Picture of the Day: G20 Gender Justice Rally
From today’s G20 Gender Justice Rally:
Canadian Prime Minister, Stephen Harper, gets some love at the G20 Gender Justice Rally.
More to come…
Goldcorp AGM Protest
About fifty people gathered to protest outside the Annual General Meeting of Goldcorp Inc., the world's second largest gold mining corporation, in Toronto on Wednesday May 19, 2010.
Protestors said they came to show their support for the international delegation, including Feliciano Orellana from Guatemala (left) and Carlos Amador from Hondruas (right), among others, who were speaking inside the AGM representing their communities in speaking out against Goldcorp's projects throughout the Americas. Both Feliciano and Carlos took the chance to speak to shareholders inside the AGM, but the company had little interest in what they had to say.
Other international delegates included:
FELICIANO ORELLANA: is a representative of the Commission for Justice and Peace of the Franciscan Family, in the Department of Jutiapa in eastern Guatemala. Employed by Goldcorp subsidiary Entre Mares in 1998 as one of the first employee, he later got hired in 2008 and suffered an almost Fatal accident on the job, for which he received no compensation. Now Feliciano is an active leader in his community and wants to share his experience on Goldcorp Human Rights Violations and the communities’ opposition to the Cerro Blanco Mine, Goldcorp’ second large mine in Guatemala.
CARLOS AMADOR: Carlos is a teacher and community leader in El Porvenir, 15 kilometers from Goldcorp’s open-pit, cyanide-leaching gold mine – the “San Martin” mine. Since 2000, Carlos has been educating and organizing local communities in the Siria Valley, and working to resist and demand justice for the health and environmental harms and human rights violations caused by Goldcorp’s mine.
JAVIER de LEON: Javier is a Mayan Mam community leader from the village of Maquivil, municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, department of San Marcos. From his small home, he looks across at Goldcorp’s ever expanding open-pit, cyanide-leaching gold mine – the “Marlin” mine. Since 2004, Javier has been educating and organizing Mayan Mam communities and working to resist and demand justice for the health and environmental harms and human rights violations caused by Goldcorp’s mine.
NELY RIVERA DE SILVA: de Silva works with CEICOM, the Centre for Research on Investment and Commerce, an organization that does research and advocacy on the impacts of mining investment in El Salvador. At this time, Nely is deeply involved community organizing to prevent the second Goldcorp mine in Guatemala, that of Cerro Blanco, which is on the Guatemala/El Salvador border and threatens access to water and the contamination of water and the eco-system on both sides of the border.
DANIELA GUZMAN: Is the technical advisor working with the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous and Agricultural Community in Chile, in the Huasco Valley, the last unpolluted valley in the north of Chile. Since time immemorial Huascoaltinos have been the guardians of the life in the Huasco Valley and they want to protect their lands for future generations. Today, their culture is being severely threatened by mining companies such as Barrick, New Gold and Goldcorp.
"Goldcorp in Honduras"
In Honduras and Guatemala, Goldcorp’s mines are linked to widespread and well-documented heavy metal contamination and arsenic poisoning.
"Stop Mining Mayan Land"
In Guatemala, Goldcorp has ignored referendums carried out by affected indigenous Mayan communities that have called for a halt to mining operations and expansion.
"Goldcorp: No Means No"
In Chile, Goldcorp is also violating the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) and the right to self-determination of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos Indigenous community, who have rejected the mine consecutively in their assemblies since 2006 and who have their own development project, a nature reserve, which is being threatened by the unwelcome presence of Goldcorp and other mining companies within their ancestral lands.
"Development not Destruction"
In El Salvador, a mine project is facing growing resistance because it threatens the largest single source of water in the country.
Cleaning up Goldcorp's toxic mess
Here in Canada, First Nations communities such as the Likhts’amisyu (Fireweed) Clan of the Wet’suwet’en Nation have demanded that Goldcorp cease their activities as their water sources and right to full consent have not been protected.
" Goldcorp + Your Investment = Rape of Mother Earth"
Inside the AGM, a shareholders resolution was put forward calling on Goldcorp to “create and adopt, by September 1st, 2010, a corporate policy on the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) for its operations impacting indigenous communities and all communities dependent on natural resources for survival.” The resolution was voted down.
"Divest from Death"
Environmentalists have been targeted in Guatemala, and elsewhere, where mining has generated conflict. Examples of this include the attempted assassination of the Director of the Center for Environmental and Social Legal Action, Yuri Melini, in 2008, the murder of teacher and Mayan Qeqchi community leader, Adolfo Ich Chaman on September 27, 2009, and the murder of Walter Mendez, son or Arturo Mendez, the community leader who attended last year’s AGM, only six months before his son’s assassination. Additionally, three members of the Front in Defense of Natural Resources and People’s Rights (FRENA) have been assassinated since October of 2009. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights publicly condemned the murders of Guatemalan anti-mining activists on February 25, 2010.
"Consultation is not Consent" - Protestors entered the building to disrupt the AGM
Goldcorp incorporates language of “social license” into its policies but has no policy specifically on the right to FPIC. Through subsidiaries Entre Mares and Montana Exploradora, Goldcorp Inc. owns approximately 27 mining recognition, exploration and extraction licenses in Guatemala, many on lands owned or occupied by indigenous communities.
Shareholders were confronted by chanting protestors as they left the meeting.
Here are some of the chants, from a chant sheet handed out by protestors:
1
Toxic poison and disease
Goldcorp is not what people need
2
Social conflict and corruption
Goldcorp only brings destruction
3
Goldcorp Goldcorp
Clean up your mess
You bring distress
Leave people with less
4
Goldcorp Goldcorp
Get off our lands
Blood is on your hands
(continued below…)
Cleaning up Goldcorp's Toxic Mess
(…chants continued)
5
Read the resolution
Enough with the illusions
6
We want justice
Investor divest
7
The people have spoken
Goldcorp out!
8
The people united will never be defeated
La gente unida jamás será vencida
9
Goldcorp threatens Goldcorp kills
How much cyanide will they spill?
Goldcorp steals, Goldcorp lies
How many more will have to die?
Spare change for Ian Telfer, Goldcorp CEO
For more information:
Someone Else’s Treasure – Guatemala – photoessay and video
Impacted Communities Confront Barrick Gold at Annual General Meeting
Indigenous representatives from Papua New Guinea and Chile traveled to Canada this week to speak at Barrick Gold’s annual shareholders meeting.
Representatives of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos, from Chile, and from Porgera, Papua New Guinea, lead a march of about a hundred people to the headquarters of Barrick Gold, after raising their complaints to shareholders inside the annual general meeting in Toronto.
“Barrick has made it impossible for us to live on our traditional land. It is contaminated, unhealthy, we have no land left to grow our food and we are constantly targeted by the mine security,” explained Mark Ekepa, the chairman of the Porgera Landowners Association. “We want to be resettled as a community, but Barrick refuses to negotiate with us.”
Jeffrey, from Porgera, Papua New Guinea, addresses the crowd gathered outside Barrick' headquarters.
Idolia, from the Huasco Valley in Chile, joins the protests outside Barrick's AGM after addressing the shareholders directly inside the meeting.
See Amnesty Report: http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/asset/ASA34/001/2010/en/2a498f9d-39f7-47df-b5eb-5eaf586fc472/asa340012010eng.pdf
"Support for Barrick is Support for Rape, Murder and Violence" - Strong messages from the hundred protesters gathered outside the Barrick AGM, showing their support for indigenous representatives speaking inside the meeting.
