Intercontinental Cry Underreported Struggles #64, July 2012

[Darren]

Monthly reports at

http://intercontinentalcry.org/category/monthly-report/

Underreported Struggles #64, July 2012

(with lots of links at 
http://intercontinentalcry.org/underreported-struggles-64-july-2012/ )

By Ahni Aug 1, 2012 No Comments

In this month's Underreported Struggles: Navajo Nation Council votes 
down controversial water settlement agreement; Mongol herders protest 
against China's resettlement plan; Nasa Peoples attempt to demilitarize 
traditional lands in Colombia.
July 2012

The indigenous Nasa Peoples carried out a peaceful but daring effort to 
demilitarize their traditional lands in Cacua, Colombia. In one 
confrontation, the Nasa removed police trenches from an urban center and 
disassembled homemade FARC missiles found on their lands. Days later, 
Nasa forcibly removed troops from El Berlin’s mountaintop base. The Nasa 
were responding to a week of intense battles between Colombia's armed 
forces and the FARC. It is but the latest in a long list of such 
encounters in a war that has stricken the Nasa to constant anguish, 
exploitation and abuse. Despite the effort, Colombia is now preparing to 
increase its military presence in the region.

Members of the Innu First Nation and the Nulhegan Abenaki were denied 
access to the 36th Conference of New England Governors and Eastern 
Canadian Premiers. While governors and premiers were discussing access 
to renewable energy, representatives of both Indigenous Nations entered 
the Hilton Hotel and asked to speak and have a seat at the table. The 
delegation traveled to the conference because of Hydro-Quebec 
development on the La Romaine River and the Plan Nord. Despite being 
stakeholders in these projects (who have not been consulted), the 
delegation was turned down.

Representatives of the Taos Land Trust have officially returned the 
Ponce de León Hot Springs to the Taos Pueblo Tribe. The sacred site has 
been used by Taos Pueblo for ceremonial activities since time 
immemorial. For more than a century, however, the 44-acre area had been 
in the hands of private landowners. According to a press release, Taos 
Land Trust, a local land conservation organization, received funding in 
1997 to acquire the property from private landowners, to protect it from 
commercial development. After a 15-year search for the best entity to 
preserve the land and its natural and cultural resources, the 
organization has now transferred legal ownership to the Taos Pueblo, 
returning the site to its original indigenous owners.

Hudreds of Nagri villagers are struggling to regain their agriculture 
lands from the State of India. Vast portions of the usurped lands have 
been handed over to the Birsa Agriculture University, a Law University 
and two separate Indian Institutes. The irony, of course, is that the 
government had the choice to use uncultivatable land that no one would 
have contested; but they deliberately chose to take the Nagri's land, 
which they depend on for culture and subsistence. After taking matters 
into the their own hands, the unarmed Nagri villagers (mostly women) 
were assaulted and charged with various crimes, including attempted murder.

The Sarayaku people, after waiting patiently for nine years, have 
welcomed with open arms a decision by the Inter-American Court of Human 
Rights. The court has declared that Ecuador is responsible under 
international law for the violation of Sarayaku's rights to prior 
consultation, communal property, life, judicial protection, and other 
important rights. The Sarayaku say they will now closely monitor 
Ecuador's compliance with the sentence and ensure that indigenous 
peoples' territories be respected in the face of damaging extractive 
industries such as oil drilling.

The Penan people in Sarawak issued a statement against the activities of 
the Malaysian-based multinational logging and timber products company Ta 
Ann. According to the statement, Ta Ann is leasing their land for 
logging without prior consent or knowledge by the indigenous 
Sarawakians. The Huon Valley Environment Centre also released a letter 
fingerprinted by Penan people stating they want Ta Ann off their land. 
It is an unprecedented show of opposition to the company.

Mapuche leaders have warned of the presence of paramilitary groups in 
the Chilean Araucania region, acting surreptitiously to blame the 
Mapuche community for violent acts. Spokesman for the autonomous 
Temucuicui community of Ercilla town, Jorge Huenchullan, denounced that 
"the paramilitaries are the children of farmers and retired police 
officers that are frightening us and generating this type of situations 
in order to accuse the Mapuche communities." Local analysts have issued 
similar warnings that private business people and big landowners are 
moving to declare a sort of siege on the Araucania in order to serve 
their interests.

Newly announced plans by China's central government for the 
"resettlement" of the last remaining nomads have sparked protests in 
Inner Mongolia, with traditional Mongol herders accusing authorities of 
the illegal expropriation of grazing lands for development projects. At 
least four protests by Mongol herders have been reported over the last 
month.

