APPEAL TO URGE THE GOVERNMENT OF INDIA AND GOVERNMENT OF MANIPUR TO PROTECT THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF ALL HUMAN RIGHTS DEFENDERS OF MANIPUR

Nature of incident: Continued pattern of harassment and intimidation of human rights defenders of Manipur, NE India
Identification of Victim: Mr. Jiten Yumnam, an environmentalist and free lance journalist
Date of Incident: 3 October 2013
Identification of Perpetrator: Manipur Police Commandoes, Imphal West, Government of Manipur
Place of Incident: Imphal, Manipur
Source of Appeal: Citizens Concern for Dams and Development, Committee on the Protection of Natural Resources in Manipur, North East Dialogue Forum, Centre for Research and Advocacy.

Detailed Description of Incident: The targetting of human rights defenders and their organizations for their efforts to promote the right to life, justice remedy, to promote just and participatory forms of development etc in Manpur continues to be a serious form of human rights violations.

[PETITION] INDIA: Priyanka Chopra WITHDRAW from VEDANTA’s ‘Our Girls, Our Pride’ Campaign

“We, ask you to withdraw as Ambassador from ‘Our Girls, Our Pride’, a discredited and damaging campaign and not lend your name to it , when its partner , Vedanta has a terrible record on human rights and the environment,they are destroying the lives of thousands of girl children in Odisha, Chhattisgarh and other states of India and its crimes have been exposed across India and internationally. Vedanta’s interests are directly opposed to those of India, its people and particularly the girl children from poor communities it claims to be helping. Countless children’s life chances have been affected by the deaths and serious injuries sustained by their parents who are workers in Vedanta’s mines, factories and other processing operations.Let them not use you and your name for cause that’s a sham and a PR exercise, for a brand like vedanta which has soaked their hands in blood of tribals of Niymagiri, including girl child.”

 

SIGN THE PETITION HERE AT AVAAZ.ORG.

Why this is important

NEPAL: Indigenous peoples submit complaint to the UN on violations of religious and cultural rights in Surkhet

1 October 2013

Indigenous peoples’ organizations have submitted a complaint to the United Nations concerning the violations of religious and cultural rights of indigenous peoples due to denial of installation of Buddha idol in Kakre Bihar, a monastery in Surkhet district of mid-western Nepal.

Representatives of indigenous peoples’ and Buddhist organizations, on Monday, emailed the complaint in an urgent communication to the UN Special Rapporteurs on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, in the field of cultural rights and on freedom of religion or belief. The complaint details obstructions by the Government to install the idol even after fulfilling all necessary procedures, including police intervention on the rally taken out on 25 May 2013 for installing the idol. More than 50 devotees were reportedly injured or looted of their belongings in the brutal police assault.

India: Urgent call to halt Odisha mega-steel project amid serious human rights concerns

GENEVA (1^st October 2013) –Construction of a mega-steel plant in Odisha in Eastern India should be halted immediately, United Nations independent human rights experts* have urged, citing serious human rights concerns. The project reportedly threatens to displace over 22,000 people in the Jagatsinghpur District, and disrupt the livelihoods of many thousands more in the surrounding area.

“The construction of a massive steel plant and port in Odisha by multinational steel corporation POSCO must not proceed as planned without ensuring adequate safeguards and guaranteeing that the rights of the thousands of people are respected,” the group of eight experts stressed.

While India has the primary duty to protect the rights of those whose homes and livelihoods are threatened by the project, the experts underlined that “POSCO also has a responsibility to respect human rights, and the Republic of Korea, where POSCO is based, should also take measures to ensure that businesses based in its territory do not adversely impact human rights when operating abroad.”

Indigenous peoples demand to stop army mobilization in Nepal’s Makalu Barun National Park

27 Sep 2013

Local indigenous peoples and their organizations have demanded for immediate halt to the process of army mobilization in Makalu Barun National Park condemning the Government for violating human rights of indigenous peoples by beginning preparations for army mobilization without their free consent.

In a memorandum submitted to the Chairperson of Council of Ministers and other concerned state agencies on 26 August, representatives of indigenous communities and their organizationshave asked the Government to rather formulate conservation program through community participation with respectto their rights to Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC). They have also demanded to form security mechanism under the control of local indigenous peoples to stop hunting and conservation of bio-diversity in the park and have warned to organize protests if the Government takes action against them.

