messages of solidarity

Vienna (July 24, 2012) - The Austrian environmental organization GLOBAL 2000 calls on the authoritarian Belarussian regime to immediately release unjustly detained nuclear physicist and journalist Andrey Ozharkovskiy.  Ozharkovskiy was arrested with three other activists last Wednesday while peacefully protesting the signing of a loan agreement between Russia and Belarus for a new nuclear plant in Belarus. His three colleagues have now been released, but Ozharkovskiy remains in custody. The reasons for his ongoing detention remain unclear. GLOBAL 2000 has already protested and demanded that the Belarusian Embassy in Vienna immediately provide clarification of the circumstances of their detained fellow nuclear activists.

Klaus Kastenhofer, CEO of GLOBAL 2000 says that the Belarusian Embassy have not felt the need to explain the undemocratic actions of their government. He requested more information on the arrests directly from the Belarussian authorities but his request was denied. GLOBAL 2000 suspects that the arrest of Andrey Ozharkovskiy and the others (Irina Sukhy, Tatiana Novikova and Michael Matskevich) is a further attempt to intimidate the wider anti-nuclear movement in Belarus.

The first nuclear power plant to be built with Russian funding is planned for an area close to Astravets Belarus (Grodno region), near the Lithuanian border within the next eight years. There are huge concerns within the EU about the construction of new nuclear power plants in an area where Chernobyl's catastrophic effects still have significant repurcussions. “Proactive protests concerning the threat of nuclear disaster have to be taken extremely seriously after the huge meltdowns at Chernobyl and Fukushima. Fukushima has demonstrated very clearly what happens if doubts about this high-risk technology are suppressed.” Kastenhofer concluded.

Further information:
GLOBAL 2000 / Friends of the Earth Austria
Press Officer: Mag. Lydia Matzka-Saboi  00 43 699/14 2000 26
CEO: Dr. Klaus Kastenhofer          00 43 69914 2000 32

• to immediately free Andrey Ozharkovskiy,
• to drop all charges against all four campaigners,
• to explain its position on the arrests,
• to respect freedom of speech now and in the future.

Sign the letter to the Belarusian embassy in Vienna on the GLOBAL 2000 website (External Link: Information in German, scroll down for letter in English)

More information

In Paraguay last month, Miguel Correa, a 20 year old working with Friends of the Earth Paraguay was wrongfully arrested after violence broke out during a police-led eviction of peasant farmers.

Shots were fired, resulting in 17 dead and many injured.

Miguel feared that his friend had been injured, so went to the hospital to try and find him. In the confusion he was detained by the police, and wrongfully arrested for murder.

Over the past 48 hours, thousands of Friends of the Earth supporters across the world took action in solidarity with Miguel.

Friends of the Earth demonstrated outside the Paraguayan embassy yesterday to demand his release.

We have just received confirmation that Miguel has now been set free.

This fantastic news is a huge relief for his family and everyone at Friends of the Earth Paraguay.

Thank you for your support and for taking action with us. The pressure really worked.

While we celebrate his freedom, the Paraguayan authorities are yet to respond to our request for a full investigation into the 17 deaths.

We will keep you posted with the latest developments.

Read more:Rio+20: Protest Against ‘The Future Corporations Bought’

On Saturday June 8 this year, FELIX MANUEL BANGUERO was arrested. Banguero,member of the Regional Coordination Team for Black Communities development (PCN), the Pilamo Community Council, was indicted on charges of rebellion and conspiracy. 

Banguero is ​​a leader of the PCN, which has stood for organizational commitment to the work of black communities and has served as secretary of culture for Guachené Township. Felix is currently serving as civic culture adviser for Guachené Township.

Last week, the Regional Office of Huila opened a criminal investigation into the distinguished professor MILLER DUSSAN based on a communication from Colonel Juan Francisco Pelaez Ramirez of March 7, 2012, consisting of annexed audiovisual material with which it aims to evaluate “the irregular nature of the behaviour of professor Dussan Miller”, in the demonstrations that have been held against the Quimbo hydroelectric project. Miller is a renowned faculty professor at the Surcolombiana University and does research on social issues. His work is widely known nationally and internationally. His studies and positions on the impacts and conflicts of hydropower, particularly on the Quimbo project, have been published in books, magazines and websites and disseminated in academic and social forums all over the world.

