STATEMENTS

Berta Cáceres, indigenous leader and spokeperson for more than 20 years of the Civic Council of Popular and Inigenous Organizations of Honduras (Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras – Copinh), was murdered on 3rd March while she was resting in her home in La Esperanza, Intibucá, about 188 km from Tegucigalpa, by “unknown” gunmen.

Bertha Cáceres was a firm defender of small farmers and indigenous peoples’ rights and an inspiring social activist, both at regional and continental level, in defense of social and environmental justice, particularly against mining megaprojects and hydropower plants.

She had warned amny times about Free Trade Agreements as part of the machinery of impunity of transnational corporations. Bertha committed her life to health, land, against patriarchism and violence. She opposed the political golpe of 28th June 2009; COPINH denounced the golpe as an instrument of violence serving transnational corporations to exploit resources and to repress the dissent of social movements. Bertha also opposed US military bases on Lenca territory.

In April 2015, Bertha Cáceres was awarded with Goldman price, one of the most prestigious awards for environmental defenders. She was awarded for her hard work in defense of the Lenca territory against the Agua Zarca Hydropower Project of the Chinese transnational SINOHYDRO and national company Desarrollo Energético Sociedad Anónima (DESA).
Lenca people had been denouncing for years the violation of human right to water as source of life and culture by corporates, military and governmental actors.

Berta Cáceres was mother of four and was assigned precautionary measures by the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights (IACHR) which were not accomplished by the state. Bertha has been assassinated by a state who protect the interests of local capital, transnational corporations who have spoiled the territory. Bertha’s commitment in favour of life, of those most in need, was reason of several trials, investigations and threats against her.

The indigenous leader denounced many times death threats against her, and this was happening among a general violent context; 111 environmental activists in Honduras have been killed between 2002 and 2014, according to the 2014 report “¿Cuántos más?” of the ONG Global Witness. This makes Honduras the country with the highest rate of violence among the 17 countries analysed in the report. It also shows the architecture of impunity and violence of the large scale mining, of the hydroelectric business, among other activities in favour of private capital and complicit governments. According to the Honduras-based organization ACI-PARTICIPA (Asociación para la participación ciudadana en Honduras) more than 90% of assassinations and abuses in the country remain unpunished.

We firmly demands to the government of Honduras:

– To put an end to impunity and proper investigation on the murder of Bertha Cáceres, as well as of all other social and environmental justice activists.

– To ensure the integrity, freedom and to respect Human Rights of Gustavo Castro de Soto and of Aureliano Molina.

– To suspend all projects that have been denounced by Human Rights defenders, among which the Hydropower plant Agua Zarca on Rio Blanco and the Blue Energy project on Rio Cangel.

– That corporations and finance institutions withdraw their support and investments from projects that have violated HHRR or where there has been no free prior and informed consultation, according to ILO Convention 169.

– To put an end to persecution and criminalization of Human Rights defenders and to accomplish with all  precautionary measures for the integrity and safety of people.

We express our solidarity and extend our condolences to the family and close friends of Bertha Cáceres, to the Lenca people, and to the people of Honduras who suffer her irreparable loss.
 
Finally, we call for an international peoples’ mobilization and immediate denounce of Bertha’s assassination to the embassies and consulates of Honduras in our respective countries, to express our repudiation of such crimes and our firm demand of justice. 

The International Indigenous Peoples Movement for Self Determination and Liberation (IPMSDL) expresses its solidarity with the Higaonon people’s plight against militarization of their community. We also condemn the acts of State security forces in the Philippines that have forced the Higaonon peoples to move out of their homes and ancestral lands for fear of their lives.

This is not the first time the Higaonons have had to flee their homes in Barangay Banglay, Lagonglong town in Misamis Oriental province. The Philippine military also harassed the Higaonons of Lagonglong on the months of May, July and October 2015. The Higaonons were also forced to evacuate their homes and lands during those times for fear of further harassment and intimidation by state security forces.

The Higaonons of Lagonglong were once more forced to flee their homes on June 5, 2016 when members of the Philippine Army camped within their communities, forcibly entered their homes even when the homeowners denied them permission, and continuously asked them to turn over their arms despite the Higaonon’s denial of having any in their homes. State security forces have been pressing the Higaonons to accept the government’s so-called “peace and development” program even when the Higaonon’s have repeatedly refused to have anything to do with the government’s state security plan. The military also did not respect the verbal agreement made between the group’s leaders and the Philippine Army wherein state security forces had to ask permission from the Higaonons before entering their territory.

These acts by the Philippine military are in clear violation of the indigenous peoples rights to self-determination and development. We join the HIgaonon peoples’ call on the Philippine government and its security forces to:

Immediately pull out their forces encamped in the Higaonon lands in Brgy. Banglay, Lagonglong, Misamis Oriental, Philippines;
Cease further militarization, entering without consent, and putting up of detachments in Lumad communities;
Pull out all military troops staioned or encamped in indigenous lands;
Stop the recruitment of indigenoous peoples in paramilitary groups;
Facilitate the return of thousands of Lumad evacuees to their ancestral domains without fear of reprisal;
Investigate cases of violations of indigenous peoples rights by state security forces;
Prosecute those responsible for violations of indigenous people’s rights.

