Earth Peoples Blog

No more evictions! Indigenous Peoples in Guatemala in defense of nature, lands and territories.

EARTH PEOPLES — Tue, 15 May 2012 12:33:09 +0000

Guatemala/Netherlands 11 May 2012. Extractive industries, renewable energy infrastructure and agribusiness stand behind the violent land grabbing and mass evictions in Guatemala. Carbon Trade Watch denounces this in the report No More Evictions!

In response to protests against the construction of a hydroelectric dam the government of Guatemala on May 1st declared a “state of emergency” in Santa Cruz Barillas, effectively suspending most of the fundamental rights of local residents, including the right to community consultations. [1] Communities in San José del Golfo blockaded the entrance of machinery into the gold and silver mine El Tambor [2] and four oil fields in the Petén area are under bid. [3] Meanwhile, the Polochic valley continues to be covered by sugar cane, African palm and rubber plantations, proposed hydroelectric projects and mining concessions. [4]

Lazar Konforti, author of the report, denounces: “In a case, pick-up trucks filled with private mining security and police forcibly evicted the Lote Ocho community, razing their homes with chainsaws. Eleven women from Lote Ocho report that they were gang raped by groups of up to 12 men as they tried to defend their homes. Due to police participation in the raid, the women fear making an official complaint to the authorities. Impunity and violence are severe problems in Guatemala.”

Emerging and ongoing land struggles came to the national attention last March with the Indigenous and peasants march in defence of water and Mother Earth, when several thousand people marched 214-kilometre into the capital to demand a solution to some of the most pressing problems. The March also condemned the violent persecutions and the criminalization of dissent and social movements.

Joanna Cabello, researcher from Carbon Trade Watch affirms: “Hydroelectric dams are popping up throughout the region under the false pretence that renewable energy equals sustainability. Carbon markets are allowing corporations to further profit from these large-scale dams while legitimizing environmentally destructive practices at the expense of local communities.”

For interviews, please contact Lazar Konforti (lazar.konforti@gmail.com) or Joanna Cabello (joanna@carbontradewatch.org).

Norway: NATO Rehearses For War In The Arctic

EARTH PEOPLES — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:35:41 +0000

by Rick Rozoff, Voltaire Network | Chicago (USA) | 23 April 2012

Some excerpts:

To the world’s military leaders, the debate over climate change is long over. They are preparing for a new kind of Cold War in the Arctic, anticipating that rising temperatures there will open up a treasure trove of resources and long-dreamed-of sea-lanes. Rick Rozoff scrutinizes the feverish military activity taking place in the High North, under the official label of a joint Norwegian-NATO-Partnership for Peace endeavor, including preparedness drills against terrorist threats, mass demonstrations…and spies coming in from the cold!

……

The Helsingin Sanomat, which reported 215 Finnish soldiers participating in the exercise, characterized Cold Response 2012 as “a major military training exercise being held in the far north of Norway [in which] armed forces from 14 nations are protecting civilians in the same way as last year in Libya (including, like, using depleted uranium weapons? see http://warthognews.blogspot.com/search/label/Libya and http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-10_Thunderbolt), and arefighting against the local opposition just as in Afghanistan.”

The newspaper also quoted a Finnish military media and communications officer stating, ”It would be silly to rehearse a situation if it were not realistic.”

To read full article, clickhere

Position of the Bolivian Climate Change Platform on Rio+20 and the Green Economy

EARTH PEOPLES — Sat, 12 May 2012 10:18:44 +0000

At the next United Nations Conference on the Environment and Development, “Rio+20”, to be held in Rio de Janeiro in June, the governments of 193 countries will meet to sign a new global agreement to guide future development policies. We note the following:

Twenty years after the 1992 “Earth Summit”, where countries committed to implement Sustainable Development to eradicate poverty and care for the environment, the results are disheartening; wealth continues to be concentrated in the hands of a small sector of society and the deterioration of the environment becomes ever more alarming.

The world is facing a crisis of the dominant development model in which the global economic system based on the accumulation of capital has broken the balance with Mother Earth. This is taking us to a dangerous point where the damage will be irreversible, with disastrous consequences.

The current situation in the climate change negotiations is discouraging. Current commitments by governments to reduce greenhouse gases are insufficient. Scientists have warned us that even with these commitments the planet would suffer a 4°C increase in global average temperature. This would mean many regions would suffer unpredictable extreme events with incalculable costs. Hundreds of millions of people would be affected - displaced and made even poorer.

In the context of the financial, energy, climate, environmental and food crises the United Nations seeks to impose a new strategy to save the capitalist system using the “Green Economy” to open up new frontiers for business by turning all natural resources, and nature ́s functions and cycles into commodities. This will further deepen the social, economic and environmental crises.