More info on Barrick Gold: http://www.protestbarrick.net/article.php?id=590
To speak to Indigenous representatives contact Sakura Saunders: 647-838-8455, sakura.saunders@gmail.com
Jethro Tulin, Executive Officer, Akali Tange Association: jctulin@gmail.com
Daniela Guzmán, Technical Advisor, Diaguita Huascoaltinos: daniela.guzman@gmail.com
ProtestBarrick
Protesters hold up a banner with Barrick Gold's corporate logo, altered slightly to resemble a pile of coffins.
Agua Si, Oro No!
Barrick Destroys. About a hundred protesters gathered outside Barrick Gold's AGM showing their support for indigenous representatives speaking inside.
Zafar Baluch, from the Baloch Human Rights Council joined protesters as they marched towards Barrick's headquarters to raise concerns regarding the proposed Reko Diq Project in Baluchistan, Pakistan.
Mining is Killig the Earth!
Someone Else’s Treasure – Guatemala
San Marcos, Guatemala
Within the Department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala, the Marlin Mine is located along the border between the municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa. These communities are largely composed of Indigenous Mayans who speak their traditional languages in addition to Spanish. 85% of the mine is located in San Miguel Ixtahacán, where the population is mostly Mam-Maya, one of the larger Mayan subgroups.Sipakapa is inhabited mostly by the Sipakapense, one of the smaller subgroups.
Goldcorp Inc.
The Marlin Mine, which has both open-pit and underground operations, is fully owned by Vancouver-based Goldcorp Inc., one of the world’s biggest gold companies. The mine is operated by Montana Exploradora, a subsidiary fully owned by Goldcorp. The Marlin Mine was the first project to be funded by the World Bank’s International Finance Corporation (IFC) after its Extractive Industries Review (EIR), in 2003, which sought to bring World Bank-funded projects in line with the institution’s “overarching mandate of poverty alleviation and sustainable development.” It was also the first project to be found not in compliance with these new World Bank standards.
The Marlin Mine
According to the Canadian Social Investment Database, Goldcorp has the highest environmental fine total among mining companies on the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) Composite Index. Goldcorp has been accused of having caused cyanide spikes, elevated levels of heavy metal contamination and acid mine drainage at its mines in Mexico, Honduras, Canada, the United States, Argentina, and Guatemala. In April 2008, Jantzi Research, an independent investment research association which analyzes the social and environmental performance of more than 300 Canadian companies, recommended not to invest in Goldcorp, citing the threats to safety and security, environmental impacts, growing opposition from local indigenous communities, and inadequate consultation with local communities. Guatemala has signed and ratified the International Labour Organization (ILO) Convention 169, which requires the State to consult affected indigenous communities, before they can approve any project, law, or decree that might affect them. Community members of both San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa claim that they were never consulted by either the Government or the company.
Rolasia
Rosalia stands on what used to be part of her farm until the mine expanded a single lane dirt road to accommodate large mining trucks. Rosalia’s family says it was never consulted or compensated for the loss of their land. When the company first arrived in the area, they carried out a series of presentations on the benefits of mining. The company claims to have held 74 meetings with people in San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa. Those who attended the meetings were were asked to sign a list in exchange for a free lunch. Community members say that these lists were then used by Goldcorp to prove to the Government and the World Bank that they had consulted the local communities. “There was no dialogue and no consultation with the communities about the company coming here,” they say, “the public was not consulted. That is why we are very upset, because these people have money, they are millionaires, they can do what they want. They don’t care about our lives. We did what we could, but it didn’t make any difference. The old Mayor and Judge sided with the company for the money. So the people couldn’t defend their rights.”
Julian
“They say that they have brought a lot of change and development,” says Julian who lives in San Miguel Ixtahuacán . “But these are pure lies because we have not seen any development! If the company really cared about our development, we would be living in better conditions. Our houses would be nicer, and our roads would be paved. But they only pave the roads that they want to use. When they came, they promised to build houses, but the houses were never built. They even try to take credit for the few concrete houses there are in the village, but that is a lie! All the houses here built with concrete were made, because the families have members who have emigrated to the USA and are sending money back. All the rest of our houses are built of mud and wood, we know this because we built them with our own hands. We have to listen to their lies everyday, but they haven’t given us anything! So why are they telling all these lies?”
Candelaria
Candelaria stands outside her home directly below the mine in front of a bullet hole in her wall. Candelaria’s husband is currently working at a hotel for tourists in Cancun, Mexico, so that he can send money back for his family, who also lost some of its farm land to the road expansion. One night while the family was asleep, a vehicle drove past her home, and someone fired four gun shots at Candelaria’s house. “Before we all lived peacefully,” says Candelaria’s brother-in-law Victor, “one heard about violence, but in the capital, now the violence is here, among us—to the point of parents fighting with their children and brothers fighting each other. We are very worried, because we hear people saying: ‘we will kill or kidnap those who are against mining,’ and there are many killings and kidnappings, not only here but also in many other villages above the mine. We are living a life that is very difficult, and it will continue to get worse. And I think: who will defend us? What will we do?”
Missing Family
Community members of San Miguel Ixtahuacán gather inside their Church to see pictures from Father Erick’s recent trip to the USA. Father Erick’s trip included several cities accross the United States, so that he could visit peoples’ relatives who are working there, often undocumented, in order to support their families. “They said that we would benefit by getting jobs,” someone murmurs in the crowd, “so where are the jobs? If there are jobs here, why do so many of us have to leave our families and homes risking our lives for a few coins?” In addition to the United States, many people also emigrate to Mexico or to the coastal regions of Guatemala to work in the sugar plantations.
Yolanda
Yolanda lives in one of the houses surrounding the Marlin Mine. Over a hundred of these houses have suffered structural damage, including cracking walls and floors, since the mining activities began. The company denies any responsibility, but villagers believe the cracks are being caused by the daily dynamite explosions in the mine. A recent report put out by the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology (COPAE) and the Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) concludes that “by a process of elimination, the most likely cause of the building damage is ground vibrations. There are no sources of vibrations in the area except those resulting from mine blasting and heavy truck traffic; therefore it is very highly likely that the damage in local villages is caused by the mining activity and associated truck traffic.”
Irma
“Our houses are falling apart!” says Irma standing in her crumbling bedroom, “I’m scared to be inside my house, because one day it can fall on top of us!” Goldcorp refuses to acknowledge any connection between their operations and the damage to the houses. At first they claimed that the cracks were caused by all the vehicles driving through the villiages. “We said that if it was a problem of vehicles,” recalls Irma, “only the vehicles from the company are heavy, and anyway the houses far away from the road would not be cracking too. Then they said it wasn’t the vehicles, but poor construction. We told them that if the problem was poor construction, then most of the houses in the whole country would be having the same problems, not just the ones next to their mine. Their stories keep changing, but they always refuse to accept any responsibility. They don’t even take our complaints seriously, they laugh at us. Once they even said it was being caused because we play our music too loud!”
Maria
Maria and her family had spent four years building themselves a new home. It was a moment of great pride, when they finally completed the construction. But three weeks later, they discovered that the cement floor had started to crack. At the moment it is only a hair-line crack, but Maria has seen some of the other homes that have much larger cracks, so she knows that it is only a matter of time. Everyday at noon and then again at midnight, the mine sets off dynamite explosions which cause the ground to shake like an earthquake. The family eventually decided to cut its losses and not move in, so the building remains empty and unused. “They are making us suffer,” says Maria, “we are not being treated as human beings.”
Water
Like most large-scale gold mines, the extracted ore is processed using cyanide. The remaining waste material is then dumped in a tailings pond. Locals are very concerned about how the mine may be effecting both the quantity and the quality of their water supplies. The mine uses as much as 250,000 liters of water every hour of every day, which is roughly equivalent to what a Guatemalan family of 8 would use over the course of 25 years. Six to eight wells are reported to have dried up recently, although the company claims it obtains all its water either from what is recycled from the tailings pond or from deep underground sources which are not connected to the communities’ wells. Additional concerns include the possibility of the chemicals leaking out into the rivers or, even worse, that the dyke keeping all the waste in the pond may not be able to withstand the frequent earthquakes in the area. “This worries us,” says Victor, “because the tailings pond is above and we are here below it!”