We also urge the Philippine government to support the Higaonons in their evacuation camps until they are safely back in their homes. We encourage all indigenous peoples and human rights advocates to support the call of the Higaonons to return to their homes without fear of militarization.###

End Militarization! Fight Back!

Reference:
Ms. Beverly Longid
IPMSDL Global Coordinator

AIPNEE is a member-network of IPMSDL

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) denounces the attacks against the Indigenous Bunong community in Kbal Romeas, Stung Treng, Cambodia due to the initiation of the Lower Sesan 2 Hydropower Dam, an $816 million megadam project.

Kbal Romeas is now in the verge of being submerged with the dam’s operation set to begin in 25 Sept. 2017. By the time of the dam’s inauguration, the 58 Bunong families of Kbal Romeas are already submerged in water. Also to be affected are 124 families from the Sre Kor village, with Lao people in residence. The government and company have dismantled the Sre Pok bridge that connects Kbal Romeas to the rest of Stung Treng without consulting the community.

Indigenous communities have been protesting against the dam project because their lands will be destroyed – their cultural identity, sacred sites, ancestral graves, and traditions included – when the dam is fully operational. Instead of heeding the call and demand of the community, the government has threatened and harassed the village toward their forced eviction from the remained of their ancestral land. It deployed around 200 armed forces to quell protesters when the removal of the bridge took place.

Authorities are forcing them to move to the nearby Sreveng relocation site, which was designated without any consultation nor consideration of their living. The Bunong and Lao communities refuse to move to the transfer site primarily because it only offers agro-industry labor as livelihood – a far cry from the self-sustaining farming and fishing that they have been dependent of for hundreds of years.

The Cambodia government and Hydro Power Lower Sesan 2 Co. Ltd. claim that the dam will stabilize country’s power supply and lessen the country’s energy importation, decreasing electricity rates. In truth, however, this is state sponsorship of private interests. We question the “benefit” posed by the proponents because such public-private partnerships especially in developing countries take advantage of the consuming public in the name of profit.

Indigenous communities are already suffering from state neglect. Healthcare, education, infrastructure development, and other social services have been absent in recent years to compel desertion from their ancestral lands. The harassment and state neglect they experience toward their forced eviction, is clearly an outright violation of their indigenous rights over their lands, resources, and territories.

AIPNEE supports the Bunong people’s refusal of the compensation offered and the struggle against their displacement. We support Indigenous Peoples’ assertion of their rights to land and life. Development projects should never be undertaken at the expense of destroying ancestral domains and the indigenous people they sustain. The Bunong people have spoken: their right to self-determination must prevail.

OPPOSE THE LOWER SESAN 2 HYDROPOWER DAM!

STOP THE FORCED EVICTION OF THE INDIGENOUS BUNONG PEOPLE!

PROTECT THE STUNG TRENG ANCESTRAL LANDS!

STOP THE HARASSMENT AND RIGHTS VIOLATIONS AGAINST INDIGENOUS PEOPLES!

RESPECT THE RIGHT OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLES TO LANDS AND TERRITORIES!

Reference: Beverly Longid, Secretariat Coordinator, aipnee.org@gmail.com

The Asia Indigenous Peoples Network on Extractive Industries and Energy (AIPNEE) salutes all Indigenous Peoples of the world this International Day of the World’s Indigenous People! The victories from our sustained struggles against extractive and energy projects are testament to our growing strength in this crusade.

AIPNEE honors the Indigenous Peoples who courageously fought and won in their respective battles confronted. The Kauku of North Sulawesi, Indonesia triumphed against Mikgro Metal Premium (MMP) after government revoked its license to mine ore in their Bangka Island (1). The Dayak of Sarawak, Malaysia also scored victory after the government withdrew the construction of the Baram Dam megaproject that would have displaced 25,000 (2). We must take encouragement from these few noted examples.

In stressing the accomplishments, we highlight our collective struggle to thwart the continuing attacks against our people. This we have to foster, as the threats to our lands and rights remain.

We face massive displacement as governments and corporations continue to grab our ancestral lands and territories to loot its natural resources. They massacre our forests and rivers, the soul of our civilization, in exchange of the profit they will earn. Government policies and programs that claim to bring prosperity, yet generate maldevelopment of our people. Militarization has become the norm in many IP communities, with rampant and grave human rights violations documented as armed forces are used to pacify us.

Surrender is never an option. In such trying times, we should match the heightening plunder and political repression with our intensified struggles and greater solidarity.

AIPNEE calls all Indigenous Peoples to boost the arousal, organization, and mobilization of manpower and support for our advocacies and campaigns. This day challenges us to level up our efforts and make daring decisions, putting trust on our collective strength above anything else. We must extend ourselves and reach out to other IP and multi-sectoral formations in Asia and the world to be able to topple down systemic problems that cause our marginalization. As long as powers-that-be remain to dictate the standards of our society, the need for us to stalwartly assert for our inherent rights to self-determination and self-determined development endure.

Our power lies not just in our numbers, but more so in our resolve to fight for and defend our lands, rights, and territories!