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South American tribe sues over historic genocide - News from Survival

Details: Published on Wednesday, 09 July 2014 20:00; Written by editor

South American tribe sues over historic genocide

An Aché woman shortly after she was captured and brought out of the forest to the Aché Reservation. Paraguay, 1972.© A. Kohmann/Survival

The survivors of a South American tribe which was decimated during the 1950s and 60s are taking Paraguay’s government to court over the genocide they suffered.

The case of the hunter-gatherer Aché tribe, who roamed the hilly forests of eastern Paraguay until being brutally forced out, became notorious in the 1970s.

As the agricultural expansion into eastern Paraguay gathered pace from the 1950s, the Aché found themselves forced to defend their land from an ever-increasing colonist population. These colonists soon started to mount raiding parties to kill the male Aché: women and children were usually captured and sold as slaves.

One of the most notorious hunters of the Aché was Manuel Jesús Pereira, a local landowner. He was an employee of Paraguay’s Native Affairs Department, and his farm was turned into an Aché “reservation”, to which captured Aché were transported. Beatings and rape were common. Countless others died of respiratory diseases. The Director of the Native Affairs Department was a frequent visitor, and also sold Aché slaves himself.

This situation was denounced by several anthropologists in Paraguay, many of whom were deported, or lost their jobs, as a result. It was brought to international attention by German anthropologist Mark Münzel. His 1973 report Genocide in Paraguay, published by the Danish organization IWGIA, documented many of the atrocities committed against the Aché.

Survival International publicized Münzel’s account, and sponsored an investigation by leading international lawyer Professor Richard Arens, who found the situation as bad as others had reported. Many other international organizations, academics and activists denounced the atrocities and called for Paraguay’s government to be held to account, which curbed some of the worst excesses.

However, Paraguay’s then-President, General Alfredo Stroessner, was viewed as a key Western ally in the region. The British, US and West German governments denied that genocide was taking place, and the US authorities sponsored the Harvard-based organization Cultural Survival (CS) to “review the status of indigenous peoples in Paraguay”. Their report to the government was confidential, but a copy was obtained under the Freedom of Information Act. CS then published an amended version.

Relying partly on the testimony of Peace Corps volunteer, Kim Hill, it denied that genocide had taken place, and criticized many of those, such as Münzel and Arens, who had brought the Aché’s plight to global attention. US aid to Stroessner’s brutal regime continued.

Now, the survivors of the genocide and their descendants are seeking redress. An Aché organization, the National Aché Federation, has launched a court case in Argentina, with advice from leading human rights lawyer Baltasar Garzón. The Aché are using the legal principle of “universal jurisdiction”, under which the most serious crimes such as genocide and crimes against humanity can be tried and punished in a different country to that in which they occurred, if the victims cannot secure justice in their own country.

Ceferino Kreigi, an Aché representative, said, “We’re asking for justice – there was torture, rape, beatings. We can no longer bear the pain we have suffered.”

The Aché’s lawyer, Juan Maira, said, “[The Aché] were hunted as though they were animals, because they wanted to confine them to a ghetto. Once in the reserve, they weren’t allowed to leave. They sold not only the children, but sometimes the women too, as slaves. Perhaps 60% of the population could have been wiped out.”

The Aché’s population is now increasing once more, though their forests have been stolen for cattle ranching and farming, and almost totally destroyed.

Read Survival’s report on the denial of the Aché genocide here.

These pictures show the miserable conditions the Aché who were captured and brought out of the forest endured at the Aché “reservation”:

Joins us for Groundswell

Details: Published on Wednesday, 09 July 2014 20:00; Written by editor

Join us for the bioregional event of the year!

Celebrate Cascadia!

You're invited to Groundswell 2014

Announcing our second annual Cascadia Groundswell celebration! In true Cascadia style, we're planning a unique and lively event at the outstanding Science World centre in Vancouver, BC. Join us for a refreshing evening of terrific food and drink, connecting with friends and celebrating our bioregion's rule-breakers, change-makers, accomplishments and future plans.