Reyna
“They told us the water is fine,” says Reyna as she does her laundry in the river with her brother Alex. “We don’t have any water at the house and our well has dried up, so we have to come down here.” Scientific studies by the Pastoral Commission for Peace and Ecology (COPAE), have shown that the rivers below the tailings pond contain arsenic. “All mines contaminate,” says Alejandro from COPAE, “there are no examples of the mining industry not causing contamination anywhere in the world. Our studies demonstrate that the rivers below the mine are contaminated. The water is not suitable for consumption.” Despite the company’s claims that the water is safe, company employees refused when Freddy, one of the auxiliary mayors of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, challenged them to drink or bathe in the water themselves.
Teresa
“Before,” remembers Teresa, “we used to plant gourds, beans, avocado, lemons, oranges, peaches and corn. But they are not the same anymore. Look at the avocado trees, they don’t have any fruit—they flower, but then the flowers fall off. And the life of the animals? Already it is sad. It is not the same as it was when I was growing up, it was healthy, you could eat everything. Now, what we eat and what we drink, these are contaminated.”
Crisanta
“The crops were much better before,” says Crisanta holding up some of the corn her family harvested this year, “but since the mine came, they don’t come out the same anymore. They do not grow properly now! We haven’t had a good harvest for about three years. Even the crops that we do harvest, we cannot sell. As soon as people find out that we are from San Miguel, they don’t want to buy from us because they say it’s all contaminated. ”
Lisandro
Eight-year old Lisandro has itchy rashes all over his body, which first appeared about four years ago when the mine started operations. “Before the mining company came, there weren’t so many health problems,” says Lisandro’s uncle Victor, “now there are many illnesses. When the mining company came, it brought us skin infections, stomach pains, illnesses like flu and also diarrhea in children and adults. They don’t tell us why this is happening. I think that it is because we are drinking the water, and we bathe in the river. This worries us a lot because, look—what are we going to do? Where are we going to go? Who will offer us a helping hand? Who will care for us? This is what worries us a lot. And later, not only this but also the conflicts, the violence, the kidnappings, before these didn’t happen.” “This is not a development project,” adds Miguel-Angel, who owns the local pharmacy, “this is a project of death! It’s a monster!”
Yahira
“Since the company came we have diseases, before we didn’t have anything like this,” says Irma, whose daughter Yahira has similar itchy rashes all over her body. “Before the children were all healthy. Not any more! It is the mine’s fault! In the past everyone was healthy, but not anymore because of them. And then they insult us, saying that we get these rashes because we are dirty and don’t bathe! We are sad. They are scaring us! They are just scaring us! I want the mine to leave! They have come here and taken advantage of us. Here in San Miguel they are really taking advantage of us!”
Teresa
“We were fine before, but now things aren’t as they used to be,” says Teresa, who has a mysterious growth below her left eye, “we are living a very difficult life — our crops, animals, everyone’s health is at risk, violence, kidnappings. We don’t count! We don’t know what will happen with us. It hurts, because we are human, we have feelings. These things never happened before the mine came here. They only think of their love of money and for that reason they are discriminating against us. But we hope in God that one day we can change their hearts, then they will not come to do so many things to us, because they will finally recognize us as human beings.”
Referenda
In community meetings throughout San Miguel Ixtahuacán, residents are currently in the process of organizing a community referendum on mining. This referendum was inspired by the 2005 referendum in the neighboring municipality of Sipakapa. The results of the Sipakapa referendum speak for themselves; 2,502 eligible voters participated, which compares favorably to the 3,087 turnout for the federal elections. In total, 2,426 people voted against mining, 35 people voted for mining, 8 ballots were illegible, one was blank and 32 abstained. Of the 13 community assemblies held in Sipakapa, 11 rejected mining (unanimously in most cases), one supported the mine, and one abstained. In total, 98.5% of the participating population rejected mining. The company took legal action to have the referendum annulled. The Guatemalan Constitutional Court ruled that the referendum was legal, but not binding.
Fausto and Pedro
Sipakapa continues to refuse any payments from the company and resist continued attempts to expand the mine within their territory. Instead, the community proposed an alternative development project of their own in the form of a fair-trade organic coffee cooperative. In the summer of 2009, their coffee co-op finally got off the ground and participants, like Fausto and Pedro here, are now in the process of laying the groundwork for their future plantations. While the referendum was important in demonstrating the community’s unified opposition to the mine, it was also very important for them to be able to propose an alternative that was driven by the whole community themselves.
Our Art
“Agriculture is our Art, it’s what we know” says Ovideo, “gold is of no value to us, but our land, our families, our culture — these are things that we value greatly.” The indigenous residents of both Sipakapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacán know that their ancestors have lived on these lands for generations refining and passing down their knowledge of how to cultivate the land. What could be more sustainable than that? This group pictured here, including (left to right) Matilda, Jeffrey Jr, Jeffrey Sr, Bayron, and Raul, are planning the layout of their new coffee plantation in Sipakapa. They carefully measure out the distances between the points where they will plant each tree, taking all factors into account, including the slope of the hill, the direction of the sun, and the quality of the soil. “This is very difficult and complicated work, but we know how to take care of ourselves,” says Fidel, one of the organizers behind the organic coffee project, “that is why we, the people of Sipakapa, have said ‘No!’ to mining in our territory.”
Only a Yellow Stone that Shines
As the people of both Sipakapa and San Miguel Ixtahuacán look on in horror at the Marlin Mine in their midst, many of them struggle to even comprehend the point of it all. “Who came up with the idea that gold should be worth so much anyway?” asks Alejandro, “it’s only a yellow stone that shines! Life should be more valuable than gold.” “I hope that everyone takes this information, listens to our stories, and tells our stories,” says Reyna, “we are only humble people but our exeriences are our own, they are real, no one understands our situation better than we do, but we want everyone to know what is happening to us in order to put international pressure on the authorities so that they think a little about the poor people, not only those who have money, but us who are ignored, humiliated, as though we are worth nothing. We also have rights, and we don’t want to continue suffering like this.”
See also:
Someone Else’s Treasure – the Philippines
Picture of the Day: Current Levels of Action…
From the Reclaim Power Protest in Copenhagen, Denmark, outside the COP15 Climate Conference on Wednesday 16 December. (more to come)
"The current levels of action to fight the suffering & injustice aren't enough. We need to make it the primary aim of human society, & everyone's absolute priority, to maximize well-being for everyone instead of competing for profit. Please help fight the suffering & injustice (& help reform structures so that we can achieve this) & it will help you too. We all want the same underlying things."
Anti-Mining Artwork at the University of San Carlos
The Marlin Mine is a large scale gold mine located in the Department of San Marcos, in the western highlands of Guatemala. Operated by Montana Exploradora, a subsidiary of the Canadian corporation Goldcorp Inc.
But Montana doesn’t seem very popular in the area, as suggested by the elaborate permanent mural paintings displayed along the walls outside the University of San Carlos, in San Marcos. Here are some details of the large murals:
Montana vs the People
Mining the Earth
Planet Injured - Humanity in Danger
1% refers to the royalties Montana pays to the government of Guatemala
No to Mining
Killing the Earth
Want this to happen? For evil to triumph, all that is needed is for men of conscience to do nothing...
Canadian and American Imports
Canadian Law
I never thought that mining would bring me so many benefits, yeah...