On Saturday, July 7 between 5 and 8 pm, the home and workplace of HILDEBRANDO VÉLEZ GALEANO was raided. Vélez Galeano, renowned environmentalist, professor, member of PCN Palenke Alto Cauca, was director of our partner organization in Colombia and International Coordinator Campaign of Energy and Climate Change in our federation during the years 2009 and 2010.

Since February 17, 2011 when Sandra Viviana Cuellar went missing, his house as well as his daughter's house were simultaneously attacked on two occasions.  Computers with information, primarily concerning the search for Sandra Viviana were stolen, as were papers concerning their academic research and documents related to their social struggles.

Such incidents occur despite these leaders having taken protective measures as stipulated by the IACHR (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights) and programs to protect human rights by the Colombian government. However, according to information received from Colombia, rather than protecting the rights of members of social organizations, they are neither respected nor guaranteed.

 Referring to the instances above, Friends of the Earth Latin America and the Caribbean:

• Request the Colombian government to respect and ensure fundamental rights to life, association, freedom of thought and expression – including academic expression – for community leaders, activists and intellectuals and their families;
• Call on the international community to take note of these violations of human rights and support measures for protection of lives and integral rights of our communities and activists; 
  
• Expresses its support and solidarity with the Colombian people and the people involved in the defense of their territories and cultures.
  
  

What can you do?

Show your solidarity by writing a letter to the Colombian Ministry of Foreign Affairs to protest the treatment of community leaders and academics:

MINISTERIO DE RELACIONES EXTERIORES

Calle 10 No. 5-51

Palacio de San Carlos

Bogotá

Colombia

We wish to express our contempt for the alarming increase of repression and violation of fundamental rights seen in Peru as the government´s response towards the environmental conflicts in recent months.

For weeks, this completely irresponsible and disproportionate response, with the indiscriminate use of firearms even from helicopters against demonstrators and pedestrians has killed four people and left tens of people wounded in the El Espinar conflict in the Cusco Department; one person has died and various left with gunshot injuries in Bambamarca; in the protests of the town of Celedín in Cajamarca against the Conga mining project which threaten the contamination and disappearance of water sources of the region, three have died and tens of people left with gunshot injuries.

In the same context, we denounce the violent and arbitrary detention of Father Marco Arana, a member of the environmentalist organization, Group for Training and Intervention for Sustainable Development (GRUFIDES), one of the community´s role models in the resistance against the mining industry and leader of the political party ¨Tierra y Dignidad¨ (¨Land and Dignity¨), as was recorded by the media. See video here of the detention.

All this has been accompanied by extraordinary measures and the deprivation of freedom through a declaration of a state of emergency in both conflicts. With the precedents in Honduras and Paraguay, we fear that we will find ourselves before a dynamic increase in the suspension of the rights and freedom of the population in various countries in Latin America, especially linked to the defense of the interests of different multinationals and their extractive businesses. For these reasons:

• We express our deepest indignation to the government of Peru; we implore you to put an immediate end to the repressive increase and to assume your historical responsibility to be the guardian of the Human Rights of the Peruvian population.
• We appeal to social organizations, NGOS for international cooperation, human rights entities, public institutions and others, to actively engage in defending the rights and freedom to impede an authoritarian change in Peru, and to defend a resolution of the conflicts in accordance with the right to have free access to all information about the affected communities and towns.
• We request a clarification of all the facts which have led to these serious events and which have brought about the grief in these areas.
• We demand the multinational company of Newmont, which leads the Conga project, to issue a statement on the violent and illegal actions of the Peruvian government.

As civil society organizations we will keep a watchful eye on the development of the happenings in Peru, with widespread dissemination of information related to it and alerting international entities on the repressive politics of the Peruvian government that violate and infringe the agreement signed by both parties regarding the rights of the towns.

We will continue to lend our support and solidarity in accompanying the affected areas, to the social and communal organizations, as well as their local authorities and especially to the families of the victims.

