Human Rights Action Update March 18-25

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country.
http://embassy.goabroad.com/

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

This week we focus on the Jumma people of Bangladesh. These are tribes who live in the Chittagong Hills region of the country. The Bangladesh government has long seen the Chittagong Hill Tracts as empty land onto which it can move poor Bengali settlers, with scant regard for the area’s Jumma inhabitants. Ever since Bangladesh gained independence, the Jumma tribes have experienced waves of murder, torture and rape, and had their villages burnt down in a genocidal campaign against them.

Marma baby playing at his mother's feet. In the last 60 years, the Jumma tribes have gone from being practically the sole inhabitants of the Chittagong Hill Tracts to being almost outnumbered by settlers.
© Mark McEvoy/Survival

In the last 65 years, the Jummas have gone from being practically the sole inhabitants of the Hill Tracts to now being outnumbered by settlers.

As well as being displaced by the settlers, who are given the best land, the Jummas have long faced violent repression from the Bangladesh military. Please act in accordance with the suggestions given in the site.

Some things you should add in your letter are the ban on speaking to foreigners or outsiders unless in the presence of supervision and the rampant sexual abuse of Jumma women which goes on in total impunity.

Jumma women and girls are often attacked when they are alone in the forest, or when they go to the river to collect water or bathe.

© GMB Akash/Survival

CHINA 

The husband and brother of detained women’s rights activist Su Changlan have been released on bail. Su Changlan remains behind bars, and has now been detained for over four months without having access to a lawyer. Please act on her behalf.

MEXICO 

Dafne Alejandra de la Cruz is at risk of reprisals from soldiers in Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas State, in relation to a complaint she filed against the Army for the death of her husband. There are fears for her safety and concerns that authorities need to do more to provide effective protection. Please write to call for her protection.

CAMEROON 

Human rights defender and journalist Gerard Kuissu is being held in an unknown location in Cameroon following his arrest on 14 March. His lawyer was told that he had been transferred to the State Defense Secretariat in Yaoundé, but the authorities in Yaoundé have denied that he ever arrived. Please write on his behalf to the authorities in Cameroon.

MAURITANIA

Free Mauritania’s anti-slavery activists.

Mauritania remains one of the main regions in which slavery is practiced openly. Anti-slavery activists have been sentenced to prison. Please sign the petition to free them NOW!

Human Rights Action Update March 11-18

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

EMBASSY FINDER Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country.
http://embassy.goabroad.com/

GOOD NEWS

FIJI ABOLISHES THE DEATH PENALTY 

A couple of weeks ago, on 13 February, we woke up to the good news that Fiji had joined the ranks of countries and had abolished the death penalty for all crimes. There are now 99 countries who have completely scrapped the ultimate cruel and inhuman punishment from their laws – exactly half of all states in the world.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

This week we focus on the Jawara of Andaman Island, India. The tribes of the Andaman Islands – the Jarawa, Great Andamanese, Onge and Sentinelese – are believed to have lived in their Indian Ocean home for up to 55,000 years.

The Jarawa thatch their shelters with leaves from the forest.

© Survival

They are now vastly outnumbered by several hundred thousand Indians, who have settled on the islands in recent decades. Although India’s Supreme Court in 2002 ordered that the highway through the Jarawa’s reserve should be closed, it remains open – and tourists use it for ‘human safaris’ to the Jarawa.
Poachers enter the Jarawa’s forest and steal the animals the tribe rely on for their survival. They have also introduced alcohol and marijuana and are known to sexually abuse Jarawa women.
In 1999 and 2006, the Jarawa suffered outbreaks of measles – a disease that has wiped out many tribes worldwide following contact with outsiders. Please act to protect them. The Web page will show you how.

ZIMBABWE 

Journalist and pro-democracy activist, Itai Dzamara, was abducted on the morning of 9 March by five men while at a barber shop in Harare’s Glen View suburb. The men accused him of stealing cattle before handcuffing him and driving off with him in a white truck. His whereabouts are unknown. Please act for him.

HONDURAS 

A Honduran journalist received a verbal death threat and has faced discrimination, believed to be in connection to his journalistic work. There is fear for his safety. Please act for him.

