On Tuesday morning, nearly 1000 troops swarmed an encampment set up by the Mohawks to resist an illegal housing development project on Mohawk land. Fortunately, by the time the troops arrived, there were no Mohawks to be found.

The OPP are now looking for people to charge and fine like they did with Shawn Brant, treating him as if he was some sort of ring leader. And the media, of course, is busy making everyone look like, well, a “rag-tag group of loosely assembled dissident Mohawks,” according to the Belleville Intelligencer.

Unfortunately, Tyendinaga Mohawk Council Chief R. Donald Maracle seems took a similar position before the OPP invasion, saying the encampment was unsanctioned and that it interferes with ‘his’ negotiations over the Culbertson Tract.

Memory, however, most likely told the Mohawks that if they were to remain inactive, the project would have …

On April 20th, hundreds of illegal settlers attacked seven Jumma communities in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs) of Bangladesh. Over 500 houses are reported to have been burned, and an unknown number of Jumma were assaulted, raped, and looted during the attack.

According to a recent report by the Asia Centre for Human Rights (ACHR), the attack comes shortly after a group of Jumma gathered to discuss how to defend themselves against an attack, which they had been hearing rumors about. Somehow, the army learned about the gathering and approached the Jumma to tell them there’s nothing to worry about.

As they were talking, a group of Bengali settlers began the attack.

ACHR continues,

This deliberate act of arson, looting, assault and rape, leading to the destruction of seven Jumma villages is reminiscent of similar attacks which forced over 70,000 indigenous Jumma peoples to cross …

Over 200 organizations released a joint statement late last month, condemning the Roundtable on Responsible Soy (RTRS).

Made up of representatives from ADM, Bunge, Cargill, Shell, ABN Amro and the WWF, among others, the RTRS is currently gathered in Buenos Aries to develop policies that encourage “responsible soy,” a prospect they consider while ignoring “the very nature by which soy monoculture is produced, taking up vast swaths of land throughout South America, using massive amounts of water resources, depending upon chemical and synthetic fertilizers and pesticide inputs, and leaving a trail of contaminated and/or displaced communities in its wake,” notes Andrea on the RAN blog. “This precludes it from ever being classified as responsible.”

The Joint Statement against the 3rd RoundTable on Responsible Soy reiterates this in no uncertain terms:

Agribusiness is responsible for the devastation of our soils, deforestation, contamination of rivers …

Mines and Communities has made a rather useful resource guide available on their website. Among other things, it provides a database on mining companies, their projects, and the names of the funders…

Now I imagine I don’t have to tell you the significance of having such a resource, so let me just ask you to help spread the word that this guide exists. At the moment it’s only mentioned on one other website.

Published by Nostromo Research, the guide is called From Money to Metals, and it can be downloaded in English and Spanish on this page at the Mines and Communities website.

Report Overview

“The need for a campaigner’s guide to mine-related finance has grown more and more urgent, as communities at the receiving end of dubious or dangerous projects – and others - become increasingly bewildered at the different types of funding available and …

Mines and Communities reports that “one of the most vilified mining proposals of recent years has hit a major stumbling block, as its key financial backer suspends support. Early this month, in a statement to opponents of the Phulbari coal mine in Bangladesh, the director general of Asia Development Bank (ADB)’s Private Sector Operations Department declared that his agency would ‘decline the opportunity’ of investing in the project.”

Noted here in January, the Asian Development Bank was considering a plan to give a $100 million loan to GCM Resources, the UK company behind the massive coal mine scheme. GCM had also asked the bank for a $200 million “political risk insurance package” to help protect them from any losses they would incur through local resistance… In 2006, over 50,000 people gathered to protest the mine, subsequently forcing GCM to shut down the …

On April 11 Puerto Rico’s Department of Natural Resources (DNR) informed the General Council of Tainos Borincanos that they would NOT be allowed to clean the Bucana river in Jacanas.

As part of an effort to promote conservation and respect for the environment, the Council proposed the clean-up more than two months ago, to “mend the damage caused to the sacred site of Jacanas, Ponce, PR and to renew its integrity,” writes UCTP Taino News.

At that point they decided to contact the DNR, among other governmental agencies, to learn the proper procedures for the clean up. They sent faxes and letters, made phone calls, and even went to their offices in person — but their request was always ignored; that is, until just recently.

The DNR finally wrote back. But to the Tainos dismay, the letter was confusing and contained “no …

Following up last week’s announcement by the Canadian House of Commons which called on the Federal Government to implement the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, an announcement that had me believing pigs could fly, on Monday the (minority) government of Canada was kind enough to set the record straight.

During the first day of the OAS 11th negotiating session for the Draft American Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, they reaffirmed their opposition to the UN declaration — even going so far as to say they will no longer take part in any negotiations regarding the Draft American Declaration.

Courtesy of Ben Powless, below you will find Canada’s official statement, followed by a response delivered the next day by Beverly Jacobs, President of NWAC, on behalf of the Indigenous Peoples Caucus of the Americas.

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