#NoLandNoLife | Peasant, indigenous groups file cases to mark Human Rights Day

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#NoLandNoLife | Peasant, indigenous groups file cases to mark Human Rights Day
 
Press Release
10 December 2015

 
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PENANG, Malaysia - To mark the International Human Rights Day today, peasant and indigenous groups in the region are filing cases to seek justice for victims of human rights violations related to land conflicts. The coordinated action is part of the "No Land, No Life!" campaign initiated by PAN Asia Pacific (PANAP) and its partners to highlight land and resource grabbing as human rights issues.
 
Among the cases filed is on the separate killings of two leaders of an indigenous community resisting the expansion of an oil palm plantation in the Philippines. The Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (Peasant Movement of the Philippines or KMP) filed a complaint before the national Commission on Human Rights (CHR) to probe the assassination of Gilbert Paborada. Paborada was then 47 years old and chairperson of PANGALASAG, an organization of the indigenous Higaonon tribe, when two men on a motorcycle gunned him down on 3 October 2012. The complaint also includes the murder of PANGALASAG member Rolen Langala on 2 December 2013. Both are from the town of Opol in Misamis Oriental province of the Philippines's southernmost island of Mindanao. PANGALASAG has been opposing the expansion of an oil palm plantation in Opol operated by local firm A. Brown Company. Meanwhile, KMP is also joining other people's organizations in a protest march today in Manila against the continuing political repression and reign of impunity in the country. (See more details)
 
In Indonesia, the peasant group Aliansi Gerakan Reforma Agraria (Alliance for Agrarian Reform Movement or AGRA) is also filing several cases before the Komisi Nasional Hak Asasi Manusia (National Commission on Human Rights or Komnas HAM). The cases include the forced eviction of 11,000 households in 22 villages in West Java due to the construction of a mega dam. Another is the land conflict between the plantation firm P.T. Kismohandayani in several villages in East Java. The conflict resulted in the burning of 49 houses; filing of trumped up charges against five people; confiscation of harvests; and intimidation of the villagers allegedly by the police and company-hired thugs. AGRA is organizing as well a protest rally in Jakarta and coordinated activities in West Kalimantan, Central Sulawesi, and Central Java after the submission of their formal complaint to Komnas. (See more details)
 
Earlier, fisherfolk group National Fisheries Solidarity Movement (NAFSO) has also filed a formal complaint at the head office of Sri Lanka's Human Rights Commission in Colombo. The case stems from the physical and economic displacement of 150 families in Shasthrawela village in Lahugala Division, Ampara District who were driven away by the Sri Lanka Air Force. The area is being developed for tourism. (See more details)
 
"Engaging these national human rights mechanisms is one way of pushing forward our call to stop land and resource grabbing and making those behind the atrocities accountable, whether they are corporations or governments," said PANAP executive director Sarojeni Rengam.
 
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From January to November 2015, PANAP has monitored about 94 cases of human rights violations against more than 4,000 peasants, indigenous people, and activists that are related to land conflicts and struggles in various parts of the world. The violations include 43 cases of killings that have claimed 59 victims with state security forces and company-hired private armies and goons as alleged perpetrators. (See more details)

PANAP and its partners also plan to elevate the documented cases of human rights violations to the United Nations' (UN) human rights instruments including the Special Rapporteurs sometime next year.
 
"We must recognize, however, that in most cases, a strong movement on the ground - of farmers, indigenous people and other affected sectors - is needed to exert public pressure to compel these human rights institutions to decide in favor of the aggrieved communities. Only a determined people's movement can counterweigh the tremendous power and influence of land and resource grabbers and human rights violators," Rengam emphasized.
 
The "No Land, No Life!" campaign was launched and supported by six regional and global coalitions and 21 national organizations across Asia Pacific on 29 March 2015 as part of the "Day of the Landless" declaration. It is a regional initiative that aims to jointly monitor, document and campaign on human rights issues arising from land and resource grabbing cases. (See more details) ###
 
Reference: Sarojeni Rengam, [email protected]
    Posted by: Danica Castillo
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