Friday, September 26, 2014 | 6:00pm – 11:00pm
Science World, Vancouver, British Columbia

Event Details

Suggested dress: party clothes!
Prefer to pay by cheque? You can sign up using the "Register Today" button above, then click "Show other payment options" directly under the "Order Now" button.
If you're making your way to Groundswell from the United States, don't forget your passport!
Questions? Contact: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

Read more: Joins us for Groundswell

Stop the biggest tar sands pipeline ever proposed

Details: Published on Wednesday, 09 July 2014 12:00; Written by editor

r1 TransCanada is about to officially submit their proposal for Energy East, the biggest tar sands pipeline ever. PM Harper will rig the review to get it built -- unless we stage a people's intervention. Can you add your name to support a fair, open, scientific review of Energy East?

Friends,

Next month, TransCanada is expected to offially submit its monster Energy East tar sands pipeline to the National Energy Board. This giant project would stretch 4,000 km from Alberta to the Atlantic, and carry climate-wrecking amounts of tar sands oil to be exported and burned.

Prime Minister Harper has been doing everything he can to fast track tar sands development -- including cutting out communities and climate science from the pipeline review process. Stopping Energy East starts with a review that includes everyone, and is grounded in science.

Can you add your name to our...

Join us for a Webinar about the Make Every Vote Count 2015 campaign - new date added

Details: Published on Tuesday, 08 July 2014 13:00; Written by editor

Dear FVC button

Our first webinar filled up so quickly, we've added a second one!

Join us for a live and interactive conversation about the Make Every Vote Count 2015 campaign.

Sunday July 20, 7 PM EST

Register here:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6774394963384962306
Webinar ID: 155-424-171

We have an historic opportunity to achieve proportional representation in Canada. Learn:

important background about why we need PR in Canada
goals and strategies to achieve votes that count
how you can get involved to help Make 2015 the Last Unfair Election!

This interactive webinar will include a presentation and a chance for participants to ask questions of the presenters.

Joining us as part of the webinar will be:

Dennis Pilon

Professor Dennis Pilon, Canadian Electoral Reform Expert, Member of FVC's Advisory Board, Author of “The Politics of Voting: Reforming Canada’s Electoral System” and “Wrestling with Democracy”

Kelly Carmichael, Executive Director, Fair Vote Canada

Anita Anita Nickerson, Action Coordinator, Fair Vote Canada

What does Tsilhqot'in decision mean for Enbridge, BC LNG?

Details: Published on Tuesday, 08 July 2014 13:00; Written by editor

r33

As Rafe Mair notes in his recent column, the Tsilhqot'in First Nation's landmark victory at the Supreme Court reminds us that aboriginal title is real, making the hill Enbridge and other controversial projects have to climb even steeper.

Meanwhile, new contributor Geoff Salomons wonders whether - knowing the legal challenges Enbridge faces from First Nations - Stephen Harper is looking to save face by letting the BC government reject Northern Gateway. But what will this pivotal legal decision mean for LNG development, as growing numbers of First Nations leaders voice concerns about the Clark government's vision? I discussed this issue at a recent town hall forum on LNG in Squamish - check out the video here.

And please consider contributing to our LNG crowdfunder so we can dedicate the resources required to covering this vital issue going forward! Many thanks to those of you who have already offered their generous support in the early stages of our campaign:) Cheers!

Damien Gillis
Publisher

Brazilian officials warn of 'imminent' death of uncontacted Indians - News from Survival

Details: Published on Tuesday, 08 July 2014 10:40; Written by editor

Brazilian officials warn of 'imminent' death of uncontacted Indians

Sightings of uncontacted Indians have been on the rise in the region where uncontacted Indians were famously photographed and filmed from the air four years ago. © Gleison Miranda/FUNAI/Survival

Brazilian officials have warned that uncontacted Indians face imminent “tragedy” and "death" after a dramatic increase in the number of sightings in the Amazon rainforest near the Peru border.

