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State of the World’s Minorities group and Indigenous international Peoples 2012 Events of 2011

Focus on land rights and natural resources

State of theWorld’s Minorities and 20121 Events of 2011 Front cover: Young Dinka men at a cattle camp Inside front cover: Indigenous miners working in near Tali village in South ’s Central Equatoria the Potosí mines of Bolivia. Samer Muscati. Inside state. For decades, Dinka constituted a minority in back cover: An Adivasi woman fetches water from a the Republic of Sudan. In July 2011, lake that was formed when villages were flooded by declared independence from the north after enduring the Machkund Dam in Odisha State, India. Stuart ’s longest running civil war. The country’s Freedman/Panos. future now depends on whether the government can balance the interests of its myriad ethnic groups. Sven Torfinn/Panos.

Acknowledgements Support our work Minority Rights Group International (MRG) MRG relies on the generous support of institutions gratefully acknowledges the support of all organizations and individuals to further our work. All donations and individuals who gave financial and other assistance received contribute directly to our projects with to this publication, including CAFOD and Matrix minorities and indigenous peoples. Causes Fund. One valuable way to support us is to subscribe to our report series. Subscribers receive © Minority Rights Group International, June 2012. regular MRG reports and our annual review. All rights reserved. To subscribe to our publications please visit our website: www.minorityrights.org, email Material from this publication may be reproduced [email protected] or call +44 (0)20 7422 for teaching or for other non-commercial purposes. 4200. We also have over 100 titles which can be No part of it may be reproduced in any form for purchased from our website. commercial purposes without the prior express MRG’s unique publications provide well- permission of the copyright holders. researched, accurate and impartial information on minority and indigenous peoples’ rights worldwide. For further information please contact MRG. A CIP We offer critical analysis and new perspectives catalogue record of this publication is available from on international issues. Our specialist training the British Library. materials include essential guides for NGOs and others on international instruments, ISBN 978-1-907919-27-5 and on accessing international bodies. Many MRG publications have been translated into several Published June 2012 languages. Production: Jasmin Qureshi If you would like to know more about MRG, Copy editing: Sophie Richmond how to support us and how to work with us, please Design: Tom Carpenter, Texture visit our website www.minorityrights.org. Printed in the UK Visit the Minority Voices online newsroom www.minorityvoices.org for stories and multimedia content from minorities and indigenous communities around the world.

Minority Rights Group International 54 Commercial Street, E1 6LT, . Follow us: Tel: +44 (0)20 7422 4200 Fax: +44 (0)20 7422 4201 www.twitter.com/minorityrights Email: [email protected] Website: www.minorityrights.org www.facebook.com/minorityrights Focus on land rights and natural resources

State of theWorld’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 20121 Events of 2011 Edited by Beth Walker Minority Rights Group International Introduction

6 Foreword Vital Bambanze, Chair of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

Part 1 Thematic essays

10 Natural resource development and the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples Corinne Lennox

22 Strategies of resistance: testing the limits of the law Carla Clarke

36 Corporate responsibility to respect the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples Corinne Lewis

52 Indigenous women’s land rights: case studies from Africa Elisa Scalise Part 2 Regional overviews 60 Africa Rahnuma Hassan, Paige Jennings, Mohamed Matovu, Ukoha Ukiwo

88 Americas Maurice Bryan

118 Asia and Oceania Nicole Girard, Irwin Loy, Matthew Naumann, Marusca Perazzi, Jacqui Zalcberg

172 Europe Katalin Halász

192 and North Africa Doreen Khoury

Part 3 Reference

211 Peoples under Threat 2012

224 Status of ratification of major international and regional instruments relevant to minority and

236 Who are minorities?

236 Selected abbreviations

237 Contributors

239 Acknowledgements Foreword – development with identity Vital Bambanze, Chair of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples

6 Foreword State of the World’s Minorities 2009 ne of the overriding threats facing indigenous peoples’ rights to cultural life and minorities and indigenous peoples in to effective participation in decision-making O every region of the world is the risk of that will affect them or the regions where they being driven from their land and natural live. Indigenous peoples’ rights have been resources, which are vital for their livelihoods, strengthened further by the elaboration of their culture and often their identity as a people. the right to free, prior and informed consent. Many communities have been closely tied to But there is as yet no similar right expressly their territory for centuries. Yet once their land granted to minorities, who consequently remain is targeted for development – mining, oil and particularly vulnerable to exploitation. gas, dams, agribusiness, or conservation The Expert Mechanism has drawn heavily – they are deftly and often violently evicted with on these standards in its efforts to ensure that little or no compensation. indigenous peoples benefit from and are involved While today’s threats to indigenous peoples and in decisions about the development of their minorities are not new, their scale and severity land and natural resources. International and have reached new proportions. Unprecedented domestic standards have moved forward over demand for the world’s remaining resources, the past years, but implementation of these combined with new technologies to extract standards remains an elusive goal. Even when previously inaccessible resources in the remotest indigenous peoples’ claims of violations of their regions, are putting even the most isolated rights have been upheld by domestic or regional minorities and indigenous peoples under tribunals, governments continue to be reluctant increasing threat from governments and private to implement these decisions. companies wanting to profit from the resources Speaking to indigenous communities and found on or under their lands. experts, I see the plight of my own community, From 2011 to 2012, I chaired the UN the Batwa of the Great Lakes region in Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Central Africa, reflected in the struggles facing Peoples, a body formed to advise the UN communities around the world. This MRG Human Rights Council on the rights of volume shows how Endorois and Ogiek in indigenous peoples. The right to traditional , hill tribes in northern Thailand, San in land and natural resources has been a focal point and many more are locked in ongoing of our work. Our current study on language disputes with governments and private companies and cultural rights has shown that cultural life to secure their rights to their ancestral lands and is inseparable from economic and social life; access to natural resources. Similarly, Bedouin in it is interdependent with other human rights the Middle East and Uighurs in China’s protections. Cultural life also encompasses province struggle to maintain their cultural traditional livelihoods which are commonly integrity against their respective governments’ under threat from natural resource development. desire to put national development first. Dominant national development paradigms This report provides a comprehensive and tend to override alternative conceptions of much-needed overview of marginalized groups development that may be held by minorities – both those who have been adversely affected or indigenous peoples. Natural resource by natural resource exploitation and those who development that affects these groups should be have fought to benefit from these resources – pursued in accordance with their own cultural and adds to a series of efforts to establish firm understanding of development and in a way that recommendations for reform of natural resource does not erode cultural or religious identity. development. The very existence of the Expert Mechanism I belong to the Batwa community in Burundi. is an indication of the increasing recognition Batwa are some of the original inhabitants of the that indigenous peoples and minorities are equatorial forests of the Great Lakes Region of awarded under international human rights Central Africa. Traditionally hunter-gatherers, in treaties and law. International treaties and Burundi, Batwa have never owned land. Over the UN declarations recognize minorities’ and past decades, we have seen our forests dwindle

State of the World’s Minorities Foreword 7 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 and our right to live in them and use their their ancestral land in the name of forest resources denied. Violent conflicts within conservation – to make way for national the region have further undermined our parks. But historical discrimination means livelihoods and culture. Today, no longer able that Batwa communities have little political to live by hunting and gathering, most Batwa voice to negotiate and protect their rights to live as landless labourers. In Burundi, unlike land. Few if any institutional mechanisms neighbouring , Batwa are recognized exist for Batwa to participate in political as a distinct people, but we are not treated as decisions about their land. Our communities full citizens and are discriminated against and are locked out of development opportunities excluded from all realms of society. and left unable to seek justice following land Batwa face similar discrimination and grabs and other human rights violations. acute marginalization across the Great Lakes Forests, like most other valuable natural Region – in the Democratic Republic of resources, are finite, and their destruction Congo, Rwanda and . They are will have global repercussions. But dispossessed of their land and denied their governments continue to focus on short- right to practise their traditional culture. term gains at the expense of long-term In Rwanda, Batwa are the forgotten sustainability. A state’s right to development victims of the 1994 genocide. In Uganda, must not undermine the rights of minorities almost all Batwa have been removed from and of indigenous peoples. And, indeed,

8 Foreword State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Batwa people in Matara, Burundi, harvest- groups around the world. And I hope that it will ing a field of cabbages. Ben Rodkin. inspire all readers to support our communities in the struggle to retain our unique cultures ignoring this basic principle and the integral through continued access to our lands and value of traditional livelihoods seriously hinders natural resources. p attempts to move towards a path of more . The hopes of the international community to tackle global climate change by preserving forests through carbon emissions trading have presented a new threat to Batwa in the Great Lakes Region and to other communities that live in forests across the world. In my role as vice-president of the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC), I was acutely disappointed by the low levels of participation by indigenous peoples in UN REDD+ schemes (United Nations Collaborative Programme on Reducing Emissions from and Forest Degradation). But indigenous communities and minorities are demanding full participation in global governance on carbon emissions reductions and have played an active role in publicizing the harmful effects of REDD initiatives. There must first be fair and meaningful consultations between communities and the government before any negotiations involving international organizations and other players on the global carbon market can take place. International actors, such as the World Bank, also have an obligation to ensure the participation of minorities and indigenous peoples for these projects to have a significant impact. Indigenous peoples and minority communities all face different challenges in gaining recognition for their rights. Different groups depend upon their lands in complex and diverse ways and are uniquely affected by natural resource development. This fact is not adequately recognized by the international community. But minorities and indigenous peoples demand the right to choose their own development path – development with culture and identity. This publication will tell the stories of minority and indigenous communities that are being adversely affected by development on their lands, and the strategies they are using to secure their rights. I believe it will be a very useful advocacy tool for minority and indigenous

State of the World’s Minorities Foreword 9 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Natural resource development and the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples Corinne Lennox aruturi Global is an Indian company development and extraction of natural resources that grows roses in for export, is increasing due to factors including higher K mostly to Europe. They have recently energy costs, the need to attract investment acquired 100,000 hectares in the fertile Gambella after the global financial crisis, and the interest region to expand their agro-industry. To enable following the food crisis in providing cash crops this investment, the government has forcibly for emerging economies. While natural resource removed minority groups farming on ancestral development activities like logging and dams, land in this region (such as Anuak and Nuer) and oil, gas or mineral extraction, coastal tourism, resettled them in villages. One activist from the commercial fisheries, conservation parks and region describes some of the effects of this so- large-scale agriculture have been successful in called ‘villagization’ policy: generating vast revenues, it has not benefited all communities equally and has had devastating ‘One year after the villagization programme even consequences for the lives of many and the those farmers who tried to do farming in the environment we all share. new places were not able to produce enough … Minorities and indigenous peoples across the since the area is not a good one for the kind of globe are uniquely affected by natural resource traditional farming they practise. The villagization development. They often and use the programme has made the people of Gambella food areas targeted for natural resource development, insecure … and also increased the tensions between but they typically lack the economic or political different communities who … are brought together power to oppose harmful or unwanted projects. to share small pieces of land for farming. Since This means they gain few of the benefits but this programme was launched, over 15 individuals experience all of the harms from such practices. … have been killed in separate incidents. One The state has been able to justify disproportionate woman was raped and beaten to death by other harms from natural resource development to people from a different community as she went minority or indigenous communities in the collecting firewood.’ name of ‘majority’ public gains. Minority and indigenous communities suffer greatly as a result, Karuturi Global calls Ethiopia ‘an ideal not only with regard to their livelihoods and destination to base our agri-venture’ and refutes welfare, but also their cultural life, social cohesion accusations that its land acquisitions have played and bodily integrity. a role in displacement. These effects constitute violations of their This year’s State of the World’s Minorities human rights, including their specific rights as and Indigenous Peoples will provide many more minorities and indigenous peoples. While there examples of how natural resource development have been extensive efforts to elaborate standards can affect minorities and indigenous peoples. and guidelines for indigenous peoples on issues Natural resource development is a broad related to natural resource development, there category of development and extraction that are few such resources for minorities, making primarily encompasses use of water, land, fossil them less able to rely on international norms for fuels, minerals and forests. This development of protection. renewable and non-renewable resources has often Indigenous and minority communities do negatively affected human and animal life as well not reject all natural resource development; as the environments they inhabit. Nevertheless, rather, they seek methods that respect their internal and external pressures to increase rights, that are consensual and from which they economic growth have led the majority of states can benefit fairly. Many groups have mobilized to turn to natural resource development. Actual successfully to oppose harmful or unwanted implementation of development projects is development projects, and others are taking the often pursued by private corporations with state lead in determining forms of natural resource permission and is usually export-oriented. There development that are consistent with their is strong evidence, based on recent academic human rights. These struggles are not always and civil society research, to suggest that peaceful and many are protracted. Nevertheless,

State of the World’s Minorities Natural resource development and the 11 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples the efforts of minorities and indigenous peoples Right: A Dalit girl works breaking up stones in to reform the way we all pursue natural resource Pagadala village, Andhra Pradesh, India. Mikkel development could be the key to greater Ostergaard/Panos. sustainability and more equitable resource use. is to be diverted to other drier regions, further Marginalization and natural threatening the economic security of minority resources depletion farmers and the local ecosystem. Attempts to Some of the poorest minorities and indigenous legislate for 1.5 per cent of oil revenue to go back peoples live in some of the most resource-rich to Khuzestan have repeatedly failed. Moreover, regions of the world; this is true in both the about 90 per cent of the labour force of oil and global North and the global South. From the gas industries located in this region is hired from oil- and mineral-rich Aboriginal Australian outside the Ahwazi-Arab population. These and outback, the lush African descendant coastal many other groups therefore suffer the ill-effects areas of Central America and the dense forests of of natural resource development without accruing India’s tribal peoples, minorities and indigenous many of the benefits. peoples have lived in these areas for centuries These ill-effects are wide ranging. Natural and even millennia yet have been denied their resource development can severely damage or rightful ownership. While the revenues of natural even eradicate practices of traditional livelihoods, resource development are filtered out of regions including , fishing or shifting where minorities and indigenous peoples live, the agriculture, thus pushing groups further into harms stay behind. . In China, investment in mining has Their position of marginalization makes them forced minority herders off their traditional particularly vulnerable to facing these harms. For grazing lands, away from their sacred and cultural example, the World Commission on Dams found sites and out of their ancestral villages in regions evidence that regions where indigenous peoples such as the Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region lived were more likely to be targeted for dam and Tibet. The Bagungu fisher people living development but received little economic benefit in the Buliisa district in Uganda have been as a result: in the Philippines, almost all the unable to continue their fishing practices due larger dam schemes were situated on indigenous to intensive oil production in the area. Undue peoples’ lands, whereas in India, 40–50 per restrictions can be placed on livelihoods: for cent of those displaced by dam development example, traditional agro-forestry has frequently projects were tribal people (constituting only 8 been outlawed to make way for commercial per cent of the Indian population). Around the practices like logging or conservation parks for El Cerrejón coal mine in north-east Colombia, tourism. In Cambodia, the Prey Lang forest, poverty rates are 70 per cent for local African inhabited by the Kuy indigenous people, has descendant and indigenous communities. Many been designated as a conservation area; however, have been displaced from their villages and the government has granted tens of thousands of land and water sources have been polluted, hectares of the forest for extraction of minerals, traditional foods are no longer as accessible and timber and for rubber plantations, leaving the they lack adequate access to health, education community unable to practise their traditional and sanitation services. This is despite the fact livelihoods that make use of non-timber forest that total government revenues from the mine products. and involuntary migration are – currently owned by BHP Billiton (), used commonly to get (illegal) access to lands and Anglo American (UK) and Xstrata (Switzerland) resources. People are forced to migrate to urban – are more than US$ 1.6 billion. Similarly, in where they face further marginalization or the Ahwazi-Arab minority region of Khuzestan to even more remote regions where livelihoods in , where 90 per cent of the country’s oil are more difficult. Dam construction has revenues originate, minority communities live in depleted the Aral Sea Basin and forced tens poverty and suffer ill health from the pollution of thousands of Karakalpak into by industry of the Karoon River. The river itself and other neighbouring countries once their

