Wilderness Defence – Page 14

Australian Anti-Logging Blockade Enters Second Day

12th December For the second day 40 conservationists have maintained a forest protest action at Stony Creek in East Gippsland. Police Search and Rescue arrived at the site this afternoon.

12th December For the second day 40 conservationists have maintained a forest protest action at Stony Creek in East Gippsland. Police Search and Rescue arrived at the site this afternoon. They proceeded to tie-off cables connected to the tree sit, to release the logging machinery. Police climbed the tree-sitter’s tree, removing the platform and the protester’s personal belongings, including blankets, food and water. The tree-sitter remains perched on branches at the top of the tree. Two people are still at the top of tripods on the road, continuing to block access to log trucks. Logging contractors have began felling trees within the logging coupe.

“The commitment of these dedicated people, willing to face arrest or difficult conditions in the tree-tops, demonstrates their resolve to see our forests and endangered wildlife protected for the future” said Miranda Gibson, spokesperson for Still Wild Still Threatened.

“The destruction of forests that are home to threatened wildlife displays repeated disregard for the the government’s own scientists and is an afront to the tax-payer who foots the bill. ” said David Caldwell, Goongerah Environment Centre (GECO).

Maya People of Sipacapa Issue International Call for Solidarity

11th Dec The Maya People of Sipacapa issued an international appeal for solidarity this past weekend, in the midst of ongoing protests against Goldcorp Inc.’s mining activities in San Marcos, Guatemala.

The Maya began protesting with campesino communities on December 4,2013, setting up two separate blockades on the Inter-American Highway — at Kilometer 170 in Santa Catarina Ixtahuacán, Sololá and Kilometer 242 near Pajapita, San Marcos.

According to the appeal, issued by The Mayan Council Of Sipacapa on December 7, Goldcorp and its subsidiary EntreMares de Guatemala are violating a community decision to reject any mining exploitation in Sipacapa.

The Maya are now demanding the withdrawal of both the company’s personnel and its machinery from Sipacapa, and requesting ”that central government authorities respect the community consultation carried out in 2005.”

They are further demanding an end to any ongoing efforts to force them to accept the new mine as well as the presence of various government officials “To resolve this issue, since the only thing we seek is peace”, state the Maya People of Sipacapa, adding, “The presence of the mine is causing social conflict, on a family level and on a community level, and it is destroying our social harmony.”

In addition to their demands, the Maya People Of Sipacapa are asking “our sisters and brothers from other nations to accompany us in this struggle which [is] in benefit of all.”

Below, please find the December 7 Appeal from the The People Of Sipacapa, in English and Spanish. English translation by Rights Action.

The People Of Sipacapa, Via The Mayan Council Of Sipacapa, Informs:

To all sisterly and brotherly peoples, national and international authorities, national and international social and human rights organizations;
To the Ministry of Energy and Mines, the Ministry of the Environment and Natural Resources, the Ministry of the Interior; and
To EntreMares (Goldcorp Inc.):

Sipacapa Already Said No To Mining Exploitation.

“Sipacapa Is Not For Sale”

In 2005, the population firmly rejected mining exploration and exploitation in its territory, as was documented in the acts of the community consultation carried out in good faith on June 18, 2005 in each community of the municipality.

Since that time, the community has continued to defend that position. The population does not want its land destroyed by metallic mining, which only leads to social contamination (conflict), environmental contamination, health problems, deterioration of wildlife and economic injustice, as we see in the sister municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán, department of San Marcos.

Nevertheless, on April 30, 2012, the Ministry of Energy and Mines – through its general director of mining – issued a mining exploration license to the company EntreMares de Guatemala (owned by Goldcorp Inc.), called the “Chocoyos” license, to exploit gold, silver, nickel, cobalt, chromium, copper, lead, zinc antimony and rare earth elements in an area of 23 square kilometers.

For these reasons, we have been protesting peacefully since December 4, 2013, to reject the presence of exploration machinery and personnel from EntreMares/ Goldcorp. We demand the withdrawal of this machinery and the company personnel from the territory of Sipacapa, and request that central government authorities respect the community consultation carried out in 2005.

We request and demand that they cease to force us to accept the presence of the EntreMares/ Goldcorp mine in Sipacapa. We continue to be intimidated by the presence of the National Civilian Police.

We also demand the presence of the departmental governor, the director of Energy and Mines, the Minister of Energy and Mines and the Human Rights Prosecutor. We request their presence in our municipality to resolve this issue, since the only thing we seek is peace. The presence of the mine is causing social conflict, on a family level and on a community level, and it is destroying our social harmony.

