3 19 2010-02-03T10:50:29+00:00 5505 3 New research by scientists has found that a vast region of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon is the most biodiverse in South America. But this region, home to some of the world’s last "uncontacted tribes":http://www.survivalinternational.org/uncontactedtribes, is gravely threatened by oil exploration and drilling. The research, "published in PLoS ONE":http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0008767, found parts of eastern Ecuador and northern Peru to be uniquely rich in amphibians, birds, mammals and plants. But the scientists also say that oil companies are working, or due to work, in a massive 79% of the region. ‘Unfortunately, the most biodiverse area in South America is included in oil lots 39, 67, 121, 123 and 129,’ says Dr Matt Finer from "Save America’s Forests":http://www.saveamericasforests.org/, one of the authors of the report. "Repsol-YPF":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/repsol is working in Lot 39 and "Perenco":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/perenco in Lots 67 and 121. Perenco has already discovered vast oil deposits, but Repsol is still exploring. ‘These findings form the scientific basis for policy recommendations, including stopping any new oil activities and road construction in Yasuní (in Ecuador) and creating areas off-limits to large-scale development in adjacent northern Peru,’ says the report. Peru’s national Amazon indigenous organisation, "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/, has appealed to Peru’s courts to stop oil work in the region. It has also filed a complaint with Latin America’s top human rights body, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. 0 Crossed spears left by an uncontacted tribe in Peru where Perenco and Repsol YPF are working. 272 0 2010-02-04T17:58:00+00:00 New research by scientists has found that a vast region of the Ecuadorian and Peruvian Amazon is the most biodiverse in South America. http://bit.ly/ajrSSu 1 published 3 Uncontacted tribes’ land: ‘most biodiverse’ in South America and threatened by oil 55 2010-02-05T12:16:29+00:00 3 19 2010-01-08T18:04:47+00:00 5408 3 Peru’s government has announced it will hold an auction for oil and gas concessions towards the end of April. The auction was announced by Daniel Saba, head of Perupetro, the government body responsible for promoting oil and gas exploration in the country and negotiating contracts with companies. According to the government’s news agency, Perupetro is hoping to attract major oil companies like Total and Exxon Mobil to bid in the auction. Many of the concessions are expected to be in the Amazon, although their exact location remains unclear. Survival is urging Peru’s government not to permit any oil and gas exploration on land inhabited by "uncontacted tribes":http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/isolatedperu, or any area where it has not obtained the free, prior and informed consent of the people who live there. The auction was originally intended to be held last August, but has been suspended on at least two occasions. Perupetro’s promotional work for the auction will begin in Houston on 10 February. In the 1990s Mobil, now part of Exxon Mobil, controversially explored for oil in a region of south-east Peru inhabited by uncontacted tribes. After an international campaign by organisations such as Survival and "FENAMAD":http://www.fenamad.org/home.htm, Mobil abandoned the project. 0 Perupetro negotiates with oil and gas companies working in Peru. 224 0 2010-01-09T09:00:00+00:00 Peru’s government has announced it will hold an auction for oil and gas concessions towards the end of April. http://bit.ly/85CJWr 1 3 Peru will hold ‘Amazon auction’ in April 55 2010-01-11T10:33:44+00:00 3 19 2010-01-05T14:46:57+00:00 5398 3 An indigenous organisation in Peru is demanding that companies stop entering its land without permission, citing Anglo-French company "Perenco":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/perenco as an example. The demand was issued in a statement by "ORPIO":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=1134, based in Loreto in northern Peru and affiliated to Peru’s national indigenous organisation for the Amazon, "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?id=1. ORPIO calls for ‘an end to the interference from oil companies continuing to enter our land without previous consultation, as specified by the law. For example: in an area called 'Lot 121' where Perenco is in conflict with local organisations.’ Perenco is also working in 'Lot 67', adjacent to 'Lot 121'. 'Lot 67' is inhabited by at least two uncontacted tribes, and the company is being heavily criticised for working there. AIDESEP has appealed to Peru’s "top court":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4923 to stop Perenco’s work, as well as Latin America’s top human rights body, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Perenco denies the uncontacted tribes exist. ORPIO represents more than 450 indigenous villages in northern Peru. "Read":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=1134 ORPIO's statement 0 Nahua man in south-east Peru. First contact for the Nahua led to more than 50% of them dying. 200 0 2010-01-05T14:47:00+00:00 An indigenous organisation in Peru is demanding that companies stop entering its land without permission, citing Anglo-French company Perenco as an example. http://bit.ly/6g3z1t 1 3 Amazon indigenous organisation rejects oil company Perenco on its land 580 2010-01-07T11:13:19+00:00 19 2009-12-18T15:53:45+00:00 5377 3 A draft report on the "violent conflict in the Peruvian Amazon":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4687 in June has drawn widespread condemnation from organisations in Peru. The draft was allegedly written by a commission appointed by the Peruvian government to investigate the events of 5 June in Bagua, northern Peru. More than thirty people, including twenty-three policemen, died after armed police attacked a peaceful indigenous protest. The report implies the indigenous protesters were to blame for the violence, and claims they were manipulated by outsiders, including missionaries and politicians. ‘The draft report is absolutely worthless because it wants to show that it is the indigenous people who are to blame for what happened. That is not true and does not fit with the peaceful way in which indigenous people live,’ said a spokesperson for "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=1120, Peru’s national organisation for indigenous people in the Amazon. ‘We reject the preliminary report, allegedly written by the commission investigating events at Bagua, in which missionaries are blamed for having ‘provoked, supported and gone along with legal and illegal actions that ended in the deaths of policemen and natives,’’ said the "Aguaruna and Huambisa Council":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=1124 (CAH), a local indigenous organisation. The draft report is the ‘antithesis of a serious work of investigation,’ said a spokesperson from Peru’s "Institute of Legal Defence":http://www.servindi.org/actualidad/20195. ‘It portrays indigenous people as ignorant and failing to understand the benefits of the laws (they were protesting against).’ The draft makes a number of controversial remarks about ‘uncontacted’ and ‘isolated’ tribes. It refers to a ‘racist and romantic anthropology’ whose defence of uncontacted tribes would amount to ‘violating their human rights and committing ethnocide.’ The report also makes a series of bizarre ‘recommendations’ to Peru’s indigenous population. These include: • ‘The current situation in the Amazon means that the native must revise his culture and social, political and religious structures.’ • ‘The natives should revise their organization in the light of modern movements.’ • ‘The natives should abandon their concept of a static culture opposed to change. . . the way their leaders function. . . their belief that ‘all people are equal’. . . their idea of ‘an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth. . .’ • ‘The natives need to adapt to a globalization model inspired by an authentic humanism.’ According to AIDESEP, two members of the commission "are refusing":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?codnota=1120 to put their names to the report. Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘Apart from totally failing to clarify what happened at Bagua, the draft report is a disturbing insight into the mindset of some of the commission members. The report is full of unsubstantiated claims and misunderstandings, and it ends with a series of ‘recommendations’ so paternalist and offensive they almost defy belief.’ "Read the report":http://www.servindi.org/actualidad/20195 (in Spanish). Follow the link in the second paragraph of the article. 