Judges at The Peoples’ International Health Tribunal delivered their 
verdict on the case of Goldcorp's mining operations in Mexico, Honduras 
and Guatemala. After listening to hours of testimony from affected 
community members about the negative social, physical, psychological and 
environmental impacts of Goldcorp's mining operations, the distinguished 
panel of judges found Goldcorp Guilty in all three countries. You can 
read the final verdict over at Health Tribunal's website.

The Algonquins of Barriere Lake won a significant victory in their 
long-time struggle to secure their land rights and protect the 
environment. Following protests and a solid letter writing campaign 
aimed at Resolute Forest Products, Premier Jean Charest, the Quebec 
government and forestry company agreed to respect an aspect of the 1991 
Trilateral agreement by harmonizing logging with Barriere Lake's use of 
their lands. This means logging is no longer allowed to happen where the 
community has hunting cabins, in areas of moose and bear habitat, sacred 
areas, medicinal sites and many other areas of concern to the community.

The regional government of the Altai Republic reviewed and passed a new 
decree to protect sacred sites from being wrongfully damaged or 
destroyed. "Essentially, through this decree, the governor of the Altai 
Republic is instructing local authorities to make laws to protect these 
sacred sites which are being threatened by the construction of a gas 
pipeline by the Russia’s natural gas company Gazprom," says Cultural 
Survival. "The pipeline across the Ukok Plateau has been called a 'moral 
violence against people,' by Urmat Knyazev, a deputy in the Altai 
republic’s legislative assembly."

About 60 Munduruku indigenous people burned down a police station in the 
Brazilian state of Para following the release of two suspects in the 
murder of a fellow citizen who was killed in an armed robbery last month.

The Navajo Nation Council unexpectedly voted down the controversial 
Navajo-Hopi Little Colorado River Settlement Agreement. Navajos opposed 
to the settlement say it is a scheme devised by Arizona senators, 
corrupt politicians and non-Indian attorneys to steal Navajo water 
rights for the Navajo Generating Station, one of the dirtiest coal-fired 
power plants in the US, and for non-Indians in Arizona to continue their 
lavish lifestyles.

India's Supreme Court banned all commercial and tourism activity near 
the Jarawa's ancestral territory in the remote Andaman and Nicobar 
islands in the Indian Ocean. The order, which bars hotels and resorts 
from operating within a 5km buffer zone around the Jarawa reserve, 
follows a short-lived media controversy in which people were filmed 
viewing and treating Jarawa women and children like trained zoo animals.

The M'Chigeeng First Nation turned on the switch to its 4MW Mother Earth 
Renewable Energy (MERE) wind project, one of 16 new renewable energy 
projects currently being built by Ontario First Nations. Close to 500 
people attended the opening of the wind farm which overlooks West Bay on 
Manitoulin Island in Lake Huron.

Tibet activists and supporters joined 400,000 people in the streets of 
Hong Kong in a protest rally against Hu Jintao, who was visiting the 
business hub to commemorate the 15th anniversary of its handover to 
China. “Chinese President Hu has tried – and failed – to convince the 
world that China is more open and democratic and that Tibetans are 
somehow prospering under Chinese rule,” said Dorothy Hui, one of the 
organizers in Hong Kong. “His brutal and violent occupation of Tibet, 
and abuses committed against his own people, clearly show the truth that 
China remains an unchanged, repressive and authoritarian state.”

Indonesian Police in West Papua refused to let an inter-faith prayer 
take place in the city of Jayapura, in response to the security 
situation in Papua during the months of May and June. The goal of the 
joint prayer meeting was to promote brotherhood between the Papuan 
people of all religions, for democracy and to avoid horizontal conflicts.
Videos of the Month

No Mining on Sewepemc Lands - An interview with Secwepemc Elder Irene 
Billy, most well-known for her defense of Indigenous land rights when 
she was arrested in 2001 for protesting Sun Peaks Resort. In this video 
she speaks about mining on Secwepemc lands.

Justice for Tataskweyak Cree Nation - The Tataskweyak Justice Alliance 
explains some of the serious issues facing the people of Tataskweyak 
Cree Nation at Split Lake, Manitoba.

Urgent message from the Zapatistas of San Marcos Avilés - This video 
relays an urgent message from the Zapatistas of San Marcos Avilés. The 
Video is in Tzeltal with English and Spanish subtitles. Below, a message 
from the Other Campaign (La Otra Campaña) New York.