12 Natural resource development and the State of the World’s Minorities rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and Indigenous Peoples 2012 State of the World’s Minorities Natural resource development and the 13 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples traditional livelihoods literally and figuratively resource exploitation. In Australia, for example, ‘dried up’. the Minister for Indigenous Affairs of There are particular impacts on minority Australia has backtracked on safeguards for and indigenous women. Women’s burden of more than 200 sites of cultural significance work can increase significantly due to increased to the Yindijbarndi people under threat from problems in accessing clean water, fuel and a proposed iron mining venture by Fortescue traditional food sources and to men’s migration Metals Group in the Pilbara region. Some for employment once traditional occupations would argue that natural resource development are no longer viable. In Colombia, for example, outcomes that prevent the exercise of traditional Wayúu women displaced from their traditional practices can even constitute genocide: in the lands in La Guajira as a result of coal mining words of George Poitras of the Mikisew Cree have struggled to feed their families in new urban First Nation, facing the harmful environmental environments, relying on bread and soft drinks, impact of the tar sands oil-extraction project instead of traditional foodstuffs of fish, plantain, in Alberta, , asserted: ‘If we don’t have yam and fruit, thus increasing malnutrition in land and we don’t have anywhere to carry out their families. our traditional lifestyles, we lose who we are as a Women’s title to land is not legally recognized people. So, if there’s no land, then it is equivalent in some states and when displaced due to natural in our estimation to genocide of a people.’ resource development projects, they will have little legal recourse for compensation or redress. Root causes and resistance In south-east India, Dalit women displaced from Minorities and indigenous peoples are more the land to make way for Special Economic vulnerable to harmful natural resource Zones in Polepally, Andhra Pradesh, reported loss development because their right to equality is of status, less economic power and fewer marriage not respected fully in society. Discrimination is prospects for their girl children, whose status one major root cause. This can lead to practices had also declined due to loss of land. Women such as ‘environmental ’, whereby higher can also be forced into becoming labourers on incidence of pollution or other environmental cash-crop farms following displacement from degradation is found in regions where minorities their own land and will be paid less than their and indigenous peoples live. It can also affect male counterparts. Where natural resource their access to justice when trying to oppose development projects do offer employment to natural resource development projects or seek local people, women are less likely to secure compensation for harms caused or illegal those jobs due to gender discrimination and/or encroachments. For example, indigenous land- household responsibilities. owners at the Krumbukari mine site in the The destruction of traditional lands, resources Madang Province, Papua New , have and livelihoods can also lead to cultural erosion, failed in their legal battle to prevent the China putting the very existence of groups at threat. Metallurgical Group Corporation (MCC) Spiritual lives and traditional practices of and Australian-based Highlands Pacific from medicine, food preparation and other ways of dumping over 100 million tonnes of waste life tied to the natural environment can easily be from the Ramu Nickel Mine close to the destroyed by natural resource development. In shore – a practice banned in both China and the words of a member of the Ogiek community Australia. The government issued the mine an in Kenya: ‘Mau forest is our : we are not environmental permit in 2010 despite objections encroachers, we are forest dwellers; we don’t from national experts. cut trees, we nurture them for our livelihood; Dominant priorities for development can we hang our beehives, it’s our sure “hospital” override alternative priorities and conceptions where we get herbs, it’s a sacred mother earth to of that may be held by minorities our traditions.’ These practices and traditional or indigenous peoples. The concept of knowledge are not readily transferable to new ‘development with culture and identity’ spaces, and cultures are disappearing with highlights this intersection: this means that

14 Natural resource development and the State of the World’s Minorities rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and Indigenous Peoples 2012 natural resource development that affects states do have recognition of customary land these groups should be pursued in accordance rights embedded in the constitution or national with their own cultural understanding of law but such laws can be poorly enforced. For development and in a way that is not harmful example, South Sudan’s new Constitution holds to their cultural, spiritual or religious identity. that communities ‘enjoying rights in land shall While many groups seek greater integration be consulted in decisions that may affect their into the wider society through development, the rights in lands and resources’ (Article 171(9)). price for accessing the benefits of development However, when an Emirati company was should not be erosion or elimination of their granted a 2 million hectares for a tourism own cultural identity. development project, community consultation While international human rights standards did not take place and promises by the company make clear provision for the full participation of to provide education and health for local groups minorities and indigenous peoples in decision- have not materialized. In other states, there making that will affect them or the regions where can be resistance to recognition of customary they live, this is not often fulfilled in practice. land rights, making the process of allocating Communities may not be consulted at all on title unnecessarily protracted and/or plagued by natural resource development in their region, disputes. or they may be consulted under only the most Without this legal protection, it can be very cursory and insignificant processes. In many difficult to defend land and resource use rights cases, there has not been full disclosure of the in the face of powerful corporations or state potential impacts of development projects on interests. Moreover, laws regulating industries communities or adequate impact assessment for natural resource development are generally procedures. It is also not uncommon for groups promulgated without consultation with those to be divided by consultations, and a small indigenous and minority communities whose number of ‘representatives’ co-opted into consent rights may be deeply affected by such legislation. without the full support of the wider community. Many states are reluctant to exact strong For example, only part of the indigenous regulatory policies over corporations to ensure community consented to an offshore gas hub effective social and environmental safeguards, off the Kimberley coast at James Price Point, and corruption or bribery to avoid regulation is a Western Australia, leading to tensions and the widespread problem. need for a Western Australia Faced with these many challenges, indigenous decision to render the agreement invalid. The peoples and minorities have implemented several views of women are particularly liable to go strategies to resist harmful or unwanted natural unconsidered given their lack of representation resource development. Various forms of non- in many decision-making structures, both violent protest have been used but such actions traditional and otherwise. The limited inclusion have often been met with violence, arbitrary of minorities and indigenous peoples in structures arrest, enforced disappearances, torture and of governance at all levels further undermines even death. The in have faced their ability to utilize state and international government use of anti-terrorism legislation protection safeguards. For example, indigenous against community members who have been peoples have demanded full participation in protesting against exploitation of their lands global governance on carbon emissions reductions by extractive industries; similar use of anti- under the UN-REDD+ (UN Reducing Emissions terrorism and other spurious charges have from Deforestation and Forest Degradation) been used in for indigenous leaders and have been an active voice in criticizing the protesting against mining laws. Protest has harmful effects of REDD initiatives. also escalated into outright armed conflict in Minorities and indigenous peoples would be some cases. Government failure to seek consent in a better position to challenge harmful natural from minority or indigenous communities to resource development where their rights to land, development projects, coupled with increasing territories and resources are legally titled. Many poverty, inequality and mass displacement, risks

State of the World’s Minorities Natural resource development and the 15 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples pushing groups to take up arms against the state Right: A Mapuche man, near Temuco, Chile. and corporations in defence of their rights. Julio Etchart/Panos. Given the state or corporate crackdowns on activism, some communities have adopted some the human rights of minorities and indigenous alternative strategies. Many alliances have been peoples. The framework of what constitutes a formed with civil society actors outside their serious violation in such cases is determined countries. MRG is actively supporting a number primarily by the rights to self-determination, non- of land rights claims by minority and indigenous discrimination, cultural life, means of subsistence, communities around the world. and to land, territories and natural resources. Some communities are taking a political path The specific standards elaborated for to assert greater influence in decision-making on indigenous peoples and minorities respectively natural resource development, often by seeking related to natural resource development do differ, political positions. For example, in Mindanao in with those for indigenous peoples being more the Philippines, a local indigenous community extensive and specific. This gap presents a serious (Subanon) federation undertook a strategy to problem for minority groups affected by harmful secure elected seats in local governance structures natural resource development, who have fewer (barangay) where they would be better able to mechanisms and remedies available to them. apply national laws and traditional rights in Some of this gap can and has been filled by negotiations with the government and mining progressive interpretations of existing standards, companies seeking resource extraction access in including non-legally binding standards such as traditional territories. the UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Litigation has been one option utilized by Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and communities. There are some high-profile Linguistic Minorities (UNDM). cases, such as that recently won against The right to self-determination is an important Chevron- by indigenous and other local starting point for both groups, not least because communities in Ecuador suffering health impacts it is linked to freedoms regarding the use of from oil exploration; the company was ordered natural wealth and resources. All peoples have to pay US$ 18 billion in compensation for the right to self-determination under common environmental damage and harm to the affected Article 1 of the International Covenant on communities. However, there are numerous low- Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and the profile initiatives being taken by communities International Covenant on Economic, Social and through legal mechanisms such as legislative or Cultural Rights (ICESCR). This article further judicial review of decisions taken by the state states that ‘in no case may a people be deprived in favour of natural resource development and of its own means of subsistence’, a crucial in apparent contravention of minority and point in light of natural resource development indigenous rights. These disputes can sometimes impact on (traditional) livelihoods. This right is take decades to resolve and may entail complex reinforced for indigenous peoples in the 2007 legal cases; most minority and indigenous UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous communities simply cannot match the resources Peoples (UNDRIP) under Article 3, which holds of their private or public sector opponents. Even that ‘Indigenous peoples have the right to self- when they win such cases, implementation of determination. By virtue of that right they freely decisions remains difficult in the face of obstinate determine their political status and freely pursue governments and corporate interests. their economic, social and cultural development.’ Key to exercising self-determination over A human rights framework for natural resource development is the right to ‘free, natural resources development prior and informed consent’ in its various forms. Policy decisions on natural resource development This right has been recognized in numerous made in ‘the national interest’ cannot be based international legal standards and jurisprudence, on the interests of the majority alone, particularly including in International Labour Organization if such policies would cause serious violations of Convention No. 169 Concerning Indigenous

16 Natural resource development and the State of the World’s Minorities rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and Indigenous Peoples 2012 and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries the right to participate effectively in decision- (ILO 169) and in the UNDRIP. Numerous making can afford many of the same protections examples from the case law also support this, that are evident in the free, prior and informed including the Ogoni and Endorois cases before consent standards on indigenous peoples’ rights. the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ This includes ensuring that participation is free, Rights and the Saramaka and Awas Tingni cases comes prior to decisions being made, is based on at the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. full access to relevant information, and is under- In summary, ‘free’ means that consent must be stood as ‘effective’ only where minorities can con- given without coercion or intimidation; ‘prior’ sent (or not) to decisions that may affect them. means that consent must be given fully prior While the rights to land, territories and to the commencement of any activity affecting natural resources are elaborated clearly for the group or its land, territories or resources; indigenous peoples in international law, the ‘informed’ requires that groups be given full standards for persons belonging to minorities on disclosure of the activity and its potential impact; land, territories and resources are less clear; the and ‘consent’ is a collective right to give or to UNDM makes no provisions on these specific withhold consent to proposed activities. points, nor do relevant regional standards. The international standards on minority rights Protection for land, territories and resources recognize that persons belonging to minorities can be included in nationally agreed autonomy have ‘the right to participate effectively in deci- arrangements, whereby regulation of these issues sions on the national and, where appropriate, is delegated to minority self-governance. Such regional level concerning the minority to which rights may also be recognized under customary they belong or the regions in which they live’ law or general laws. In Colombia, for (UNDM, Article 2.3). Progressively interpreted, example, Law 70, In Recognition of the Right

State of the World’s Minorities Natural resource development and the 17 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples of Black Colombians to Collectively Own and from such resources. Occupy their Ancestral Lands, was adopted in International development banks, such as the 1993 to protect such rights for certain Afro- World Bank and Asian Development Bank, Colombian communities. Law 70 has not been have elaborated policies to help ensure that implemented fully, however, and many Afro- loans for natural resource development projects Colombians with land rights claims have been do not harm indigenous peoples. But there is left without protection. The situation underscores still scope for improvement: for example, the the need for further elaboration of land and World Bank’s latest Operational Policy (2005) resource rights protection for minorities at the only acknowledges the need for ‘free, prior and national and international levels. informed consultation’ (emphasis added) where The right to take part in cultural life is also indigenous communities might be affected firmly protected in international law. Beyond by World Bank-financed projects, rather than Article 15 of the ICESCR, Article 27 of the ‘consent’ as recognized in other international ICCPR states further that persons belonging standards. Notably there are no global minority- to minorities ‘shall not be denied the right, in specific standards related to development to community with the other members of their mirror those elaborated for indigenous peoples, group, to enjoy their own culture, to profess and further evidence of the large gap in protection. practise their own , or to use their own Indigenous peoples and minorities have language’. Indigenous peoples’ right to cultural worked to shape these initiatives and emerging life is recognized extensively in the UNDRIP and norms, but the outcomes have not often fully ILO 169, particularly in relation to the pursuit met expectations. In many cases, the inclusion of traditional livelihoods, education and health. of indigenous peoples or minorities in emerging For minorities, the UNDM calls upon states to global initiatives related to natural resource ‘take measures to create favourable conditions to development has been hard won: for example, enable persons belonging to minorities to express in REDD, which calls on parties to ensure their characteristics and to develop their culture, ‘the full and effective participation of relevant language, religion, traditions and customs’ stakeholders, inter alia, indigenous peoples and (Article 4.2). local communities’ (paragraph 72) in national Crucially, cultural life is not something to REDD strategies. These guidelines and initiatives be pursued in detachment from economic and can contribute to better practice but they must social life; it is inter-dependent with other human be implemented from a starting point of human rights protections. Cultural life also encompasses rights recognition and protection. traditional livelihoods which are commonly Adopting a human rights-based approach to under threat from natural resource development. natural resource development for indigenous The ILO Convention no. 111 concerning peoples and minorities is a vital means to this Discrimination in Respect of Employment and end. The human rights-based approach calls for Occupation is one tool to prevent discriminatory development outcomes and processes to avoid policies against traditional livelihoods; human rights violations and to aim for the ILO 169 also addresses this point extensively realization of human rights, without discrimina- (see Articles 20–23). Sacred spaces or spaces tion. This approach emphasizes state duties and essential to cultural life must also be protected accountability for these goals, and the central role in natural resource development. UNESCO of participation by those affected in the design, has promulgated several standards to this end, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of including the Convention for the Protection development policies. Indicators that measure the of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage. impact on human rights of development inter- Similarly, Article 8 (j) of the Convention on ventions are used to assess progress. Biological Diversity protects traditional cultural practices ‘relevant for the conservation and Addressing harmful natural resources sustainable use of biological diversity’ and development: ways forward encourages ‘equitable sharing of the benefits’ Minorities and indigenous peoples do not seek to

18 Natural resource development and the State of the World’s Minorities rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and Indigenous Peoples 2012 resist all natural resource development. In many to all natural resource development proposals cases, they hope to benefit from the development and should include also assessment of impacts to improve their social and economic life. They on the full range of human rights of affected also have skills and knowledge to contribute to communities. Particular attention should be paid the effective and sustainable management of to differential impacts on the basis of gender, natural resources. The way forward is through age and disability. There should be free and easy natural resource development that will respect, access to information on impact assessments for protect and fulfil their human rights. affected communities, including translation or An important starting point is the recognition other forms of communication as required. The of the rights to self-determination and to UN Special Rapporteur on the right to food, participate effectively in decision-making Olivier De Schutter, has recently proposed a regarding any natural resource development that set of ‘Guiding Principles on Human Rights will affect minority and indigenous communities Impact Assessments of Trade and Investment or their land, territories and resources. Agreements’ that could be one useful tool. Indigenous communities in particular hold the In January 2012, the International Finance right to free, prior and informed consent. There Corporation (IFC) (part of the World Bank should be harmonization of laws regulating Group) adopted a new Performance Standard 7 natural resource development with these core on indigenous peoples that recognizes the right rights of communities. This should also include of free, prior and informed consent as a required laws to protect economic, social and cultural life component of social and environmental impact for minorities and indigenous peoples. assessments for private sector financing. The IFC Addressing land and resource title claims is Performance Standard 5 on land acquisition and key to this process. The rights of communities involuntary resettlement offers related safeguards. to occupy and use their land and territories In some cases, benefit-sharing agreements can must be legally guaranteed in a process that be made between corporations (and states) and is transparent and not unduly prolonged. affected groups. If constructed well, they can Furthermore, norms on effective participation enable groups to benefit from natural resource and on free, prior and informed consent must be development in their region and to greatly respected fully through the adoption of effective improve their human development prospects. mechanisms, including the use of customary law However, not all agreements are consistent and structures of decision-making as appropriate. with the rights of minority and indigenous Women belonging to minority and indigenous communities, and few fully recognize the legal communities must be enabled to participate entitlement of groups over the land and resources equally in these processes. In Kenya, for example, affected. Such benefit-sharing agreements should the 2009 National Land Policy calls for the be reviewed regularly to ensure compliance and proportionate representation of women in all continued consent of affected communities. One institutions dealing with land. positive example is the Sakhalin Energy company Impact assessments are also essential tools agreement in Russia. Following protests in 2005 to prevent harmful or unwanted natural from indigenous communities (mainly Nivkh resource development being carried out by the and Orok people) on Sakhalin Island negatively relevant actors in a specific project, such as impacted by oil and gas extraction on their government authorities, development agencies traditional territories and waters, the company and companies. General social and environmental has worked through a series of more progressive impact assessments may not be sufficient to benefit-sharing agreements in partnership with uncover particular harms faced by minorities formally elected indigenous representatives. They and indigenous peoples linked to issues such as have agreed the second Sakhalin Indigenous discrimination, cultural life or customary rights Minorities Development Five Year Plan (2011– to land and resources. A minority and indigenous 15), which includes an external monitoring rights component should therefore be integrated system, a grievance procedure and indigenous into impact assessments. These should be applied governance structures.