AUSTRALIA

NUW fights for the rights of workers exploited by poultry company while on holiday in Australia. Travelers and backpackers work to support their holidays. The biggest poultry processing company in Australia employs them and exploits them. B&E Poultry and their subcontractors pay their employees' wages that are below the legal minimum. Their workers are now owed tens of thousands of dollars in back pay and B&E is refusing to pay up. Backpackers in Australia on working holidays have joined the NUW and are demanding back pay now!

Go here to sign the union petition to demand the company pay dozens of backpackers who are owed tens of thousands in backpay!  B&E poultry should abide by Australian workplace law and stop exploiting workers on holiday in Australia that have language barriers or a lack of Australian workplace knowledge.

KENYA

Truckers held at gunpoint for protesting over 24 hour shifts--please click to support the abused workers.

Human Rights Action blog March 6-12

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

GOOD NEWS 

PROMINENT JOURNALIST RELEASED

Journalist Bob Rugurika was released on bail on 19 February 2015 after being detained for a month. The Bujumbura Court of Appeal ordered his provisional release on 1 8 February 2015 with his bail set at Burundi francs 15,000,000 (around US$9,430) . He was released on condition that he appears monthly before the relevant investigating magistrate and does not leave the country without the magistrate’s authorization.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

‘We are born of this earth, and this earth is ours. Niyamgiri belongs to us.’— Laksa Majhi photo Jason Taylor

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

This week we focus on the Dongria Kondh of India. We are not asking you for action, but we would like to share their story of a major victory. The Dongria Kondh of India’s Niyamgiri Hills have won a heroic victory against mining giant Vedanta Resources to save their sacred hills. The Supreme Court told Vedanta in 2013 that the Dongria must decide whether to allow mining on the Mountain of the Law. The Dongria answered with an unequivocal ‘No’. Their story of resistance to a plan to mine bauxite in their territory, which would have meant the complete destruction of a people and a way of life is inspiring and we invite you to read it.

While we have no indigenous tribe action this week, we have a heavier than usual load of human rights and labor actions.  Since the violators of human rights are hyperactive, it is our job to try to match them.

TURKEY 

Thanks to Guy and Tilly for this one. Arubika Suleymanova, a Russian citizen of Chechen origin, is facing deportation to the Russian Federation or to an as yet unknown third country. If returned she is at risk of torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment. Please act on her behalf.

INDIA 

DETAINED FOR POSSESSING ‘ PRO - MAOIST’ MATERIAL 

Human rights activist Jaison C Cooper and Thushar Nirmal Sarathy were arrested on 30 January on suspicion of being involved in unlawful activities because they had ‘pro - Maoist’ materials in their homes. They were denied bail on 3 March, and continue to be held in judicial custody. Please act on their behalf because their only "offense" is possession of printed material which has been ruled to be not a crime by Indian courts.

RUSSIAN FEDERATION 

The detention of Tatar rights activist Rafis Kashapov has been extended until 27 April. There are concerns about his health and prison conditions.  Please act on his behalf and call for the right of free expression in Russia.

CHINA 

Five young women activists have been detained in unknown location s in China after planning to hold events against sexual harassment to mark International Women’s Day . They have not had access to a lawyer and are at risk of torture and other ill - treatment. Please act on their behalf.

ECUADOR 

 
Trade union leader Jimena Lopez was sacked from her cabin crew job after a successful organizing drive at her workplace. Please join the worldwide campaign to get Jimena her job back. Firing for union organizing activity is an attack on working people everywhere.

Human Rights Update Feb.26-March 4

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country.
http://embassy.goabroad.com/

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

A Batak man harvests honey from the forest canopy

© Dario Novellino/Survival

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

This week we focus on the Batak people of the Philippines. They live in the forests of northern Palawan in the western Philippines. They depend on a varied mix of cultivation, hunting, gathering and fishing. Now their traditional way of life is threatened and their numbers have diminished greatly, to a large extent from malnutrition. Please read about them and write to the Philippine government with a request to allow the Batak to use their own resources.

VENEZUELA 

A 14-year-old boy was killed during an anti - government protest amid reports of excessive use of force by the security forces. There are concerns the violence will intensify if the authorities do not send a clear message that peaceful protest is permitted and that excessive use of force will not be tolerated.  Please write to demand an investigation of the death and punishment of the perpetrators.

SPAIN 

A parliamentary group has put forward a proposal to change current legislation and require 16 and 17 year old girls and some women with mental disabilities to obtain parental or guardian consent before they can access safe and legal abortion services. Please join the action to block this initiative.