We ask our sisters and brothers from other nations to accompany us in this struggle which in benefit of all. Municipal authorities should not be promoting destructive projects.

Municipality of Sipacapa, San Marcos

December 7, 2013

URGENT: Q’eqchi Leaders Attacked with Machetes on Eve of Megadam Construction

August, 2013 funeral for two Q'eqchi children killed in an assassination attempt against an opponent of Hidro Santa Rita's planned dam on Guatemala's Dolores River 10th Dec From

August, 2013 funeral for two Q'eqchi children killed in an assassination attempt against an opponent of Hidro Santa Rita's planned dam on Guatemala's Dolores River 10th Dec From Guatemala Solidarity Project:

Four leaders of the Q’eqchi community Monte Olivo were attacked and severely injured with machetes by employees of the Santa Rita hydroelectric company who also carried firearms. Police were called but refused to arrest the attackers. On Wednesday the company plans to begin construction of a hydroelectric dam that would flood communities and destroy the local ecosystem. The dam is being constructed in violation of national and international law which require consultation of the communities, which strongly oppose the project. In August the community was also attacked and two children were killed in retribution to human rights complaints filed by the community.

We are extremely concerned that further violence will occur this week in support of the illegal dam. The GSP condemns the attack and calls for the immediate arrest of those responsible, including the intellectual authors of the attack. The GSP calls for the suspension of construction and immediate cancellation of the shipment of machinery to the region.

Take Action

1 Call Edgar Villanueva at the Gutemalan Embassy in the United States at (202) 745-4953 or (202) 745-3873 and demand the immediate arrest of those responsible, including the intellectual authors of the attack. Also ask for suspension of construction and immediate cancellation of the shipment of machinery to the region.

2 Sign our new petition calling for justice for Saquimo Setana, a Q’eqchi community located nearby Monte Olivo which has also participated in mobilizing against the dam.

3. Support our partners through a contribution to the Guatemala Solidarity Project. We are a volunteer run organization and all funds go to our partners in Guatemala. The best way to donate is to send a check to our fiscal sponsor, “UPAVIM Community Development Foundation” to UPAVIM, PO Box 63, Marshfield, VT 05658. Please write “GSP” in the notes/memo section of the check. Or donate online by visiting http://www.upavim.or/donate Click on the yellow donate button, then YOU MUST WRITE ‘Guatemala Solidarity Project’ for the purpose. We thank our fiscal sponsor UPAVIM for helping us ensure that your contributions are tax deductible and that all funds (other than bank transaction) go to our partners in Guatemala.

Algonquins Erect Land Protection Camp within Wildlife Reserve, Stop Illegal Logging

10th December This past Spring, Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources—without meaningfully consulting the Algonquins of Barr

10th December This past Spring, Quebec’s Ministry of Natural Resources—without meaningfully consulting the Algonquins of Barriere Lake—issued permits for the 2013-14 operating year to Resolute Forest Products and other large logging companies who have subsequently clear-cut vast tracts of the forest this past summer and fall, up to last week, when the Algonquins stopped the unauthorized logging, which has been taking place in violation of signed Agreements with the First Nation.

Resolute Forest Products and other logging companies have already damaged many sensitive area sites on the Barriere Lake Trilateral Agreement Territory, including sensitive area sites which the Quebec Ministry of Natural Resources and the logging companies know to be of particular cultural and ecological importance.

Today the Algonquins have erected a Land Protection camp within the La Verendrye Wildlife Reserve at the Poigan sector, to stop unauthorized logging from damaging Algonquin cultural sites and critical wildlife habitat until an already agreed upon Measures to Harmonize Process is re-established on an urgent basis. The Algonquins of Barriere Lake are demanding that the Quebec government:

Cooperate in a measures to harmonize process to identify and protect cultural and ecological sites.
Honour the 1991 landmark Barriere Lake Trilateral Agreement and related 1998 Agreement with Quebec on Co-Management and Resource Revenue Sharing among other issues.

Italy: Police Arrest Four on Terrorism Charges Against High Speed Rail

9th December Police on Monday arrested four alleged anarchists in the northwestern Piedmont and the northern Lombardy regions on terroris

9th December Police on Monday arrested four alleged anarchists in the northwestern Piedmont and the northern Lombardy regions on terrorism charges.

The four suspects were allegedly planning to carry out attacks using explosives against a high-speed train line currently being built between Italy and France, according to investigators.

Prosecutors in Piedmont’s regional capital, Turin ordered the arrests after an attempted attack on 13-14 May at a buiding site in Chiomonte in Piedmont’s Valle De Susa using molotov cocktails.

