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Wilmar, the world’s biggest trader in palm oil, is illegally logging rainforests, deliberately setting forests on fire, and intentionally destroying lands that are home to numerous communities in Indonesia without even consulting them.

Friends of the Earth (FOE) and two other NGO’s recently released a report (pdf) discussing these activities.

Point for point, Wilmar emphatically denies all of this — but Laili Kharnur of Lembaga Gemawan, who traveled to attend the release of the report, said in an interview she had witnessed first hand the misery caused by Wilmar’s activities:

“For …

Yesterday, eight West Papuan men and women were arrested at the conclusion of a four-day Papuan Tribal congress meeting in Jayapura. The police say the arrests are because the West Papuan national flag was used in the opening ceremony of the conference; however it’s more realistically part of the continuing campaign to intimidate anyone who would discuss self-determination. Indonesian authorities also recently banned U.S Congressman Eni Faleomavega from entering Papua and attending the Tribal Congress.

Amid this comes the announcement that Indonesian police, military and local government have teamed teaming up …

The Ipperwash Inquiry which began in Novermber 2003, finally came to an end yesterday. The final report concludes that the government of former Ontario premier Mike Harris, Ottawa and the OPP all bear responsibility for the events that led to the death of Dudley George in 1995.

A number of recommendations have been made in the report. Among them:
Ontario should establish a permanent, independent and impartial agency to facilitate and oversee the settling of land and treaty claims.
The OPP should establish a formal consultation committee with major aboriginal …

The following article, written by Gwalgen Geordie Dent, was published on May 14 at the Dominion

Canada in the Congo War
Role of mining, resource extraction has been neglected

Even for those who follow world events, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) is little known in Canada.

The DRC holds two major distinctions. First, it is the richest country in Africa in terms of mineral wealth: gold, diamonds, cobalt and chromium all exist in abundance. Second, it is the country in which the highest number of people – roughly, 4 to10 million …

From IDMC - Some 25 million people worldwide currently live in situations of internal displacement as a result of conflicts or human rights violations. They were forced to flee their homes because their lives were at danger, but unlike refugees they did not cross international borders. Although internally displaced people now outnumber refugees by two to one, their plight receives far less international attention.

Many IDPs remain exposed to violence and other human rights violations during their displacement. Often they have no or only very limited access to food, employment, …

From Amazon Watch - Los Angeles, CA – A report released today (link below), on the eve of Occidental Petroleum’s (Oxy) annual general meeting (AGM), reveals that the LA-based oil giant deliberately ignored industry standards and employed out-of-date practices for 30 years, resulting in severe cadmium and lead poisoning among indigenous communities in the Peruvian Amazon.

According to the report, based on information gathered by a team of experts in May 2006 – including a doctor, nurse, lawyers, soil scientist, agronomist, environmental engineer, and chemist – children from five Achuar …

As part of some recent WTO trade talks, Pakistan is endeavouring to open it’s waters to international trawlers — Can you guess the result? Coastal Communities are reporting dramatically reduced catches of local species, and are facing widespread hunger and debt.

ActionAid has just released a report called “Taking the Fish” (link below) which focuses in on this issue.

From the ActionAid Press Release: Rogue trawlers are accused of using damaging nets and of indiscriminately catching and dumping huge quantities of young, unwanted, or dead fish at sea - leaving less for locals to catch.

“The trawlers have nets one …