MACEDONIA 

Hundreds of refugees, asylum seekers and migrants of all ages are being unlawfully detained in the Reception Centre for Foreigner s “Gazi Baba” in Skopje , the capital. The center is overcrowded and conditions are inhuman and degrading, with extremely limited access to adequate sanitation and healthcare. In some cases people are having to sleep on the floor. They have no access to legal aid or protection. Please raise your voice in protest.
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GAMBIA 

A union in Gabon reports that 38 workers on strike at Rain Forest Management (RFM) were illegally dismissed on 17 February -  and then forcibly removed by police from the camp where they were housed in deplorable sanitary conditions, among rats, cockroaches and snakes. Please support these workers.

WORLDWIDE 

Please sign a petition to eliminate the right to rape. Every minute of every day, men around the world murder, beat, rape and abuse women. While under international law no man has the right to rape, 2.6 billion women live in countries where it’s not explicitly outlawed for their husbands to rape them. FYI, the Talmud outlawed marital rape nearly 2,000 years ago. Britain outlawed it in 1958 and in 73 countries there is a concept of implied marital consent.

Human Rights Action Update Feb. 18-25

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

GOOD NEWS  

We were about to ask you to petition for clemency for Rodney Reed who was scheduled to be executed for a murder that he may not have committed. Now we are told that a stay of execution has been granted for the presentation of new evidence. Also, A Dominican man arbitrarily deported to Haiti on 19 February was able to return to his hometown in the Dominican Republic, Thanks to all who wrote in these cases.
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INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are usually pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

This week we focus on the aboriginal people of Australia.  Their fate since the English invasion in the 18th century has been terrible and although the government and judiciary have helped them in recent decades, their situation remains difficult. Please read the article and write to your local Australian ambassador. There is no pre-written letter so be creative on your own. In particular, we suggest that the legal hurdles preventing the implementation of the land rights legislation be mitigated so that the Aboriginal people may recover their stolen land.

An Aboriginal child is being painted for a dance festival in Northern Queensland, Australia.

© John Miles/Survival

TURKEY 

Legal amendments pending before Turkey’s Parliament, dubbed the “domestic security package” threaten human rights, including the prospect of increased arbitrary detention, excessive use of firearms by police and politically motivated criminal investigations if passed into law. Please add your voice to the protest.

COLOMBIA 

Four Indigenous men have been killed and several enforced disappearances and death threats have been reported in northern Cauca Department, south - western Colombia. Please act in this matter.

CHINA

The husband and brother of detained women’s rights activist Su Changlan have themselves been criminally detained in China . They were held after submitting an application for permission to visit her on 12 February, during which her brother held a sign declaring her innocence.  Please join the call for their immediate and unconditional release.

OIL REFINERY STRIKE IN US 

The number of striking oil refinery workers has reached 5,000. United Steelworkers (USW) members at BP refineries in Whiting, Ind., and Toledo, Ohio, joined the union’s unfair labor practice strike Sunday against the oil industry. The strike began Feb. 1, after the companies failed to address serious concerns regarding the health and safety of workers and their communities, according to the USW.


The 1,100 BP workers join some 3,800 USW members on strike at nine refineries operated by Shell, Marathon, Tesoro and LyondellBasell in California, Kentucky, Texas and Washington. Please sign the petition for workplace safety in the oil refining industry.
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Human Rights Action Update Feb. 12-18

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country.
http://embassy.goabroad.com/

GOOD NEWS

USA

The governor of the State of Pennsylvania in the United States has declared a moratorium on all execution.  Governor Tom Wolf, who took office on 20 January 2015, has declared that he will grant a reprieve in each case in which an execution is scheduled until any recommendations of the forthcoming report of the Pennsylvania Task Force and Advisory Committee on Capital Punishment has been “satisfactorily addressed”. We praise Governor Wolf and hope that the next step will be abolition.

MEXICO

You may recall the case of Claudia Medina who was tortured and sexually abused by the marines who forced her to confess to a number of trumped up charges. A judge has just dropped the last remaining charge against her, arguing that the sole piece of evidence – a report filed by the marines – is a lie.