The proposals of the “Green Economy” expressed in the “Zero Draft” are not an answer to the current environmental and climate crisis. Putting a price on nature is not the solution and will only benefit big capital.

The “Green Economy” will violate human rights recognised in international treaties including the rights to: life, health, water, a healthy environment, a dignified life, sustainable livelihoods, property, housing, development, culture and traditional knowledge, as well as the rights of native indigenous peoples to self-determination and territory.

Following a comprehensive participatory analysis of this dramatic situation the Bolivian Climate Change Platform declares:

The Rio+20 Summit and the Green Economy

1) We reject the transformation of Mother Earth and the functions of nature into commodities through the Green Economy. We reject speculation based on new fictitious financial products called “environmental services” and “natural capital”.

2) We reject the attempt to save the capitalist system by imposing the Green Economy. 3) We condemn the Green Economy because it continues to pursue the false idea of limitless

economic growth. Infinite growth is not possible in a world that has limits.

4) We reject the imposition of the Green Economy and the structural adjustments needed to implement it. Even its partial implementation will damage the natural balance.

5) We condemn the harmful effects that the Green Economy will have on the environment and the rights of indigenous peoples by exacerbating the impacts of the extractive model of mining, oil, gas and agro-export.

6) We condemn the false solutions to reduce greenhouse gases such as nuclear energy, artificial carbon capture and storage, genetically modified organisms (GMO) and biofuels.

The Green Economy in Bolivia

The Green Economy in Bolivia would constitute a reversal of the gains the Bolivian people have won through their struggles which are enshrined in the Bolivian Constitution. It would violate principles and rights including the: ▪ Essential right to water,

▪ Self-determination ▪ Right to the environment ▪ The principle to Live Well (Vivir Bien) in harmony with nature.

▪ Rejection of privatization ▪ Sovereignty ▪ Plural economy

The Green Economy promotes new forms of private appropriation of nature, neo-imperialism and financial colonization whereby a rich minority and their lackeys are the only beneficiaries.

Therefore:

1) We demand that the Bolivian government actively defend the interests of the Bolivian people using all means at its disposal to prevent the approval of the current United Nations negotiating text.

2) We demand that the Bolivian government is not complicit with this new strategy of capitalism and does not sign the Rio+20 agreement. The Bolivian government must comply with Law 071 on the Rights of Mother Earth and articles 255 and 259 of the Bolivian Constitution which demand a national referendum to decide on the signing of an international treaty of this importance.

3) We demand that in the Rio+20 negotiations the Bolivian government defend the rights of Mother Earth and the rights of indigenous peoples as set out in the resolutions of the Peoples Summit on Climate Change (Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, 2010).

4) We demand that the ALBA countries, in particular the Bolivian government, implement the proposals to Live Well (Vivir Bien) not just as a discourse but with specific policies to begin a gradual transition to overcome capitalism in all its forms.

Alternatives to the Green Economy

The model of Living Well (Vivir Bien) and the Rights of Mother Earth are an alternative to the predatory capitalist development model that exploits human beings and Mother Earth. The vision of Living Well proposes to live in harmony with Mother Earth on the basis of complementarity and solidarity between peoples according to logic distinct from that of the market. It will not be possible to find a solution to the current crisis in an economic vision based on the ownership of nature. We do not own nature; we are part of Mother Earth.

1) A new global model must be created as an alternative to the Green Economy to re-establish the balance with Mother Earth.

2) The economic model needs to be changed. There needs to be an equal redistribution of wealth and production models must be directed to meet the needs of women and men, whilst respecting and caring for Mother Earth rather than promoting the accumulation of wealth.

3) Proposals for other forms of development must respect and recognise the cosmovisions (world views) of indigenous peoples such as the right to collective territory, ancestral knowledge and holistic management of their economies.

4) We demand respect for nature ́s vital cycles. Living Well (Vivir Bien) in harmony and spirituality with Mother Earth involves the full repair and compensation for the harm caused by human activity and greed, and the false idea of development.

5) We demand that all projects that destroy Mother Earth be stopped. These include: the TIPNIS road, mega projects, opencast mining, oil and gas exploitation in ecologically sensitive zones, and harmful dams among others.

6) An alternative model for the holistic management and use of forests, water, land, and other beings and gifts of nature must be created that goes beyond the concept of “environmental services” and “natural capital” as a viable alternative to the Green Economy. This would be funded by real financial mechanisms such as a tax on financial transactions.