State of the World’s Minorities Natural resource development and the 19 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples Full participation of minorities and indigenous processes. Disputes over natural resource peoples is needed also at the level of global development can turn violent, frequently with governance on natural resource development. state actors as perpetrators or complicit in the The Convention on Biological Diversity is one actions of private security companies. Alternative useful model, where the International Indigenous dispute resolution can be employed to bring Forum on (IIFB) has been created parties in natural resources disputes to agreement as an advisory body. Similar measures are needed peacefully. Crimes committed against minorities urgently in arenas like climate change and forestry and indigenous peoples in the context of natural management. One promising initiative is the resource development should be subject to full draft annex to UN REDD+ on free, prior and investigation and prosecution. Litigation against informed consent, elaborated following several corporations or state officials for illegal natural regional consultations with indigenous peoples’ resource extraction should be supported through organizations. Similar institutional initiatives and appropriate legal aid assistance for affected policy recognition are needed urgently for other communities. Such legal aid facilities can also ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities whose be enabled to ensure communities negotiate fair rights and situation are often ignored. benefit-sharing agreements or other contracts Access to justice should be ensured to related to their land, territories and resources. communities in natural resource development It is important to build the capacity of minority

20 Natural resource development and the State of the World’s Minorities rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Work in progress for the Sakhalin Energy oil and gas pipeline on the island of Sakhalin, Russia, in 2007. Francesco Cito/Panos.

better for sustainable natural resource develop- ment: for example, recent studies have shown that forests managed by indigenous communities have been more effective in reducing deforestation than those protected for conservation only.

Conclusion Indigenous peoples and minorities are getting few of the benefits and more of the harms from the myriad of natural resources development projects currently being pursued. The lands and territories they have long occupied and the resources they have long relied upon are under increasing threat from powerful state and corporate forces. The negative effect of harmful and unwanted natural resource development on these communities is striking and constitutes a clear violation of their human rights. In some cases, it is now a threat to their very existence. Many communities are successfully fighting back against unwanted or harmful natural resource development and also contributing towards management of such resources. In Canada, for example, the Environmental Stewardship Unit of the Assembly of First Nations is working with several government ministries and commercial entities to ensure a central role for indigenous peoples in sustainable and indigenous communities to elaborate, moni- natural resource development. Meanwhile, others tor and implement natural resource development do not have adequate access to information, legal programmes that are consistent with their human assistance, knowledge of commercial natural rights and view of development. This is not only resource development processes or funding in about technical capacity to critically evaluate and order to defend their rights. design good natural resource development but Ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities also to assert alternative development strategies have so far not garnered the recognition of their that might challenge dominant paradigms that rights and concerns that has been achieved by have contributed to so many harmful outcomes. indigenous peoples. The gap in protection could Support can range from technical and financial make these groups even more vulnerable to assistance, including from international organiza- harmful natural resource development in future. tions, inter-community solidarity and advisory The development of natural resources need services, scholarships and training for community not be harmful or unjust. The future of natural members on relevant standards and technical resource development is our common future, knowledge. The Indigenous Peoples Resource and minorities and indigenous peoples have a Management Program at the University of Sas- right not only to benefit in this, but also to help katchewan in Canada is one model curriculum. determine its path. This is their right to self- Undertaking such management roles can also be determination. p

State of the World’s Minorities Natural resource development and the 21 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples Strategies of resistance: testing the limits of the law Carla Clarke n November 2011, the African Wildlife with a US$ 4.8 billion project, which includes Foundation (AWF), in partnership with moving all the water from neighbouring lagoons I The Nature Conservancy (TNC) (two into separate reservoirs, have ensured that the US-based charities), presented the Kenyan controversy will continue. The plans have government with a gift of land, bought by been met with violent protests, the declaration the charities for US$ 4 million from a private of a 60-day state of emergency, a ministerial land-owner (reportedly the former president, resignation and a march on the capital as Daniel Moi) for the establishment of the different groups from across Peru unite forces to country’s newest national park. The 6,900 demand protection of their right to water. hecatre property, to be named Laikipia National Two different countries, two different Park, is said to provide a critical link between continents, two different industries, a single neighbouring protected areas, allowing elephants, issue: the fragility of the rights of indigenous big , and other species to safely navigate a peoples, not only to their lands and its resources, wildlife corridor that spans Central Laikipia. but to their very identity and survival as a distinct people in the face of a single prevailing ‘Together, African Wildlife Foundation, The Nature development paradigm, which essentially Conservancy, and Kenya Wildlife Service are prioritizes economic interests over other factors. conserving an ecosystem that is vital to this region, Despite a wave of standard setting and while also enhancing the economic livelihood of progressive jurisprudence at the international, Kenyans living around the park. Laikipia’s protection regional and domestic level in the area of will stimulate local commerce, particularly tourism,’ indigenous peoples’ rights over the last 20-odd said Patrick Bergin, chief executive of AWF. years, the reality for many of the world’s approximately 300 million indigenous peoples is ‘People are at the core of our conservation work in that their way of life and very existence as distinct Kenya, and it’s the people of Kenya who are gaining peoples remains under constant threat. This ownership of a significant piece chapter examines some of that growing body of land,’ said David Banks, Africa director of legal standards and jurisprudence regarding for TNC. states’ obligations, both internationally and across the three regions of Latin America, Africa The Samburu of Laikipia District, semi- and Asia. The focus of the chapter is on the nomadic pastoralists who were forcibly and rights of indigenous peoples’ to their lands and violently evicted after the initial purchase of the their natural resources rather than on minorities land by AWF and TNC, might well be forgiven more generally. There remains no single, for questioning whose livelihoods are intended comprehensive definition of indigenous peoples, to be enhanced by the creation of the national something which at times has been exploited park and which people are at the core of TNC’s by governments opposed to recognizing such conservation work. peoples and their rights. Nevertheless, one of The Yanacocha gold mine is the largest gold the common factors used to describe indigenous mine in South America, located north-east of peoples is their distinctive relationship with their the Peruvian capital Lima. The mine is operated traditionally occupied lands and the natural by Minera Yanacocha, a joint venture owned resources of those lands, not simply as a means primarily by Newmont Mining Corporation of livelihood and economic survival but also of Denver, Colorado with funding from the for their cultural and spiritual significance and International Finance Corporation, the private ultimately as the basis of their very identity. investment arm of the World Bank Group. The It is the particularity of this relationship development of the mine, which started in 1993, with their lands and resources, the growing has been mired in controversy and, in turn, acted recognition of the distinctiveness and value of as an important rallying point for the Peruvian such a relationship, as well as its vulnerability indigenous movement. in the face of development aggression, and an Recent plans to expand the mine further increasing openness in some quarters to address

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 23 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law historical injustices (see Box 1) that has led to the heightened standard-setting and jurisprudence in Case study relation to indigenous peoples’ property rights. Second, the term ‘indigenous peoples’ is used here in its broadest sense so that, as in the Addressing approach adopted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR), it is not historical injustices limited to a ‘narrow/aboriginal/pre-Colombian understanding of indigenous peoples’. Equally, in New Zealand following the approach of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACtHR), one might refer to indigenous and tribal communities The Maori, the original inhabitants of New so that, for example, descendants of African Zealand or Aotearoa, make up roughly 15 slaves forcibly brought to South America with per cent of New Zealand’s population of just European colonizers, and who continue to form a over 4 million. Relations between Maori and distinct social, cultural and economic group with the government are based on the Treaty of a special relationship with their territory, benefit Waitangi, signed in 1840 between the British from these standards as well. Crown and a number of Maori tribes or iwi, Nonetheless, the focus on indigenous and and considered as one of New Zealand’s tribal peoples is not to deny that there is a founding instruments. Under the Treaty, the legitimate debate to be had as to whether some Maori were to retain possession of their lands of the recently adopted standards in relation to and resources. In line with this, indigenous their property rights, modified or not, should not or native title was recognized under the equally apply to others whose relationship with common law of New Zealand as early as the land is not necessarily an issue of identity and 1847 (R v. Symonds) and through legislation yet who similarly find themselves in the Native Rights Act 1865. However, paying a heavy price for others’ development. For such early recognition of native title did not example, in Cambodia, where more than half of last and subsequent actions by successive the country’s arable landmass has been granted governments resulted in the individualization as concessions to private companies for agro- of Maori land and its subsequent sale, such industrial and mining projects, indiscriminately that most land in New Zealand had already affecting both minority communities, such as passed out of Maori ownership by 1900 in Cham , and indigenous peoples, it acts which are now widely recognized as can be difficult to see why non-indigenous and being in breach of the Treaty. non-tribal communities should not be entitled For Maoris with their concept of under human rights law to have a greater role in turangawaewae (‘a place to stand’), indicating participating in decisions directly affecting them the close connection between land and tribal and their livelihoods. To the extent that much of and personal identity, such dispossession was the emerging protection for indigenous peoples not simply about alienation of their land has been carved out of what was previously but a loss of self-governance and of cultural viewed as an individual right to property, there identity which continues to be reflected in is the potential for human rights standards to the inequalities experienced by Maori in continue to evolve so as to provide protection to comparison with non-Maori across a broad other groups and collectives. range of social indicators. Finally, by way of introduction, this chapter Beginning in 1975, with the establishment refers to indigenous peoples collectively and does of the Waitangi Tribunal to hear claims not provide a particular gender focus. This is brought by Maori against the government primarily because the human rights standards, for breaches of the Treaty, notable steps legislation and case law being examined do not, on have been taken to address these historical the whole, touch upon the double discrimination

24 Strategies of resistance: State of the World’s Minorities testing the limits of the law and Indigenous Peoples 2012 injustices and to reach settlements of Maori land Treaty Settlements, to oversee the process claims (albeit that the Tribunal’s jurisdiction under which numerous Maori groups have was only extended in 1985 to cover grievances negotiated settlements to their historical dating back to 1840). Other steps include claims, while others continue to go through the adoption of the Ture Whenua Maori Act the process. 1993 (or Maori Land Act), which, as well as Despite such positive steps the establishing a Maori Land Court, preserves the settlement process is not without its critics. capacity of Maori to hold land collectively and Common concerns are the fact that the recognizes that Maori land is a taonga (treasure) recommendations of the Waitangi Tribunal of special significance to Maori people. There are not binding and are frequently ignored has also been the development of the Treaty by the government; that the negotiation settlement process, including the establishment procedure is inherently unbalanced in favour in 1995 of a designated body, the Office of of the government, which determines the framework and the procedure of negotiations; and that no independent oversight exists. Additionally, many Maori consider that the value of the settlements represents only a very small percentage of the value of the total loss. In addition, even as the New Zealand government was trying to negotiate settlements to certain claims, the Foreshore and Seabed Act 2004 vested the ownership of the public foreshore and seabed in the New Zealand government, extinguishing any Maori customary title over that area overnight, even as it preserved private, individual title. Following widespread criticism of this legislation, it was repealed and replaced in 2011 with the Marine and Coastal Area (Takutai Moana) Act which, inter alia, restored any customary interests in the common marine and coastal area that were extinguished by the earlier Act and restored the courts’ ability to determine and legally recognize customary rights and title in the foreshore and seabed. Both pieces of legislation are ultimately testimony to the continuing vulnerability of Maori’s indigenous rights. p

Left: A Maori youth on the beach at Waitangi, New Zealand, with a huge Tino Rangatiratanga flag during the official Treaty of Waitangi celebrations. The Tino Rangatiratanga flag expresses self- determination and is a well-recognized symbol of Maori sovereignty. It is often seen at Maori protest movement gatherings. Jocelyn Carlin/Panos.

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 25 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law that indigenous women face and the differential and the Central African Republic (2010) the impact that violations of the community’s right only African signatory. Nevertheless, its reach, as to property might have on them. While some of an interpretative and comparative tool, extends the UN treaty bodies, particularly the Committee considerably further than those 22 countries on the Elimination of Discrimination Against through its being invoked by regional human Women (CEDAW), are beginning to expressly rights tribunals and by domestic courts even in examine the situation of indigenous women in relation to countries which are not signatories. their concluding observations on state parties’ The adoption of ILO 169 has been followed reports, such observations generally focus on issues by increasing attention within the UN human of literacy/education and health. rights system to indigenous peoples and how they benefit from protection under existing Standard setting human rights treaties. For example, in 1994 International the UN Human Rights Committee (HRC) The main international human rights treaties produced General Comment no. 23 in which it adopted by the international community provided its interpretation of Article 27 of the under the auspices of the UN after the Second International Covenant on Civil and Political World War were, on their face, silent on the Rights (ICCPR). General Comment no. 23 issue of indigenous peoples. Instead, it was the expressly refers to how the protection of those International Labour Organization (ILO), with belonging to minorities to enjoy their own its historical concerns over the use of ‘native culture, as provided for in Article 27, extends labour’ in colonial countries which emerged as an to culture as manifested ‘in a particular way of early actor in the field of the rights of indigenous life associated with the use of land resources, peoples. However, ILO Convention No. 107 especially in the case of indigenous peoples’. exemplifies the thinking that still prevailed at This interpretation is significant given that the the time of its adoption in 1957. While the ICCPR, unlike the Universal Declaration on Convention provided for the recognition of Human Rights, contains no right to property. indigenous peoples’ collective rights of ownership In an early communication brought to over traditionally occupied lands, this was within the HRC in respect of Article 27 (Lansman the wider framework of a policy of integration v. Finland, communication no. 511/1992, which viewed indigenous societies as temporary adopted 1994) a group of Sami reindeer- ones which would inevitably disappear under the herders complained to the HRC regarding the tide of modernization. Finnish government’s granting of a contract ILO Convention No. 169 (ILO 169), adopted for stone-quarrying on the side of a mountain in 1989, marked a fundamental shift away that they considered sacred and the consequent from an assimilationist orientation towards one transporting of the stone through a complex which valued indigenous peoples’ difference and system of reindeer fences on territory whose afforded them rights to ensure the continuation ownership was in dispute between the state and of their communities and those differences. For the Sami. They claimed that their right to enjoy example, Article 7(1) provides that ‘[t]he peoples their own culture, based on reindeer husbandry, concerned shall have the right to decide their had been violated by the granting of the own priorities for the process of development concession and the consequent economic activity. as it affects their lives, beliefs, institutions and In dismissing the complaint, the HRC considered spiritual well-being and the lands they occupy that the quarrying was not so substantial as to or otherwise use’. It remains the case that ILO deny the complainants the ability to carry out 169, the only international treaty specifically on their traditional reindeer-herding and emphasized indigenous peoples and, consequently, binding the fact that they had been consulted prior to the on those states that have signed up to it, has granting of the quarrying permit. only been ratified by 22 countries, the majority A more recent decision of the HRC, Poma of which are in Latin America, with Nepal Poma v. Peru (communication no. 1457/2006, (2007) representing the only Asian signatory adopted 2009), concerning the diversion of

