FoE International News
Guatemalan human rights defender released!
Human rights defender Rubén Herrera has been released following a decision by a Guatemalan court. Herrera was arrested as he left his house on March 15. He has been an active community organiser working on many environmental and social justice campaigns for most of his adult life.
The flimsy reasons for his arrest – including incitement and kidnapping – were refuted by Herrera and his defense during a court hearing on March 19. However, despite requests by Guatemala's Public Prosecutor to dismiss the case due to a lack of evidence, the judge ordered that the case continue and that Herrera return to court at the end of May. At the hearing in May, the judge decided to release him. Thousands of people around the world gave their support to a FoE International email campaign to free Herrera.
Herrera's case is part of a disturbing cycle of criminalisation of human rights and environmental activists in his part of Guatemala (Barillas, Huehuetenango). Spanish company Hidralia SA is building a hydroelectric dam in the area, despite 90% of local community members voicing their opposition to and voting against the implementation of hydroelectric and mining projects in a 2007 consultation. Local communities have repeatedly implicated the company in political repression, intimidation and manipulation of local and national legal processes in recent years.
According to Natalia Atz Sunuc, FoE Guatemala general coordinator: "Campesinos and indigenous people are labeled as 'terrorists' for defending their basic human rights in a peaceful way".
In June 2011, 40 European parliamentarians denounced the situation in Guatemala, but the European Union still refuses to take an effective stance in its trade and investment policies. A November 2012 international mission organised by FoE International verified systematic human rights violations and criminalisation of environmental activists and communities resisting mining and hydroelectric projects in Guatemala and El Salvador.
More information about controversies surrounding transnational corporations in Guatemala: http://tinyurl.com/ruben-herrera
Pesticide restrictions victory for bees
A decision in Brussels to introduce EU-wide restrictions on neonicotinoid insecticides linked to bee decline is a significant victory. The move by the European Commission followed a report by the European Food Safety Authority earlier this year linking three neonicotinoid insecticides to bee decline.
FoE England, Wales and Northern Ireland's head of campaigns Andrew Pendleton said: "This decision is a significant victory for common sense and our beleaguered bee populations. Restricting the use of these pesticides could be an historic milestone on the road to recovery for these crucial pollinators. Ministers must now help farmers to grow and protect crops, but without relying so heavily on chemicals – especially those linked to bee decline."
Through its Bee Cause campaign, FoE England, Wales and Northern Ireland played a major role in persuading leading home and garden retailers to act on neonicotinoid insecticides. FoE Germany and FoE Austria are also campaigning to ban pesticides which harm bees.
More information: http://tinyurl.com/bees-please
Everest expedition calls for climate justice
The Climbing for Climate Justice Everest expedition – organised by the Save the Himalayas Campaign and Khangri Media, in collaboration with FoE Nepal / Pro Public – successfully climbed Mt. Everest on May 20 to demand climate justice from the top of the world. The team returned to Kathmandu and held a press conference on May 25.
Sudarshan Gautam – a Nepal-born Canadian resident –became the first person with no arms or prosthetic limbs to climb Mt Everest. He told the media that he saw how climate change is affecting the Himalayas, and stated that "Mount Everest has lost most of its glacier and now largely looks like a big black rock." He urged the world community to reduce greenhouse gas emissions immediately.
Pemba Dorje Sherpa – who holds the world record for climbing Mount Everest in the fastest time − said that it has become easier to reach the top due to climate change as there is less and less snow. "You can get to camp 3 just using sports shoes these days," he said.
Prakash Mani Sharma, director of FoE Nepal, congratulated expedition members and thanked them for their effort to raise awareness of climate justice.
More information: http://tinyurl.com/everest-foe
Nigerian farmers and FoE Netherlands appeal Shell case
Nigerian farmers from two villages who lost their case against Shell, together with FoE Netherlands (Milieudefensie), have submitted an appeal to the January decision by the court in The Hague. Milieudefensie is also filing an appeal in a third case. All the cases are centred around oil pollution due to spills from Shell pipelines and oil wells.
In one case, the court ruled in favour of Milieudefensie and one of the Nigerian plaintiffs, Elder Friday Akpan. Shell was ordered to pay compensation to this farmer from the village of Ikot Ada Udo, because the company did not adequately protect its oil well from vandalism, and oil from the well streamed over Akpan's land. In this case, however, the court ruled that Shell Headquarters in The Hague could not be held liable for the failures of its subsidiary, which is responsible for the daily management of Shell in Nigeria.
The lawyer for the farmers and Milieudefensie disputes in its entirety the decision taken by the court in the cases addressing damage from oil spills from Shell pipelines in the other two villages, Goi and Oruma. In those two cases, the court did not find Shell liable for the damages suffered by the farmers due to the oil spills because the cause was considered to be sabotage and the court ruled that Shell could not have reasonably prevented it.
Land grabbing in Uganda
Wilmar International is developing palm oil plantations in biodiverse islands off the coast of Lake Victoria, Uganda. The first phase of the project was completed in 2011 and the second phase of the project is currently going ahead. The second phase will expand palm oil plantations onto several other islands. The project is being promoted as a poverty-reducing endeavour, yet it is causing displacement, food insecurity and deforestation.
In 2011 and 2012, Newsweek magazine ranked Wilmar as the world's worst company in terms of environmental performance, the worst of the 500 largest publicly traded companies in the world.
More information:
http://tinyurl.com/uganda-land
http://foei.org/landgrabbing
http://foei.org/wilmar-financing
Support the online action at: http://action.foei.org/page/speakout
Glyphosate: reason for concern
Glyphosate is the world's best-selling weed killer and one of the most widely used herbicides in Europe. It is crucial for growing genetically modified (GM) crops, many of which are modified to withstand glyphosate. Concerns surround the safety of glyphosate particularly about its effect on human health, particularly on the hormone system, and its impact on the wider environment.
Now tests have shown that glyphosate is present in the human body. FoE Europe commissioned an independent laboratory in Germany to test urine samples from people in 18 countries for glyphosate. The results showed that traces of the chemical were found in samples from all countries, with 44% of samples found to contain glyphosate on average.
More information: http://tinyurl.com/foe-gly