7) A new global agreement on development and the environment must respect the principle of common but differentiated responsibilities. The developed countries must recognise their historical, ecological and climate debt to developing countries and their consequent obligation to transfer funds without conditionality to developing countries.

Future Actions

1) We call on civil society in Bolivia - native indigenous peoples, rural and urban organisations and institutions, activist networks, young people, women, children and the elderly with their wisdom - to mobilize and take action to push forward a new model of development and to strengthen spaces for participation and debate.

2) We call on social movements and international civil society to build alliances to resist the imposition of the Green Economy in the next few years and to build a new development model to achieve the goal of Living Well (Vivir Bien) in harmony with Mother Earth.

Finally, we affirm our conviction of the urgent need to change the paradigm of development and to begin a transition to a global economic model to achieve the aim of Living Well (Vivir Bien) in harmony with Mother Earth. This includes achieving the social, political, economic and cultural inclusion of all peoples as envisaged in the conclusions of global civil society in the Cochabamba People ́s Agreement at the World People ́s Conference on Climate Change held in Tiquipaya, Cochabamba, Bolivia in April 2010.

!NO TO THE GREEN ECONOMY, YES TO LIVING WELL! La Paz, 17 April 2012.

Signatures:

Members of the Bolivian Climate Change Platform Confederación de Pueblos Indígenas de Bolivia (CIDOB) Consejo Nacional de Ayllus y Markas del Qullasusyu (CONAMAQ) Asociación Nacional de Regantes y Sistemas Comunitarios de Agua Potable (ANARESCAPYS) Coordinador de Integración de Organizaciones Económicas Campesinas, Indígenas y Originarias de Bolivia (CIOEC)

Asociación de Institutciones de Promoción y Educación (AIPE) Centro de Comunicación y Desarrollo Andino (CENDA) CEPAS Caritas Boliviana Red OEPAIC

Centro de Investigación y Promoción del Campesinado (CIPCA) Agua Sustentable

Fundación Jubileo Liga de Defensa del Medio Ambiente (LIDEMA) Centro de Ecología y Pueblos Andinas (CEPA)

Other organisations that sign up to this position: Centro de Estudios Aplicados a los Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (CEADESC)

Centro de Documentación e Información Bolivia (CEDIB), Gaia Pacha Colectivo Casa ASOCIACION NAYRA PACHA “ANAPA”

Centro de Estudios Superiores, Universidad Mayor de San Simon

To add the name of your organisation to this document email Teresa Hosse, Technical Secretary of the Bolivian Climate Change Platform: mths43@gmail.com / mths43@yahoo.com

VIROU MODA NO BRASIL ASSASSINAR LIDERANÇAS INDÍGENAS COM DIA E HORA MARCADA.

EARTH PEOPLES — Thu, 10 May 2012 05:53:20 +0000

Fui convidado para acompanhar uma reunião de lideranças guajajara de
todas as TIs do Maranhão e representantes das principais comunidades
indígenas, na Aldeia Coquinho (TI Canabrava), às margens da BR 226
entre os municípios de Grajau e Barra do Corda no dia 11 de abril do
corrente ano. A reunião estava bem representativa com um grande número
de lideranças indígenas; Polícia Federal; Militar e Rodoviária
Federal; Coordenadores Regional e local da FUNAI; Secretária de
Direitos Humanos do Estado do MA; Gestores da Educação e
representantes das prefeituras de Grajaú; Barra do Corda e do Jenipapo
dos Vieiras. O ponto alto das intervenções foi à questão das ameaças
que as lideranças estão sofrendo em função da invasão das TIs por
madereiros, traficantes e outros criminosos. Neste ponto fiz uma fala
em tom áspero e elevado culpando a FUNAI, órgão gestor da assistência
indígena, pelas mortes que estão ocorrendo. As questões relacionadas à
saúde e a educação, em vista da já conhecida situação, prefiro não
tecer considerações. Era flagrante o desespero das lideranças em
relação às ameaças sofridas, sendo, inclusive, mencionado alguns nomes
de lideranças ameaçadas. No final da reunião me arrependi de ter usado
uma forma áspera para me dirigi àquelas autoridades na vã inocência de
que aqueles gestores tomariam medidas imediatas para intervir naquela
situação e impedir uma tragédia. No dia 28 do mesmo mês fui
surpreendido com a notícia de que uma de nossas principais lideranças
a cacique Maria Amélia Guajajara, liderança da Aldeia Coquinho II da
mesma TI Canabrava, teria sido assassinada por dois sujeitos que
utilizavam uma moto. Se não fosse certo acontecer uma tragédia, seria
no mínimo previsível e fiz questão de frisar no meu pedido para que a
FUNAI atuasse no caso pois era de sua atribuição e que aqueles
cidadãos estão na condição de Defensores Públicos de Direitos Humanos
Indígenas e que a ela estão disponíveis os mecanismos para evitar
esses casos de violação dos DHs. Saí daquela reunião certo que no
mesmo dia seriam tomadas as medidas porque idêntica situação acabara
de acontecer com o Pajé Kaiwá Veron que até hoje visito o sitio do
movimento indígena continental para ler a denúncia postada pela
militante Miryan Hes dando conta de que todas as autoridades tinham
conhecimento de que a qualquer momento aconteceria uma tragédia e a
FUNAI nada fez. Tanto no caso da Cacique Guajajara como no caso do
Pajé Kaiwá, que foi assassinado com o maracá na mão, as medidas de
colocar a Força Nacional só aconteceram após o dia e a hora já
anunciados para acontecer a tragédia e o sistema de proteção dos DPDH
nunca foi acionado. Estava esquecendo de dizer que estavam presentes,
também, à reunião, o CIMI e a COAPIMA que o coordenador Regional da
FUNAI fez questão de dizer que estava no cargo graças ao apoio dessas
duas entidades, assim como toda a diretoria do órgão. Então os
diretores ou representantes dessas entidades são tão responsáveis por
essas tragédias quanto os gestores da FUNAI.
Abçs.
Arão da Providência Guajajara
CDH/OABRJ