26 Strategies of resistance: State of the World’s Minorities testing the limits of the law and Indigenous Peoples 2012 water from a region of the to the coast ‘free and informed prior consent when the that impacted on Aymara pasture land and preservation of their cultural resources, especially their traditional raising of llamas, illustrates the those associated with their way of life and cultural development of legal standards in this field in the expression are at risk’. ensuing years. In finding a violation of Article Activity around indigenous peoples’ rights 27, on the basis that the interference with the within the UN culminated with the adoption culturally significant activity of llama-raising in 2007, after two decades in the making, of the was substantial, the HRC stated that for such UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous substantial interference to be acceptable required Peoples (UNDRIP). In many ways the declaration that the community had the opportunity to takes ILO 169 as a starting point and then builds participate in the decision-making process which, on it considerably. Of particular note is the in contrast to the earlier Lansman decision: repeated reference not simply to participation or consultation but to the need to obtain indigenous ‘requires not mere consultation but the free, prior peoples’ ‘free, prior and informed consent’ prior and informed consent of the members of the to certain actions being taken. This includes the community. In addition, the measures must respect requirement under Article 32 to obtain indigenous the principle of proportionality so as not to endanger peoples’ free, prior and informed consent to ‘the the very survival of the community and approval of any project affecting their lands or its members.’ territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilisation or While the complaint was brought by an exploration of mineral, water or other resources’ indigenous woman, given that Article 27 refers (emphasis added). to individuals belonging to minorities, there is no The declaration was adopted with reason why the free, prior and informed consent overwhelming support (143 states in favour, 4 standard set out in Poma Poma should not apply against and 11 abstentions) and has already found equally to non-indigenous minorities who find a its way into certain domestic legislation (notably, culturally significant activity being impacted on Bolivia). The votes against the declaration are by development affecting their land. telling, coming as they did from wealthy Western The decisions of the HRC, albeit not binding, states with notable indigenous populations are important and should be read in conjunction (Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the United with the increased attention being given to States) and even those states that voted in favour, indigenous peoples’ property rights by other UN as well as those that have subsequently come on treaty bodies. For example, the Commission board, qualified their votes with references to the on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination political nature of the document or to it being (CERD)’s General Recommendation no. 23 on subject to their existing legal and constitutional Indigenous Peoples (1997) calls upon states ‘to framework. As a declaration rather than a recognize and protect the rights of indigenous convention, the UNDRIP is strictly non-binding. peoples to own, develop, control and use their Nevertheless, it is clear from its provisions in communal lands, territories and resources’. There relation to the rights of indigenous peoples to is also the General Comment no. 21 of the the lands, territories and resources that they Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural have traditionally used and occupied, taken in Rights (CESCR), adopted in 2009, relating to conjunction with ILO 169 and the General Article 15(1)(a) of the International Covenant on Comments of the HRC, CERD and CESCR Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), referred to above, that rights to land and natural which provides for the right of everyone to take resources are an integral part of indigenous part in cultural life. The General Comment peoples’ rights in international human rights law. expressly considers this right in relation to indigenous peoples and their relationship with Regional their lands, territories and resources, and identifies Americas as a core obligation the obtaining of communities’ Many of the countries in the Americas (though

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 27 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law certainly not all) have been at the forefront of affording constitutional and legislative Case study recognition to their indigenous populations and to certain accompanying rights. For example, the constitutions of Bolivia and Ecuador provide The Maya of for their being plurinational states; Colombia’s 1993 law recognizes collective rights to territory the Toledo and its 1998 decree provides for prior consent in respect of the exploitation of natural resources district in on the lands of indigenous peoples and Afro- Colombian communities; and Peru’s 2011 legislation on prior consultation with indigenous The in southern Belize is peoples. The judiciaries in these countries have home to approximately 14,000 Mopan- and also, to varying degrees, been active. Indeed, Q’eqchi’-speaking Maya people, descendants Colombia’s Constitutional Court is described of Maya subgroups that inhabited the territory as having established ‘a world-class model of at least as far back as the seventeenth and jurisprudence’ in the protection of the rights eighteenth centuries when Europeans arrived. of indigenous peoples and the Afro-Colombian In 1998, following the granting of a number community; a decision in May 2011 declared of oil and logging concessions on their legislation reforming the country’s mining code traditional lands without their involvement, as unconstitutional due to the lack of prior and a failure to obtain any timely remedy consultation with indigenous peoples. Another from the local courts, a petition was lodged on example of judicial activism in the region is behalf of the Maya with the Inter-American provided by the Supreme Court of Belize (see Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) case study). alleging a violation of the right to property There has also been considerable activity and the right to non-discrimination under the with regard to the recognition and protection American Declaration on Human Rights. of indigenous peoples’ rights at the inter- In a decision of 2004, the IACHR upheld governmental level under the auspices of the the communities’ complaint finding that Organization of American States (OAS). In Belize had failed ‘to provide [the Maya] with 1989, the General Assembly of the OAS asked the protections necessary to exercise their the Inter-American Commission on Human right to property fully and equally with other Rights (IACHR) to prepare a legal instrument members of the Belizean population’. The on the rights of indigenous populations. While Commission went on to recommend that admittedly the declaration remains in draft Belize, inter alia: (i) adopt legislative and form some 15 years after its inception, no other administrative measures, in fully informed region is even beginning to attempt to engage in a similar process. Shortly after the first steps towards a regional instrument on indigenous rights to their ancestral territories and related peoples’ rights were taken, the IACHR natural resources coming from these two bodies established in 1990 the Office of the Rapporteur is reflective, on the one hand, of the preparedness on the rights of indigenous peoples. in the region to at least recognize the existence Perhaps though the most significant of indigenous peoples and the justiciability of developments in the region, including in their the issues facing them. But, on the other hand, it potential to impact beyond the region itself, is reflective of states’ failure to offer meaningful have been the decisions of the IACHR and the protection at the local level, even where their IACtHR in respect of petitions brought before domestic laws make provision for the same. them by or on behalf of indigenous communities. The first case in which the IACtHR The extent of the jurisprudence on indigenous adjudicated upon indigenous peoples’ collective peoples’ rights and specifically their collective right to property illustrates this dichotomy.

28 Strategies of resistance: State of the World’s Minorities testing the limits of the law and Indigenous Peoples 2012 consultations with the Maya, to delimit, ... in interpreting the fundamental human demarcate and title their territories; and (ii) until rights provisions of the Constitution’). This such measures are carried out, abstain from any exploration includes not only Belize’s bind- acts that might lead the state or third parties to ing treaty obligations but also includes ILO affect the existence, value, use or enjoyment of Convention No. 169 (to which Belize is not those territories. a party), whose provisions on indigenous peo- Despite a constitutional amendment in 2001, ples right to land in Article 14 are described which inserted into the Constitution’s preamble a as ‘resonat[ing]with the general principles of reference to the people of Belize requiring ‘policies international law regarding indigenous peo- of state which protect … the identity, dignity and ples’, and the UN Declaration on the Rights social and cultural values of Belizeans, including of Indigenous Peoples. While this declaration Belize’s indigenous peoples … with respect for is not binding, the Court notes that Belize international law and treaty obligations in the voted in favour of it, that it was passed by an dealings among nations’, no attempt was made overwhelming majority of the General Assem- to implement the IACHR’s recommendations bly and embodies general principles of interna- by Belize. Consequently, in a renewed attempt tional law relating to indigenous peoples and to enforce their rights, a further case was brought their lands and resources resulting in it ‘being in 2007 before the domestic courts by two of the of such force that the defendants representing communities concerned, alleging the violation of the government will not disregard it’. provisions of the Belize Constitution regarding the As with the IACHR, the Court concluded right to equality, to property and to life from the that the Maya communities’ interest in failure to recognize the communities’ traditional their lands based on Maya customary land communal property rights and the granting of tenure was protected by the right to property logging and oil concessions. In an important and that such right, as well as the right to judgment, in which regard is shown to the IACHR equality, had been violated by the granting decision, the Supreme Court explores in detail the of concessions to third parties to utilize the history of the Maya of the Toledo district, their property and resources located on their land. customs and their relationship with their lands, as The Court similarly ordered the delimiting, well as providing a useful synthesis of some of the demarcating and titling of the land, and that key cases on native or indigenous title in common the government abstain from any action law jurisdictions ranging from to Canada, which would affect the property unless such and that such title was not extinguished merely by action had the informed consent of the settlement by the British Crown. communities. Five years on, the communities Notably, the judgment considers at some are still waiting for implementation of this length Belize’s obligations under international law domestic decision, even as US Capital Energy (matters which ‘weighed heavily with [the court] continues its oil exploration in the area. p

In Mayagna (Sumo) Awas Tingni Community what it itself described as ‘an evolutionary v. Nicaragua (2001), the Awas Tingni interpretation’, found that Article 21, until that community (one of numerous Mayagna or point regarded as protecting a classic, individual Sumo communities inhabiting the isolated private right to property, protected the right to Atlantic Coast region of Nicaragua) challenged property ‘in a sense which includes … the rights Nicaragua’s failure to demarcate their communal of members of the indigenous communities lands and the granting of a timber concession within the framework of communal property’. in an area which potentially belonged to the This was a ground-breaking development. Yet, community without consulting them. Despite the the reason why the Awas Tigni community had fact the American Convention on Human Rights to take their case to the regional level was not made no express reference to indigenous peoples because Nicaragua’s Constitution and legislation nor to communal property, the Court, through made no provision for indigenous peoples

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 29 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law and their property rights. Indeed, Nicaragua’s provision for all three generations of rights (civil 1995 Constitution contains several enlightened and political, economic, social and cultural provisions on the country’s indigenous peoples, and environmental) and its specific provision their communal form of land-ownership and for group rights, it might have been expected their enjoyment of their natural resources. that African countries and the ACHPR would Instead, as found by the IACtHR, there was no have been at the forefront of the protection and established procedure for the titling of indigenous development of indigenous peoples’ rights. Until lands and therefore for making the constitutional relatively recently, the opposite has been the case. and other legislative provisions effective in Recognition of particular ethnic groups as having practice. specific rights has been resisted by many African The more recent case of Saramaka v. Suriname states on the basis that it would create tensions (2007), concerning the Saramaka people, whose between different ethnic groups and instability in roots are traceable to African slaves forcibly newly sovereign countries. brought to the land now known as Suriname In support of such resistance, many states by European colonizers during the seventeenth have exploited the lack of any agreed definition century, builds considerably on the Awas of who indigenous peoples are, and argued that Tingni case with which it shares similar facts. all Africans are indigenous in the sense of being As well as directly addressing the question pre-colonial. The uneasy relationship between of ownership of natural resources, the Court African countries and their indigenous peoples is established clear steps that need to be followed well exemplified by the concerns raised over and if an indigenous community’s property rights amendments proposed to the UNDRIP at the are to be lawfully restricted by development on eleventh hour by the African Group. their land (all derived from Article 21 of the Given this general attitude of African countries American Convention). The IACtHR set out to their indigenous peoples, it is not surprising three additional safeguards to ensure that any that domestically, few of them provide for restriction does not endanger the very survival of recognition of indigenous peoples and their the indigenous group and its members: effective property rights, and when they do such laws participation of the community; benefit-sharing; are generally not enforced. For example, in and the carrying out of prior environmental and Botswana, home to over 40 tribal groups, the social impact assessments. The Court further Tribal Territories Act divides the land between provided a valuable blueprint as to what effective the 8 dominant Tswana tribes and makes no participation and the duty to actively consult provision for the rights of other tribes. By involves in practice, including such matters contrast, the Constitution of Ethiopia, as well as as the need for early notice to be provided of recognizing the right of ‘every people’ in Ethiopia any proposed development; the community to self-determination (Article 39.1), specifically being alerted to possible environmental and recognizes pastoralists’ right not to be displaced health risks; and account being taken of the from their own land (Article 40.5). However, community’s traditional decision-making process. such provisions have proved of scant comfort Unfortunately, even as the Court’s decision is to the country’s Nuer population, involuntarily being invoked by domestic courts, for example in displaced by the government’s villagization Peru, and other regional tribunals (the ACHPR’s programme which is purportedly aimed at in its landmark Endorois decision, described ensuring that they are housed in villages with below), the Saramaka have yet to benefit fully adequate infrastructure and services but which, from the judgment as the vested interests of those in reality, appears aimed at freeing up their in power mean that the implementation process traditional lands for investment by outsiders for continues to be stalled. commercial agriculture. stands out as one country in the Africa region which is trying to come to terms with Given the unique nature of the African Charter its past both at a constitutional and legislative on Human and Peoples’ Rights, with its level and in judicial decisions. In the landmark

30 Strategies of resistance: State of the World’s Minorities testing the limits of the law and Indigenous Peoples 2012 decision of Richtersveld v. Alexkor (2003), have lived for centuries in the Lake Bogoria area its Constitutional Court first examined an of Kenya. In the , the land which they indigenous community’s land rights prior to had traditionally occupied was designated as a annexation by the British Crown with reference Game Reserve. The Endorois were evicted from to indigenous law rather than common law. their lands and their access to Lake Bogoria, Having identified that right as one of communal with its cultural and religious significance, was ownership, including ownership of minerals curtailed. Having failed to find redress at the and precious stones below the surface, the domestic level, the Endorois took their case to Court went on to hold that this right was not the ACHPR, claiming violations of their right to terminated merely by the Crown’s annexation of property, their freedom to practise their religion, the territory. Instead, the community’s rights of their right to culture, their right to natural ownership remained intact until the discovery of resources and their right to development. All of diamonds led to their in the 1920s and these claims were robustly upheld by the ACHPR the subsequent passing of the Precious Stones Act in the first decision to recognize that Article 14 which did not recognize non-registered owners. of the African Charter (the right to property) Given the racially discriminatory nature of this protects the right of ownership (and not mere dispossession, the community was entitled to access) of indigenous peoples to the lands they restitution under the Restitution of Land Rights have traditionally possessed. Act 1994. In a decision which is testimony to the cross- The ACHPR itself, after a slow start, has fertilization between regional human rights shown increasing willingness to engage with bodies, the ACHPR drew extensively on the issues of indigenous peoples and their rights. jurisprudence of the IACtHR. First though, it In 2000, it set up the Working Group on addressed directly the question of who indigenous Indigenous Populations/Communities in Africa peoples are within Africa, setting the issue in its whose work has included the production of an current context: influential report in 2003 examining the human rights situation of indigenous peoples on the ‘while the terms “peoples” and “indigenous continent, as well as exploring possible criteria community” arouse emotive debates, some for identifying indigenous peoples in the African marginalized and vulnerable groups in Africa are context. suffering from particular problems. [The ACHPR] Unlike its counterpart in the Americas, the is aware that many of these groups have not ACHPR has had very few cases presented to it been accommodated by dominating development regarding indigenous peoples and their rights paradigms and in many cases they are being to property. The first was the 2002 case of victimized by mainstream development policies and The Social and Economic Action Rights Centre thinking and their basic human rights violated.’ v. concerning Shell’s oil exploration activities in Ogoniland, in conjunction with a Additionally, while drawing very much upon state oil company, with devastating effects on decisions such as Saramaka v. Suriname, the the lives and welfare of the of the ACHPR broadened the protection afforded by region. While a landmark decision established the IACtHR in several regards. In particular, the justiciability of economic, social and cultural the right to natural resources contained in rights, it represented a missed opportunity to a community’s traditional lands was not examine indigenous peoples and their property limited to those to which they had some rights. particular attachment, and the requirement for That task was left to the 2010 decision of consent by the community, as distinct from Centre for Minority Rights Development (Kenya) mere consultation, appears to apply to any and Minority Rights Group International (on development or investment project that would behalf of the Endorois Welfare Council) v. Kenya. restrict their property rights and not only those The Endorois are a semi-nomadic pastoralist major projects that would have a profound community of approximately 60,000 people who impact on such rights.