See photos of the Marlin Mine here
The Marlin Mine
I’m almost finished my work here in Guatemala, now I have to start editing and captioning and putting together the newest photo essay for Someone Else’s Treasure. The Marlin Gold Mine in San Marcos, Guatemala, is owned by Canadian mining company Goldcorp Inc. Here are some photos of the mine itself. More on how the Marlin Mine is impacting local communities coming soon…
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
Marlin Mine, Guatemala
All Saints Day in Guatemala
One of the Guatemala’s most important holidays, All Saints Day (sometimes called Day of the Dead) is marked by festivals mixing Mayan and Catholic traditions. Most activities take place in the cemeteries, where people decorate gravesites and celebrate their dead. Celebrated on November 1st, here are some photos of the celebrations in San Miguel Ixtahuacan.
Picture(s) of the Day: Bienvenidos a Guatemala
I’ve just arrived in Guatemala. I’ll be here for a month continuing work on Someone Else’s Treasure. Here are a few pictures from my first day here taken during the long drive from Guatemala City to San Marcos in the western highlands near the Mexican border. These were all taken out the window of a moving vehicle, so I can’t wait to be able to stop and meet some people.
- Bienvenidos a Guatemala
- Bienvenidos a Guatemala
- Bienvenidos a Guatemala
- Bienvenidos a Guatemala
Bienvenidos a Guatemala
Picture(s) of the Day: Global Day of Action Against Open Pit Mining
These are three posters that I designed recently for the Global Day of Action Against Open Pit Mining.
1 ounce of Gold = 79 tones of Waste
Mercury | Cyanide | Lead
Native Rights Ignored | Duty to Consult Ignored
BAYAN Canada Calls for Justice in the Philippines
September 21st was the 37th anniversary of former Philippine dictator Marcos introduced a state of martial law in 1972.
A memorial was organized by BAYAN Canada to honour the memories of the thousands of victims who were disappeared, detained, tortured and killed during the Marcos dictatorship. The memorial was also used to remember over 1000 people who have been the victims of extrajudicial killings since current Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo took office in 2001.
Justice for the Philippines
"While we remember the thousands of victims who were disappeared, detained, tortured and killed during the Marcos dictatorship, we hold Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo responsible for the extrajudicial killings of over 1000 Filipino citizens and the enforced disappearances of over 200 since she took power in 2001." - BAYAN Canada
Justice for Jose Doton
Justice for Jayson Delen, Armando Javier, and Markus Bangit
Justice for All
Justice!
Justice in the Philippines
Justice for Alice Omengan-Claver, who was a member of BAYAN
Justice for Romy Sanchez
Justice
Justice for Father William Tadena
Justice for Leima Fortu
Justice for Markus Bangit, Armando Javier, and Cris Hugo
Justice!
Filipino Migrant Workers Movement
Oust GMA! - Graffiti calling for the ousting of Philippine President Glorian Macapagal-Arroyo (GMA) at the University of the Philippines in Los Banos, Laguna.
For more information:
Residents of Mankayan Evacuated
Danger Zone: Sinking Area
I was in Mankayan, in the Philippines, about a year and a half ago and one of the issues I reported on was the sinking and ground subsistence in the area as a result of irrisponsible underground mining practices. I recently recieved a message from the Cordillera People’s Alliance reporting that:
“Residents of Brgy* Aurora in Mankayan, Benguet province are now evacuating as a result of the continuing massive land subsidence in Mankayan, Benguet. Long years of Lepanto Mining’s underground large mining operations has created mazes of tunnels underground has been causing land subsidence as early as the 1970’s, the worse cases were in 2009. The disastrous land subsidence in 1999 buried alive a local resident whose body was never found.”
*[Brgy=Barangay=Municipality]
Careless underground mining practices have induced surface subsistence and ground collapse. Many homes and buildings have been abandoned, and can be seen sinking into the ground. One Lepanto worker is quoted as saying that there are tunnels "as big as municipal buildings" underneath the area. Residents of Barangay Aurora, in Mankayan, are now being evacuated for their safety.
This is the spot where there used to be an elementary school, the Victoria Gold mine's tailings pond is visible just below. In 1999, the school building was suddenly swept away in a landslide killing Pablo Gomez, a local villager who was in the building at the time. The loss could have been considerably worse, however, if the landslide had occurred during school hours when there would have been as many as two hundred elementary school children in the building.
The view from Mankayan, where the houses are build along the side of the mountains.
You can see more recent photos from Mankayan HERE
More information at the Cordillera People’s Alliance
Tracking the Tar Sands Toxic Tour
The Polaris Institute and the Sierra Youth Coalition organized a tri-city toxic tour to track the tar sands oil, visiting communities surrounded by oil refineries in Sarnia, Detriot, and Windsor. According to TarSandsWatch, refineries pose a serious concern for human and ecosystem health causing increases in toxic air emissions, acid rain, and greenhouse gas emissions. The following are some photos of these toxic neighbors:
The Sarnia skyline features dozens of oil refineries
According to the 2006 census, Sarnia has a population of 71,419 making it the largest city located on Lake Huron. It has been involved in the oil industry since 1850 and is home to the second busiest US/Canada border crossing.
Sarnia has been heavily involved in the oil industry since 1850 so their economy is almost completely dependent on the industry.
There are four refineries in Sarnia that use tar sands oil, including Imperial Oil, Shell, Suncor, and Nova Chemicals.
Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario.
The Aamjiwnaang First Nation is surrounded with the Imperial, Shell, and Suncor refineries. The community has seen twice as many females born as males, and have reported feminization in turtles in the St. Clair River. Suncor refinery is ranked number one for releasing pollutants that are known or suspected to cause reproductive and developmental toxicants.
Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario
An Ecojustice report titled Exposing Canada’s Chemical Valley shows that in 2005, facilities within 25km of Sarnia released more than 131,000 tonnes of air pollution. That much air pollution (consisting of mercury, dioxins and other toxins) equates to a toxic load of more than 1,800 kilograms per Sarnia and Aamjiwnaang resident.
Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario.
Between June 2008 and June 2009, employment in the Windsor-Sarnia region decreased by 6%. The number of unemployed rose by 15,400 increasing the unemployment rate up to 12.8% – the highest rate in Ontario’s economic regions.
Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., has described Windsor as “the most polluted city in North America,” explaining that “[With] a lot of the industries in Detroit, the air emissions make their way to Windsor. Windsor has high cancer rates, particularly thyroid cancer. Many other respiratory illnesses that are associated with pollution are more prevalent here than elsewhere in Canada as Windsor is downwind from several strong polluters.”
oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario
The Weather Network has designated Windsor the “Smog Capital of Canada.”
Industrial landscape of Detroit, Michigan.
People living around the Marathon refinery in Detroit, Michigan, “suffer disproportionally in terms of asthmatic rates, their sleep patterns are disrupted, and they have to contend with all the dirt generated by truck traffic in the area.” (Michigan Chronicle)
World Class Cancer Care is Right Down the Street
Many Detroit area residents, despite the economic opportunity, are weary of plans to expand the Marathon oil refinery. Detroit resident Lucille Campbell states: “I have a list of the chemicals that Marathon spews out and what cancers it causes. People are dying. People are sick … we want to have jobs and all these kinds of things, but we need for it to be done right. As far as I’m concerned, Marathon can go someplace else.”
Industrial landscape of Detroit, Michigan.
Ethanol plant in Chatham, Ontario
Ethanol plant in Chatham, Ontario
Beware of Toxic Neighbors
Check out more photos from the Tracking the Tar Sands Tour, courtesy of Kathleen Black.