0 Armed police shoot at indigenous protesters at Bagua, northern Peru. 321 0 2009-12-19T09:00:00+00:00 A draft report on the violent conflict in the Peruvian Amazon in June has drawn widespread condemnation from organisations in Peru. http://bit.ly/4rJ2WU 1 3 Draft report on Peru violence provokes indigenous anger 580 2009-12-18T17:54:44+00:00 3 19 2009-12-11T13:03:45+00:00 5356 3 Amnesty International (AI) is ‘urgently’ pressing the Peruvian government to suspend companies whose work could affect the rights of indigenous people. AI makes the recommendation in a new report, "‘Peru: Bagua, six months on’":http://www.amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/report/victims-peru-amazon-violence-deserve-justice-without-discrimination-20091, published six months after armed police attacked a peaceful indigenous protest at Bagua, northern Peru. The report urges Peru’s government ‘to review urgently all concessions that have been granted to extractive industries in areas where such activity could affect the rights of Indigenous Peoples, with a view to taking appropriate action to respect and protect human rights; no activity should take place in these concession areas until the review is complete; the review must include a clear process of consultation with affected communities.’ AI’s call comes after the government has granted more than 70% of the Peruvian Amazon to oil and gas companies, and has announced plans to increase that figure early in 2010. It echoes a recommendation made by the "United Nations":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4916 earlier this year when it told Peru it should not allow oil and gas drilling on indigenous peoples’ land without their ‘informed consent’. Companies potentially affected include those working on land inhabited by uncontacted tribes, such as "Perenco":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/perenco and "Repsol-YPF":http://www.survivalinternational.org/about/repsol. Many indigenous communities in Peru reject the presence of companies working in extractive industries, such as oil, gas, mining or timber, on their land. Survival’s director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘It’s critical that Peru’s government hears what Amnesty is saying. The tragic events at Bagua happened because the government tried to give away indigenous land without the consent of the people who have lived there for hundreds of years. The government is still trying to do this and does not appear to have learnt its lesson.’ 0 Armed police attack indigenous protesters at Bagua. 310 0 2009-12-12T09:00:00+00:00 Amnesty International (AI) is ‘urgently’ pressing the Peruvian government to suspend companies whose work could affect the rights of indigenous people. http://bit.ly/8dcHxW 1 3 Amnesty: Peru should suspend oil companies working on indigenous land 55 2009-12-11T13:03:51+00:00 3 19 2009-11-25T17:35:50+00:00 5281 3 More than a thousand people voted for Anglo-French company Perenco in a spoof Friends of the Earth award for human rights. Perenco was "nominated for the award":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5266, the ‘Pinocchio Prize 2009’, for its billion dollar project in a part of the Peruvian Amazon inhabited by at least two "uncontacted tribes":http://www.survivalinternational.org/uncontactedtribes. The company’s work in the area violates the tribes’ rights under international law, and could decimate them if contact is made. The winner of the award, Bolloré, was announced in a "statement":http://www.amisdelaterre.org/Et-les-laureats-des-Prix-Pinocchio,4499.html by Friends of the Earth (France) yesterday. Perenco came third with 22% of the vote. The ‘Pinocchio Prize’ is intended to raise awareness of, and condemn, French businesses who ‘perpetrate the most serious human rights violations.’ Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, met Peru’s president, Alan Garcia, earlier this year while indigenous people in the Amazon were protesting against his company. 0 Crossed spears left by an uncontacted tribe in the Amazon where Perenco is working 202 0 2009-11-25T17:35:50+00:00 More than a thousand people voted for Anglo-French company Perenco in a spoof Friends of the Earth award for human rights. http://bit.ly/5okCKF 1 3 Perenco comes third in spoof Friends of the Earth award for human rights 55 2009-11-25T17:36:01+00:00 3 19 2009-11-13T17:09:18+00:00 5266 3 An Anglo-French company has been nominated for a spoof "Friends of the Earth":http://www.foe.co.uk/ (FoE) award for its billion dollar project in a part of the Amazon inhabited by two of the world’s last "uncontacted tribes":/uncontactedtribes. The company, Perenco, is one of four nominees in the human rights category for Friends of the Earth France’s ‘Pinocchio Prize 2009’. The prize is intended to raise awareness of, and condemn, French businesses who ‘perpetrate the most serious human rights violations.’ Perenco has been nominated for its project in the Peruvian Amazon where it plans to drill for millions of barrels of oil on land belonging to uncontacted tribes, according to FoE. In doing so, Perenco is contravening a "recent recommendation from the UN to Peru’s government":/news/4916, and is being sued by Peru’s national indigenous peoples’ organisation, AIDESEP. Perenco denies the tribes exist. FoE says that in June there was a ‘massacre’ following indigenous protests against government plans to open up their land to oil companies without their consent. ‘Peru's president, Alan Garcia, has recognised publicly that the government failed to consult adequately with indigenous people about oil concessions. But Perenco doesn't seem ready to learn from this, and is aggravating what is an extremely tense situation following the massacre,’ says FoE. Perenco’s chairman, Francois Perrodo, met Alan Garcia earlier this year and promised to invest two billion dollars in the project. At the same time, "indigenous people in the Amazon were protesting against the company"://news/4514 and preventing their boats from traveling on a major Amazon tributary. Survival Director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘This is a major embarrassment for Perenco. One way of guaranteeing they don’t win the Pinocchio prize would be to abandon this project tomorrow.’ Voting for the Pinocchio prize can be done on-line: "http://www.prix-pinocchio.org/nomines.php":http://www.prix-pinocchio.org/nomines.php. The winner will be announced on 24 November. 0 Perenco is exploring for oil inside uncontacted Indians' land. 215 0 2009-11-16T10:21:00+00:00 An Anglo-French company has been nominated for a spoof Friends of the Earth (FoE) award for its billion dollar project in a part of the Amazon inhabited by two of the world’s last uncontacted tribes. http://bit.ly/eajEU 1 3 Anglo-French company nominated for spoof Friends of the Earth award 55 2009-11-24T16:20:22+00:00 19 2009-11-11T14:25:54+00:00 5219 3 A spokesman from a tribe in Kenya has condemned the Peruvian government’s attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon indigenous movement. The condemnation comes from Kiplangat Cheruyot from the "Ogiek":http://www.survivalinternational.org/tribes/ogiek tribe in response to the revelation that Peru’s government "plans to disband Peru’s national organisation":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5166 for indigenous people in the Amazon, known by its Spanish acronym "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/index.php?id=1. ‘We, the Ogiek Indigenous people of Kenya, condemn in the strongest possible terms the Peruvian Government for its human rights abuses, including arrest, prosecution and harassment of indigenous and tribal people. ‘We understand that Peru is a signatory to several United Nations conventions that seek to promote and protect its citizens. It’s sad to note that the same government violates its own national laws by not respecting or recognising indigenous peoples’ rights as contained in the UN Declaration on Indigenous Rights. ‘We call upon the international community, including the UN secretary-general, to send its Special Rapporteur for an immediate fact-finding mission on human rights situations in Peru. We cannot just sit by and watch what is happening. We must take all necessary avenues to make the government change its ill motives and intentions.’ Cheruyot is a spokesman for the Ogiek People’s Development Program. The Ogiek face becoming the world’s latest "‘conservation refugees’":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/5158 after the Kenyan government recently announced plans to evict them from their land in a bid to stop climate change. AIDESEP was founded in 1980 and represents 350,000 indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon. 0 A spokesman for the Ogiek has condemned the Peruvian government's attempt to disband AIDESEP. 