Experts believe that the Indians have fled over the border from Peru in a bid to escape waves of illegal loggers invading their territory. They are now entering the territory of other isolated Indian groups already living on the Brazil side – and some settled communities.

Ashaninka Indians in Acre state, Brazil, for example, say they recently encountered dozens of uncontacted Indians close to their community, and recent government investigations have revealed more frequent sightings of footprints, temporary camps and food remains left behind by the Indians.

These incidents are raising fears of violent clashes between the various groups, and decimation by contagious diseases to which the uncontacted Indians have no immunity.

José Carlos Meirelles, who monitored this region for the Brazilian government’s Indian Affairs Department FUNAI for over 20 years, said, “Something serious must have happened. It is not normal for such a large group of uncontacted Indians to approach in this way. This is a completely new and worrying situation and we currently do not know what has caused it.”

Amazon Indians join forces to reject 'devastating' mining - News from Survival

Details: Published on Monday, 07 July 2014 10:40; Written by editor

Amazon Indians join forces to reject 'devastating' mining

Yanomami man. The Yanomami and several other Amazonian tribes have joined forces to reject 'devastating' mining.© Hutukara/ Survival

Amazon Indians have released a series of desperate statements calling on their governments to put a stop to mining which is destroying their land and threatening their existence.

COIAM – the Coalition of Indigenous Organizations of the Venezuelan Amazon – has expressed “extreme concern about the growing levels of illegal mining” and called on the Venezuelan government to review its mining policy which they see as a “clear contradiction of [Venezuela’s] aim to save the planet and the human race”, as stated in the Plan de la Pátria (Country Plan for 2013-2019).

The government created a Presidential Commission in March to develop mining in the region, without consulting indigenous peoples who have warned of the “serious environmental damage” it will bring to their forest.

The Indians are calling for a moratorium on mining in the southern Orinoco region and the immediate recognition of their land ownership rights, which are guaranteed in the constitution.

Indigenous organization Kuyujani said in a recent statement that “it is a question… of exercising autonomy and the right to self determination.”

It's amazing what we've accomplished togeth

Details: Published on Monday, 07 July 2014 10:40; Written by editor

Summer has finally arrived and all across this beautiful land politicians will be on the summer barbecue circuit. They’ve got their sights set on the 2015 federal election, and so do we.

Conservative MPs are going to be facing hard questions as they try to reassure their base before an election year. They’ll be testing carefully crafted messages, approved by the Prime Minister’s Office, to gloss over their relentless attacks on our democracy with a thin coat of patriotism.

At Leadnow, thousands of people have already contributed to a plan to mobilize hundreds of thousands more to hold the Conservative’s accountable at the ballot box next year, by voting for progress on key issues facing the country. People are getting ready to organize in their communities this summer, and we’re preparing a major update for you. But first, we want to celebrate the impact that your campaigns have already had this year.

To start, let’s say “welcome!” to the 53,100 people who have joined the Leadnow community since the beginning of the year. Over the past six months, you’ve participated in campaigns to oppose the Conservatives’ voter suppression bill, to stop the sabotage of Canada’s universal health care system, and to defend our climate and communities from accelerated fossil fuel expansion. You are joining over 300,000 Canadians who have come together on these and other important issues since the 2011 federal election.

By working together, here are just a few ways you’ve had an impact so far in 2014:

More than 50,000 of you joined the campaign to challenge Bill C-23, the “Fair Elections Act”. You crowd-funded radio ads, knocked on 1,500 doors in Pierre Poilievre’s riding, and held events to collect petition signatures which our volunteers in Ottawa delivered directly to his office. You helped rally the country with other pro-democracy organizations and experts to defend the voting rights of hundreds of thousands of Canadians, forcing the Harper Conservatives to back down on the worst pieces of the legislation.