For more information

• The National Coordinator of Human Rights (CNDDHH) demands an investigation of police beating up lawyers in Cajamarca
• CNDDHH demands the immediate release of Father Marco Arana and condemns the aggression

Fishermen in Rio de Janeiro. Credit: Lima Andruška

On June 14th 2012, one week prior to the Rio+20 UN Earth Summit, Friends of the Earth International chair Nnimmo Bassey took part in a 'toxic tour' of the Guanabara Bay near Rio de Janeiro where the association AHOMAR has been denouncing since 2007 the crimes and rights violations which took place during the construction of the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex, one of the largest investments in the history of Brazilian energy giant Petrobras.

Friends of the Earth International signed on the statement below and will closely follow the investigation and measures to be taken by the State Government in the defense of all fisherfolks involved in this struggle.

Repudiation on the murder of AHOMAR fishermen

The undersigned social movements and civil society organizations express in this manifest their indignation for the brutal murder of Almir Nogueira de Amorim and João Luiz Telles Penetra, artisanal fishermen and members of Homens e Mulheres do Mar Association (AHOMAR) in the Guanabara Bay. We demand that the State of Rio de Janeiro and the Brazilian State to take immediate mesures too investigate the facts and to protect the lives of threatened fisher folk.

Almir and Pituca were leaders of AHOMAR, a local fisherfolk organization, in struggle against the social and environmental impacts created by big economic investments that are making artisanal fishing impossible in the Guanabara Bay. Both went missing after going out to fish on friday, June 22nd 2012. Almir's body was found on sunday, June 24th, tied to their boat, submerged close to the São Lourenço beach in Magé, Rio de Janeiro. The body of João Luiz Telles, Pituca, was found on monday, June 25th, with hands and feet tied in fetal position, close to the São Gonçalo beach.

AHOMAR: a history of struggle

AHOMAR represents artisan fisherfolk from seven municipalities at the Guanabara Bay and has 1.870 associate members. Since 2007, they systematically denounce the crimes and rights violations occurred during the construction of the Rio de Janeiro Petrochemical Complex (COMPERJ), one of the largest investments in the history of PetroBras (Brazilian semi-public multinational energy corporation) and part of the Brazilian government's Growth Acceleration Plan (PAC).

In 2009, the men and women of AHOMAR have occupied the construction sites of land and sub-sea gas pipelines for transport of Liquid Natural Gas (LNG) and Liquefied Petroleum Gas (LPG), built by a consortium between two contractors: GDK and Oceânica, hired by Petrobras. This construction is directly making artisanal fishing impossible in the Mauá-Magé beach, Guanabara Bay, where the AHOMAR headquarters is located. They anchored their boats close to the pipelines and stayed there for 38 days. Since then, the fishermen are suffering constant death threats. That same year, in may, Paulo Santos Souza, formerly  in charge of the association's accounting, was brutally beaten in front of his family and killed with five shots in the head. In 2010, another AHOMAR founder, Márcio Amaro, was also murdered at his home, in front of his mother and wife. Both crimes have never been cleared up.

Because of the violence and the constant threats, since 2009, Alexandre Anderson de Souza, president of AHOMAR, and his family are under protection of the Human Rights Defenders Program, living 24h under police escort. That couldn't prevent new attempted attacks on Alexandre's life.

Escalation of threats and more murders

By the end of 2011 and first months of 2012, the AHOMAR fisherfolk got mobilized once more against the impacts of the COMPERJ construction. Under the argument of accelerating the construction execution schedule, Petrobras and INEA (Environment State Institute of Rio de Janeiro) tried to bring back to the project a proposal that had been discarded before, during the environmental licensing process. The manoeuvre was about turning the Guaxindiba River, a Guanabara Bay afluent, into a waterway for the transportation of the COMPERJ construction equipment.

Aware of the proportions of the impact this project would have on the Guanabara Bay and artisanal fishing, the members of AHOMAR denounced the intentions of Petrobras and leaded a mobilization in solidarity to Breno Herrera, head of the Guapimirim environmental protection area, threatened to be dismissed from the National Institute for the Conservation of Biodiversity because of his opposition to this enterprise. Since then, the threats against the AHOMAR fisher folk has escalated.