Group Stages Mock Death Outside RBC Branches
Rainforest Action Network (RAN) organized a die-in outside two Royal Bank of Canada (RBC) branches to protest the bank’s involvement in the tar sands. The following text is from a press release put out by RAN:
Group Stages Mock Death Outside RBC Branches in Protest of Bank’s Involvement in Dirty Oil
Feigned Collapses Represent Real Impacts of Tar Sands Destruction and Water Pollution of First Nations Throughout Athabasca Delta
RBC Die-in
Toronto - Customers visiting RBC’s newly opened downtown banking centre today were met with the sight of motionless bodies strewn along the pavement in front of the bank entrance. The bodies were those of approximately 15 Rainforest Action Network (RAN) activists who, in protest against RBC’s continued financing of Alberta tar sands production, feigned death after symbolically drinking contaminated tar sands water.
RAN activists take a drink from the Athabasca water cooler.
Leading all other Canadian banks, over the past four years RBC has provided $8.9 billion in financial support to companies operating in the tar sands. The tar sands, which are devastating the regional environment, contaminating water sources, undermining local First Nation’s people’s health and preventing Canada from meeting its climate commitments, have become a source of global shame for Canada. RAN is asking RBC to cease financing tar sands production and instead, provide financing for the production of renewable energy.
Would you drinking water from the Athabasca River?
“RBC, as Canada’s largest bank, is positioned to lead the country towards a future of energy sustainability and environmental stewardship,” says RAN activist Kimia Ghomeshi. “Instead, RBC has chosen to become the ‘ATM’ for companies seeking financing for dirty tar sands production. I think RBC’s customers would like to know what their bank is doing with the money in their savings and chequing accounts.”
Kimia Ghomeshi describes the RBC as the "ATM for companies seeking financing for dirty tar sands production."
Tar sands projects, which extract and process bitumen, a type of crude oil, have become the leading cause of CO2 emissions growth in Canada. A water intensive process, production has resulted in the creation of over 130 km2 of toxic tailing ponds, which are now estimated to leak 11 million litres of polluted water into the Athabasca watershed daily. Downstream from the tar sands, a Government of Alberta health study has confirmed that First Nations’ communities are now experiencing elevated levels of rare cancers.
RBC Creates Climate Chaos
The protesters emphasized that RBC’s support of tar sands production is not consistent with its public commitments to leadership in the areas of corporate environmental sustainability and water conservation. As Melina Laboucan-Massimo, who is a member of the Lubicon Cree Nation, asked at the recent RBC annual shareholders meeting, “If RBC is serious about supporting clean water, why are they financing projects that are contaminating the lakes and rivers around my community?”
RBC Die-in
RBC’s “Create” PR campaign touts RBC’s environmental credentials. In one TV ad publicizing the RBC ’s Blue Water Project, we are asked to:
“Think of all the water in the world … oceans, rivers, lakes. It may seem like a lot but only a small fraction is fresh water, and there’s only so much to go around, which is why it is so important to protect it.”
In a November 2008 speech to an environmental group, CEO Gordon Nixon proclaimed that “water is the problem of the ages” and that “life depends on water. It’s high time we remembered that.”
"Life depends on water" - RBC CEO Gordon Nixon.
Yet, in contrast to the $3 million in donations under the Blue Water Project in 2008, RBC in the same year financed an estimated minimum of $641 million with oil and gas companies operating in the Alberta tar sands. An estimate of RBC’s total fossil fuel financing based on public records shows over $50 billion financed across all business lines in 2007 (see: www.climatefriendlybanking.org) And since 2002, RBC has directly invested over $63 billion in tar sands companies such as Encana, Suncor, and Canadian Natural Resources.
Drinking from the Athabasca Water Cooler
According to industry information, toxic lakes in the tar sands stretching over 50 km leak over 11 million litres a day of contaminated water into the environment. First Nations downstream are growing increasingly concerned about water quality and elevated cancer levels and have sued the Province of Alberta over adverse environmental impacts. Tar sands are also Canada’s fastest-growing source of greenhouse gas pollution. (more at: www.ran.org/tarsands)
RBC Die-in
RBC Die-in
RBC Die-in
RBC Die-in
RBC Die-in
RBC Die-in
For more information:
Picture(s) of the Day: Oil Refineries in Sarnia, Ontario
Today’s pictures of the day are of two of the many oil refineries in Sarnia, Ontario, taken during the Tri-city Tar Sands Youth Tour, organized by the Polaris Institute and the Sierra Youth Coalition. I’ll be posting more from that tour and more over the next few days.
Oil refinery in Sarnia, Ontario.
One of the many oil refineries in "Chemical Valley" in Sarnia, Ontario
Oil Refinery in Sarnia, Ontario.
Oil refinery, Sarnia, Ontario
2,545 Days: Bring Omar Khadr Home
A rally was organized outside the citizenship office in Toronto to keep Omar Khadr’s case in the media spotlight, and ensure that he is not forgotten.
Bting Omar Khadr Back to Canada
Canadian citizen Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured on July 27, 2002, by US forces in Ayub Khey, Afghanistan. Now 21 years old, Omar has been in US custody ever since.
Omar Khadr’s case is unique for the following reasons:
1) Omar is the first person in modern history to face a military commission for alleged crimes committed as a child.
2) He is the youngest prisoner held in extrajudicial detention by the United States.
3) Canada has refused to seek extradition or repatriation despite the urgings of Amnesty International, UNICEF, Lawyers Against the War, Lawyers Rights Watch Canada, the Canadian Bar Association and many Canadian jurists, social justice advocates and Members of Parliament.
4) Omar is the only Western citizen who still remains in Guantanamo Bay.
Source: www.BringOmarHome.ca
Protesters brought unfurled a banner counting the 2,545 days that Omar has spent locked up.
At Guantanamo Bay prison US officials have held Omar “virtually incommunicado” — no access to outsiders and in solitary confinement for over 3 years. Omar was not permitted any contact with a lawyer until November 2004, more than two years after being captured.
US Armed Forces personnel have subjected Omar, throughout his imprisonment to a variety of illegal treatments. Reported abuses to which he has been subjected include:
- not informed of his rights
- short shackled — wrists and ankles tied together and the cuffs bolted to the floor
- his hands tied above a door frame for hours
- had cold water thrown on him
- had a bag placed over his head and was threatened with military dogs
- forced to perform painful exercises while short shackled
- threatened with forced nakedness
- forced to urinate on himself while in stress positions
- detained illegally and illegally held incommunicado, except for the November 2004 visit from a lawyer
- kept in solitary confinement
- forced into stress positions for periods of hours, e.g. forced to lie on his stomach with hands and feet cuffed together behind his back
- forced to provide involuntary statements
- forced to sit, during interrogations, on an extremely cold floor
- had his body dragged back and forth, while short shackled, through the urine and pine oil in order to clean the floor with his body
- repeatedly lifted and dropped while short shackled as a punishment for ‘poor performance’
- threatened with rape/sexual violence
- refused opportunity to say prayers
- held in a cell that is ‘freezing cold’ 24 hours a day that Omar says is causing him shortness of breath and the sensation of not being able to get enough oxygen
- exposed to continuous electric light in his cell
- he has found partially dissolved tablets and/or powder at the bottom of a glass given to him by his captors. He says the pills produce various effects such as sleepiness, dizziness, alertness
- being denied adequate medical treatment
- left bound in uncomfortable stress positions until he soiled himself
source: Omar Khadr: The Continuing Scandal of Illegal Detention and Torture by US Forces in Guantanamo Bay
The banner counting the 2,545 days that Omar has spent locked up went all the way down the street.
Omar has now spent over a third of his life in the US prison at Guantanamo Bay. Canada is the only Western government to refuse to request the repatriation of one of its citizens from Guantanamo.