Landmark Events for Indigenous Rights

Details: Published on Monday, 07 July 2014 10:40; Written by editor

...

Ready for Takeoff?

Details: Published on Saturday, 05 July 2014 05:20; Written by editor

r1 ...

This is not a protest.

Details: Published on Friday, 27 June 2014 15:40; Written by editor

Dear PAOV --

Today is the first day of the final Tar Sands Healing Walk taking place this weekend in Fort McMurray, Alberta. There are many ways to support even if you can't be there. Walk. Pray. Donate. Learn more at http://www.healingwalk.org/

I wanted to share with you this op-ed I wrote with Eriel Deranger of the Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation that was published on CBC.ca today.

__ 'The healing walk is not a protest, it is a walk to heal the land and ourselves.'
- Melina Laboucan-Massimo and Eriel Deranger __

Walking through the oilsands is nothing like flying over the oilsands, or driving past them. Starting today, June 27, hundreds of First Nations people from across Alberta, Canada and the rest of the world will meet in Fort McMurray, Alberta and walk for the last time past a Syncrude upgrader, past tailingsponds and heavy haul trucks.

For the fifth year straight, we will smell the crude oil and toxic plumes, especially if the wind pushes back south. Some walkers, as in past years, will be forced to stop walking due to breathing difficulties or bloody noses. We will walk at ground zero of the oilands, surrounded by vast oilsands mines.

Just to the north of our walk, one of the newest mines, Imperial Oil’sKearl mine, will be the size of Washington DC when it’s completed.

On foot it starts to hit you, the size and the smell grabs at your core and leaves an indelible impact. The walk is 14 kilometres and coming around the corner at the start of the walk, seeing the massive tailings pond, the trucks lined up along the road, tears start streaming as you realize just how massive and unsustainable oilsands really are. It happens to a lot of us, this shared experience.

This year is the last healing walk, not because the oilsands will stop expanding tomorrow, but because our original goal has been achieved. First Nation communities, once isolated and at times fearful to talk about oilsands and their impacts, are no longer alone.

The Tar Sands Healing Walk — a space and place for communities to come and share their concerns about oilsands development — has been crucial to creating First Nations solidarity in communities throughout Alberta, and also the rest of Canada and the United States, where First Nations are uniting because of their shared experiences living near oilsands extraction, pipelines and refineries.

Join us for a Webinar about the Make Every Vote Count 2015 campaign

Details: Published on Friday, 27 June 2014 09:40; Written by editor

Dear FVC button

Join us for a live and interactive conversation about the Make Every Vote Count 2015 campaign!

Sunday July 6, 7 PM EST

Register here:

https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/6214990934878536450

We have an historic opportunity to achieve proportional representation in Canada! Learn:

important background about why we need PR...
Read more: Join us for a Webinar about the Make Every Vote Count 2015 campaign

Deadly contact “imminent”. Save uncontacted

Details: Published on Friday, 27 June 2014 09:00; Written by editor

Survival Tribes News Act Now Donate

Deadly contact “imminent”. Save uncontacted tribes now.

Uncontacted Indians on the Peru-Brazil border face imminent “tragedy” and “death”, according to experts.

Brazil’s Indian Affairs Department has warned that dozens of uncontacted Indians have been coming into close contact with other communities, as they flee from rampant logging in Peru.

Uncontrolled contact would be disastrous for the Indians, as they lack immunity to common diseases spread by outsiders. They are the most vulnerable people on the planet and they depend entirely on their land for their survival.

The time has come to ban bee-killing pesticides

Details: Published on Wednesday, 25 June 2014 10:40; Written by editor

r1 ...