To worsen this situation, in february 2012, the Police Deployment of Mauá beach, where both the AHOMAR headquarters and Alexandre Anderson's residence are located, has been deactivated, exposing the fisher folk to new threats and increasing the vulnerability of the local population. Since then, three other community leaders suffered death threats. In this context of disarray of public security in the region and escalation of threats against the fisherfolk, Almir Nogueira de Amorim and João Luiz Telles Penetra have been murdered. This deaths were, therefore, foretold. Clear evidences were point out that both have been executed. In face of this grave events, we express all our indignation and full solidarity to AHOMAR and to the families of the murdered fishermen. At the same time, we demand: 

1. That the murderers of Almir Nogueira de Amorim and João Luiz Telles Penetra and the mandators of this crime be identified and made responsible;  
2. That the investigations on the deaths of Paulo Santos Souza and Márcio Amaro are carried on, and that their murderers are also identified and made responsible;
3. That all the threats against the AHOMAR fisherfolk are investigated;
4. That the Governor of Rio de Janeiro, Sérgio Cabral, signs the Decree Law of the State Programe for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.
5. That the Presidency of the Republic Human Rights Secretariat follows closely the investigations  on the murders of the leaders mentioned above.
6. That the protection of Alexandre Anderson is stregthen and that the police escort can be extended to protect his wife, Daize Menezes de Souza;
7. The immediate reactivation of the DPO Praia de Mauá police deployment and the improvement of public security in the region;
8. That Petrobras and the companies involved in the COMPERJ construction in the Guanabara Bay negotiate with AHOMAR recognizing the movement's fair agenda and the fisherfolk's demands.

The undersigned will go on denouncing the killing of the activists engaged in legitimate social struggle against the destruction of the conditions of artisanal fishing in the Guanabara Bay and other fishing areas of the State of Rio de Janeiro. We will also follow closely the process of investigations and measures to be taken by the State Government in the defense of all fishefolk's compromised with this struggle. The deaths of Almir, João Luiz, Paulo and Márcio lead us to affirm: we are all fisherfolk, we are all AHOMAR activists!

The Global Report on the Situation of Women Human Rights Defenders, reflects the growing body of analyses produced by the members of the Women Human Rights Defenders International Coalition (WHRD International Coalition) since 2005. It demonstrates the challenges to women human rights defenders (WHRDs), the source of these challenges and how best to respond to them. 

The use of 43 cases studies, including that of Sandra Viviana Cuéllar Gallego, selected by WHRD International Coalition illuminate specific trends and experiences of WHRDs. The cases provide a vivid glimpse of the landscape in which WHRDs live and work.

Read the report here

On February 25 the offices of Friends of the Earth Guatemala (CEIBA) and the National Network in Defense of Food Sovereignty (REDSAG) were broken into and all the computers were stolen. Money and valuable objects were not taken from the premises. This has led the organisations to believe that the crimes were politically motivated.

Last week CEIBA's environmental communicator, Oscar Galvez, was victim of another intimidating action. On March 15th he was attacked in the street by two people on a motorcycle. One of them threatened him with a gun and only took his laptop, containing information relevant to CEIBA and the organisations it works with.

The work carried out by CEIBA and REDSAG is widely known in Guatemala and around the world for its participation and promotion of processes for the defence of Indigenous Peoples and Guatemalan communities, like the successful community consultations. The groups have also opposed highly damaging projects such as mining and mega hydroelectric projects

Take action

The Magdalena River, Colombia. Credit: RitaCuba

Police forces carried out a violent eviction of fishermen families from a non-violent sit-in on the shores of Magdalena river in front of the construction site of the hydroelectric project 'El Quimbo'.

They left three people wounded, amongst them a young man who lost his eye due to one of the gas-canisters used by the police. The construction has seriously affected the local way of life and has has a negative impact on women and men farmers, day labourers, fishermen, traditional miners that have constructed their culture around the Magdalena river.

It has come to our attention through declarations of Asoquimbo, the local organization that represents the people affected by the project and our national organization CENSAT 'Agua Viva', that the fishermen and farmers have appealed to all legal actions available to them in the framework of the Political Constitution and legislation of Colombia to stop the project, due to the permanent non-compliance and irregularities of the environmental license given by the Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development.

Moreover, they have requested a Public Environmental Audience, as present in the Colombian legal framework, as a means for participation, where communities can make their demands public to entities of control, government, companies and the public in general. Up until today their request has been denied.

