Justice for Gilberth Rojas and the Ostional Community

On the night of December 6, 2009 the house of Gilberth Rojas, a Costa Rican community leader, was burnt down. Gilberth, his wife and three volunteers narrowly escaped death. This was not an isolated event, it was one of many relating to the expulsion of the Ostional community from their land. Your help is needed to denounce these attacks and protect the community.

The destroyed house of Gilberth Rojas, Ostional, Costa Rica.

Ostional is home to a small community on the Costa Rican Pacific coast. In 1966 the government gave property titles to some small farmer families who had lived on the land for generations. The community has since become internationally renowned for its conservation work, particularly in relation to turtles that lay their eggs on the shores.

Throughout the year thousands of the Lora turtles, also know as Olive Ridley turtles, lay their eggs on the shore and from 1987 the community, calling themselves the Ostional Development Association, has run a project with the support of the University of Costa Rica called the 'rational management and conservation of Lora turtle's eggs.'

The purpose of the project is to protect turtle eggs from poachers, manage the numbers and ensure the turtles can return safely to the sea. The work is the main economic activity for the people of Ostional. As a result, Ostional is one of the few places on the world, where the number of turtles coming to the shores each year increases.

threats to the community

A few years ago the state Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET) began undermining the authority of the Ostional Development Association. They pursued legal actions against community development plans and tried to reform the way the community lives and works. Those reforms were rejected by the community and as a result they were issued with an eviction order to leave the protected area.

The Ostional are part of the Threats Communities by Politics and Politicians Front, a regional organisation of local communities who confront similar situations. They have drafted a law that ensures communities like theirs are protected from threats to their land. On January 13 2010, those communities marched on the Costa Rican Parliament calling on ministers to approve the law.

The Ostional community believe the recent arson attack on the Gilberth Rojas' home, the former president of the Ostional Development Association, was due to the fact that he's an outspoken critic of MINAET. He has denounced the government's close links with investors and private developers who are believed to want to build hotels and apartments in protected areas such as Ostional.

take action

Friends of the Earth Costa Rica (COECOCEIBA), the Social Pastoral of the Tilarán's Diocese and FEDEAGUA are calling on you to write to the Minister of the Environment, Energy and Telecommunication and call for this law to be passed as soon as possible and for the people responsible for the attacks on the community, including the attack on Gilberth Rojas to be brought to justice.

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Señor Jorge Rodríguez
Ministro de Ambiente, Energía y Telecomunicaciones

cc
Señor Francisco Antonio Pacheco
Presidente Asamblea Legislativa

Por medio de la presente expresamos nuestra oposición a que la comunidad de Ostional sea desalojada de su territorio. Gracias a la acción de la comunidad de Ostional, el número de tortugas lora ha aumentado lo que no ocurre en otro lugar del mundo. Sin la participación activa de la comunidad de Ostional a través del  proyecto “Aprovechamiento racional, conservación y manejo de los huevos de tortuga marina lora” a través de la Asociación de Desarrollo Integral de Ostional y con el apoyo de la Universidad de Costa Rica se pondría en riesgo a la tortuga lora. Es difícil de entender cómo en los últimos años, el MINAET ataca a la comunidad.

Dentro de la lucha de la comunidad de Ostional por defender su territorio y de esta forma, a la tortuga lora sabemos que el señor Gilberth Rojas ha desempeñado un papel de importancia. Por esta razón es que no podemos ver el incendio de su casa de habitación como un hecho aislado de la lucha de la comunidad de Ostional. Les informamos que estamos dando seguimiento a dicho caso y exigimos actuaciones expeditas para dar con los responsables de tan lamentable hecho.

Agradeciendo su atención a la presente, 
Se despide de Ustedes

-english-

Señor Jorge Rodríguez
Minster of the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications

cc
Señor Francisco Antonio Pacheco
President of the Legislative Assembly

I hereby express my opposition to the eviction of the Ostional and other coastline communities from their lands.

I also urge you to pass the law drafted by these communities that ensures they can continue living on the lands they have lived on for generations.

The Ostional community's conservation program has increased in the numbers of Lora turtles - something that has not happened anywhere else in the world. Without the active participation of the Ostional community the Lora turtle would be an endangered species. It is hard to understand why your department; the Environment, Energy and Telecommunications Ministry (MINAET); is forcibly evicting the community.

Finally, Gilberth Rojas has played a major role in the struggle of the Ostional community to defend their land and, in turn, the Lora turtle. Mr Rojas and the community believe that the recent arson attack on his home was politically motivated. I therefore urge you to investigate the attack as a matter of urgency and bring the perpetrators to account.

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