INDIGENOUS ECOSOC NGOs barred from entering General Assembly floor for Opening Ceremony

EARTH PEOPLES — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:39:15 +0000

By Yachai Wasi’s Main Rep. to the UN

The size of the General Assembly floor was to allow all registered observers of the Eleventh session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues to see the Opening Ceremony on May 7, 2012.

However, Indigenous representatives of ECOSOC NGOs holding yearly UN Ground badges were stopped and sent to the 4th floor by Security. No matter that they were wearing their colorful native dresses. Only T (temporary) badges were allowed.

Additionally, I was told by Security guard at entrance of Temporary North building that starting on May 8, I, with my ECOSOC yearly badge, will not be able to enter the building. No matter that there are other meetings going on, besides PFII.

So in other words, our Indigenous ECOSOC NGO invited 2 guests who can go in and out as they please, but our 3 representatives who do the work with the UN all year long cannot enter. Where is the logic ???

One of the problem is that Registration has stopped over the past years from giving a secondary photo badge to ECOSOC registrants, not even a colorful sticker to alert security that they are duly registered and authorized to participate.

Adding insult to injury, this year, the new leadership of the Secretariat for the Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues had the bright idea to issue one secondary pass per Organization.

Instead of continuing with proven request to limit registration to 5 members, it was open to 20 members.

Information of this Secondary pass limitation was posted a few days before Opening of the Forum. By then, far away Indigenous participants had their visas and their plane trip …

Many of these NGOs supported the UN and helped to establish this Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues.

These registration problems show a lack of concern for the peoples and do not go along with words spoken on podiums. The United Nations system has changed over the past years, not for the better, like the rest of the world.

If the UN alienates strong and dedicated supporters such as our organization with UN status, I feel sorry for the future of the world.

Rio+20: La Vía Campesina llama a todas las organizaciones campesinas del mundo y sus aliados y aliadas para organizar acciones en este mes de junio.

EARTH PEOPLES — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:34:24 +0000

La Vía Campesina llama a todas las organizaciones campesinas del mundo y sus aliados y aliadas para organizar acciones en este mes de junio.

El avance del sistema capitalista, que alcanzó dimensiones sin precedentes en las últimas dos décadas, está resultando de la misma forma en una crisis sin precedentes. La crisis financiera, alimentaria, energética y del medio ambiente son facetas de la crisis estructural del capitalismo, que no tiene límites en su búsqueda de más beneficios. Y que, al igual que otras crisis estructurales, golpean a los pueblos del mundo y no a las élites y corporaciones.

En todos los continentes, hemos visto que incluso durante la crisis, el capitalismo no ha reducido su impulso. La compra y el acaparamiento de tierras por empresas extranjeras, el avance de la industria minera, las tecnologías transgénicas, cada vez más presentes en el campo, los agrocombustibles y los pesticidas se comercializan a gran escala. Por último, la crisis del capitalismo no significa que el sistema retroceda. Por el contrario, es precisamente entonces cuando se mueve con más intensidad hacia adelante; las empresas aprovechan la crisis para extender su dominio en los territorios que aún no han conquistado.

