Indigenous Rights

Finding Land for Cameroon’s Pastoralist Nomads

By Ngala Killian Chimtom
Adamou Harouna’s herd of cattle grazes leisurely on lush green vegetation in Ndop, a small village in Cameroon’s North West Region.

Chevron Fights Amazon Pollution Verdict in U.S. Court

By Samuel Oakford
Two years after they were awarded 18 billion dollars by an Ecuadorian court for environmental damage caused by Chevron in the Amazonian rainforest, a group of indigenous villagers and their U.S. lawyer went on trial Tuesday in New York, accused by the oil company of bribery and racketeering.

Baka Pygmies Drink Up Their Voting Rights

By Ngala Killian Chimtom
When Daniel Mgwape, a Baka man in Mindourou of the East Region of Cameroon, felt like drinking local liquor commonly called ‘kitoko’, he simply took his biometric voter ID card to the village bar tender.

Making Local People Stewards of the Earth

By Stephen Leahy
The lack of land rights is a crisis not just for local people but for all of humanity, warned organisers at an international conference here.

Nigerians Uncertain of Future in Bakassi Peninsula

By Ngala Killian Chimtom
Thomas Effiom, a 35-year old fisher in Jabane, a small locality in Cameroon’s Bakassi Peninsula, scoops off floodwaters from the muddy floor of his house. It is a ritual he performs each time the Atlantic Ocean overflows.

Q&A: Room for Negotiation in Decisive Battle over the Amazon

By Mario Osava
Everything indicates that the decisive battle between harnessing hydropower and preserving the Amazon will play out in the Tapajós river basin in Brazil. At stake there are a potential of nearly 30,000 MW and a vital part of the Amazon rainforest.

Squatting on Kenya’s Mineral Wealth

By Miriam Gathigah
Zeinab Mohamed is a 70-year-old squatter in Kwale County, in Kenya’s Coast Province. Like many other Coast Province residents, for decades, Mohamed has lived in what squatters call “floating houses”.

Survivors of Peru’s Armed Conflict Still Waiting

By Milagros Salazar
Venisia Ávalos, a 65-year-old indigenous woman from Peru’s highlands region of Ayacucho, looks for her son’s name among a labyrinth formed by thousands of small grey stones.

‘Biggest Guns’ to Control Somalia’s South

By Ahmed Osman
Somali clan leaders say that an Aug. 27 agreement between the government and only a few leaders from the country’s three southern Jubba regions, which aims to resolve the ongoing dispute over who controls the area, creates more problems than it solves.

Native Americans Take Lead in Tar Sands Resistance

By Matthew Charles Cardinale
Native American tribes in the United States have taken the lead in opposing the expansion of the Athabasca Tar Sands in Alberta, Canada, engaging in civil disobedience to the point of arrest and attempting to physically block shipments of construction equipment from passing through their native lands.

Civil Society Calls for Vote on Drilling in Ecuador’s Yasuní Park

By Ángela Meléndez
The Ecuadorean government’s decision to allow oil drilling in the Yasuní National Park, one of the most biodiverse areas of the planet, has caused alarm among environmentalists and indigenous people, who are calling for a referendum on the issue.

Civil Society Trial Finds Oil Corp Guilty in Colombia

By Helda Martínez
An “ethical and political trial on pillaging of natural resources” in Colombia condemned three foreign corporations, including Canada’s Pacific Rubiales Energy, which has dozens of oil and natural gas operations around the country.

Q&A: Colombia Still in the Icy Grip of Impunity

By Alexander Chaves
Death threats are hardly uncommon in Colombia. In fact, if you are a human rights activist, they are practically guaranteed.

Haitian Farmers Lauded for Food Sovereignty Work

By Jared Metzker
Work by the Group of 4 (G4) union of Haitian peasant organisations, along with assistance from the Dessalines Brigade -  South American peasant leaders and agroecology experts supported by La Via Campesina - has been singled out for promoting “good farming practices and advocat[ing] for peasant farmers” in Haiti.

Alberta’s Oil Sands Bring Jobs, Services and Despair

By Flossie Baker
“First the bugs began to disappear,” says Eriel Deranger, spokesperson for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation.

Report Finds Pattern of Inequity in Development Aid

By Lydia Lim
Despite global efforts to provide development aid, the world’s poorest are getting poorer, says a new report by the Catholic Agency for Overseas Development (CAFOD).

Caribbean May Seek Reparations for Slavery

By Peter Richards
As Caribbean countries prepare to observe Emancipation Day on Aug. 1, they are also caught up in an ongoing debate over reparations for slavery.

U.S., U.K. Accused of Ignoring, Facilitating Abuses in Ethiopia

By Carey L. Biron
The U.S. and U.K. foreign assistance offices are being accused of ignoring, mischaracterising or downplaying testimony offered by ethnic communities in Ethiopia who accuse the Addis Ababa government of forcefully evicting them from their lands and violating their human rights in the name of mass development projects.

China Leads Battle Against Poverty, Says U.N.

By Thalif Deen
The United Nations has singled out China - the world's most populous country with over 1.3 billion people - as one of the key success stories in the longstanding battle against poverty.

Native People’s Land Demands Gain Visibility in Argentina

By Marcela Valente
The native people of Argentina are achieving unprecedented visibility for their demands. However, they are still faced with hurdles to more rapid progress towards their claims.

Govt Council Raises Hopes for Improved U.S.-Tribal Relations

By Carey L. Biron
Indigenous rights groups are applauding U.S. President Barack Obama's creation of a new high-level council aimed at coordinating government actions relating to Native American communities, a move that advocates have been urging since early in the president's first term.
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