We strongly denounce the fact that during the eviction independent media were prevented from entering the area, amongst them our correspondent of Real World Radio, medium of communication for the Federation of Friends of the Earth.

Friends of the Earth International declares:

• Its unconditional support to the women and men affected by the hydroelectric project 'El Quimbo' in defence of their territory and their traditional ways of life.
• Its rejection of the violent answers towards the communities that ignore the roads of dialogue Asoquimbo and local organizations have promoted during the four years of resistance against the hydroelectric project.
• To the Colombian government to urgently attend the recommendations of the World Commission on Dams, that recognised the multiple environmental impacts, and on the life and means of subsistence of communities closely tied to rivers; Approve the realisation of the Public environmental Audience requested by the local communities and guarantee the protection of the rights of the local population, directly or indirectly affected y the hydroelectric project 'El Quimbo'.
• To the international community the importance to accompany Asoquimbo and local organizations in their valiant resistance and to support their proposal to declare the area of 'El Quimbo' a Rural and Agro-food Reserve.
  
  

Take action

Call on Colombia's government to halt the diversion of the magdalena river

The civilians involved are opposed to the presence of a gold mine, majority owned by Australian mining corporation Arc Exploration.

We have learned that the Indonesian government deployed troops and riot equipment which shot at the protesters killing three people critically injuring 19 others.

FRAT is opposed to the mining operation because it threatens to endanger the livelihoods of civilians, farmers and fisher folk. It believes that the mine will destroy land and disrupt water resources which will affect residents’ agricultural lands.

Throughout 2011 people have peacefully expressed their opposition to the mining project and each time they have been met with a violent response from government agencies and the police force.

This latest fatal attach on 24 December 2011 is a clear violation of human rights and the documented cases of violence against farmers over natural resources show a troubling pattern of widespread human rights violations against the Indonesian people.

Friends of the Earth International has written to the Indonesian President demanding justice for the victims of the recent attack calling for him to:

• revoke the Mining Permit of PT. Sumber Mineral Nusantara (SMN),
• investigate the role of the foreign owned company in the killing of Indonesia nationals,
• withdraw and evaluate all forces of Indonesian National Police and Military at the location of natural resource conflicts.
• immediately stop the mentioned company’s activities which created and potentially create conflicts until the certainty of settlement is structurally created by establishing the National Committee for Resolution of Agrarian Conflicts and Natural Resources and
• ensure legal protection for the victims.

Update

As a result of media work carried out by our colleagues at Friends of the Earth Australia, Arc Exploration said it has suspended operations and will report to the Australian companies regulator over the killings. In addition an Australian Senator has requested an investigation and will seek that Australian companies be held accountable to Australian law for activities overseas.

Further information

• Violent clashes halt Australian mining project in Indonesia
• Arc Halts Indonesian Exploration After Two Killed in Protest
• Australian company Arc Exploration halts gold operations after Indonesian violence

This integrated project will study the conditions, nature and effects of land-use change in the Cauca (Colombia) and Tapajós (Brazil) basins. Land-use change in these areas is related to different processes of exploitation of natural resources, such as the rapid expansion of  sugar cane and soy monocultures, deforestation, large-scale industrial mining of minerals and the development of mega-projects using water resources such as hydroelectric power plants. In both cases these changes come along with different forms of conflict, social and environmental harm and human rights violations.

The project tackles the cases from a multidisciplinary perspective with a team of biologists, anthropologists, geographers, criminologists, social workers and activists.

The team realizes a wide range of activities in the field of research and knowledge sharing, capacity building and policy development in their respective countries. They apply innovative methodologies, such as participative action research, ethnography and social cartography as well as critical perspectives from green criminology, political ecology and human rights. Presentation and Poster LAR project.

‘Lands and Rights’ seeks to promote a right-based approach to development, strengthening organizations and communities in their claim for rights and environmental justice. The aim is to learn from the conflicts, to reduce them and to contribute to the rule of law by improving (the implementation of ) public policies regarding natural resource management.

The LAR project is part of the programme CoCooN (Conflict and Cooperation over Natural Resources in Developing Countries) of the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO).