On March 23 the House of Commons passed a motion calling on Prime Minister Stephen Harper to request Omar’s repatriation. On April 23 the federal court ruled that the Canadian government must act immediately to repatriate Omar. It is now the will of a majority of Parliamentarians, all three opposition parties and a growing majority of Canadians that Omar be brought home.
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Shaanaz Gokool, of Amnety International, addressed the rally saying:
“Increasingly disturbing to Amnesty International has been the fundamental lack of protection and the complicity of the Canadian government. That due to our government’s actions, or inaction, [Omar Khadr has] been tortured by foreign security services. … We ask today, where has the rule of law in Canada gone? [This is] not about undermining the legitimacy of foreign governments, or the Canadian courts interfering with foreign affairs; this is about the role of our government and the value of Canadian citizenship. Why do we have to rely on the Canadian courts to demand that our own government treat all of our citizens with the same protection and concern for their human rights. It is not acceptable to assist some citizens and virtually abandon others in the face of ongoing human rights concerns. Our government needs to deal with the reality that they are accountable for truth, justice, and due process to all Canadian citizens…
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Shaanaz Gokool contintued:
“…As we stand here today and count off all the ticks accross here [on the banner] that represent each day young Omar Khadr has been detained by the US government to today’s date. We are forced to acknowledge, with this powerful visualization, that this has gone on for far too long and enough is enough!
How many days will I be detained by a foreign nation state before the Canadian government intercedes on my behalf? How many days will you be detained before the Canadian government comes to your aid? How many instances of torturemust I endure, instances that our Canadian governemnt knows that I have endured, before my government comes to my aid? These are the questions we must all ask ourselves, it is a long over-due discussion that needs to happen in every home in our country. What is the value of Canadian citizenship, if our own government will not protect our human rights when we are abroad?
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Shaanaz Gokool continued
“Omar Khadr forces us to take a hard took at who we are as Canadian citizens and to demand that the Canadian government do better by us. Omar Khadr is not a random person who has been detained by the US authorities for the past seven years — Omar Khadr is a Canadian. He is you, he is me, and he is all of us, and he is a benchmark for how we expect to be protected, or not, by our Canadian government. Amnesty International calls on the Canadian governemnt to reclaim our position on the worlds’ stage as a human rights defender. Charity, they say, begins at home. Bring Omar Khadr home!”
James Loney, of the Christian Peacemakers Team, addresses the rally
James Loney, who was once held hostage while doing humanitarian work in Iraq before being rescued in a daring raid by multinational forces, also raised questions about why “some citizens get help, others don’t”, citing the cases of Brenda Martin, who was imprisoned in Mexico before being brought home by the Canadian government, and Abousfian Abdelrazik, who was left in Sudan for six years before finally returning home to Canada this month. “There seems to be two standards of citizenship” Loney concluded.
“I was a Canadian citizen who was in trouble abroad, I went to Baghdad on a peace delegation, contrary to a travel advisory, and unbeknownst to me at the time, our government mobilized vast resources to assist my family to try and secure my release and sent a team to Baghdad … and I was astounded, amazed, I had no idea that the government would do this for me, that I would be claimed in this way.
“…and it really angers me that there are two standards of citizenship. What is it based on, is it colour of skin, or if you were born in Canada or somewhere else, or your last name, or your religion, or what? What is it? Why do some citizens merit the protection of the charter and others do not? In my view, and I think in the view of most Canadians, there is no such thing as second-class citizenship, or a two-tier citizenship. A citizen is a citizen is a citizen! And if we allow even one of us, even one of us, to have our rights trampled upon and abused and neglected, then we are all at risk. And we can’t allow that to happen to anyone.”
Professor Audrey Macklin, part of Omar Khadr's defence team speaks at the rally
Professor Audrey Macklin:
“The last couple of years I’ve had the privilege of working with Omar Khadr’s US Military Defense Council, who has been representing Omar Khadr before the military commissions…
“Omar Khadr was 15 years old when he was captured. A 15 year old who has been detained for seven years without charge, in conditions that amount to torture and cruel and unusual and degrading treatment. Does the fact that he has parents who are pariahs, or that he happened to be somebody who is a minority religion, or that he is being detained by Canada’s biggest ally, are those reasons that justify what otherwise I think we would all immediately and obviously regard as totally unacceptable?
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Professor Audrey Macklin continued:
“It shouldn’t be necessary to talk about the particular allegations against Omar Khadr … but nevertheless, the Harper government counts on the allegations against Omar Khadr and aspects of his identity and relationships and his familial history to somehow erase from peoples’ minds his status as a Canadian citizen, if not his identity as a human being. So let me just say a couple of words about these allegations, although I repeat it shouldn’t be necessary to do so: Omar Khadr is accused of throwing a grenade at a US soldier in the course of a battle.
“When I started working on this case, I was willing to take as given that maybe that happened. Only since that time have I learned that the evidence that he threw a grenade is, in fact, severely compromised. It initially came from a report written by a US soldier present at the battle who later admitted that the initial report he wrote identified somebody else as throwing the grenade, not Omar Khadr, and that that report was actually changed afterwards to identify Omar Khadr as the culprit. Why? Because the other person was summarily executed on the battlefield. Subsequently, and only years after Omar Khadr’s detention, was it possible for defence council to commission an expert who could examine the shell fragments that were found in the body of the deceased US soldier, only to discover that there might be reason to believe that the grenade that killed him was friendly fire, because it was more consistent with grenades fragments from a US made grenade, rather than Soviet/Russian-made grenades…
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Professor Audrey Macklin continued:
“Something else about Omar Khadr: he has never been tried. All of the allegations against him, after seven years or a third of his life, remain as mere allegations. These are things that seem to have slipped from notice. A last point about the facts: one of the scare tactics, I think, that the Harper government has used to justify its inertia on this case is that ‘well, what are we gonna do with him? We can’t try him for a crime when he gets back here and, my gosh, we can’t have this man walking the streets!’
“Well whatever one makes of that kind of claim, you should know that his defense council and others ahve worked hard to prepare a program of reintegration and rehabilitation for Omar Khadr if and when he comes back to Canada. Knowing that, if not his life before capture, surely his life after capture; seven years in virtual solitary confinement, as a youth with no access to education, psychological treatement, anything that could be regarded as age-appropriate treatment, surely have left somebody who is profoundly damaged. But know that his has been taken into account, and that people have given long and hard thought to what to be done that would make Omar Khadr’s reintegration and rehabilitation possible…
counting the 2,545 days that Omar Khadr has been locked up
Professor Audrey Macklin continued:
“You may think that you don’t face the same risks as Omar Khadr, because he may be a Canadian citizen but hey, if you get in trouble abroad, well, you got a different profile than Omar Khadr. And it’s true that the Canadian government takes the position that it holds no obligation to any Canadian citizen, not just no obligation to Omar Khadr, but no obligation to any of us. So you may think that ‘ah that’s ok if I get in trouble, the Canadian government will come to my aid because, afterall, I’m not likely to do the things that Omar Khadr is alleged to have done, and I kinda look different, I kinda sound different.’
“Well are you willing to take that gamble? More importantly, should the rule of law be a crapshoot? Should your human rights depend on whether at a particular moment in time the government of Canada likes the way you look or sound or likes what it knows about you? The rule of law is not a gamble, human rights are not a popularity contest. Bring back Omar Khadr now! For his sake and for all of our sakes as Canadian citizens!”
For more information:
The Effects of Climate Change are the Greatest Threat to Humanity – Oxfam
Oxfam’s recent report, Suffering the Science – Climate Change, People and Poverty, argues that the effects of climate change pose the greatest threat to humanity. The following are a few excerpts from the report, illustrated with some of my photos:
Flooding in the Philippines
The report combines the latest scientific observations on climate change, and evidence from Oxfam’s work in almost 100 countries around the world.