12 more opposed to shale gas arrested as RCMP turn violent on National Aboriginal Day

Details: Published on Wednesday, 25 June 2014 10:07; Written by mic

Man throws himself under moving thumper, cops punch his partner in face

by MILES HOWE

Segewaat, who has been tending the sacred fire for over a week, was among the first to be arrested [Photo: M. Howe]

Elsipogtog community member, eight and a half months pregnant. [Photo: M. Howe]

War chiefs' brother, arrested. [Photo: M. Howe]

After the initial arrests [Photo: M. Howe]

Upset. [Photo: M. Howe]

Jumping under a moving thumper. [Photo: M. Howe]

Another subsequent arrest. [Photo: M. Howe]

Subsequent arrest. Eyewitnesses note this woman was punched in the mouth by RCMP. [Photo: M.Howe]

ELSIPOGTOG, NEW BRUNSWICK – 12 more people were arrested today in their attempts to stop SWN Resources Canada from conducting seismic testing along highway 126, in Kent County, New Brunswick.

At about 1:15pm, a convoy of cars parked themselves on River Lane, near the town of Kent Junction, about 100 metres from the thumpers. About 40 people then stationed themselves on the side of the road adjacent to the 3 thumpers, and began drumming and singing. The thumpers stopped their procession, and a group then stationed themselves in front of the trucks, blocking their paths.

Aid donors announce investigation into tribal evictions in Ethiopia</strong> - News from Survival

Details: Published on Tuesday, 24 June 2014 09:20; Written by editor

Australian TV station guilty of racism in “Freakshow TV” row

The Federal Court of Australia has upheld a ruling against Channel 7 for breaching the “racism clause” in their Sunday Night program about the Suruwaha. © Channel 7

An Australian TV station has been found guilty of racism for broadcasting a report about an Amazon tribe so extreme it was labeled “Freakshow TV” by Survival International, the global movement for tribal peoples’ rights.

In September 2012 Australia’s press regulator ACMA, in a landmark decision, had found Channel 7 guilty of “provoking intense dislike, serious contempt or severe ridicule against a person or group” and of broadcasting inaccurate material. Channel 7 sought judicial review, but the Federal Court has now upheld the ruling.

The report by “adventurer” Paul Raffaele and reporter Tim Noonan portrayed Brazil’s Suruwaha tribe as child murderers, “Stone Age” relics, and “one of the worst human rights violators in the world”.

A Suruwaha man told Survival that the program contained lies about the tribe. He said, “They’re lying about us, because we don’t kill children. Paul and Tim lied. They took the footage they filmed here far away, to show JOCUM (a fundamentalist, evangelical missionary organization) and to lie about us.”

He added, “He (Paul Raffaele) is a bad person; he has really made us suffer. How could he treat the Suruwaha so badly?”

The report portrayed the Suruwaha as the 'worst human rights violators in the world'.

Survival complained to ACMA after Channel 7 refused to issue a correction to its report. Channel 7 did not appeal the substance of the ruling, but rather asked the court to declare that various statements in the report were not factual in nature. A judge has now rejected this attempt to overturn ACMA’s ruling on a technicality, and the ruling stands.

The Suruwaha have been the target of fundamentalist missionaries who falsely claim that they regularly kill newborn babies. The missionaries had lobbied Brazil’s Congress to pass a law which would have allowed Indian children to be removed from their families.

Channel 7’s website openly fundraised for the evangelical organization associated with the campaign.

Survival’s Director Stephen Corry said, “Tribal peoples have been accused of ‘savagery’ since the first European colonists arrived and sought justification for the brutalities of imperialism. Unfortunately the myth of the ‘Brutal Savage’ is rearing its ugly head once more – and it’s just as harmful now as it was then. It is right and proper that this ruling has been upheld. There is no excuse for such extreme prejudice in the media today.”

Notes to editors:

- Survival seeks to challenge public portrayals of tribal peoples as “primitive”, “violent”, or backwards. Survival believes that tribal peoples are neither more nor less violent than people in the West.
- Read more about the “Myth of the Brutal Savage” and Survival’s critique of “popular science” writers such as Steven Pinker, Napoleon Chagnon and Jared Diamond.