La Conferencia de Río +20 es un claro ejemplo. En lugar de reunir a los gobiernos de todo el mundo para encontrar soluciones reales a la crisis ambiental, el evento servirá para consolidar las falsas soluciones y la apropiación de los territorios tradicionales de los pueblos y de las campesinas y campesinos. En la Conferencia de las Naciones Unidas sólo los intereses de las grandes corporaciones tendrán cabida.

Para resistir y desafiar a estos intereses, es esencial que los pueblos del mundo continúen fortaleciendo su organización y luchas, alzar la voz y mostrar que sólo la soberanía popular puede garantizar las soluciones reales.

Por ello, desde La Vía Campesina, hacemos un llamamiento a nuestras organizaciones miembro y aliados para organizar y articular luchas en todo el mundo y durante todo el mes de junio. Dando énfasis al día 5, día Mundial del Medio Ambiente, mostrando nuestra unidad y fuerza, para enviar por adelantado desde todos los rincones del mundo un mensaje contundente a los líderes que estarán en Río +20, del 20 al 22 de junio, en Río de Janeiro, Brasil.

Cada lucha, cada resistencia, cada territorio recuperado por nosotros debe ser la expresión de la unidad global contra el avance del sistema capitalista sobre la naturaleza.

Paralelamente a la conferencia oficial, los pueblos del mundo estaremos reunidos en la Cumbre de los Pueblos, en un proceso de construcción colectiva y de movilización permanente. A lo largo de la semana, entre los días 18 y 22 de junio, también será un periodo de movilización global. Y nuestra tarea no es sólo en Río de Janeiro. Seguimos el camino de las luchas de los países, y especialmente el 20 de junio, cuando oficialmente se inicia la conferencia. Durante este período las luchas en todos los continentes deben hacerse eco en Río de Janeiro y en el mundo.

Invitamos a todas las organizaciones campesinas y sus aliadas y aliados a organizar protestas y acciones en todo el mundo: marchas en la ciudad y en el campo, ruedas de prensa, acciones de Reforma Agraria y tierra, campañas de comunicación, programas de radio, movilizaciones contra las empresas que explotan el medio ambiente, debates en las escuelas y universidades, exhibición de películas temáticas y otras acciones construidas colectivamente en sus países.

En el momento en que el capitalismo quiere globalizar aún más el sistema, dominar nuestros territorios y explotar nuestra fuerza de trabajo, debemos internacionalizar la lucha. Vamos a organizar, preparar nuestras acciones, articular nuestras bases y nuestros aliados en esta gran jornada de lucha contra el capitalismo. La fuerza en nuestro viaje vendrá de nuestra capacidad para organizar y proporcionar la visibilidad nacional e internacional.

Solicitamos que comuniquen las acciones en lvcweb@viacampesina.org

NO A LAS FALSAS SOLUCIONES DEL CAPITALISMO VERDE

AGRICULTURA CAMPESINA YA!

Globalicemos la Lucha, Globalicemos la Esperanza

Rio+20: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF STRUGGLES: Peoples of the World against the Commodification of Nature

EARTH PEOPLES — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:31:12 +0000

Rio+20: INTERNATIONAL CAMPAIGN OF STRUGGLES:

Peoples of the World against the Commodification of Nature

La Via Campesina calls on all the peasant organizations of the world and their allies to organize actions in the month of June

Use our poster!

The advance of the capitalist system that has reached unprecedented dimensions in the past two decades is resulting in crises that are of equally unprecedented dimensions. The financial, food, energy and environmental crises are phases of the structural crisis of capitalism, which has no limits in its search for more profits. And, as in other structural crises, it impacts the peoples of the world and not the elites.

In every continent we have seen that even in crisis, capitalism has not reduced its momentum: the increase in land purchases and land grabbing by foreign corporations, the advance of the mining industry, the technology of genetic modification that is ever more present in the rural areas, the marketing of agrofuels and pesticides on a huge scale. Finally, to say that capitalism is in crisis does not mean that the system is in retreat. On the contrary, it is precisely in this moment that it advances with more intensity because the corporations take advantage of the crisis to extend their domination over territories that have not yet been conquered.

The Rio +20 Conference is a clear example. Instead of bringing together all the governments of the world to find real solutions for the environmental crisis, the event will serve to consolidate the false solutions and the appropriation of territories of the peasants and traditional peoples. In the United Nations Conference, only the interests of the large corporations will have a chance.

To resist and challenge these interests, it’s essential that the peoples of the world continue to strengthen their organization and struggles, raising their voices and showing that only people’s sovereignty can ensure true solutions.

