damage. But Paraguayan lawmakers ignored this fact when they approved a farming chemical regulation law on May 22, which will still allow these toxic chemicals to be used.

 Read more (latinamerican press)

Aboriginal women subjected to domestic violence

18 June 2009

Indigenous Aboriginal women from the remote Western Australian town of Fitzroy Crossing have saved their community from the scourge of alcohol abuse, domestic violence and foetal alcohol syndrome by successfully fighting for alcohol restrictions in the region. The town has a total population of 928 persons, with 67.3 per cent Indigenous persons.

 Read more (nation.ittefaq.com)

Lola García-Alix
Executive Director
IWGIA

Background information

The indigenous communities' protests started some months ago in response to a series of government decrees promoting the opening up of their lands to oil and gas companies. In recent years more than 70% of Peru´s Amazon has been auctioned off to oil and gas companies without indigenous communities being consulted.

Frustrated by the refusal of the authorities to negotiate with them, AIDESEP (National Organization of the Amazon Indigenous Peoples of Peru) called for a series of peaceful protests. Indigenous communities throughout central and northern Peru blockaded rivers and roads in successful attempt to halt the oil industry traffic.

The violent response used by the police, firing automatic weapons at indigenous persons who were protesting, resulted in many deaths on both sides. More than 20 police officers have been reported dead and at least 30 indigenous persons are thought to have been killed, but indigenous organizations believe the real figure is significantly higher, and have accused the police of throwing large numbers of bodies into the Marañon river.

2 – 19 June 2009

GENEVA - During the 11th session of the Human Rights Council, IWGIA focused on the considerations of the reports from the UPR reviews of Bangladesh, the Russian Federation and Cameroon.

 Read IWGIA's statements during the 11th session here

Murder in Peru: Indigenous Rights and Corporate Interests

12 June 2009

Alan Garcia is no friend of the indigenous, thus his close relationship with the former Bush Administration should come as no surprise. Garcia’s sponsorship of regularizing the opening up of the Amazon to exploitation for oil exploration and logging was no accident, and the mess into which he has plunged his government could be viewed as predictive of things to come. This will not only be in Peru, but in Colombia as well, if the U.S. Congress proceeds to ratify a free trade agreement between Washington and Bogotá. Just as Peru has found itself in the predicament of being unable to fulfill obligations it has agreed to with both its indigenous population and foreign investors, the same fate could easily befall its neighbors.

 Read more (coha.org)

11 June 2009

OIL AND LAND RIGHTS IN PERU - Alan García's high-handed government faces a violent protest. For seven weeks tens of thousands of Amazonian Indians blocked roads and rivers across eastern Peru. They seized hydroelectric plants and pumping stations on oil and gas pipelines to try to force the repeal of decrees facilitating oil exploration, commercial farming and logging in parts of the jungle. Petroperu, the state oil company, had to shut a pipeline that carries 40,000 barrels of oil each day. Amid threats of energy rationing in eastern towns, the government of President Alan García this month ordered armed police to clear a stretch of road and retake a pumping station near Bagua, in Peru’s northern jungle.

 Read more (economist.com)

Video in Spanish

Between the last days of November and first days of December 2007, the UN Special Rapporteur of indigenous peoples, Rodolfo Stavenhagen, visited different organizations from Bolivia to evaluate the situation of the natives in the country. A couple of months ealier, Bolivia had become the first country in the world to turn into law of the republic the UN Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples.

 Read more and order (in Spanish)

10 June 2009

Special Rapporteur on indigenous people urges Government of Peru to dialogue with indigenous peoples of the Amazon. “I urgently appeal to all concerned to avoid further violence and urge State authorities to implement measures already in place, as well as adopt all additional measures necessary, in accordance with international human rights norms, to protect the human rights and fundamental freedoms of the affected indigenous peoples,” said James Anaya.

 Read the full statement of the UN Special Rapporteur on Peru (doc)

What essentially happened is that the Peruvian government wants to destroy the Amazon rainforest to use it for oil, mining, and biofuels, and they are attempting to do this in the name of free trade. When the indigenous people protested to protect their rights, they were brutally massacred.

 Read more (bilaterals.org)

Indian leader forced into exile - The President of Peru’s Amazon Indian organisation AIDESEP has been forced into exile. Alberto Pizango sought refuge in the Nicaraguan embassy in Peru’s capital Lima after a warrant was issued for his arrest. Nicaragua has granted him asylum. Pizango was charged with ‘sedition, conspiracy and rebellion’ following the violent confrontation between hundreds of indigenous protesters blockading a road near the town of Bagua in northern Peru, and riot police intent on breaking up the protest.

 Read more (survival-international.org)

 Read IWGIAs press release about the massacre in Peru (doc in Danish)

9 June 2009

Indigenous Peoples and representative organizations are deeply disappointed by the Government of Canada’s response to an important review of Canada’s human rights record being carried out by the United Nations Human Rights Council. As part of the new Universal Periodic Review (UPR) process, UN member states made a wide range of recommendations to Canada in February. Canada’s response, which was publicly released on June 5th, is to be delivered in Geneva today. “As a member and early supporter of the UN Human Rights Council, one would have expected that Canada would have made every effort to make sure its own engagement with the Universal Periodic Review process sets a positive example for other states,” says Assembly of First Nations Regional Chief Wilton Littlechild, “Instead, Canada has done its best to avoid making any real commitment for improving human rights on the ground.”