Work began this year on the main 58-kilometre tunnel, of which 12 km are in Italy, for the 15 billion euro train-link due to go into service around 2023.

The line will cut three hours off the current seven-hour train journey between Paris and Milan.

But it has sparked fierce opposition including from residents, environmental groups and local mayors. Protesters claim drilling to build the train link will damage the local ecosystem and could release potentially harmful substances into the environment.

Dozens have been arrested and hundreds of demonstrators and police injured in violent protests over the high-speed link and scores of environmental activists sent to trial. Far-left ‘black block’ extremists from Italy and other countries have infiltrated the protest movement, acccording to police.

In 2010, a bullet was mailed to Turin mayor Sergio Chiamparino for his support for the project, which Rome has vowed to complete.

Construction of the high-speed link in Italy was brought to a standstill by protests before and after the Turin Winter Olympics in 2006.

Bullying tactics drive Penan to abandon dam blockade

9th Dec Members of the

9th Dec Members of the Penan tribe from the Malaysian state of Sarawak have bowed to overwhelming pressure and abandoned their 77-day protest against the Murum dam.

Faced with rising waters approaching their villages, lack of food at the protest site and the announcement that the bridges that led to their villages were going to be dismantled, the Penan felt they had no choice but to halt their blockade and accept the move to a new government resettlement site.

When asked why they had agreed to move one Penan man said, ‘ The water is already very close to our village. It’s very high’. A local activist told Survival, ‘They went with a very heavy heart, they are not happy’.

As part of the agreement the Penan were promised a further RM8000 (approximately US$2,500) compensation, taking the total compensation per family to just over US$7,000. However, their other demands including, crucially, the need for more land for planting and forest for hunting and gathering, have been ignored.

The forest is crucial for the Penan. Even the government’s own studies showed that the Murum Penan rely on the forest for 75% of their sustenance. Without more forest it’s hard to see how the Penan will survive in the relocation site.

Despite being pressured to move, the building of the new site is not yet finished. Two of the longhouses are still being worked on. Water supplies have not been connected; the promised school and clinic have not been built and the road connecting the villages is not completed.

The impoundment (flooding) of the dam before all the affected families had agreed to move has caused worldwide outrage. Despite promises from the Sarawak government that the relocation process would meet international standards the Penan were not properly consulted and the relocation process was shrouded in secrecy.

Survival was told, ‘People believed that it would be different this time, but it has shown to be lies. The government never took their demands into consideration’.

The lawyer acting for the Penan has promised that despite this move the Penan will still protest and will continue to push for justice in the courts.

Direct Action Gets the Goods: Chevron Suspends in Romania

8th December

Chevron has suspended exploration for shale gas in northeastern Romania after hundreds of anti-fracking protesters tore down fences.

8th December

Chevron has suspended exploration for shale gas in northeastern Romania after hundreds of anti-fracking protesters tore down fences.

Chevron won approval to drill exploratory wells in the town of Pungesti, but halted work for a second time Saturday after residents blocked access to the site.

Hundreds of riot police couldn’t prevent residents from demolishing fences and breaking into the site. Dozens were detained and 14 were charged with destruction of property and carrying knives.

Chevron said it had suspended work “as a result of unsafe conditions” and informed police of destruction to its property.

Thousands of people have rallied across Romania in recent months to protest against government support for shale gas exploration. Chevron had resumed work at the site on Dec. 2.

Ecuador Bans Environmental Group

ecuador indigenous woman faces police 8th Dec The

ecuador indigenous woman faces police 8th Dec The criminalization of Ecuador’s indigenous and environmental movements continues, as the Correa government prioritizes extraction at all costs. From World War 4 Report:

Ecuador’s government ordered closed the environmentalist Fundación Pachamama Dec. 4, with the Interior Ministry saying it was “affecting the public peace.” The Environment Ministry issued its own statement accusing of the organization of “interference in public policy.” Plainclothes police were sent to seal off the group’s offices in the morning. The action stemmed from the previous week’s protests at the XI Round for selling oil leases in the Ecuadroan Amazon. President Rafael Correa accused Pachamama and another group, Yasunidos, of attacking the Chilean ambassador, Juan Pablo Lira. Pachamama denies the allegations, saying its members were not even present at the protest in front of the Hydrocarbons Ministry. Fundación Pachamama plans to appeal the government’s decision.

“The real reason the government has targeted Fundación Pachamama is because of the effectiveness of their work,” said Bill Twist of the Pachamama Alliance, the group’s sibling organization based in San Francisco. ”This is an attempt to keep them from doing their work, and chill their rights to free speech and assembly.”