Further information

The communications and publications of this project are posted on this blog

Altamira, Brazil – Hundreds of indigenous leaders, fishermen and riverine people from the Xingu River basin have gathered to occupy the Belo Monte Dam construction site in a peaceful protest to stop its construction in Altamira, located in the state of Pará in the heart of the Brazilian Amazon. They have vowed to permanently occupy the site and are calling on allied organizations and movements to join them.

The Trans-Amazon Highway (BR-230) has been blocked around the Santo Antônio village, where it passes the proposed construction site. Groups are demanding the presence of a Brazilian government high-level official at the site to initiate a new round of negotiations that are transparent, inclusive and respectful of the rights of local people affected by the dam.

"Belo Monte will only succeed if we do nothing about it. We will not be silent. We will shout out loud and we will do it now," said Juma Xipaia, a local indigenous leader. "We only demand what our Constitution already ensures us: our rights. Our ancestors fought so we could be here now. Many documents and meetings have already transpired and nothing has changed. The machinery continues to arrive to destroy our region."

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) of the Organization of American States (OAS) has requested explanation as to why the Brazilian Government did not act to ensure the rights of indigenous peoples affected by the dam, as requested by the IAHCR in April. According to the OAS, the Brazilian Government has an obligation of consulting and informing indigenous peoples who will be affected by the dam prior to construction.

Yesterday, the government of Brazil refused to attend a closed hearing convened by the IAHCR intended to foster dialogue toward resolving conflict and discuss failures in protecting the rights of indigenous peoples threatened by the proposed Belo Monte Dam. Plans for the project ignore international protections such as the right to free, prior and informed consent, and jeopardize the health, livelihood and ancestral lands of thousands of indigenous peoples.

Last Monday, a federal judge in Brazil voted that the environmental licensing of the controversial Belo Monte Dam is illegal given the lack of consultations with affected indigenous communities.

Find out more here

• The government approved construction of the disastrous Belo Monte Dam, allowing heavy machinery to break ground on the banks of the Xingu River.
• The Brazilian Congress is on the verge of approving a major rollback of the Brazilian Forestry Code, already causing a huge spike in deforestation.
• Leading forest guardians have been victims of murder and intimidation.

This is one of the defining environmental struggles of our times; the assault on the Amazon must stop!

We, the international community, need to stand in solidarity with the growing numbers of Brazilians calling for environmental sanity and respect for human rights in the Amazon. Together, we can make a difference.

You can help protect the Amazon!

Saturday 20 August will be massive day of action in at least 22 Brazilian cities. Antonia Melo, a key leader of the movement to stop the Belo Monte Dam, has asked people to join her by organising protests around the world on Monday August 22 in front of their local Brazilian Embassy or Consulate.

Take action

Find out where the events are taking place
Download resources for the event you are attending and find out more about the dam
Call on the Brazilian President stop the Belo Monte Dam

Sri Lanka is set to be on the receiving end of more un-sustainable development due to the Hambantota 2018 Commonwealth games proposal. 

The area the authorities propose to develop the games' infrastructure is one of the last remaining strong holds for the endangered Leopard, Elephant and Sloth Bear, as well as countless other endangered flora and fauna that plays a crucial role in Sri Lanka's rich but declining bio-diversity. 

Over the last few years, the once lush green Island of Sri Lanka has gradually started to become a concrete jungle. Once the bio-diversity is lost, Sri Lanka will loose it's popularity with eco tourists, and it's people and tourism will suffer. 

Hence, we urge you to take immediate action to stop amending the flora and fauna act to permit buildings near nature reserves and move the Commonwealth games out of Sri Lanka's wilderness.

Take action

This action has been initiated by Rainforest Protectors, Sri Lanka

Marlon Lozano Yulan, courtesy of Twitter. 

We expresses solidarity with Marlon Lozano Yulan's family and repudiate this new assault against the life of a social leader, something which, unfortunately happens too often and with total impunity in Latin America.

Meanwhile, we express our most heartfelt solidarity with all the comrades of Tierra y Vida, and other Ecuadorian organizations that go through similar atrocities on a regular basis.