 Read more

9 June 2009

The oil giant Shell has agreed to pay $15.5m (£9.6m) in settlement of a legal action in which it was accused of having ­collaborated in the execution of the writer Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight other leaders of the Ogoni tribe of southern Nigeria. The settlement, reached on the eve of the trial in a federal court in New York, was one of the largest payouts agreed by a ­multinational corporation charged with human rights violations.

 Read more

8 June 2009

They are among the country's earliest inhabitants, but a combination of war, prejudice and marginalisation has forced the pygmies of the southeastern Katanga province onto the fringes of Congolese society. Known locally as Batembo, thousands of pygmies once lived in the forests of Katanga's Pweto territory - only 400-500 families remain today. Many others fled or were killed during the 2003-2006 destruction wrought by the militia leader Gédéon Kyungu Mutanga and his Mai Mai soldiers. After a 19-month trial, a Katanga military court on March 5 found Mutanga guilty of crimes against humanity, insurgency, and terrorism in the so called "triangle of death" which includes Pweto.

 Read more (africafiles.org)

8 June 2009

Full implementation of Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) peace accord remains uncertain as the Land Commission formed to resolve land disputes in CHT is yet to be made functional 11 years after its inception. As per the peace deal signed in 1998, the then Awami League government formed a five-member CHT Land Commission for resolving the land related disputes in CHT. As the successive governments failed to take proper steps to make the commission functional, land settlement process in CHT faces serious hindrance and a large number of applications from both Bangali and indigenous people have remained piled up at the offices of concerned circle chiefs and deputy commissioners, sources said.

 Read more thedailystar.net

7 June 2009

Academics from the Centre for Aboriginal Economic Policy Research are calling on the Commonwealth to better recognise Indigenous people's contribution to the conservation of Australia's biodiversity.

 Read more abc.net.au

6 June 2009

Bagua, Peru – In the early morning hours on Friday, Peruvian Special Forces staged a violent raid on a group of indigenous people at a peaceful blockade on a road outside of Bagua in a remote area of the northern Peruvian Amazon resulting in 25 civilians confirmed dead and more than 150 injured. Over 600 police attacked several thousand unarmed Awajun and Wambis indigenous peoples including many women and children and forcibly dispersed them using tear gas and live ammunition.

 Read more (amazonwatch.org)

5 June 2009

At issue is the arming of Canadian Border Service Agency officers with 9 mm handguns, a policy which was to take effect June 1. Residents of the island, which Mohawks call Kahwehnoke, established a protest site last month near the Canadian customs building and planted signs and nation flags along the road appealing to motorists to “Honk for no guns.” In the last hours of May, the gathering swelled to more than 300 as a small group of CBSA agents voluntarily departed the building minutes before midnight, citing safety concerns.

 Read more (indiancountrytoday.com)

Land is the centre of most conflicts in Northeast India because of its importance in the life of the people of the region, particularly its tribal communities. It is also the resource most under attack, in the tribal areas in particular. This book is an attempt to understand the processes that result in tribal land alienation and the consequent conflicts in the region. The essays in this book attempt to disaggregate the received knowledge on land use systems in Northeast India, by using a mixture of ethnography and archival data.

 Read more and order

3 June 2009

Clash of cultures: The conflict between conservation and indigenous people in wild landscapes. Conservationists have often seen native people as a problem to be solved by eviction. Now both sides are learning mutual respect. These two forces share a goal that is vital to life on earth - a healthy and diverse biosphere. Both are communities of integrity led by some of the most admirable, dedicated people alive. Both care deeply for the planet and together are capable of preserving more biodiversity than any other two groups on it. Yet they have been terribly at odds with one another over the past century or more, violently so at times, mostly because of conflicting views of nature, radically different definitions of "wilderness" and profound misunderstandings of one another's science and culture.

 Read more (guardian.co.uk)

1 June 2009

The Coast Salish – U.S. Geological Survey Tribal Journey Water Quality Project was recently recognized with the Department of the Interior’s Partners in Conservation Award for their studies to help restore nearshore marine habitats and ecosystem functions across the Salish Sea. “The Salish Sea ecosystem sustains our indigenous life way as people of the salmon and shoreline,” said Swinomish Chairman Brian Cladoosby. “We say in our lands, when the tide is out, the table is set. Our way of life depends upon a healthy ecosystem that stretches from the mountains to the tidelands. Through the partnerships and project, we have a stronger science and policy capacity to protect the human health of our people, our culture, and aboriginal and treaty rights of our nations.”

 Read more (indiancountrytoday.com)

On 20 May 2009, The Indigenous World 2009 was launched at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues in New York. Around 100 mainly indigenous participants attended the event.

Every year, The Indigenous World reports on the developments in many countries of the world where indigenous peoples live and it documents the many challenges indigenous peoples are confronted with. The 2009 issue of our yearbook reports once again on gross abuses of human rights across the world, but the issue also reports on a number of positive developments. These are for example on Australia where the indigenous peoples finally were given the long awaited apology for past atrocities and injustices, as well as on Japan where the indigenous Ainu people was recognised as indigenous people of Japan or on Greenland, where the population voted in favor of self-government. In Africa, 2008 saw a gradual recognition of indigenous peoples’ rights in some countries, such as for example in Burundi and in Cameroon.

 Read more