Mother and children on the streets of Bangladesh.
“Women living in poverty, who already face a daily struggle to survive, are being hit the hardest,” – Robert Fox, executive director of Oxfam Canada.
Flooding in the Philippines
A survey of top climate scientists, also published by Oxfam, said poor people living in low-lying coastal areas, island atolls and mega deltas and farmers are most at risk from climate change because of flooding and prolonged drought. The scientists named South Asia and Africa as climate change hotspots.
Drought in Tanzania
Growing rice in the Philippines
More people on the planet depend on rice than on any other crop. Rice plants react very quickly to temperature change: they show a 10% drop in yield for every 1ºC rise in minimum temperature. In parts of the Philippines, farmers have had to stop growing rice completely during the droughts caused by the ‘El Nino’ years, and river delta and coastal rice production has already suffered badly accross South-East Asia because of storms that overwhelm sea defences and salt-water intrusion into paddy fields.
Eating rice and fish in the Philippines.
An Asian Development Bank report warns that rice production in the Philippines could drop by 50-70 per cent as early as 2020.
Fisherman in Tanzania
Crops are only one part of the food story. Fish stocks are also endangered by climate change — threatening the loss of a significant source of protein and income for the 2.6billion people who get 20 per cent of their protein from fish. In many countries, dependence on fish consumption increases with poverty. In addition, 500 million people in developing countries depend — directly or indirectly — on fisheries for their livelihoods.
Fisherman in the Philippines
Both wild and farmed fish are threatened by a whole range of climate-driven problems — from raised sea levels and floods that damage fish farms on coasts and in river areas, to the increasin acidification of the oceans as a result of GHG emissions. A recent study suggests that 90 per cent of the food resources of the ‘coral triangle’ of the western Pacific will be gone by 2050, potentially affecting 150million people.
Health problems in Tanzania
In the last few months, several bodies including the Commonwealth countries’ health ministers have concluded that climate change is the greatest threat to health globally this century. The poorest and hottest countries will suffer the most. The loss of healthy life years as a result of global environmental change is predicted to be 500 times greater amongst poor African populations than amongst European populations. Climate change-driven alterations in patterns of disease and illness are already occurring globally, and 99 per cent of the casualties of climate change now are in developing countries.
Urban slums in Bangladesh
Rapid urbanization — which can be spurred by climatic factors as people seek new livelihoods in cities — brings disease with it. Urban sprawls often lack health infrastructure, and migrant workers may not be able to afford care and medicine. Some of the worst health statistics emanate from cities.
Escaping the heat in Tanzania
Small increases in temperatures hit human beings hard. None of us, no matter how well acclimatised, can do heavy work effectively above 35ºC or so. A couple of degrees higher than that, and our bodies soon get exhausted. Once core body temperature passes 38ºC, heat stress may set in. The body tries to cool down by sweating; dehydration may follow. People’s work rate slows. Ultimately, production and incomes decline.
Rice farmer in Bangladesh.
“Working under the open sky during summer has become nearly impossible in the past four years or so — for farmers and their cattle alike.” — Mir Ahmed, Bangladeshi farmer.
Getting water in Tanzania
Finding and transporting clean water is a central occupation in the working day of many people in developing countries, especially women. When a community is short of food, or suffering an outbreak of desease, there are immediate ways in which they can be helped. However, scarcity of water is a much greater problem. According to the UN Development Programme, over one billion people lack access to safe water today, and that number can only increase.
2009 is one of the most important years in human history. In Copenhagen in December, politicians will meet at the 15th Conference of the Parties (COP) to the UN Climate Change Convention. This meeting will decide whether we face a future on a hot glowering planet, or whether we set a course for climate safety for everyone.
see the full report for more information and references.
Grassroots Reporting and Photos from the Streets of Honduras
Grassroots reporting from the streets of Honduras. Photo by Sandra Cuffe
Sandra Cuffe is on the ground reporting from the streets of Honduras.
Sandra is a freelance journalist, photographer, contributing member of DominionPaper.ca & MediaCoop.ca, and Honduras correspondent for UpsideDownWorld.org
You can follow her reporting from Honduras through the following:
Honduran cell = (504) 9525-6778 (Available for interviews in English, French, and Spanish)
Canadian cell = (514) 5… [while in Honduras, voicemail & text messages only!]
public email = sandra.m.cuffe@gmail.com
twitter = SandraCuffeHN
facebook = Sandra Cuffe
photos = http://flickr.com/photos/lavagabunda
video [content up soon!] = http://www.youtube.com/user/lavagabunda27
Honduras blog [content up soon!] = http://hondurassolidarity.wordpress.com
Dominion blog = http://www.dominionpaper.ca/weblogs/sandra
Akwesasne blog = http://akwesasnecounterspin.wordpress.com
IDP Awareness Day
IDP Awareness Day is an educational initiative to raise awareness about the plight of the world’s internally displaced people.
IDP stands for Internally Displaced Person. IDPs are persons forced or coerced to flee their homes but whom, unlike refugees, continue to live within their country’s borders. They are often obliged to leave their homes as a result of, or in order to, avoid the effects of conflict, violations of human rights, and generalized violence. 26 million people worldwide currently live in situations of internal displacement as a result of conflicts. Although internally displaced people now outnumber refugees by two to one, their plight receives far less international attention. (see: http://www.internal-displacement.org/)
The following images are of a number of IDPs I met last summer in Tanzania, in these cases the IDPs were displaced in order to make way for large scale multinational gold mines:
Sheila is one of 258 men, women, and children, from Mtakuja village who were displaced in late July 2007 to make way for an expansion of the Geita Gold Mine. “We were invaded by administration police officers in the middle of the night, who shoved us out of our houses. We were not given even a chance to take our belongings,” laments Abdallah Abedi, a former village executive officer, “we were moved here like people in a war-torn country, and now we are all tucked into a small place like prisoners who have committed the worst of crimes.”
During the day most of the adults in the camp for the internally displaced people in Geita are away looking for work. Mwajuma stays behind to take care of some of the children. All 258 of the villagers were dumped in a one-room abandoned building in the middle of the night one year ago. The Christian Council of Tanzania and Norwegian Church Aid heard about their situation and have provided the group with the tents they now call home.
In an interview with the Norwegian Church Aid, Faida Gerald says, “we have lost a lot of things including our sense of belonging, clothes and other household materials. What hurts most is that they buried even already harvested crops, which we would have sold to get some income to buy food and take care of our children.” Their sense of loss is intensified by their feelings of betrayal by their own democratically elected government, as Faida contemplates; “I wonder what they have given to the government to subject us to all this.”
One week after this photo was taken the villagers were informed by the local government that they would be evicted all over again from their current campsite. No provisions have been made for them, however, and they have nowhere to go.
Rukindo lives in the IDP camp in Geita along with the other 258 Mtakuja villagers who were displaced to make way for the Geita Gold Mine. This picture was taken shortly after a court hearing in Dar es Salaam in their case against the company. Rukindo and three others had travelled 1300km to make their case. But they were never even given the chance to have an audience with the judge as the case was thrown out of the court after a suspicious meeting behind closed doors between their attorney, the judge, and the team of lawyers representing the company. In the unlikely event that they can afford to continue with the case, they will have to start all over again. Almost immediately after receiving this bad news, they received even worse news as a letter arrived from the local government of Geita informing them that the inhabitants of the camp were about to be evicted from the area they had been occupying for the past year. Once again, the displaced have to start all over again and try to rebuild what little semblance of normalcy they had attained in the past year.