So as Via Campesina , we call on our member organizations and allies to organize and carry out struggles all over the world during the entire month of June, with particular emphasis on June 5, World Environment Day, showing our unity and strength to send in advance from all corners of the world a resounding message to the governments that will be at Rio +20 from June 20 to 22 in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

Each struggle, each act of resistance, each territory that we retake should be the expression of this global unity in the face of the advance of the capitalist system over nature.

Parallel to the official conference, the people of the world will be meeting at the People’s Summit in a process of collective construction and permanent mobilization. The week of June 18 to 22 wil be a period of global mobilization, since our task is not only in Rio de Janeiro. We should carry out the campaign of struggles in each country, especially on June 20 when the official conference opens. During this period the struggles in all the continents should be echoing in Rio de Janeiro and throughout the world.

We invite all the farmers and peasant organizations and their allies to organize mobilizations and actions throughout the world: marches in the cities and in the countryside, press conferences, actions for land and agrarian reform, media campaigns, radio programs, mobilizations against companies that degrade the environment, discussions in schools and universities, film showings and other actions that can be built collectively in each country.

At a time in which capitalism wants to globalize its system even more, to dominate our territories and exploit our work force, we must internationalize our struggle. Let’s get organized, prepare our actions, mobilize our bases and our allies for this great campaign of struggles against capitalism. The strength of this campaign will come from our ability to organize and get national and international visibility.

We ask you to communicate your activities to lvcweb@viacampesina.org

NO TO THE FALSE SOLUTIONS OF GREEN CAPITALISM!

SUSTAINABLE FAMILIY FARMING NOW!

Globalize the struggle, Globalize hope!

Global Indigenous Peoples Caucus statement at United Nations Permanent Forum 11th Sessio

EARTH PEOPLES — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:20:23 +0000

United Nations Permanent Forum 11th Session
New York, 7-18 May 2012

Presented by one of our Earth Peoples partners, Arthur Manuel, for the Global Indigenous Caucus

Item 3 Discussion on the special theme for the year: “The Doctrine of Discovery: its enduring impact on indigenous peoples and the right to redress for past conquests (articles 28 and 37 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples).”