On July 20, two hired hooded assassins fatally shot Marlon Lozano Yulan in downtown Guayaquil. Tierra y Vida's acting Secretary, Raquel Silva, told Friends of the Earth's Real World Radio that the deadly attack was addressed at the organisation's legal advisor, Milton Yulan, who is related to Marlon.

Tierra y Vida focused its work on defending the right to ownership of the peasants in Guayas province over lands that used to belong to estate owners and bankers until the 2000 banking crisis, when they were confiscated.

Tierra y Vida suspects that sectors opposed to land distribution, which defend land concentration in the hands of corporations and economic groups were involved in the murder of the young activist.

In response to these incidents we call on the social movements and grassroots organizations of the region to strengthen their solidarity. We also demand the Ecuadorian authorities carry out the necessary investigations into the murder of Marlon Lozano Yulan, and  punish those who are responsible.

An alarming trend

We also call on the Ecuadorian and regional authorities in charge of enforcing human rights, the judiciary and human rights organisations to implement the necessary mechanisms to prevent acts like this, which go against the right to peaceful protest.

On May 24, producer Jose Claudio Ribeiro da Silva and his wife, Maria do Espirito Santo, were murdered. They were known in Para state for their struggle for land and defense of the Amazon forest. 

Three days later, in Rondonia state, Adelino Ramos was also killed while he was selling vegetables in the state's capital. He had exposed the actions of big wood corporations in the border between the states of Acre, Amazonia and Rondonia. Hundreds of Brazilian environmental activists have received death threats according to the Land Pastoral Commission.

In Central America, the death threats and persecution of social leaders have become part of the daily reality. The case of Honduras, with a government that succeeded the dictatorship, is the most concerning one.

On July 14, Nery Jeremias Orellana was murdered. He was a 26 year-old journalist who worked with social movements and who was a member of the Broad Front of Popular Resistance. In 2010, 14 people working in the media were murdered in Honduras.

We are on alert over the current violence against social movements in Ecuador and the region and will continue to speak out against abuses whenever we hear of them.

further information

It is with great sadness that we at Friends of the Earth Malaysia wish to inform you that our long time comrade, warrior and friend, Bato Bagi, one of the main crusaders in the Bakun Dam case passed away peacefully yesterday evening after a short fight against leukaemia.

We are extremely saddened by this sudden turn of events, especially when the Bakun legal action, which he has brought forward fearlessly, will probably be determined by the federal court this coming August. Bapa Bato never lost hope that justice will one day be served for the Bakun-affected communities. 

Bapa Bato Bagi, as known by all – is made of extraordinary strength, courage, kindness and generosity. Of course there is also that unforgettable wit, spoken with his distinct, booming voice. We have all been touched and inspired by him in so many different ways. To have been allowed to work with and for him is the sort of sacred privilege that one can only receive with humility and gratitude.

May his good soul rest in peace.

Find out more about the Bakun Dam case. 

Several months after the Fukushima nuclear disaster, we are beginning to get a sense of the likely long-term impacts.

Radiation has spread across much of the northern hemisphere and parts of the southern hemisphere. Japan's Nuclear and Industrial Safety Agency estimates the radioactive release at 770,000 terabecquerels in the first week of the crisis. Total radiation releases will probably fall somewhere between 10−40% of those from the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. Radiation releases have not been stopped and will continue for some months.

The long-term cancer death toll will probably be somewhere between several hundred and several thousand. For comparison, a reasonable estimate of the Chernobyl death toll is 30,000.

Allowable radiation dose limits in Japan have been thrown out the window, both for emergency workers and for the general public.

Estimates of the economic costs of the disaster range from $50 billion to $130 billion − but it wouldn't be surprising if the true costs are considerably greater.

Between 100,000 and 150,000 people cannot return to their homes because of radioactive contamination. Some may be able to return before the end of this year but permanent relocation is a likely outcome for those who lived in the most contaminated regions. Legal and political battles will take decades to play out.

Globally, the nuclear power 'renaissance' has taken a big hit. Germany, Italy and Switzerland have decided to abandon nuclear power in favour of renewable energy sources. Plans to introduce or expand nuclear power in many other countries have taken a big backwards step.

Nuclear power has no part in building a climate-friendly and sustainable future.

