www.survival-international.org/news/4514

Perenco chairman meets president as Indians protest across Amazon
Survival International
30 April 2009

The chairman of Anglo-French oil company Perenco has told the Peruvian president his company will invest $2 billion in the country, as Indians across the Amazon protest against the invasion of their territories by oil companies.

The protests have included the blockade of the Napo River, a key Amazon tributary. According to sources, at least two boats, including one belonging to Perenco, have managed to break through the blockade on the Napo - allegedly leading to three shots being fired at the Indians who chased after them.

Meanwhile, Perenco's chairman, Oxford University graduate Francois Perrodo, and Peru's president, Alan Garcia, met in the presidential palace in Lima. Perenco pledged to invest $2 billion in Peru, but said that its oil project, in an area inhabited by at least two of the world's last uncontacted tribes, will be delayed.

Survival has urged the company to withdraw from the project, as the isolated Indians living in the area, known as Lot 67, could be decimated.

Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, "While Garcia and Perrodo shake hands and do billion dollar deals in the palace, hundreds of miles away Indians are protesting against the government and the invasion of their territories by companies. Perenco's timing couldn't be worse."


Watch Survival's short film 'Uncontacted Tribes',
narrated by Julie Christie:
www.survival-international.org/campaigns/uncontactedtribes

* * *

www.survival-international.org/news/4520

Government determined to exploit uncontacted Indians' land
Survival International
1 May 2009

Peru's government has shown its determination to permit work on uncontacted tribes' land by passing a law declaring oil exploitation in northern Peru a "national necessity".

The law refers specifically to an area of Peru's rainforest called Lot 67, inhabited by at least two of the world's last uncontacted tribes. The company working there is Perenco, and Lot 67 is believed to contain the biggest oil discovery in Peru in thirty years.

The law has been passed in the immediate aftermath of a meeting between Perenco's chairman, Francois Perrodo, and Peru's president, Alan Garcia. At the same time, indigenous protesters have blocked a major Amazon tributary, the Napo river, in order to prevent Perenco and other company boats from passing, mainly in protest against other government laws making it easier for companies to take over indigenous land. According to reports, at least one Perenco boat has broken through the blockade.

Perenco has said it will invest $2 billion in Lot 67 and Peru's government hopes it will transform the country's economy, moving it from a net importer of oil to a net exporter.

The law was passed by Supreme Decree this week. A Supreme Decree is issued by the president and ministers and does not need to be voted by parliament.

Uncontacted Indians are exceedingly vulnerable to any form of contact because they do not have immunity to outsiders' diseases. Contact with Perenco workers would almost certainly decimate them. 

Watch Survival's short film 'Uncontacted Tribes',
narrated by Julie Christie:
www.survival-international.org/campaigns/uncontactedtribes


Act now to help the Uncontacted Indians
Your efforts are crucial in defending the Uncontacted Tribes. Writing a letter to the Peruvian government can make a real difference.

--sample letter--

To S.E. Alan Garcia
Presidente de la República del Perú
Palacio de Gobierno
Plaza de Armas
Lima 1
Peru

[Date]

Your Excellency,

I am extremely concerned about the future of uncontacted tribes in Peru. They are exceedingly vulnerable to outsiders' diseases and they make it clear they want to be left alone. They have the right to live on their lands and to remain in isolation. These rights have been recognised by international law.

I strongly urge the Peruvian government to protect uncontacted tribes by removing all loggers from their land, by stopping the entry of any other outsiders, and by prohibiting any form of natural resource extraction on their territories.

I also call on your government to set up an emergency medical plan in case of contact between the uncontacted Indians and outsiders, and conform to international law by recognising the tribes as the rightful owners of their land. At present these tribes are at huge risk and could well be wiped out.

Yours sincerely,
[your full name & address]

--end sample letter--

____
Survival International, 2009 Registered charity no. 267444

+=+=+=+
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.]

www.survival-international.org/news/4464

Controversial mine on Bushman land shelved as recession hits diamond industry

Survival International
29 April 2009

 
Bushman children, CKGR, Botswana 2004 - copyright 2004 Stephen Corry/Survival


The planned diamond mine at the centre of an international controversy over the forced relocation of Botswana's Bushmen has been shelved due to the global recession. Demand for diamonds has collapsed in recent months, and all Botswana's diamond mines closed in February for two months.

The diamond deposit, at a Bushmen community called Gope, was previously owned by De Beers. It lies inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Soon after the significance of the find was confirmed, the reserve's Bushmen were forced off their land by the Botswana authorities.

Survival International, the Bushmen and many others maintained that the reserve's diamonds were the principal cause of the Bushmen's eviction.

De Beers and the Botswana government consistently denied any intention to mine in the reserve. Dr Akolang Tombale, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Mines, for example, said in 2002 that, "no commercially exploitable mineral deposit has been discovered". De Beers spokesperson Fleur de Villiers described the find as "sub-economic" in 2002, and in 2005 De Beers's head of public affairs Andrew Bone labelled it "un-economical".

Soon after the Bushmen won an historic court case in 2006 which established that they had been forced out of the reserve against their will, De Beers sold the Gope deposit to Gem Diamonds. In 2007 Gem Diamonds valued the Gope deposit at $2.4bn, and announced its intention to open the mine as soon as possible.

Gem has now admitted that the mine is on hold.

Survival's director Stephen Corry said today, "Throughout the Bushman evictions and court case, the Botswana government endlessly repeated two mantras: the 'relocations' were voluntary; and there were no diamonds worth exploiting in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve. Both were completely untrue. The court ruled that the evictions were forced, and the sale and assessment of the billion-dollar Gope diamond deposit showed up the lie of the second. The only reason this mine is not being built now is because of the recession. Survival's allegations were true all along, as they are today when we say the Bushmen are still being denied their rights. Their treatment is still illegal and against the Botswana constitution. They are not even allowed to use the water borehole on their land."


For more information please contact Miriam Ross at Survival International on (+44) (0)20 7687 8734 or (+44) (0)7504 543 367 or email mr@survival-international.org


Act now to help the Bushmen
Your support is vital if the Bushmen are to survive. Writing a letter to the Botswana government is a quick and simple way to let them know of your concern

--sample letter--

To H.E. President Ian Khama
Office of the President
Private Bag 001
Gaborone
Botswana

[Date]

Your Excellency,

I am extremely concerned about the situation facing the Bushmen of the Kalahari.

After being forcibly removed from the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, many Bushmen living in the resettlement camps are exposed to diseases including HIV/AIDS, which they never experienced before. Alcoholism and depression is widespread.

The High Court ruled that the evictions of the Bushmen were illegal and unconstitutional. I urge you to embrace the spirit of this ruling by allowing all of the Bushmen who wish to return home to do so, and by allowing them to hunt for food and to access their own water using the pre-existing borehole at Mothomelo, within the reserve.

Refusal to allow the Bushmen to use their existing borehole at Mothomelo can only be interpreted as a clear sign that you are determined to continue the past government's misguided policy of keeping the Bushmen from returning home.

Yours sincerely,
[your full name & address]

--end sample letter--

____
Survival International, 2009 Registered charity no. 267444

+=+=+=+
[In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this material is distributed without profit or payment to those who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this information for non-profit research and educational purposes only.]