111 0 2009-11-11T14:32:00+00:00 A spokesman from a tribe in Kenya has condemned the Peruvian government’s attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon indigenous movement. http://bit.ly/2jadiU 1 3 Kenyan tribe to Ban Ki-Moon: 'We condemn Peru repression' 580 2009-11-11T14:37:16+00:00 19 2009-11-09T10:57:27+00:00 5216 3 The Peruvian government’s unprecedented attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon Indian movement has been condemned by indigenous leaders around the world. The wave of condemnation comes after it was revealed that the government plans to disband Peru’s national organisation for Amazon Indians, known by its Spanish acronym "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/. ‘We "Bushmen":/tribes/bushmen of Botswana support the Indians of Peru and think that the government of Peru and the oil companies should not forget the indigenous peoples. If you destroy their land, you destroy the Indians themselves,’ said Jumanda Gakelebone, from First People of the Kalahari, a Bushman organization in southern Africa. ‘Peru's government should sit down and talk respectfully to AIDESEP as the legitimate representatives of the country's Amazonian Indians, not try to attack them through the courts,’ said Armand MacKenzie, from the "Innu":/tribes/innu Council of Nitassinan in Canada. ‘It is outrageous. I condemn Peru's government for trying to destroy the voice of Peru’s Amazon population,’ said Lal Amlai, a "Jumma":/tribes/jummas man from Bangladesh. ‘If you target AIDESEP you’re targeting all indigenous people – not just those in the Amazon or Peru but all over the world,’ said CAOI, an organization representing indigenous people in Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Peru. CAOI called the attempt to disband AIDESEP ‘absurd’ and further evidence of the government’s ‘racist’ policies. AIDESEP has been vigorously opposing the government’s attempts to open the Peruvian Amazon to oil, gas and mining companies. The proposal to disband it was made by Peru’s Ministry of Justice just three days after armed Peruvian police attacked a peaceful indigenous protest in northern Peru, which was part of Amazon-wide protests coordinated by AIDESEP. The attack led to more than thirty deaths and two hundred people injured. AIDESEP was founded in 1980 and represents 350,000 indigenous people in the Peruvian Amazon. Survival director, Stephen Corry, said today, ‘To many people worldwide the first thing that comes to mind when they think of Peru is Machu Picchu, South America’s top tourist attraction. Peru now risks being better known for a repressive government determined to destroy the country’s indigenous movement.’ 0 Peru's Amazon Indians have been protesting against the exploitation of their lands by oil and gas companies 323 0 2009-11-10T10:10:00+00:00 The Peruvian government’s unprecedented attempt to destroy Peru’s Amazon Indian movement has been condemned by indigenous leaders around the world. http://bit.ly/LOanJ 1 3 Repression of Amazon Indian movement condemned worldwide 2009-11-10T10:17:40+00:00 19 2009-10-30T15:06:03+00:00 5171 3 Indigenous people have threatened to evict a US company, Hunt Oil, exploring for oil on their ancestral land in the Peruvian Amazon. According to "FENAMAD":http://fenamad-indigenas.blogspot.com/, an indigenous organisation in south-east Peru, at least two hundred people have gathered in a small town called Salvación, which acts as Hunt’s base in the region. A meeting between company representatives, local indigenous people and high-ranking government ministers, including the prime minister, was scheduled to take place on Wednesday. Fifty policemen have been sent to Salvación – a move condemned by Peru’s national indigenous peoples’ organisation, "AIDESEP":http://www.aidesep.org.pe/. FENAMAD says local people have not given Hunt consent to work on their land, and they are willing to put their ‘lives on the line’ to stop them from doing so. They said they would evict the company if it continued to violate their rights. FENAMAD says that local people have also asked to speak directly to Hunt’s owners. Hunt is a private company whose CEO, Ray Hunt, is a long-standing associate of former US presidents George Bush and George W. Bush. Hunt owns the rights to explore in the region, which includes land belonging to the Yine, Matsigenka and Harakmbut tribes, with Repsol-YPF. Last month, FENAMAD announced it was "suing both companies":http://www.survivalinternational.org/news/4969. At the heart of the region is the Amarakaeri Communal Reserve, used by many indigenous villages for hunting and fishing and the source of six rivers that are the only fresh water supply for an estimated ten thousand people. 0 The Harakmbut are one of three tribes that depend on the reserve where Hunt is exploring for oil. 399 0 2009-10-30T15:06:03+00:00 Indigenous people have threatened to evict a US company, Hunt Oil, exploring for oil on their ancestral land in the Peruvian Amazon. http://bit.ly/1pIkjR 1 3 US oil company threatened with eviction from Amazon 580 2009-11-24T16:23:17+00:00