A large and growing number of scientific studies have detailed the wide range of energy supply and energy efficiency options that can be deployed to meet energy demand while sharply reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

The claim that nuclear power is a necessary or desirable part of the fight against climate change must be rejected. Nuclear power is at most a very partial and problematic response and presents unresolved and unacceptable problems.

Uranium is the first link in the toxic nuclear fuel chain, and is the primary source of radioactive materials used in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Many uranium mines have had serious adverse impacts on the environment and the communities that live near them.

Nuclear power plants around the world have already experienced many problems caused by natural and man-made disasters which are likely to become more frequent and more severe as a result of climate change − as seen in Japan. The nuclear industry has been very slow to address these problems. Meanwhile the nuclear power industry continues to survive because of huge taxpayer subsidies.

Hazardous radioactive wastes are generated at every stage of the nuclear fuel cycle. There is not a single permanent repository for spent fuel or high-level nuclear waste anywhere in the world.

In addition to the risk of accidents, nuclear power reactors are vulnerable to disasters from sabotage, terrorism, or the use of conventional forces to attack nuclear facilities during war.

Nuclear power is the one and only energy source with a direct and repeatedly-demonstrated connection to the proliferation of Weapons of Mass Destruction. Doubling nuclear output by the middle of the century would require the construction of 800-900 reactors to replace most of the existing cohort of reactors and to build as many again. These reactors would produce over one million tonnes of nuclear waste (in the form of spent fuel) containing enough plutonium to build over one million nuclear weapons.

These are some of the very clear reasons why we MUST reject the nuclear industry.

A clean energy future, based primarily on renewable energy and energy efficiency and conservation measures, is viable, safe and affordable.

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific is calling for Government's in our region like Korea, Japan, Malaysia, Sri Lanka and Australia to transition into nuclear free societies.

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific region will pursue a nuclear free world as a region and in our individual countries.

We urge the citizens of Asian Pacific region to join us in taking action to build a nuclear free world.

Friends of the Earth Asia Pacific
Thursday 30 June 2011
Seoul, Korea

Kumi and Ulvar climbed the oil rig, situated 120 km off Greenland coast line, with the aim of handing over a petition signed by 50,000 people from all over the world demanding Cairn publish their oil spill response plan.

They wanted to personally call on Cairn to leave the Arctic.

Speaking moments prior to his arrest Kumi said:

"I did this because Arctic oil drilling is one of the defining environmental battles of our age. I'm an African but I care deeply about what’s happening up here. The rapidly melting cap of Arctic sea ice is a grave warning to all of us."

Friends of the Earth International stands in solidarity with Kumi Naidoo and all the activists arrested during the action. We extend our solidarity to all those who take a stand against against unsustainable practices. We support the right of local communities to reject and resist extractive industry operations that threaten their health and livelihoods. 

We challenge the world's governments to redirect their support towards economic alternatives that could take us towards equitable and sustainable societies. At the same time, we call upon people everywhere to think critically and creatively about what they really need to consume and produce.

Find out more about our work on resisting mining, oil and gas.

Peace Boat would like to express our appreciation for the donation of JPY 938,000 received from Friends of the Earth International for its Earthquake & Tsunami Relief Efforts in the city of Ishinomaki, Miyagi Prefecture.

The donation has been utilized to support our purchase of mud cleaning equipment for our volunteer Tsunami Mud & Small Debris Clearance initiative. Since March 16, this project has resulted in the clearance of over 500 homes and other buildings, including schools, retirement homes and shops, and miles of streets and drains.

The activity has directly impacted over 2500 people (those whose home and businesses were cleared) and thousands more in the wider community who have benefited from the improved environment and the re-opening of local shops and public buildings.

Speaking about the work of Peace Boat, local resident Sakuma Ikuko said:

"I have nightmares about the tsunami every night. I get swallowed up by the waves and the moment that I think I’m going to die, I wake up. When I do wake up, all I see out of the window are the endless mountains of debris. A darkness was beginning to consume me and I didn’t think I could make it through. But then, I saw the young Peace Boat volunteers, with their boundless energy, partaking in sludge and debris removal. They gave me courage and the drive not to give up. That is what Peace Boat gave me."

Find out more about the recovery work

Peace Boat Japan
The Japan Chernobyl Foundation