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 31 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law Further, in the first decision to adjudicate upon implementation of the ACHPR decision. the right to development, the ACHPR rejected The Ogiek, a forest-dwelling community, have Kenya’s contention that ‘the task of communities similarly brought a case against Kenya before within a participatory democracy is to contribute the ACHPR, in a sign that Kenya’s 2010 to the well-being of society at large and not only Constitution, which specifically recognizes to care selfishly for one’s own community at the marginalized groups and provides for community risk of others’. Instead, the ACHPR emphasized land, including ancestral lands, has yet to bring the right to a particular process of development about real changes on the ground. Due to the which involves the community on an equal serious violations involved, in the first half of footing and increases their choices and well-being 2012 the ACHPR referred the case to the and results in the empowerment of its members. African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights. As in the case of the Saramaka, Endorois This will be the first opportunity for that body, are, some two years on, still waiting for whose decisions, unlike the ACHPR’s, are

32 Strategies of resistance: State of the World’s Minorities testing the limits of the law and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Endorois people near Lake Bogoria, Kenya. It is a similar story in Cambodia, where This photo was taken during a MRG trip to Lake the 2001 is progressive on its face, Bogoria. Ishbel Matheson/MRG. specifically including a chapter on ‘immovable property of indigenous peoples’, which enables binding, to adjudicate upon indigenous peoples’ indigenous communities to gain collective property rights. title to their land as well as prohibiting sale of indigenous land, even before formal titles are Asia awarded. However, neither provision is enforced Despite being home to the majority of the in practice. world’s indigenous peoples, resistance to the Malaysia serves as an example of where short- very concept of indigenous peoples plus the comings in legislative protection have been lack of any independent regional human rights addressed through the courts. In a series of cases mechanism has meant that protection of beginning in 1997 with Adong bin Kuwau v. indigenous peoples’ property rights (as well as Kerajaan Negri Johor, the courts have upheld other rights) remains severely underdeveloped indigenous peoples’ native customary rights and in the region. As in Africa, the debate around made clear that they can only be extinguished by indigenous peoples has been caught up in clear legislation or by an executive act with appro- questions of definition and concerns that priate compensation. While Malaysia’s indigenous affording rights to particular groups will people clearly have some faith in the judicial sys- undermine national unity. The debate has tem (there are said to be over 200 cases currently at times been highly politicized and, as with before the Sarawak courts alone regarding indig- the wider human rights debate, charges have enous communities’ exercise of their customary been made of Eurocentricism and Western rights), the results have been mixed, as the chapter domination. on South East Asia demonstrates. At a domestic level, many states still refuse It remains to be seen what effect developments to recognize their indigenous populations. at an international level and in other regions Thus, ’s 2011 amendment to its will have within Asia. Perhaps encouragingly, an Constitution continued the non-recognition of early draft of the Association of Southeast Asian indigenous peoples as such, making reference Nations (ASEAN) human rights declaration (as instead to tribes and ethnic groups, something of January 2012) includes a specific reference strongly criticized by indigenous peoples and to indigenous peoples and ethnic groups and their representative organizations. their right to the enjoyment, collectively and Some states have shown themselves more open, individually, of all human rights, as well as their at least on the legislative books, to recognizing right to consultation, and the obligation on states indigenous peoples and their rights. For to obtain their free and informed consent prior example, the Philippines enacted the Indigenous to embarking on certain development projects. Peoples’ Rights Act (IPRA) back in 1997, the However, whether such provisions will be constitutionality of which has since been upheld retained in the final draft remains to be seen. by the country’s courts. Nevertheless, the IPRA, which provides for the recognition of ancestral Challenges domains, the right to self-determination and the The foregoing section has provided a brief duties of consultation and obtaining free, prior overview of the legal standards regarding and informed consent, has been heavily criticized. indigenous peoples and their right to their In particular, the IPRA is said to be undermined traditionally occupied lands and their natural by the 1995 Mining Act, and the number of resources. Some of those standards are specialized, certificates of title or ancestral applying only to indigenous peoples, as in ILO land title have been limited due to the unduly 169. Others are derived from generally applicable burdensome requirements on indigenous peoples standards (the right to property) but elaborated to prove occupation of their lands since time on by human rights tribunals to include specific immemorial. requirements in their application to indigenous

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 33 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law 34 Strategies of resistance: State of the World’s Minorities testing the limits of the law and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Portrait of a Waorani woman at Yasuni standards they have signed up to) has its place. National Park, Ecuador. The Waorani are trying However, indigenous peoples and their ways to protect their land against the threat of oil of life challenge the dominant development multinationals. Julio Etchart/Panos. paradigm, which essentially remains about economic development and is premised on the peoples. The standards are not written in stone notion of the greatest benefit for the greatest and are continuing to evolve (for example, with number. Unless and until a new development regard to the extent of indigenous peoples’ rights model prevails, indigenous peoples, whatever their over natural resources on their lands, and when rights in theory, will find themselves vulnerable to the doctrine of free, prior and informed consent governments and third parties wanting to benefit applies) but the basic parameters of the rights from the resources found on or under their lands. of indigenous peoples to their and This vulnerability is compounded by the fact that the corresponding obligations on states are now the demand for natural resources has reached established. unprecedented levels. The various decisions being made by tribunals One initiative which seeks to modify the at the domestic, regional and international level current development paradigm is Ecuador’s are important in terms of holding governments Yasuni-ITT proposal. The Yasuni region is home to account and in contributing to the ongoing to the Waorani indigenous people. It is an area evolution of such rights. Ultimately though, such of extreme biodiversity. It also contains Ecuador’s cases are a means of last resort: to hold states to largest oil reserves in the Ishpingo-Tambococha- account for actions they should already be taking Tiputini (ITT) oilfields. Negotiations have been (recognizing and protecting in actual practice taking place on a scheme whereby Ecuador rights to property by delimiting, demarcating and would forgo oil development in the ITT region titling ancestral lands) or refraining from (giving of if the international away mining and logging concessions, establishing community compensates the country for at of wildlife reserves) without the full participation least half the revenue it would have generated of the local people. And, as shown, even where from such oil exploration. Under this model, indigenous peoples’ claims of violations of their development still has a price tag, but it is not rights have been upheld before domestic or always the highest possible price and it is not regional tribunals, governments continue to drag about exploiting natural resources until they are their feet in implementing the decisions. depleted and then moving on to new terrain. At the root of this implementation gap is From the perspective of indigenous peoples’ a failure of states and other players, such as rights, the project can, on its face, be criticized: private companies, to take indigenous peoples the implication being that if Ecuador does not and their rights seriously, and also a continuing receive the requested funds it will go ahead and refusal on the part of sovereign states to fully extract the oil despite the consequences for the appreciate that, just as sovereignty has been Waorani. Nevertheless, it makes the case that ceded in some areas to external economic factors biodiversity and cultural richness also have value. and international bodies, part of their internal It remains to be seen whether the Yasuni-ITT sovereignty needs to be ceded. And, as such, proposal is successful and how workable similar states are not always the final arbiters of which proposals in other areas might be. In fact, at development projects can take place, where or the end of 2011, the future of the Yasuni-ITT how, within their borders. The examples with proposal appeared to be in doubt. What is clear which this chapter opened are not isolated though is that, while immense progress has been incidents but just two of countless examples achieved by and on behalf of indigenous peoples which illustrate this ongoing state of denial. over the last few decades, there remains much The incremental chipping away through to be done in implementing their rights on the litigation at widely held views by states as to the ground. p real position of indigenous peoples (irrespective of what domestic, regional or international

State of the World’s Minorities Strategies of resistance: 35 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 testing the limits of the law Corporate responsibility to respect the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples Corinne Lewis inorities and indigenous peoples controlled by the Singapore-based Wilmar around the world continue to face Group, to evict Suku Anak Dalam indigenous M eviction from their lands and other people from three settlements and burn down violations of their rights caused by private sector their in August 2011. development and extractive projects, such as mining, oil and gas, and logging activities. Dam construction: The ongoing construction Governments tend to regard new development of the Ilisu dam on the Tigris River in and extractive projects as opportunities to will displace as many as 55,000–65,000 , contribute to national economic development create environmental pollution, and affect the and bring benefits to the country, such as water supply to communities in and Syria. employment, infrastructure investment and increased tax revenue. However, minorities and Logging: The Penan indigenous community indigenous peoples often view such projects living in the in Sarawak, Malaysian differently. For them, the land that will be Borneo, continue to demand the recognition developed is an integral part of their lives and of their native customary rights to land in culture; the forests, mountains, plains and water the forests that have been heavily logged by resources are not only crucial to the sustenance Malaysia-based companies, including Samling, of their communities, they also have cultural Interhill and Shin Yang. Penan claim that and religious meaning. The negative impacts community members who resist logging of development projects – loss of land and operations have received death threats and that livelihoods, environmental and labour issues, Penan women have been raped by workers and security implications – often far outweigh from the logging companies. any positive benefits, such as employment opportunities or new roads. A few examples of Nature reserves: Ogiek have been subject to a variety of projects illustrate the severity and repeated mass evictions from Kenya’s Mau breadth of the problem: Forest since colonial times. Most recently, in 2009, the Kenyan Parliament authorized the Extraction of fossil fuels: , Ijaw, , eviction of all inhabitants from the forest, Ogoni and other minorities who live in the ostensibly for conservation purposes, although struggle today with the after- this was done without proper consultation. effects of extensive and repeated oil spills in the Two Ogiek land-rights activists were brutally region, which have damaged their health and attacked in early 2011. The 40,000 hectare livelihoods and destroyed the environment. forest is seen as a key area for the development A 2011 report by the United Nations of tourism, as well as power generation projects Environment Programme estimates that clean- and tea plantations. up and recovery could take 25–30 years. The threats to minorities and indigenous peoples, Mining of precious minerals: Ipili people were as well as women within these communities, evicted from their land to make way for the will increase as their lands are coveted for new Porgera gold mine in Papua New Guinea’s projects. With the world’s population expected highlands in 2009. A local joint venture to grow from 7 billion today to over 9 billion controlled by Canada-based Barrick Gold by 2050, new sources of energy and mineral Corporation housed and fed over 200 troops, supplies, food, water and timber will be required. who razed Ipili houses. Rapes of women and The World Bank estimates that more than killings by the mine’s security guards have also 56 million hectares of farmland (worldwide, been documented. although 70 per cent is in Africa) was leased to foreign investors in 2009 alone, and over 227 Agribusiness: In Jambi province on the island million hectares of land – an area the size of of Sumatra, local Indonesian police allegedly Western Europe – has been sold or leased since worked with the staff of a palm oil plantation, 2001. This has been driven in large part by the

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 37 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights need of foreign governments to secure food and bio-fuel sources, and by private investors following the 2008 commodity boom. Box 1 As the debate concerning the impact of companies on human rights has intensified, pressure has increased to codify their obligations. Global Compact Two non-binding documents, approved by the principles UN Human Rights Council, seek to create a framework for ensuring companies’ responsibility to respect human rights: the 2008 UN ‘Protect, Human rights Respect and Remedy’ Framework for Business Principle one: Businesses should support and Human Rights (Framework), and its and respect the protection of internationally supplement, the 2011 Guiding Principles on proclaimed human rights; and Business and Human Rights: Implementing the Principle two: make sure they are not complicit UN ‘Protect, Respect and Remedy’ Framework. in human rights abuses. They elaborate on the human rights-related Labour principles contained in the UN Global Compact Principle three: Businesses should uphold (see Box 1), a voluntary corporate responsibility the freedom of association and the effective initiative that was launched in 2000, and draws recognition of the right to collective on existing standards and practices. bargaining; The Framework establishes three key pillars: Principle four: the elimination of all forms states’ duty to protect against human rights abuses of forced and compulsory labour; by third parties, including business; corporate Principle five: the effective abolition of responsibility to respect human rights; and child labour; and access for victims to effective remedy. Under the Principle six: the elimination of Framework, companies must avoid infringing discrimination in respect of employment upon human rights and address the adverse and occupation. p un global compact’s ten principles. impacts of their operations. And this refers to all Source :

38 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Suku Anak Dalam community members liv- ing in the middle of a palm oil plantation, Jambi, Box 2 Indonesia. Sophie Chao/. internationally recognized human rights – not only Minority civil and political rights, but also economic, social and cultural rights – plus fundamental labour communities at standards. In addition, companies should respect the rights of individuals belonging to groups which a disadvantage may be adversely affected by their operations. These include the principles set out by the UN with regard to minorities and indigenous peoples. The Buela, a forest community in the The Guiding Principles that operationalize the Congo Basin, in the Democratic Republic Framework do not specifically mention the rights of Congo, signed an agreement in 2011 of minorities and indigenous peoples, although with Sodefor (Société de Developpement the commentaries to the principles encourage Forestier), a subsidiary of Nordsudtimber, businesses to consider standards for minorities a Liechenstein-based company, to allow and indigenous peoples as part of broader due forest areas used by the community to be diligence procedures. According to another logged by the company. commentary, states should provide guidance to However, the process leading up to business enterprises on how to consider issues the signing was skewed in favour of the relating to specific challenges faced by minorities company. According to a Congolese lawyer and indigenous peoples. working through an initiative of Avocats The corporate responsibility to respect human Sans Frontières with forest communities rights is a voluntary commitment made by in the region to ensure respect for their companies themselves, except where national rights, no company representative ever laws, such as those with respect to labour came to discuss the agreement with the standards, non-discrimination, indigenous community. Instead, Sodefor sent an peoples, health and the environment are NGO that it engages, PABO (Partisans applicable to companies’ operations. However, et Artisans de Bongandanga). PABO in many countries where extractive and told the community members that it development projects are located, such national supported them, but actually advocated the laws are either non-existent or unenforced. company’s position and failed to inform Companies have recently begun to articulate the community of its rights and options their commitment to respect human rights in with respect to the company’s proposed corporate codes, policies and reports. Industry agreement. associations, such as the International Council The lawyer also said the community on Mining & Metals, and the global oil and gas members’ inexperience in these matters industry association for environmental and social meant they were unaware they could issues (IPIECA) are also encouraging member discuss and negotiate the terms of the companies to respect human rights. While these agreement. The presence of military industry associations and companies specifically personnel at the signing ceremony, coupled address the topic of indigenous peoples, they give with the memory of the military’s arrest, very little consideration, if any, to minorities. torture and killing of some Buela and Yet the real challenge arises from the fact that rape of Buela women following Sodefor’s companies in the extractive and development request for military intervention in 2005, sectors continue to perpetrate serious rights allegedly created sufficient fear in the violations, including of the rights of minorities community members that they simply and indigenous communities. Consequently, the signed the agreement. p question is whether the voluntary commitment

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 39 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights by companies to respect human rights is effect on women from minority or indigenous sufficient or whether binding legislation and communities, since they lose not only their regulations, new governmental policies and other livelihoods, but also their roles in the family actions are needed. and community. Moreover, displaced women and girls generally are at risk of exploitation, Concerns such as trafficking and prostitution, as well as Land issues sexual violence. These risks are compounded The land leased to companies to develop by the discrimination faced by many minorities a project is rarely land that belongs to no and indigenous communities. Companies do one. Even where no formal legal title exists, not always consider these effects. Vedanta, minority or indigenous communities may a London-based company, failed to evaluate have ownership rights under customary law. properly the impact of its bauxite mine on Companies sometimes lease land that is subject women in India’s Odisha state, despite evidence to community ownership directly from the that other extractive projects in India had led community, as Rio Tinto has done for land to ‘loss of access to resources and livelihood, owned by Aboriginal communities in Western greater insecurity and increased vulnerability to Australia that contains iron ore deposits. violence’ for women according to a 2011 report However, the agreement should be a consensual of . one and the process used to arrive at the agreement should be fair, which was not the case Consultation and free, prior and with respect to the agreement signed by the Buela informed consent forest community in the Democratic Republic of Companies often receive land concessions Congo (DRC) (see Box 2). from governments that did not consult with or Generally, companies purchase or lease obtain the ‘free, prior and informed consent’ of the land from the government. However, indigenous communities affected by a project. governments often either appropriate land For example, the Cambodian government or force members of minority or indigenous granted a land concession for a rubber plantation communities to sell their land. For example, to Socfin-KCD, a joint venture controlled by palm oil companies, such as Colombia-based a holding company registered in Luxembourg, Urapalma, acquired land from Afro-descendant without obtaining the consent of the indigenous communities in the Choco department in Bunong community, even though the concession western Colombia through forced sales. partly overlaps with the Bunong’s land. Company representatives allegedly colluded with States’ duty to consult indigenous peoples is paramilitary groups to present the landowners established in international law under Article with offers that were well below the estimated 6 of the International Labour Organization market price; these offers were backed up by Convention no. 169 Concerning Indigenous and indirect or direct death threats. Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries (ILO When companies receive land concessions 169). Such consultation with a view to agreement from the government, minority and indigenous must be provided to indigenous communities communities are frequently displaced; they are not whenever consideration is being given to legal or resettled nor do they receive fair compensation administrative measures that may affect them. for the land or for the adverse effects of the The principle of free, prior and informed displacement. For example, when the Tanzanian consent, contained in Article 32 of the UN government leased Sukenya Farm in Western Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Arusha to a US safari tour operator, pastoralists Peoples is arguably developing into a customary were forcibly ejected from their land, and continue international law standard. The principle has to be subjected to harassment, beatings and extra- also been found to apply to states in both a 2007 judicial arrests when attempting to access their decision of the Inter-American Court of Human traditional sources of water on the land. Rights, Saramaka People v. Suriname, and a 2009 Displacement can have a disproportionate decision of the African Commission on Human

40 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 and Peoples’ Rights concerning Endorois in The original owner of the Marlin Mine in Kenya. The legal standard articulated by the two Guatemala, Canada-based Glamis Gold, was decisions is that in the case of: required by the IFC to hold consultations with local communities, including indigenous Mayans, ‘any development or investment projects that would as a condition for receiving a loan from the have a major impact within the [community’s] institution. While the company held workshops, territory, the State has a duty not only to consult these served only to inform the community with the community, but also to obtain their free, prior, and informed consent, according to their customs and traditions.’