Yasunidos is a group that is collecting signatures to demand a referendum on development of the Ishpingo-Tambococha-Tiputini oil bloc, located within Yasuni National Park. State company Petroamazonas is set to begin developing the ITT bloc in 2014, and is seeking private partners for production in the zone.

In June, the Correa administration issued a Executive Decree 16, instating new stringent procedures for NGOs to obtain legal status. Human Rights Watch, protesting the closure of Fundación Pachamama, said the group was the “first victim” of the decree, which it charged “contravenes the rights of free expression and association.”

In a statement, Fundación Pachamama accused the Correa government of violating its own constitution: “We have the right to dissent the decision of the authorities, the process that has been implemented and alternatively propose that the oil remain underground to preserve one of the greatest riches of our country, its cultural and biological diversity. The current Constitution obliges the government to find a new development model that respects our country’s Pluri-nationality, Human Rights, Rights of Nature and ‘Sumak Kawsay’ or ‘Living Forest.’… We believe it is illegitimate to implement processes affecting indigenous territories and not include the presidents of indigenous nationalities and peoples…”

The statement also said the group “extends solidarity” to the Development Council of the Nationalities and Peoples of Ecuador (CODENPE), officially empowered to consult on issues affecting indigenous peoples. (Rebelión, Dec. 7; EFE via Ecuavisa, Dec. 6; Pachamama Alliance press releases via Sacramento Bee, Dec. 5, UDW, Dec. 4; WSJ, Dec. 4)

Ecuador’s 2008 constitution includes provisions for consultation with indigenous peoples on development issues, but the Correa government has been repeatedly accused of violating these measures. The constitutional principle of Sumak Kawsay, usually rendered Vivir Bien or Good Living, is a phrase adopted from Ecuador’s indigenous movement.

Partial Success for Mi’kmaq: SWN Pulls Out (Till 2015?)

$Burning tires form a blockade against pre-fracking seismic testing in Mi'kmaq territory, Dec 3, 2013$ 6th Dec

ELSIPGOTG FIRST NATION, NB–A Houston-based energy company that has faced ferocious resistance from a Mi’kmaq-led coalition is ending its shale gas exploration work for the year, says Elsipogtog War Chief John Levi.

Levi said Friday that the RCMP informed him that SWN Resources Canada is ending its exploration work, but will return in 2015.

Levi said SWN and its contractors would be picking up geophones from the side of the highway today. Geophones interact with thumper trucks to create imaging of shale gas deposits underground.

“They are just going to be picking up their gear today,” said Levi. “At least people can take a break for Christmas.”

Demonstrations against the company escalated this week. Demonstrators twice burned tires on Hwy 11 which was the area where SWN was conducting its shale gas exploration.

SWN said in a statement late Friday afternoon that it had completed its “seismic acquisitions program in New Brunswick.”

The company, however, was silent on its future timeline for returning. [emphasis added -Ed.]

SWN obtained an extension to an injunction against the demonstrators Monday after arguing it needed two more weeks to finish its work. In its court filing, SWN claimed it needed about 25 km left to explore.

Levi said the Mi’kmaq community, which sits about 80 km north of Moncton, will be there again in 2015 to oppose the company. Levi said SWN will be returning to conduct exploratory drilling.

“We can’t allow any drilling, we didn’t allow them to do the testing from the beginning,” said Levi.

Levi said word that SWN is leaving is no cause for celebration just yet.

“We went through a lot,” he said. “We need some time for this to sink in and think about everything, think about what we went through…People did a lot of sacrificing.”

Mexican Guerillas Promise Armed La Parota Resistance

4th Dec

A new guerilla group in the Mexican state of Guerrero has promised armed support for social movements, including the struggle against La Parota Dam.

Two days after announcing its formation via online media, the Revolutionary Armed Forces-People’s Liberation (Fuerzas Armadas Revolucionarias-Liberación del Pueblo, FAR-LP) released a video of one of its leaders, “Comandante Camilo,” warning that the group will launch armed reprisals against the government if it continues repressing social movements.

“If the federal and state governments continue the repression of activists and NGOs, we will make them pay,” he says, reading from a communiqué.

“From these lands, forgotten by all those governments, we say to you, Mr. Governor and Mr. President Peña Nieto, that the harassment, the deaths, the threats against the people must end.

“From this moment, if there is another who dies or is imprisoned from our people, we will exact payment, not in the same place. If there has to be blood, we should spill more than they.”

The FAR-LP explicitly mentions its support for the Council of Ejidos and Communities in Opposition to La Parota Dam (CECOP), an unrelated non-guerilla group that has spearheaded opposition to the dam.

“They are not alone. They have an army at their disposition. You [the government] are the ones who decide what we will do,” the group states.