The Tanzanian government’s Prevention of Corruption Bureau is investigating a corruption scandal involving the compensation for some 900 people who were displaced to make way for AngloGold Ashanti’s Geita Gold Mine in Geita. Mustafa is one of the complainants; here he is showing documents that state that he was promised over 60million shillings (55,000CAD) in compensation which he has never received. AngloGold admits that 875 people have not received the compensation promised to them, but they claim to have given government officials the money needed to make the payments in 1999 and blame these officials “in their lust for money” for the disappearance of the funds.
The home of the Luhanga family in Kahama. The Luhanga’s were among the thousands of families who had been forcefully evicted in August 1996 to make way for Sutton Resources’ Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, which was bought three years later by Barrick Gold. According to Barrick’s own report, Social Development Plan for the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine, there were anywhere between 30,000 and 400,000 people living in the area before the evictions. The company claims that the people living there were nomadic illegal trespassers. But the communities argue that some of the villages in the area had existed long before colonial days.
Twelve years later, allegations continue that during the evictions in August 1996 fifty-two artisanal miners were buried alive in their pits by company bulldozers. The issue has developed into a bitter international dispute involving local communities, NGOs, and the governments of Tanzania, Canada, and the World Bank. The company denies these allegations and maintains that “the way people left this site was in a peaceful, systematic fashion”, reports in the Tanzanian press at the time reported mass confusion, looting, robbery and bloodshed as people fled from police in riot gear. Numerous witnesses have testified in sworn statements that people were being beaten up by the police and were ignored when they told officers that there were still people inside some of the mineshafts as the bulldozers were filling in the pits.
In response to the companies’ and the government’s denials Melania, a Kahama resident, has been collecting these photos of people who claim to have witnessed the killings or lost loved ones during the evictions. “…This one was there when it happened … this one lost her son … this one went back afterwards to try and dig out his friends … this one lost her home and her grandchildren …”
Melania’s two eldest sons, Jonathan and Ernest were among the fifty-two miners who were allegedly buried alive during the evictions. The family owned the pit that they were working in at the time, so Melania lost her livelihood as well as her two children in August 1996.
Deogratios is the traditional witchdoctor, or medicine man, of the community. He was among the thousands of people who were evicted to make way for Barrick’s Bulynhulu gold mine. He remembers being forced from their home by heavily armed paramilitary forces only one day after the Minister of Minerals and Energy had issued an order giving the Bulyanhulu residents one month to vacate the area. Deogratios and his family had nowhere to go so for two months after being forced from their home they were living in the bush. During this time his wife became ill. But with their home destroyed, and without access to his medicines, the healer could do nothing as he sat and watched his wife die.
For more information:
Someone Else’s Treasure – Tanzania
Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre
Pride Week
Pride Parade
This is Pride Week in Toronto so I have just added a new gallery of my photos from the Pride Parades from 2008 and 2007.
Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru
A protest was held outside th Peruvian Consulate in Toronto where about thiry people came to show their solidarity with the indigenous peoples in Peru.
Stop Killing Peru's Indigenous Peoples
The following letter was delivered to the Consul General of the Republic of Peru by the Latin American Solidarity Network – Toronto:
Toronto, June 10, 2009
Gabriel Garcia Pike, Consul General of the Republic of Peru
10 St. Mary Street, #301
Toronto, Ontario, M4Y 1P9
Dear Sir,
The Latin American Solidarity Network of Toronto conveys to you its most emphatic protest against the unjustified massacre carried out by your country’s repressive forces on June 5 against the aboriginal people of Abya Yala in Peru’s Amazon Region.
We have learned that Peru’s security forces, sent to break up a peaceful demonstration by indigenous people, murdered at least 28 of them. The Natives were striving to preserve their ancestral territories from seizure by transnational corporations…
Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru
Given the gravity of these developments, the Latin American Solidarity Network requests that you transmit to your government the following demands:
1. The national government must withdraw its military forces from Native territory.
2. The civil and military authorities responsible for this massacre must be prosecuted.
3. Peru’s Amazon territories must be preserved as a natural sanctuary, free of interference by transnational corporations who seek only to maximize their gain at the cost of the destruction of nature.
4. The fundamental cause of the Native protests is the increasingly damaging effects of Peru’s free trade agreements with Canada and the US on the economy, lives, and culture of the indigenous peoples. These treaties should be canceled.
We thank you for conveying to your government this indignant protest.
Yours truly,
Carlos Torchia, Coordinator
Latin American Solidarity Network – Toronto
contace: ctorchia39(a)aol(dot)com
The two delegates from the Latin American Solidarity Network were refused entry into the Peruvian Consulate, who also refused to send anyone down to meet with the protesters. One RCMP officer agreed to deliver the letter personally.
The following photos were taken on May 22nd, 2009, in New York City at a similar protest outside the Peruvian Mission in NYC.
Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru
Solidarity with Indigenous Peoples in Peru
Ben Powless reporting directly from Peru.
Another Day in the Life of Peru and Canada by Bob Lovelace
Police Violently Attack Peaceful Indigenous Blockade in Peru
For more background information:
For something you can do right now:
Picture(s) of the Day: Moment of Discovery at the UNPFII
A moment of discovery for one of the 2,000+ indigenous peoples attending the eighth session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues as she figures out how to use the earphone translator.
Curiosity
Wonder
Discovery
Understanding
Focus
See more on the Eighth Session of the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues
George W Bush in Toronto
George W Bush is speaking at Toronto’s Metro Convention Centre today. Protesters will be gathering outside.
BushTV
In a letter to Prime Minister Steven Harper, Lawyers Against the War insist that Bush either be barred from the country or charged with war crimes upon arrival.
A few exerpts:
Dear Prime Minister,
…
We write to advise you of your duty to immediately take all necessary steps to prevent George W. Bush from entering Canada, in accordance with the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act (IRPA), s. 35 (1) (a).
If George W. Bush enters Canada we demand that he be arrested, as being inadmissible under the IRPA and as a person suspected of torture, and then either prosecuted in Canada for torture or extradited to another country that is willing and able to prosecute as required by the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment, Article 7 (CAT).
Close Guantanamo
We remind you that the failure to take one of these actions violates Canada’s international law obligations. In addition such inaction denies remedies to victims, ensures impunity for perpetrators and encourages other instances of torture. For example, reports released this month conclude that torture and abuse of prisoners in Iraq remains “routine and commonplace.” (Iraq Ministry of Human Rights and Human Rights Watch)
George W. Bush stands accused of authoring, supervising and directing the most egregious war crimes and crimes against humanity, including torture, during his eight year term as President and Commander in Chief of the U.S. Armed Forces. As such he is inadmissible to Canada under the ‘Human Rights and International Law Violations’ sections of the ‘Inadmissibility Division’ of the IRPA.
BushTV
Inadmissibility under the IRPA, s. 35(1)(a) is established when there are “reasonable grounds to believe” that the person seeking to enter Canada has been involved directly or indirectly in one or more of the impugned acts, namely gross human rights violations, war crimes or crimes against humanity. Torture is a war crime, a crime against humanity and a gross violation of non-derogable rights. The Supreme Court of Canada has interpreted reasonable grounds as ‘something more than a suspicion and less that proof to the balance of probabilities.’ Evidence of Bush’s involvement in authorizing widespread, long term and brutal torture far exceeds the ‘reasonable grounds’ test.
Evidence that U.S. officials tortured — sometimes to death — prisoners in Guantánamo Bay, Abu Ghraib and Bagram prison, already overwhelming, continues to mount. Human rights and legal advocates around the world are unanimous in citing the legal duty under CAT to prosecute Bush and other senior members of the Bush administration. An Appendix to this letter lists some of the evidence of Bush involvement in torture.
Burning Bush
Read the Lawyers Against the War letter in full at www.rabble.ca