Box 3 Moreover, these standards are entering into national law. For example, Peru adopted legislation in September 2011 that follows the ILO 169 approach of consultation leading to Strengthening an agreement. It also provides that where such community an agreement or consent cannot be reached, the government must still take all measures to resistance guarantee indigenous rights. The emerging obligation to obtain the free, The ‘community protocol’ is gaining prior and informed consent of indigenous recognition as a tool that can be used by communities falls upon states rather than indigenous and other communities to companies. However, a company’s failure to protect their natural resources, livelihoods ensure that the government has fulfilled its and community traditions. obligations will likely manifest itself in actions of The protocol can take a variety of forms, anger and frustration directed at the company. depending on the needs of the community, indigenous people in Peru (also known as and often includes: Wampis) blockaded the Morona River to stop p a description of the group, including Canada-based Talisman Energy from conducting its values, relationship with their land exploratory oil drilling in September 2011 in and resources, customary laws and anger over the lack of consultation. governance system; Recently, some lending institutions have p a statement of the community’s begun to articulate the standard as a requirement development aspirations; for extension of financing to a company. p their rights and responsibilities under The European Bank for Reconstruction and national and international laws; and Development (EBRD) and the International p the process for obtaining the community’s Finance Corporation (IFC) require companies to ‘free, prior and informed consent’. obtain such consent in relation to projects funded by these institutions. In addition, over 70 banks The protocol serves as a guide to that have adopted the Equator Principles – a companies or others who wish to engage set of standards that allow banks to determine, with the community and access their assess and manage environmental and social risks natural resources. In addition, the process in projects they finance – incorporate the IFC’s of creating the protocol, with support as standards and thus also impose this requirement required, can contribute to a greater sense on their borrowers. of community, understanding of their But, too often, companies consult with rights, and legal empowerment. indigenous peoples in a perfunctory and A good resource is UNEP’s website on superficial manner, and so not only undermine community protocols: www.unep.org/ the purpose of the process, but also engender communityprotocols/resources.asp. p distrust and frustration among communities.

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 41 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights about the planned project, rather than providing Right: An Ogoni boy looks up at the black smoke opportunities for discussion. Once the scope pouring from a burning Shell oil pipeline in and environmental impact of the project became Kegbara Dere, Nigeria. George Osodi/Panos. clear, the communities staged demonstrations and blocked the road leading to the mine. company, Compañía General de Combustibles. Women from minority and indigenous The company placed explosives in over 450 pits communities may not have any significant voice along their traditional hunting trails, according to within the community during the consultation a report by EarthRights. process, or be able to complain about the actions of a company. As one Antanosy woman in Security issues stated: ‘If someone, or a woman like When tensions arise with the local community, me, tries to complain and talk to the mayor, he companies frequently hire security personnel or may say, “What does a woman know about this request police assistance to ensure the safety of problem?”’ the company’s facilities. The Voluntary Principles The Tachara indigenous community found on Security and Human Rights were developed their land, water and sacred groves under threat in 2000 by a group of governments, companies when the Ghanaian government granted Azumah and NGOs in reaction to incidents in the 1990s, Resources Limited permission to prospect for gold such as when Shell paid military personnel to in the Upper West Region of Ghana, and illegal suppress resistance to its oil activities in Nigeria. miners also came into the area. The community The principles provide guidance to companies on decided to take action; with the assistance of how to prevent human rights violations by hired the Center for Indigenous Knowledge and security personnel and avoid corporate complicity Organizational Development, they drafted a in violations committed by government officials. community protocol to protect their traditional However, recent reports that Shell has fuelled knowledge and natural resources. As a result, they violence in Nigeria by hiring and arming youth were able to drive away illegal miners and bring militia groups to protect its facilities suggest their case to the regional and national government. that such non-binding guidelines are insufficient Communities in many other countries have now to ensure that the rights of local people are adopted such protocols (see Box 3). protected. So far, the right to free, prior and informed consent has been most clearly stated with regard Environmental issues to indigenous peoples rather than to minorities. Extractive and development projects inevitably However, there are some minorities who give rise to alterations to the environment, and claim the right because they, like indigenous can cause extensive damage. This begins with communities, own land communally, have the construction of infrastructure, including the religious and cultural links to land and natural roads, , power, water and waste facilities, resources, and suffer from marginalization and a and continues throughout the operation of the lack of political power within the country. project, which may entail use and disposal of toxic chemicals. All this can cause the landscape Freedom of movement to be transfigured, and the flora, and The presence of an extractive or development ecosystem to be disturbed. Even after a project project on lands used by minorities and ends, the land and habitat may remain scarred or indigenous peoples often restricts their freedom irreparably damaged. of movement and makes it difficult for them to These activities can disrupt the lives and access vital resources, and cultural and religious destroy the livelihoods of the minorities and sites on the land. Kichwa people in Sarayaku, indigenous communities, who often maintain a Ecuador have alleged, in a case to be heard by close relationship to the natural environment for the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, that their livelihoods and also because their religious their freedom of movement was restricted in their and cultural practices are linked to the land. own territory by the actions of an Argentinean oil Dongria Kondh in India’s Odisha state, for

42 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 example, strongly oppose Vedanta’s proposed impoverished and are suffering from poor bauxite mine project in the Niyamgiri Hills health; Penan children are increasingly afflicted where they live. They fear that the project will by diarrhoea and influenza. Other indigenous not only destroy the forests and disrupt the groups in the region, such as Kayan, who have rivers upon which they rely, but also the sacred traditionally grown their food on small areas of mountain, Niyam Raja, where their god who land in the forest, have had their lands taken over protects the people from unnatural deaths resides. by oil palm plantations as well. Deforestation commonly imposes hardship Chemicals used in extractive projects can have on local communities as it affects their ability to serious repercussions on minority and indigenous obtain food and, potentially, their very survival. communities when they are not properly handled Penan, an indigenous community of hunter- and are released into the environment. In the US gatherers who live in Sarawak in the Malaysian state of Montana, around the Zortman Landusky part of Borneo, rely on the flora and fauna of the gold mine – operated by US-based Pegasus Gold rainforests and the rivers that flow through the until it went bankrupt in 1998 – there were over forest for nourishment. But, as logging operations a dozen cyanide spills that polluted the land and and, more recently, oil palm plantations have groundwater of the Fort Belknap tribes. Even encroached on their land, Penan have become after the closure of the mine, acid mine drainage

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 43 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights Right: Dongria Kondh protest against Vedanta Resources, Niyamgiri, India. Survival. continues to pollute local water resources. Companies do not always take the necessary steps to reduce such pollution. For example, gas flares, which burn off natural gas from oil extraction processes, release known pollutants that have been blamed for a wide range of illnesses, from respiratory problems to cancer, and create noise pollution. Companies continue to use gas flaring in the Niger Delta and in other oil operations around the world, despite the existence of technology designed to avoid its use, which is ‘already available and commonly used in other countries’, according to a 2011 European Parliament report. The vulnerability of minorities and indigenous communities, when their lands and the air they breathe are being polluted by a company, is compounded by their inability to access information about such harms, or to access adequate health care. When a truck from the Yanacocha mine in Peru spilled 151 kg of mercury over a 40 km stretch of road in 2000, indigenous people picked up the glittering liquid in their bare hands and consequently suffered adverse health effects, including blindness, neurological damage and memory loss. The government estimated that more than 900 people were poisoned. Though the contract for the sale or lease of land to a company may not explicitly cover use of water, companies generally want to secure water rights as part of the deal; water is essential to most operations. But when enterprises consume significant quantities, this leaves less water Canada, owned by Rio Tinto-Alcan, a subsidiary available for local communities and their livestock, of the Anglo-Australian Rio Tinto group, has which is a particular problem in regions subject caused a decline in the fish stocks upon which to long dry periods and seasonal rains. In Chile, a they rely. national mining company, Soquimich, bought up and polluted so much of the water in Quillagua Labour issues town that local Aymara indigenous groups can no Individuals within minority or indigenous longer produce crops, and the majority of people communities often have very divergent views of have been forced to migrate elsewhere. the arrival of a company on or near their lands. The construction of dams not only displaces Some individuals may see it as a threat to their local people and destroys biodiversity of an area culture, livelihoods and control over resources, through flooding, but can also drastically alter the while others consider it as an opportunity for jobs availability of water resources to a community. and a welcome move away from their traditional Two Canadian First Nations communities claim livelihoods. The Organization for Economic that the Kenney Dam on the Nechako River in Co-operation and Development (OECD),

44 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 whose 34 member countries formulate policies skilled workers from outside the region. to improve the economic and social well-being In some cases, when land is purchased by of people throughout the world, encourages foreign investors for large-scale agricultural companies to employ local workers to the greatest purposes, farmers have lost their livelihoods extent possible. due to the mechanization of farm processes; for But all too often the hopes of minorities are example, when Indian agricultural businesses dashed upon realizing that the available jobs are have bought up land in Africa. In other cases, fewer than promised or expected, are mainly minorities such as Uighurs in Xinjiang Uighur low-paid unskilled positions and are only short Autonomous Region, China, were forced by term. Forest communities in Madagascar were the government to perform labour on resource reportedly angry with Rio Tinto’s Canadian development projects, such as agricultural subsidiary, QIT Fer et Titane, which controls projects, without compensation. the ilmenite mine project on the east coast of Madagascar, for breaking promises about Destabilization of communities employment and training, and instead hiring The presence of companies on lands traditionally

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 45 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights owned or used by minorities and indigenous groups – particularly minorities and indigenous peoples can destabilize communities when jobs, peoples – are not protected from harmful profits and benefits, such as the construction corporate behaviour. This section will explore of roads and schools, are seen to be unequally some aspects of these failings. distributed among different groups, leading to conflict within communities. Vedanta’s planned Legal redress of violations bauxite mine in Odisha state, India, was opposed Minorities and indigenous peoples who have by Dongria Kondh people, who are farmers, but had their rights violated in connection with a was supported by other villagers who are wage development or extractive project should be labourers. The other communities blocked routes able to access legal procedures within their state. into the area, essentially holding Dongria Kondh However, many of these violations occur in under siege. Dongria Kondh drew international countries with inoperative or ineffective judicial attention to their situation and, as a result of systems, weak governance or internal conflicts. widespread criticism of Vedanta, the Indian In countries where a fair local judiciary system government suspended the project in 2010. The exists, legal procedures can be costly, time- decision is currently pending appeal. consuming, psychologically daunting and require Companies have also abetted conflicts within expert legal assistance. For many marginalized minority and indigenous communities by communities, long travel distances and language providing assistance to members who support barriers are further potential obstacles. These their projects. spokespersons, in the difficulties render national legal procedures Peruvian Amazon, allege that Talisman Energy, practically inaccessible to most minorities and a Canadian-owned oil company, transported a indigenous peoples who have suffered violations group of armed members of their community of their rights. who support Talisman’s oil drilling, to confront The laws of the country in which the ultimate community protesters in May 2009. Such parent company is incorporated may permit incidents undermine community traditions of criminal as well as civil, tort and negligence collective decision-making. claims, but the problems mentioned above In addition, projects can divide different for minorities and indigenous communities generations in a community as younger people seeking legal redress are multiplied to a daunting obtain jobs with the company, and thus money degree when envisioning legal claims in another and independence, while the older generation country. Legal principles, such as the ‘corporate risks losing its traditional influence and role. New veil’ that regards a parent company as distinct development and extractive projects have also from its subsidiaries, and thus not liable for served to attract significant influxes of individuals the wrongdoings of the subsidiary, also serve as from outside communities, as well as the creation significant obstacles to claims by minorities and of new businesses, including unwanted ones, indigenous peoples. such as prostitution, alcohol supply and drug Another option is for minorities and trafficking, which significantly disrupt the local indigenous peoples to submit complaints to social fabric. regional human rights bodies and UN treaty bodies. However, the claimant must normally Weaknesses in the existing have exhausted domestic remedies. In addition, framework to ensure corporate the claim must be made against the state rather respect for human rights than the company. The claimants should While the Guiding Principles are a positive step assert that the state failed to provide sufficient forward, corporate responsibility standards still protection against acts by the company and have some way to go. This is partly due to the that the state has not implemented systems that fact that international initiatives have so far been permit it to prevent, investigate, punish, and voluntary, and partly because local enforcement redress human rights violations by businesses. of national legislation continues to be patchy. Even where regional human rights bodies and Consequently, some of the most vulnerable UN treaty bodies issue decisions that protect the

46 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 rights of minorities and indigenous peoples, there procedures are not a replacement for effective can be problems of ensuring compliance and judicial mechanisms. Nevertheless, they do enforcement, not least when development and permit local persons to communicate their extractive projects are involved. concerns and complaints, which they may Minorities and indigenous peoples who have not necessarily express as violations of rights, been victims of human rights violations also have directly to the company, thereby opening up the the possibility of submitting a complaint to a possibility of redress of such issues. ‘National Contact Point’ (NCP), a governmental But few companies have instituted such body established by OECD member states mechanisms. While the IFC’s revised who adhere to the OECD Guidelines for performance standards on environmental and Multinational Enterprises (OECD Guidelines). social sustainability, which became effective on NCPs investigate complaints of potential 1 January 2012 and are also incorporated into breaches of guidelines. Once the complaint the Equator Principles, require borrowers to is determined to be admissible by the NCP, create a complaints procedure, this only applies mediation is normally instituted between the to new investments. Therefore, companies that complainant and the company. But the NCP has already have loans in place with the IFC or a limited investigative capacity and no enforcement bank subscribing to the Equator Principles are powers. Thus, this process does not necessarily not required to create grievance mechanisms guarantee a remedy of the violation, and the unless they obtain a new loan for a project. procedure is heavily dependent upon the integrity In order to constitute a satisfactory option and commitment of the individual NCPs. for the resolution of issues and problems raised by minorities and indigenous peoples, the Voluntary initiatives grievance procedure must be an effective one. In the absence of sufficient means to ensure According to the Guiding Principles, this means compliance, companies are largely left to self- that such a mechanism must be legitimate, regulate. The Guiding Principles and the OECD accessible, predictable, equitable, transparent, Guidelines establish a number of approaches for rights-compatible and a source of continuous companies; the question is whether such self- learning. The key question is not only whether regulation is sufficient. the procedure is ‘effective’ in procedural terms, but also whether it serves to remedy the problem Due diligence as well as prevent future violations of rights. The Guiding Principles encourage companies to establish due diligence processes that assess ‘actual Community engagement and potential human rights impacts’. But while While for indigenous peoples, the right to companies commonly conduct an environmental free, prior and informed consent to a project is impact assessment, such assessments do not developing into a customary international law generally consider past human rights violations standard, this principle has not yet been applied which have affected minority or indigenous to minorities. Instead, the general principle of communities, ongoing violations that should be ‘engagement’ by the company with the local remedied, or the future potential harm to such community is becoming the principle relevant communities as a result of the project. Nor does to minorities. The OECD Guidelines encourage such due diligence usually consider the different companies to ‘[e]ngage with relevant stakeholders risks faced by women and men. in order to provide meaningful opportunities for their views to be taken into account in relation to Grievance mechanisms planning and decision making for projects’. The The Guiding Principles affirm that businesses EBRD, the IFC and consequently the Equator ‘should establish or participate in effective Principles also require borrowers to engage operational-level grievance mechanisms for with persons affected by their projects. As the individuals and communities who may be notion of ‘engagement’ is vague and there is no adversely impacted’. Company grievance legally binding obligation to ‘engage’, in reality