The judge confirmed that after her arrest Claudia was tortured and sexually assaulted by marines in order to force her to incriminate herself and others in drug-related crimes. The offenses took place on 7 August 2012 at a Navy barracks in Veracruz state, Eastern Mexico.

Claudia Medina was tortured and sexually assaulted by marines in Mexico ©Amnesty International.

Claudia Medina's struggle is not over. Her torture complaint is not being pursued by the Federal Attorney General and impunity reigns supreme. Please take the actions requested at the end of the report and let the Federal government of  Mexico know that the eyes of human rights activists are upon them.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

Young Mursi shepherds looking after livestock, Ethiopia.

© Ingetje Tadros/ingetjetadros.com

This week we focus on the tribes of Ethiopia, in particular, the Omo Valley tribes. A massive hydroelectric dam and associated land grabs for plantations threaten the tribes of the Lower Omo River The tribes have lived in this area for centuries and have developed techniques to survive in a challenging environment. They have not been consulted about the dam or the plantations and stand to lose their livelihoods based on the river’s natural flood cycle. Please read about the tribes and take the steps proposed at the end of the article.

CHINA 

At least 27 people remain behind bars in China after showing support for the pro-democracy protests in Hong Kong. Nine people have not been given access to their lawyers, the whereabouts of four are unknown, and at least two have reported being tortured in detention. All of them continue to be at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Please act on their behalf.

BRAZIL

Twelve people were shot dead and four others injured by military police officers during an operation in the neighborhood of Cabula in Salvador, north-east Brazil. Residents report feeling threatened and afraid as the military police have maintained their presence in the neighborhood ever since. Please call for an investigation and protection for the people of Cabula.

GREECE/GERMANY 

Prominent leaders of the trade union movement in Germany have issued a call for a new policy towards Greece and other struggling EU countries. They point out that the bailouts so far have benefited banks, but have done nothing for the structural problems and needs of the people, You are invited to join their call.

 

Human Rights Action Update Feb. 5-11

Miriam, human rights defender, 1947-2012

EMBASSY FINDER 

Survival International provides a useful tool for locating the embassy of any country in your country.
http://embassy.goabroad.com/

MEXICO

Key eyewitnesses into the killings of two human rights defenders have been harassed in the Mexican state of Oaxaca. This is an apparent attempt to stop them from giving testimony in court. Their lives could be at risk. Please act.

INDIGENOUS PEOPLE

Indigenous tribes do not simply die out. They are killed by the actions of so-called civilized nations. Survival International provides a long list of cases in which a letter from you can and will make a difference. Please open this link and write at least one letter. This link will be a permanent feature on our blog and we would be grateful if you gave it a bit of attention each week. We suggest going down the list in the order given. The letters are pre-written for you. All you need to do is send them. It would be nice also if a donation to Survival International could be forthcoming.

This week we focus on the the Ogiek of Kenya. They  are hunter-gatherers – some in the deep forest live purely by hunting and gathering, while the majority grow vegetables and keep livestock also. They have traditionally hunted such animals as antelope and wild pigs, which is now generally illegal. Now they are in danger of eviction from their forest home. Please join the protest to the Kenyan government.

Ogiek ritual masks

PERU  

Intimidation by the police--Máxima Acuña and her family, subsistence farmers in northern Peru, have reported further acts of intimidation and harassment by the police. They are in an ongoing legal dispute against a mining company over the ownership of a plot of land where the family lives. They believe this harassment and intimidation by the police is an attempt to drive them away. Please protest for them.

DOMINICAN REPUBLIC  

Four journalists have been harassed and received death threats in the Dominican Republic as the result of their advocacy for the respect of the rights of Dominicans of Haitian descent.  
On 2 February, four Dominican journalists, Juan Bolívar Díaz, Huchi Lora, Amelia Deschamps and Roberto Cavada, known for taking a strong stand against discrimination towards Dominicans of Haitian descent, reported a number of threats and acts of harassment they have suffered as a result of their work. Please protest to the Domincan authorities on their behalf. 

ETHIOPIA AND MALDIVES 

Worker abuse by Sheraton Hotel chain. 

Recently, workers at Sheraton hotels in Ethiopia and Maldives sought to exercise a basic human right: negotiate through their unions their employment terms and conditions. They got Sheraton management's full service abuse treatment - brutal mass dismissals and intimidation. Please click to register your protest to Starwood, the owners of Sheraton.