INDIA: A public hearing in Tamnar against the public

SUVOJIT BAGCHI

• 
  The HinduWomen rallying at Tapranga village in Tamnar block in Raigarh against a public hearing to acquire a coal block by the JSPL. Photo: Suvojit Bagchi

It is an exercise by State government to hand over 350 hectare of land to JSPL

Standing on the edge of a monstrous, black gorge, 72-year-old Kaniram, a Birhor tribal, stretched his left hand to point at the mud thatched house that he had in the hill slope. However, one could only see waves of unending charcoal coloured hills in the backdrop. The area — definitely not less than a few hundred square kilometres — looks grey but Kaniram found the whole thing funny. “We never thought there is so much coal under our house, but it was,” he smiled and added, “…wished there was less coal in the hills.”

MALAYSIA: Orang Asli go to court to stake their land rights against National Park and palm oil plantation

Jakun-Orang Asli from Kg Peta and the Mersing area share alight moment while waiting for thier case to be called.

28 March 2012

Orang Asli groups of Mersing and Bera districts are in the court asserting their rights to their traditional and customary lands against forced evictions for Endau Rompin National Park in Mersing and oil palm plantation in Bera.

On 21 March, the Orang Asli of Kampung Peta, Mersing, Johor filed an application for leave to apply for judicial review at Johor Bahru High Court against Mersing District Land Administrator’s order to evict the them from their customary land encompassing the Endau Rompin National Park. 51 Orang Asli from Kampung Peta and the neighbouring villages of Tanah Abang, Punan, and Mentelong travelled all the way from the interior of northeast Johor to the state capital for the court matter.

UN Human Rights Council adopts resolution on Human Rights and Environment, establishes an Independent Expert on the issue

27 March 2012

The UN Human Rights Council has adopted a resolution on Human Rights and Environment that establishes an Independent Expert on Human Rights and the Environment.

The resolution was adopted on 20 March 2012 at conclusion of 19^th session of the Council. Maldives, Costa Rica and Switzerland tabled the resolution and the Council adopted it by consensus, with more than 80 States co-sponsoring.

The resolution crystallizes efforts over many years from many quarters.  It establishes an institutional vehicle to advance the linkages between Human Rights and the Environment.  It is expected that this new Special Procedure will lay the basis for the Council’s recognition of a universal right to a healthy environment.  We have much work to do in the coming three years to achieve this strategic objective.

Indigenous resource management systems: A holistic approach to nature and livelihoods

Posted on March 14, 2012

Joint community rice harvesting by the Karen people in the highlands of northern Thailand.

By Dr. Maurizio Farhan-Ferrari, Environmental Governance Programme Coordinator
Forest Peoples Programme, Moreton-in-Marsh, UK

Two peer-reviewed studies published recently by the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) and the World Bank show that strict conservation is less effective in reducing deforestation than community forests that are managed and controlled by indigenous peoples and forest-dependent communities within multiple use systems.

This article argues that indigenous resource management systems are not only well poised to reduce deforestation rates but also to provide a rich array of experiences, expertise, and practices that can significantly contribute to protecting biodiversity, food security, and sustainable livelihoods in indigenous communities, as well as finding answers to climate change challenges.

CAMBODIA: Conservation Helps Secure Land Rights In Cambodia

Published on Friday, 16 March 2012

A vulnerable ethic minority village inside Cambodia’s remote Seima Protection Forest today became one of the first in Cambodia to receive a collective land title, which will help villagers fend off threats to their land and culture while also strengthening conservation goals.

The Senior Minister for Land Management, Urban Planning and Construction, H.E. Im Chhun Lim, visited the ethnically Bunong village of Andoung Kraloeng village to mark this historic moment. The legal system has been piloted in three villages – the first two received titles last December, but the third is the only one in a protected forest and so sets crucial precedents for similar villages.

It has taken eight years for these first villages to receive their titles, but with the system now in place the rate of issuance is now expected to rise. Hundreds of other villages are eligible and many have begun the application process, including 12 in and around the Seima area. Eventually it is hoped to offer this opportunity to all interested villages around the reserve.