Thank you Mr. Chair.
The Global Caucus recommends that the Permanent Forum acknowledge that the doctrine of discovery, both in theory and in on-going practice, constitutes the subjection of peoples to alien subjugation, domination and exploitation. It is the denial of fundamental inherent human rights, is contrary to the Charter of the United Nations and is an impediment to the promotion of world peace and cooperation.
Further, we implore the Permanent Forum to acknowledge and to transmit to other agencies of the United Nations that the doctrine of discovery is an expression of racism, xenophobia and discrimination – that it represents a regime of systematic oppression and domination by one racial or religious group over another, and it is committed to the intention of maintaining that regime. As such, the continuing operation of the doctrine of discovery should be recognized as a crime against humanity and should be condemned as such.
We propose, as the Permanent Forum’s Expert Group Meeting next year, the development of models and mechanisms for conflict resolution, restitution, redress and peace-building using the framework offered through the operation/implementation of articles 27, 28 and 40 of the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
The proposed focus would be to discuss and make proposals for the development of such mechanisms at the national and international levels.
The Expert Group Meeting would serve as an opportunity for Indigenous peoples of the various regions of the world to discuss the development of mechanisms for reparations, non-recurrence and conflict resolution, taking into account as well Articles 18 and 19 of the Declaration regarding participation and Free, Prior and Informed Consent.
In this regard, we further propose the inclusion of Indigenous knowledge, innovations and practices in the EGM. Indigenous youth and Indigenous women must be among the experts included at the EGM.
We further recommend that the UNPFII prepare an International Study on the dominating, dehumanizing, and terracidal effects of the international construct known as “the Doctrine of Discovery” upon the health, physical, psychological, social, well-being, human and collective rights, lands, resources, medicines, titles to such lands, resources, medicines—and particularly on Indigenous women as manifested in forms of conceptual and behavioral violence against them. The Study will be submitted to the UNPFII in 2014
as an addendum to the UN Year of Indigenous Peoples, with recommendations addressing the issues of the discoveries and findings of this Study.
We appreciate and endorse the inclusion of the concept of environmental violence in the report of the UNPFII international expert group meeting entitled “Combating violence against indigenous women and girls: article 22 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples” submitted under item 3 of the 11th Session, and encourage the Permanent Forum to continue addressing this critical matter in future discussions. We endorse the Statement of the Indigenous Women’s Caucus under Item 3 to this Session of the Permanent Forum. We anticipate the report of the 2nd International Indigenous Women’s Environmental and Reproductive Health Symposium and look forward to working with the Permanent Forum and Indigenous Peoples to implement its recommendations.
Further to this endorsement, we propose that an International Study be carried out providing review and assessment of all UNPFII recommendations, including their implementation, respecting Indigenous women with a particular focus on the dehumanization and violence against Indigenous women. Indigenous women should be specifically consulted and recognized for their expertise on these matters. The proposed study would canvas a wide range of issues and challenges, such as the role of women in the creative innovations of Indigenous cultures and knowledge systems, maternal health and related rights, and the lack of protection of rights of Indigenous women under domestic legislation such as labor laws, criminal laws and environmental laws.
Further to article 29 and 32 of the UN Declaration, that the theme of the UNPFII 13th Session be focused on Mining and Extractive Industries and impact on Indigenous peoples within the context and the mandate of the UNPFII. We also propose as a future theme the criminalization of Indigenous Peoples in the exercise of their rights.
We also encourage you to consider including a half-day focal discussion on the critical issue of the World Bank, its impacts on Indigenous Peoples, and policy changes needed to implement the UN Declaration.
Finally, we recommend that permanent seats in the United Nations General Assembly be established for Indigenous Peoples.
In conclusion, we are cautious in light of the fact that through the continued use of non-Indigenous languages, terminology and perspectives in describing the doctrine of discovery, we may inadvertently encourage the reproduction of such perspectives amongst our own peoples. The Doctrine of Discovery is a multi-faceted concept. The Global Caucus understands the concept of the doctrine of discovery as applying worldwide, not limited to Christian or European colonization and domination. The same inhumane treatments have and continue to be imposed upon Indigenous Peoples in all regions of the world, perpetuating exclusion, racism and discrimination, alienation from decision making processes and “invisibility” within state institutions, even within the international fora. It must be recognized that in fundamental terms, the doctrine of discovery challenges the just claims of Indigenous Peoples, in particular with respect to processes of decolonization and the implementation of Article 3 of the Declaration respecting self-determination. The discussion of the doctrine of discovery must include reference to domestic legislation of member states, such as immigration legislation, as well as challenge the establishment of state borders, which do not reflect the traditional lands and territories of Indigenous peoples, that have been established further to the doctrine of discovery. We fundamentally disagree with the current practices of states to criminalize the movements of Indigenous Peoples across borders.
The doctrine may be understood in contemporary terms as a Doctrine of Development, – with Indigenous peoples and Mother Earth subject to domination and subjugation under corporate hands. State governments facilitate the doctrine of discovery for the purpose of development and privilege the rights of corporations while negating, derogating and abrogating the rights of Indigenous Peoples. We draw the attention of the Permanent Forum to the recent recommendations of the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in their reviews of Canada and the United States, which require the state parties to take measures to prevent transnational corporations registered in Canada and the United States from carrying out activities that negatively impact on the enjoyment of the rights of Indigenous Peoples in territories outside their state borders, and hold them accountable. Furthermore, national and international financial institutions, including banks, contribute to criminal and detrimental activities that violate the rights of Indigenous peoples. Issues related to lands, waters and other territories of Indigenous Peoples are not limited to actions of the private sector or state governments. The Global Caucus is deeply concerned about the militarization of Indigenous waters, lands and territories where such lands and territories are rich in natural resources. In effect, Indigenous Peoples are being killed or displaced to “clear the land” for development.
Indigenous legal and judicial systems exist today. Indigenous knowledge systems exist today. Indigenous languages continue to be spoken. We have not been overcome by the doctrine of discovery, in spite of the continued application of this doctrine, in all regions of the world. We will continue to exercise and assert our rights as described in the UN Declaration and in our own Indigenous laws.

Alternative to the UN event, the Peoples Summit RIO+20 will not participate in preparatory event organized by the Brazilian government

EARTH PEOPLES — Tue, 08 May 2012 15:10:19 +0000

The Summit will not participate in Rio+20 preparatory event organized by the Brazilian government
Friday, 4 May, 2012