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 47 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights minorities have little international legal basis to Companies’ engagement with minorities influence corporate behaviour. and indigenous peoples is only the first step; Nevertheless, there are strong arguments the essential issue is whether a company acts in favour of companies taking the views of upon input from local communities. Where the minorities seriously. Engaging local communities company has engaged with individuals at the can lead to the company obtaining their support, local level who are affected by the project, but that is, a ‘social licence’ for the company to then fails to respect the written agreement or its operate. Poor community relations at any point oral promises, the company only fosters a climate in the life of an extractive or development project of distrust, which can lead to demonstrations to can lead to demonstrations, road blockages block the company’s operations and lawsuits. The and other acts by the community that are people of Etiema, in the Niger Delta in Nigeria, expressions of its frustration about unaddressed claim that Agip Oil Company made promises concerns, such as the effects of the project on the – such as compensation payments for deaths of natural environment or on their access to land. young people – that were never fulfilled, and Companies’ continual disregard of such concerns have threatened a lawsuit against the company. can even result in the suspension of their projects, as has occurred with, for example, Vedanta’s Reporting planned bauxite mine project in Odisha, India, The Guiding Principles state that companies China Power Investment Corporation’s Myitsone should communicate externally as to ‘how hydroelectric dam in Burma and Newmont they address their human rights impacts’ and Mining’s Conga gold mine operation in Peru. formally report ‘where risks of severe human Minorities and indigenous peoples are rarely rights impacts exist’. The number of companies provided with information about the proposed reporting on their respect for human rights is project and plans in their own languages. Mayan increasing. Such reporting is frequently contained indigenous people in the Western Highlands in a social responsibility report that is issued of Guatemala did not fully understand the separately from the company’s annual report. implications of the proposed plans for Canada- According to international accounting and based Goldcorp’s Marlin gold and silver advisory firm KPMG, while reporting is quite mine project since the Environmental Impact high for the mining, oil and gas, forestry, and Assessment was produced only in Spanish, pulp and paper sectors, and nearly 70 per cent whereas the local indigenous Mayan communities of all publicly owned companies issue social speak Mayan, and it was only made available to responsibility reports, the figure is less than 50 them by the Guatemalan government for one per cent for privately owned firms, which are week. Therefore, language issues alone may block not subject to as much shareholder and media meaningful participation in discussions with pressure. companies. Some governments are adopting regulations Similar issues arise when companies seek to that require annual reporting on corporate social implement social projects but then fail to consult responsibility. For example, Denmark updated its local communities properly. This generally law in 2008, and did the same in 2010. wastes funds and engenders frustration and The European Commission is also considering resentment in communities. For example, in the legislation in this area. Congo Basin in the DRC, the company Sodefor Companies do not always apply in practice failed to consult with Buela on their needs, the express commitments that they make in their and consequently provided unsuitable schools reports (see Box 4). Moreover, these reports rather than urgently needed medical facilities. suffer from several significant weaknesses. First, The company also coerced the community into there is no formal system to monitor the content granting Sodefor the right to log forest areas of such reports at the national or international used by the community (see Box 2), resulting in level, or an external body to evaluate the tensions that could erupt into actions to block accuracy of reporting. Many companies express Sodefor’s access to the forest. a commitment to respect human rights but do

48 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 not provide sufficiently detailed information to Box 4 allow a determination as to whether they have actually implemented such a commitment. Second, minorities and indigenous peoples Beware the also have difficulty verifying reports that may use unintelligible business terminology and be ‘bluewash’ written in a language which the communities do not understand. The 2010 sustainability report of Third, while some companies report on their Newmont Mining Company, the world’s impact on the rights of indigenous peoples, there largest gold producer based in the United is generally very little information about the States, states: rights of minorities, except with respect to labour p ‘the safeguarding of human rights … rights. This suggests a lack of awareness within guides our approach to working with our companies of the specific rights of minorities, many stakeholder groups, including local but is also due to the fact that commonly used communities and indigenous peoples’ performance indicators, such as those established p ‘[W]e invest in understanding the by the Global Reporting Initiative, focus on impacts of our operations from the indigenous rights but not minority rights. In any perspective of indigenous peoples event, these performance indicators are more of p Engage with these communities a quantitative accounting process rather than a throughout the mine life cycle, building measure of compliance with human rights. cross-cultural understanding in the process p Design projects and seek agreement Conclusions with these stakeholders on programs to While the principle of corporate responsibility create net benefits in their communities.’ for human rights is gaining ground, the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples have not been However, in practice, Newmont contin- sufficiently articulated as part of this principle. ues to push forward with its plans for the This is in part due to the fact that the impact Conga gold and copper mine project in of human rights violations on minority and the Peruvian Andes despite the opposition indigenous communities by companies in the of indigenous communities in the region. development and extractive sectors is not yet These communities are concerned widely or sufficiently understood. about potential pollution from the mine Despite express commitments by many and its effects on their water supply, companies to respect human rights, significant particularly as it involves the destruction violations of the rights of minorities and of four mountain lakes and is situated at indigenous peoples continue to occur in practice. the headwaters of several river basins. The non-binding nature of the principle of ‘Getting rid of the lakes would be like corporate respect for human rights, coupled with dynamiting the glaciers in the Andes, the lack of means of enforcement, means that we’d be creating a problem that impacts many violations continue and victims are unable the ecosystem’, Environment Minister to obtain redress or remedies for such violations. Ricardo Giesecke said in November 2011. Companies are in the process of adopting an Despite numerous demonstrations and array of approaches, drawing on international the objections and concerns of the campes- initiatives such as the Guiding Principles and the inos, Newmont pledges on its website that OECD Guidelines; these include due diligence, it will ‘continue to advance the project in grievance mechanisms, community engagement 2012’, which suggests that there is a seri- and corporate reporting. However, these are ous gap between the company’s express under the control of the companies themselves commitment and its actual practice. p and cannot fill the void left by the lack of a means of enforcement.

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 49 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights Thus, a great deal more needs to be done to for the free, prior and informed consent of create awareness of the impact of development indigenous peoples regarding development that and extractive projects on the rights of minorities will have an impact on them. States should also and indigenous communities, to include recognize the customary land rights of minorities protection for them in the emerging principles and indigenous peoples and seek to adopt any and standards, and to ensure respect for their necessary enabling legislation. These customary rights by companies and enforcement of such land rights should be respected in negotiations rights. with companies in pursuit of development or The following recommendations could be used extractive projects on minority or indigenous to further corporate respect for human rights in lands. practice. The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights and the Global Compact Recommendations Governance Framework should consider Creating greater awareness developing principles specifically on businesses There is a need for greater awareness of violations and minority and indigenous peoples. Companies of the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples and industry associations should also incorporate by companies in the development and extractive human rights principles related to minorities and sectors. This is especially true of their adverse indigenous peoples into their own policies and impact on minority and indigenous women. guidelines. The dearth of documentation as to the effects of such projects on minorities is particularly Companies notable. The UN Working Group on Business Companies should promote an understanding and Human Rights should encourage further of minorities and indigenous peoples, including research in this area, and coordinate with relevant women in these populations, and their rights UN monitoring mechanisms, including the through training of management and employees. Independent Expert on Minority Issues and the In addition, companies should commit to Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous respect their rights, including the principles peoples. of effective consultation and of free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples to Empowering minorities and companies’ activities. Companies should provide indigenous peoples appropriate grievance mechanisms and report Minority and indigenous communities should on their commitments and implementation consider drafting community protocols of respect for the rights of minorities and that include statements as to the basis upon indigenous communities, including women in which they will agree to projects that affect these populations, in their corporate reports. the community, and outlining their cultural Companies should also engage in effective traditions and the natural resources on which consultation with minorities and indigenous they depend. Community leaders must ensure communities who are impacted by their that all members – including women – can operations. participate meaningfully in this process. Civil society organizations should work Enforcement towards greater inclusion of minorities and States should foster corporate respect for the indigenous peoples in processes such as the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples creation of legislative standards, industry through the enforcement of existing laws and principles, reporting indicators, and judicial and regulations and the adoption of any necessary non-judicial mechanisms related to corporate new legislation, including with respect to the responsibility to respect human rights. extraterritorial activities of businesses domiciled in their countries. States should also provide Standards and principles accessible, transparent and effective legal States should adopt legislation that provides mechanisms to which minorities and indigenous

50 Corporate responsibility State of the World’s Minorities to respect rights and Indigenous Peoples 2012 peoples have access in case of violations of their rights. States should divest from companies that commit serious and systematic human rights violations, including those of minorities and indigenous peoples.

Encouraging corporate respect through lending agreements International, regional and national financial institutions and private banks should include provisions in their loan agreements that the obligation to respect human rights, including with respect to minority and indigenous rights, is not only an initial condition to obtaining the loan but also an ongoing undertaking. These institutions and banks should establish mechanisms to monitor the behaviour of companies and alert company directors if they are in serious breach of their loan agreements. Where companies do not comply with such standards, and do not rectify serious breaches despite receiving warnings, the institutions and banks should move to require repayment of the loan provided to such entities. p

State of the World’s Minorities Corporate responsibility 51 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 to respect rights Indigenous women’s land rights: case studies from Africa Elisa Scalise ndigenous communities’ rights to land society, the factors making land tenure insecure and natural resources are vulnerable, and for some groups may not be the same for others: I seeking formal recognition of customary indigenous women may be more vulnerable law and collective ownership to land is crucial to to threats to land tenure security than men. protect these rights. However, greater autonomy Customs may reinforce social justifications for or recognition for indigenous laws and culture inequitable land rights for men and women. For does not necessarily result in enhanced rights for example, among Acholi in Uganda, husbands women within the group. pay a bride price to their wives’ fathers, and Indigenous women are often doubly this payment supports the traditional that vulnerable, as their access to land and resources women are the ‘property’ of the husband, since a is frequently mediated through customary law, payment was made for her. This belief underlies which depends on their communities retaining the customary land tenure rule that prohibits control over traditional territories. Often no women from having rights to land independent one, male or female, has formal legal title to of their relationship with their father or husband. land or communal claim to land, and whole Acholi men say, ‘Property can’t own property’, communities are forcibly displaced to make way and the notion of women having independent for conservation or development projects. Certain land rights is an anomaly to them. communities, such as Batwa and Basongora Women may be excluded from decision- in Uganda, and Samburu in Kenya have been making both within their community and the rendered virtually landless. wider political systems of the state. Within When communities are dispossessed of their pastoralist communities in , men land, women are often disproportionately affected dominate politics and decision-making and are because of their traditional role in procuring the heads of households and clans. Women water, fuel or trading goods for their families. are left to play secondary supportive roles in For example, Batwa communities displaced livestock production and are generally excluded from their traditional forests in Uganda to from public life. In the past, women held a more make way for a national park came into conflict equitable role in their communities, but with over access to water holes with the Bakiga the recent commercialization of pastoralism and community, whose territory they were forced government interventions, women have become onto. Consequently, Batwa women had to travel increasingly marginalized from decision-making. more than half a day to reach an alternative water Formal laws can also discriminate against source. Iteso displaced by ongoing raids from indigenous women. For example, Rwanda’s land Karamojong in Uganda were forced to move law gives equal rights to land for ‘husbands and into internally displaced people’s (IDP) camps wives’, but only civilly married monogamous for their own protection. Women and girls from couples are recognized as married under law their community have suffered sexual assaults and many indigenous women, such as those by security forces, and traditional structures belonging to the Twa community, are married by to protect women have been eroded. Endorois customary or religious rites, effectively excluding women report being assaulted and beaten by them from the provision of equal property Kenyan government agents during their eviction rights. Women may also lack the education or to make way for a game reserve. information necessary to allow them to exercise When indigenous communities do have formal legal rights. Overall, unequal access to traditional or customary land tenure, indigenous land can limit the economic independence women’s rights are often more insecure than of indigenous women, making them more those of men. Customary land tenure practices vulnerable to economic or social upheavals. are complex and hugely varied; land governance More secure land tenure for indigenous is tethered to social relationships and reflects peoples could help protect their communities power structures, social norms, symbolic or against external threats to their lands and cultural meaning, and sometimes systemic natural resources by providing a formal basis inequities. This means that, within the same for these groups to assert their ownership rights.

State of the World’s Minorities Indigenous women’s land rights: 53 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 case studies from Africa However, greater autonomy or recognition for indigenous cultural rights does not necessarily result in enhanced rights for women within the group. Efforts to strengthen the property rights of indigenous groups could increase women’s vulnerability to being disenfranchised unless differing needs, rights, norms and expectations of women and men with respect to land are considered. Indigenous women with strong property rights in land are less likely to become economically vulnerable, and more likely to be protected from extreme poverty. When faced with household permitted without sanction of the clan. shocks, such as abandonment, sickness, divorce A woman’s right to property in Alcholiland or widowhood, and depending on the land use is determined by her relationship to a man culture of the community, indigenous women (usually husband or father), while a man’s right can turn to land for self-employment and food to property is determined by his membership production. Property rights can increase an in a clan by birth. When a woman marries, her indigenous woman’s bargaining power within the husband pays a bride price to her family, and household, and land rights can empower women she leaves her father’s household and moves to to participate more effectively in their immediate her husband’s household. Women who live with communities and in the larger civil and political a man in a consensual union that has not been aspects of society. formalized by following the marriage traditions, including bride price, are not considered married Acholi, northern Uganda: potential by Acholi. Women’s rights are more insecure, vulnerability of women within limited in length (only lasting as long as her customary systems marriage) and limited in scope (she cannot The Acholi land tenure system of northern conduct land transactions, but her husband can). Uganda illustrates the complex dynamics at work Widows can be particularly vulnerable within customary land tenure, and demonstrates members of the community. An Acholi widow some of the challenges with regard to protecting who completed the customary marriage rites women’s land rights within these systems. The becomes the de facto head of the household Acholi are a Luo-speaking people, indigenous to upon the death of her husband. She then has the Acholi sub-region of northern Uganda. In the responsibility of managing the household Acholiland, land is held under customary tenure, land and allocating it to male children when which is recognized by law, and is technically they become adults and get married. But owned by all , though different an Acholi widow who never completed the clans govern different areas of the region. customary marriage rites, as was very common Arable land is apportioned by the clan elders to during the long civil war in northern Uganda, a household head – always a male – normally is often forced to leave the land she used in her at the time of his marriage. The household husband’s household and take her children with head is given responsibility for managing and her. Because her marriage was not sanctioned protecting the land, while other members of the by custom (and bride price was not paid), her family – the wife and children – must obtain the children are not considered part of the deceased consent of the household head in order to gain husband’s clan, and so she must return to her the right to use and access the land. When the birth household. This is an example of how household head dies, his sons inherit his rights a woman’s land tenure security may be more to the household land, and may also request vulnerable than a man’s within a customary additional land from the clan elders when they system. But it is also an example of how, when marry. Traditionally, transactions in land are not indigenous institutions are weakened due to

54 Indigenous women’s land rights: State of the World’s Minorities case studies from Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: An Acholi cane-cutter in the sugar fields government is to succeed in meeting the relevant at Kinyara sugar works, Masindi district, objectives of the National Land Policy – to Uganda. She moved there from Acholiland protect customary land rights and women’s land due to fighting. USAID Office of Transition rights – its interventions must look at where both Initiatives/Will Boase. formal and customary systems intersect. conflict or economic and political changes, Improving indigenous women’s land women’s land security is often weakened further. tenure security Customary leadership of the Acholi was severely There is evidence that customary laws can be affected by the long conflict in northern Uganda, adapted to changing circumstances, provided when many Acholi people lived in IDP camps that women and men can negotiate within for as long as 20 years. During this time, people their communities to promote change, and that were separated from their land for long periods, there is space for that negotiation within both and many people disappeared or were killed. customary and formal legal frameworks. The When the camps were disbanded and people following examples provide some strategies that began to return to their land, customary rules for indigenous women have used to strengthen their land tenure did not necessarily have the answers land rights, without undermining the customary to some of the problems faced by Acholi people: systems of the group. These tactics can bring men had lost their fathers from whom they about changes that benefit the indigenous would be granted land; children did not know community as a whole. where their clan land was; women were ‘married’ to men without following the customary rules Uganda: a vision for more secure for marriage because of a lack of resources; and land rights for women in Kibaale women were widowed and left with few options Kibaale district in western Uganda is a region for survival. In such a context, the land rights of facing huge challenges in relation to land. During those with the least power – widows, the disabled, the colonial era, large tracts of land and freehold the elderly – were very insecure. titles were formally given to people On the national stage, the Ugandan from Central Uganda, who were favoured by government has recently drafted a new land the colonists at the expense of the indigenous policy, one of the objectives of which is to population of the kingdom. Indigenous strengthen customary land tenure systems Bunyoro continue to occupy their ancestral throughout the country. At the same time, the land but, by law, are regarded as tenants. The policy seeks to address the problem of traditions, government made provision in the 1998 Land Act customs and practices which discriminate to purchase this land from the absentee against women in matters of access to, and use and then presumably re-distribute it back to the and ownership of land. The example of the Bunyoro, but so far this has not happened. Acholi people shows that strengthening the land In recent years, due to advocacy efforts of the tenure of the Acholi people as a whole will not Bunyoro, much has been done to address these necessarily strengthen it for all Acholi people, historical wrongs. These include the passage of as illustrated in the situation of Acholi widows a law which prohibited evictions of ‘tenants’ (an who do not choose who will inherit land. It also increasingly frequent occurrence in the Bunyoro shows how, within customary tenure systems, kingdom as certain land became more valuable), there may be a range of protections for women’s and the renewed support of the buy-back policy, property rights, but those protections depend this time with budget support through a land on different factors from those that determine fund, included in the draft National Land men’s land rights. It is therefore far too simplistic Policy of Uganda presented to the cabinet in to suggest that customary tenure does or does 2011. However, in the context of what appear not protect women’s property rights, or that to be positive steps forward for the indigenous progressive statutory law protects or does not Bunyoro people, Bunyoro women continued to protect women’s property rights. If the Ugandan suffer from very insecure land tenure.