Read this online: http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/10288

- News from Survival

Peru’s largest mass grave reveals hundreds of murdered Asháninka Indians - News from Survival

Details: Published on Monday, 23 June 2014 12:20; Written by editor

s16 r18.

Peru’s largest mass grave reveals hundreds of murdered Asháninka Indians

Bones and Asháninka Indian robes have been uncovered in several mass graves in Peru. © Luis Vilcaromero, Ministerio Público Perú/AP

The largest mass grave in Peru has been uncovered by a team of government investigators, in the ancestral land of Asháninka Indians in the jungle in central Peru.

The grave contains the remains of around 800 people, the majority believed to be Asháninka and Matsigenka Indians.

The Indians were decimated in a violent conflict between Maoist guerrillas known as ‘The Shining Path’, and counter-insurgency forces in the 1980s.

Around 70,000 people are estimated to have died or disappeared during the insurgency.
Bodies from several other mass graves in Asháninka territory are currently being exhumed.

The Asháninka have survived centuries of intense conflict since their land was first invaded by the Spanish in the 16th century.

In 1742, the Indians successfully defeated the Spanish, in a revolt which closed off a large part of the Amazon for a century.

Today, their land is under threat from oil and gas projects, hydroelectric dams, drug trafficking and deforestation.

Big News on Enbridge - but don't forget about LNG

Details: Published on Monday, 23 June 2014 12:00; Written by editor

BC LNG - Boon or Boondoggle? Your independent media crowdfunder. r33

Thank you for being part of our team as we look to provide in depth coverage on one of Canada's most pressing resource issues: Liquified Natural Gas (LNG).

Last week the federal government have the go-ahead for the Enbridge Northern Gateway Pipeline, a decision that has many Canadians talking. Yet, the proposed LNG industry in BC is far bigger than the Enbridge pipeline - yet lacks critical coverage from the mainstream media.

We need your help to cover LNG in BC and provide our readers with accurate information about the industry's potential challenges and opportunities.

BC LNG: Boon or Boondoggle?

&feature=youtube_gdata_player" target="_blank" class="playable"> Watch the Video

4 ratings 96 views

We at The Common Sense Canadian want to use our no-nonsense, straight-goods approach to provide you with everything you need to know about the topic. The mainstream media won't go nearly as far as we will. That's why we need your help.

Click Here: bit.ly/BClng

Please contribute to our BC LNG campaign and share with your friends!
So far we are at 6% of our goal - help us reach the next level!

I supported @commonsensecdn to drill deeper on coverage of #LNGinBC - donate to the campaign here bit/ly/BClng

Let's show Canada; Democracy Matters!

Details: Published on Monday, 23 June 2014 00:20; Written by editor

Fair Vote Canada / Représentation équitable au Canada

283 Danforth Avenue #408
Toronto, ON M4K 1N2
Canada

Results: Kick Harper out; Reverse the Enbridge decision

Details: Published on Sunday, 22 June 2014 15:40; Written by editor

Harper’s decision to approve Enbridge’s pipeline and supertankers project could cost him the seats he needs to hold onto power in the 2015 election - but only if we start turning up the pressure and organizing on the ground now.

Can you chip in today to help hold Harper accountable, and reverse the decision on Enbridge?

On Tuesday, the Harper Conservatives quietly announced their decision to conditionally approve the Enbridge Northern Gateway pipeline and supertankers project.[1]

Harper’s decision is completely unacceptable - for our climate, for the west coast, for our economy, and for all the communities suffering from the impacts of reckless tar sands expansion.

On Wednesday, we asked what you want to do next.[2]

The majority of you said you want to focus on kicking Prime Minister Harper out of office in the 2015 election, then reversing this decision.

Thousands more said you would support First Nations legal challenges and protests.

Now, we need your help to super-charge this campaign.

We’ve launched the “James Moore Accountability Fund” - named after Harper’s top MP in BC - to make sure this government pays a steep political price that will make any politician think twice about trying to push pipelines through local opposition.

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