Regarding the invitation made to the Brazilian Civil Society Facilitation Committee at Rio+20 (CSFC) to participate to the Dialogues for Sustainable Development (DSD), we inform that :
During the last decades, networks and entities that compose the CSFC and organize the People’s Summit during Rio+20 for the Social and Environmental Justicehave fought – and keep on doing it – for the opening of participative and dialogue spaces aiming to conquest public policies improving the democratization of States, Social and Environmental Justice, and fair distribution of incomes and wealth.
Thanks to the social participation and to the dialogue between State and society, we have won important victories, that can be found in certain programs and policies that answer, although still weakly, to the people historical demands to fight inequalities. That is why we believe and invest in dialogue as one of the fundamental methods to push forward our demands. We will keep on trying to set up dialogues aiming at pressuring the Brazilian government, in order to respond our demands, as we are conscious that the Brazilian society is penetrated by conflicts of interest and that the role of each sector is to express their interests, while the government’s is to take these pressures into account and to make choices in terms of investments and policies.
According to us, the method set up by the DSD does not match this dialogue dynamic that we are trying to push forward. The DSD proposal was built up in a top-down approach, as the Brazilian government chose the themes, participants and facilitators, clearly showing that the Dialogues and their results would be controlled by the government itself. Conscious that the debated themes are objects of conflicts and heterogeneous visions, the method that consists in defining three recommendations per theme, chosen in a closed way, clearly means taking exclusive positions in a context in which we have no chance to influence the decision-making process. To take part to this dynamic means giving a free hand to the “civil society recommendations”, on whose results we wouldn’t have had the minimum impact.
The People’s Summit in Rio+20 for the Social and Environmental Justice during Rio+20 is an autonomous space, critical of the Official Conference’s agenda, and of the big corporations.
We have resistance positions and proposals regarding all the themes set up by the DSD, that express the accumulation of the organizations and Brazilian and international social movements fighting over rights, environmental justice, and against inequalities in Brazil and in the world. We will give our visions as much visibility as possible, for them to be seen and heard, using all sort of media. We hope that the proposals of the people who will be present at the Peoples’ Summit will be heard by society and the heads of state present at Rio+20.
The Civil Society Facilitating Committee at Rio+20
Rio de Janeiro, 02d of May 2012

Cumbre de los Pueblos no participará en evento preparatorio de Río+20 con el gobierno de Brasil Thursday, 3 May, 2012

EARTH PEOPLES — Sun, 06 May 2012 04:15:04 +0000

Nota de esclarecimiento

A razón de la invitación lanzada por el Gobierno Brasileño al Comité Facilitador de la Sociedad Civil para Rio+20 (CFSC) referente a participar en los Diálogos sobre el Desarrollo Sostenible (DDS) informamos que:
A lo largo de las últimas décadas, las redes y entidades que componen el CFSC y realizan la Cumbre de los Pueblos para la Justicia Social y Ambiental para Rio+20, lucharon y siguen luchando hoy en día por la apertura de espacios de participación y diálogo persiguiendo la conquista de políticas públicas que hagan avanzar la democratización en los ámbitos de los Estados, la justicia social y ambiental, y la distribución de renta y riqueza.
A través de la participación social y del diálogo entre sociedad y gobierno, conseguimos importantes victorias expresadas en algunos programas y políticas que atienden, aunque tímidamente, las demandas históricas de los pueblos de disputa a las desigualdades. Consideramos por tanto el diálogo como uno de los métodos fundamentales para hacer avanzar nuestras demandas. Seguiremos buscando establecer diálogos que apunten a presionar a los gobiernos para que atiendan nuestras demandas.En nuestra percepción, el método establecido por los DDS no recoge esta dinámica de dialogo que estamos intentado hacer avanzar. La propuesta de los DDS fue establecida de arriba para abajo, habiendo el gobierno brasileño escogido los temas, los participantes y los facilitadores, indicando de forma inequívoca que los diálogos y sus resultados serán controlados por el gobierno.
Conscientes que los temas en debate son objeto de conflicto y de visiones muy heterogéneas, un método que pretende definir tres recomendaciones por tema, y además de ser escogidos de forma cerrada, seguramente significará la realización de elecciones excluyentes en un
ambiente donde no tenemos mecanismos efectivos de influenciar o proceso decisorio.
La Cumbre de los Pueblos para Rio+20 para la Justicia Social y Ambiental es un espacio autónomo, situado en el campo crítico en relación a la agenda de la conferencia oficial y de las corporaciones. Tenemos posiciones de resistencia y tenemos propuestas en todos los temas establecidos por los DDS, que incluyen los aportes de las organizaciones y movimientos sociales brasileños e internacionales que luchan por los derechos, por la justicia social y ambiental y contra las desigualdades en Brasil y en el mundo entero.
Por las razones expuestas, no participaremos de los DDS. Haremos que nuestras visiones sean conocidas y escuchadas a través de todos los medios de comunicación posibles. Esperamos así que las voces y propuestas de los pueblos que estarán representadas en la Cumbre de los Pueblos puedan ser oídas por la sociedad y por los jefes de Estado presentes en Rio+20.
Comité Facilitador de la Sociedad Civil para Rio+20
Rio de janeiro, 2 de mayo de 2012