State of the World’s Minorities Indigenous women’s land rights: 55 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 case studies from Africa 56 Indigenous women’s land rights: State of the World’s Minorities case studies from Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Maasai women in the Crater Highlands In the end, this method helped women to region, along the East African rift in change their circumstances. Some Banyoro . Dieter Telemans/Panos. women identified land that was available for sale, found ways to raise money to make the Despite formal laws which provide for the purchase, and even ensured formal backing of contrary, customary land tenure for Banyoro their rights to the acquired land by learning how women is more insecure for the following to work with the land office, which could issue reasons: (a) customs only grant women land titles. Other women went with their husbands to rights through marriage; (b) the common practice the land office, identified the absentee , of polygamy complicates land holdings and the negotiated with the landlord for change, and division of rights upon the death of a man who then had the change recorded at the land had multiple wives; (c) patrilineal inheritance office. Women and men in the village not only rules which prohibit daughters from inheriting improved women’s tenure security, they also land from their fathers; and (d) widows being developed recommendations for the government ‘chased away’ by their in-laws from land they had to consider to help improve equitable land tenure used while their husband was alive. In addition, security for women and men around the country. women and men in the area have low levels of literacy and lack information on the legal and Tanzania: Maasai women taking advantage of institutional framework for land rights. Even favourable laws when individuals have that information, land In Tanzania, Maasai women face discrimination agencies and others who might assist them in both from the majority society and through making their land rights more secure are cultural practices within their community. located at great distances from many of the The latter include social traditions that restrict remote villages. their rights to access or own land. Through A local community-based organization, organization and negotiation, one group of Ugandan Rural Development and Training, Maasai women were able to gain secure rights to worked with the community to help improve the village land held under customary tenure. The land tenure security of women while respecting women recognized that by acting as a group they the indigenous culture of the Banyoro. It did were more likely to gain support than by acting this by encouraging Banyoro women to focus on alone, taking advantage of positive provisions in aspirations rather than the problem. Using this the Village Land Act 1999, which grants women approach, the women articulated their vision and men equal rights to village land. for their lives with regard to land, assessed their The Tanzanian Village Land Act recognizes current situation and identified a gap between equal rights for men and women to access, own, the two. This allowed women to consider broader control and dispose of land under the same ways to address land-related challenges. By terms and conditions. The law protects women focusing on identifying the problem – barrier from discriminatory customs and traditions to land access (I cannot inherit land because I that restrict women’s access to ownership, am a woman, and under custom women cannot occupation and use of land, and specifically inherit) – and then seeking to solve it (change requires equal treatment of women and men cultural practices so that women inherit land) when they apply for recognition of customary the situation can seem overwhelming: how can right of occupancy of village land. The process one woman change centuries of cultural practice? for being granted a customary right of occupancy On the other hand, focusing on a vision for a is largely administrative, and must be granted by desired outcome (I envision myself owning and the village council and approved by the village cultivating 5 acres of land), leaves more room to assembly who issues a certification. find a creative solution, which may incorporate Maasai are semi-nomadic people in northern purchasing land, taking advantage of Tanzania. Maasai cultural practices tend to government support schemes, or negotiating marginalize women in terms of decision-making, with local leaders. and in terms of rights to access and control

State of the World’s Minorities Indigenous women’s land rights: 57 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 case studies from Africa Below: A Dagomba woman who returned occupancy of village land for women in their to her village to marry after working as a communities. MWEDO supported the women Kayayo, or market porter, in the city of by providing training on legal rights, as well as Accra, lifts firewood onto her head outside the administrative steps needed to help secure Tampion, Northern Region, Ghana. land rights through official land certification. At Peter DiCampo/VII Mentor Program. the beginning, the women’s committees faced significant opposition from their communities, over land. Women are largely unrepresented in but through perseverance, openness and making land-related decision-making bodies, and those use of diverse negotiation tactics, over time the few women who form part of those bodies are women gained community support. Importantly, ineffective because they may lack the confidence because the process was defined and led by the to speak up in front of men, have limited Maasai women’s committees and was focused on literacy, or have little or no knowledge of land- dialogue and negotiation with men as leaders, related laws, policies and processes. As a result, the whole community supported the results. The the interests and needs of Maasai women have process was then documented and shared for use largely been absent in village, ward and/or district by other Maasai communities seeking to improve development land planning, and women rarely the tenure security of women. benefit from land-related programmes in the area. The Maasai Women’s Development Ghana’s Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation: Organization (MWEDO) supported women in negotiating for customary lands forming committees. These committees of Maasai Through sustained and collective negotiation, in women then engaged in dialogue and negotiation which they emphasized the broader community- with village officials and leaders, eventually wide benefits to be gained through secure land gaining certificates for customary rights of rights for women, Dagomba women in the

58 Indigenous women’s land rights: State of the World’s Minorities case studies from Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 northern region of Ghana gained secure rights to community. They made multiple visits to the customary land, from which they were otherwise chief in his palace, persuaded his elders and precluded. counsellors to support their effort, and invited In northern Ghana, women are vulnerable the chief to visit the land site, convincing him to extreme poverty and food insecurity. The that it would improve his image as leader if he burden of planting, maintaining, harvesting and granted them rights to the land. The women marketing crops most often rests on women, and worked together to gain funds to provide the yet they are excluded from decision-making on necessary ‘drinks’ which are culturally required land and natural resources. While under formal during such negotiations. In the end, the women law women can own and inherit land, by custom persuaded the chief to give them 5 hectares of women are not entitled to inherit land from their customary land for a market. The women have family or their husbands, and have to rely on rights to that land for their life-times, and may relationships with male relatives to gain access to bequeath it to their male and female children. the land that they rely on for their survival. Even if the chief dies, the women’s rights to this The Ghanaian Constitution recognizes both land are secured with the next chief because the formal law and customary law. Recognizing grant of land was written in an official ledger, customary law is positive for indigenous land demarcated, and all the elders witnessed it. rights in Ghana, where an estimated 80 per cent of land is governed under customary tenure. Conclusion Yet, under customary law, gender and Secure land tenure is an important goal for relations play a central role in determining how indigenous groups, and it is an important goal land rights are allocated. While both women for indigenous women. However, one does and men can acquire certain rights through their not necessarily beget the other. Recognizing or membership in a lineage, those rights normally supporting customary laws alongside formal have to be exercised through some additional act, law is an important starting place for securing such as clearing land or paying a customary tax, indigenous peoples’ land rights, but if those burdens which can inadvertently exclude women. customary laws preclude rights for women then In addition, in marriage, a woman is expected the benefits of the formal recognition may not to work with her husband on his lineage land to be shared equally by all. Likewise, stronger land provide for the family, leaving her little time to rights for women in formal law may do little develop separate land. where dominant customary land tenure systems The Grassroots Sisterhood Foundation works contradict these formal legal protections, or with groups of women in northern Ghana to women find that they are unable to understand strengthen their land tenure security through or access them. Successful strategies incorporate a variety of means: developing alliances with a dual approach, which both formally recognizes tribal chiefs, religious leaders, professionals, land customary land tenure regimes of indigenous agencies and other groups in the community; peoples and also creates the space for negotiation holding stakeholder forums; training women on and adaptation with that customary regime so as their land, property and inheritance rights; and to benefit the entire community. p holding community conversations to raise the awareness of land and property issues among traditional and religious leaders. One group of women who were part of a settler community in the northern region of Ghana was able to negotiate for long-term rights to customary land in their village by collectively approaching the chief. They organized into a group and explained to the chief that they needed land for a market, which would benefit the women individually but also the whole

State of the World’s Minorities Indigenous women’s land rights: 59 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 case studies from Africa TUNISIA MOROCCO

ALGERIA Western Sahara

MAURITANIA MALI NIGER SENEGAL THE GAMBI A CHAD SUDAN GUINEA-BISSAU BURKINA FASO GUINEA BENIN NIGERIA SIERRA ETHIOPIA LEONE CÔTE CENTRAL D’IVOIRE GHANA SOUTH SUDAN LIBERIA AFRICAN REP.

CAMEROON

UGANDA SAO TOME EQUAT. AND PRINCIPE GUINEA REP. OF KENYA GABON THE CONGO RWANDA DEM. REP. BURUNDI OF THE CONGO INDIAN TANZANIA OCEAN

ANGOLA ATL ANTIC

OCEAN MADAGASCAR

NAMIBIA BOTSWANA

SWAZILAND

LESOTHO

SOUTH AFRICA

AfricaRahnuma Hassan, Paige Jennings, Mohamed Matovu, Ukoha Ukiwo including minorities and indigenous peoples, are hit hardest when natural disasters strike, yet their East and plight goes largely unnoticed by governments, aid agencies and the media. Pastoralists and agro-pastoralists were those Horn of worst affected by the . Reports from MRG’s partners in the region showed that pastoralists, who earn their livelihoods by Africa herding livestock, had been devastated by the drought. Jane Meriwas, an activist working Mohamed Matovu with the Samburu Women’s Network, a Maasai community-based organization in Kenya, told he year 2011 was a difficult one for MRG that pastoralist communities in Samburu, the East and . The Isiolo and Laikipia counties were hit hardest: T region had to contend with a host of ‘Many pastoralists lost income due to high death challenges, including prolonged drought – which of cattle. In order not to lose out, many sold off wreaked havoc – and the knock-on effects of their herds, which were fetching them less than the the global economic downturn. Amid growing normal market price because most cattle looked pressure on scarce resources, minority and sickly due to lack of water and pasture,’ she said. indigenous groups across the region continued to In some regions, pastoralist and other children struggle to gain control of and access to the land had to relocate with their families to escape the and natural resources they depend upon for their drought. In drought-hit areas in Ethiopia, Kenya livelihoods and culture. and Uganda, schools were abandoned and closed. According to the World Food Programme, this Regional drought was attributed to the depletion of supplies for In 2011, parts of Ethiopia, Kenya, Somalia, special school feeding programmes in areas like Sudan and Uganda suffered the worst drought in Karamoja in Uganda. decades, according to the Famine Early Warning The UN Office for the Coordination of Systems Network (FEWS). Poor rains contrib- Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) made grim uted to water and pasture shortages, dramatically predictions that the region would see an increase reducing food production. The impact of the in conflicts over control of natural resources drought was unprecedented because it happened as communities – particularly pastoralists – in the midst of the global economic crisis, when compete for diminishing water, pasture and food food and commodity prices were very high and resources. Already, early 2011 saw an increase in governments were unprepared. Local communi- resource conflicts, with some resulting in deaths, ties’ resilience was also weakened by previous in northern Turkana in Kenya, South Sudan, years’ poor harvests and unpredictable weather south-western Ethiopia, and the Karamoja and patterns. Governments and international aid agen- Teso regions of Uganda. Benjamin Omunga, a cies were relatively slow to respond, despite clear Programme Officer with Urafiki, a community- warning signs in late 2010. Across the region, based organization in Teso region in Uganda more than 13 million people were still affected in said: January 2012 and an estimated 50,000–100,000 people have died, according to a report by Oxfam ‘Due to food scarcity, the neighbouring and Save the Children. Food insecurity intensified communities of Ngikarimojong (who are in areas affected by conflict, particularly in Soma- pastoralists) have intensified cattle raids and thefts lia where governance is weakest. In Kenya, where of their neighbouring Teso communities (who are the drought affected well over 5 million people, agro-pastoralists, livestock herders who also make a the government declared a national disaster. living out of growing food) putting a strain on the As with most crises of this nature and as MRG improving relationship between the once-warring research has repeatedly shown, vulnerable groups, minority communities.’

62 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 have deserted their new villages and gone Case study back to their old places. One village set their new village on fire to give an excuse for going back to their old place. Forced There are different levels of violence in the displacement process. The first level begins displacement at the regional state level, among the top regional government officials, experts and and ‘villagization’ civil society representatives who were vocal against this villagization programme. Many in Ethiopia high government officials and experts in the region were forced to flee the country for opposing the programme or for just The Ethiopian government has forcibly openly criticizing the programme. Some relocated 70,000 indigenous people from are also imprisoned or indirectly targeted. the fertile Gambella region to free up At the village level, since the displacement land for commercial agriculture. Local programme is accompanied by the military, activist Ojulu talked to Corinne Lennox those who resist moving face beating and about some of the effects of this so-called torture from the hands of the military. I ‘villagization’ policy. heard from more than five people that there One year after the villagization programme are about 100,000 armed forces in the region even those farmers who tried to do farming at the moment, although I could not confirm in the new places were not able to produce it. Since the programme was launched I heard enough for the whole year since the area is about over ten people who were beaten to not a good one for the kind of traditional death by the military while they were going farming they practise. I heard that the out to cut grass and trees for construction, government is planning to start the safety net and hunting. The movement of farmers has (food for work) programme in the region. been strictly limited. Therefore, the villagization programme has made the people of Gambella food insecure, What has been the impact on women in like other food insecure areas in the northern the region? part of the country. Women are particularly impacted by this Second, the villagization programme has displacement in many ways. Due to different also increased the tensions between different kinds of conflicts in the region and the fact communities who used to live in different that the government has been targeting the locations far away from one another but men in the region, also because of HIV/ who are now brought together to share small AIDS, there are many women-headed pieces of land for farming. Particularly in households in the villages of Gambella. the western part of the region, where the Traditionally women are responsible for Nuer (pastoralists) and the Anywa (farmers) fetching water, collecting firewood and used to live in separate far-away villages, the household work. In the new places women villagization programme has grouped these have travelled miles in some villages in order ethnic groups in very close villages. This to get to a place where they could collect is already increasing the tensions between firewood. Since those investors take the these two groups. Since this programme was surrounding forest and the woods are cut launched, over 15 individuals from both sides down, women have to now travel longer (these are the only ones I have heard about, distances to get firewood. Since different it could be more in other villages) have been communities are also brought to close killed in separate incidents. Some villagers villages, different communities have to

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 63 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued communities concerning land investment. Second, the government should recognize now share the remaining forests for collecting traditional land-holding systems and provide firewood. This has made collecting firewood a land certificates to farmers, as it is already done very dangerous activity for women. One woman in other parts of Ethiopia. Even though land was raped and beaten to death by people from is state-owned in Ethiopia, if the farmers have a different community as she went collecting certificates for their plots, then they will ask firewood. for compensation when their plot is needed for such projects. What is your understanding of government Land for investment should be demarcated motivations for this practice? and known by both the local communities and The villagization is taking place where there the government. So far the practice of land is already big number of investors and where identification is carried out randomly by local the land is more convenient for large-scale government officials who only receive orders investment. For example, the districts most from their superiors at the regional state level affected by the villagization programme are and federal level. If they refuse to give land to and districts in the Gambella region. an investor then they would lose their position Abobo and Gog are the most fertile districts in at best or be imprisoned at worst and branded the region that had been supplying the region as anti-development. with maize. The other villages in the whole district are all now relocated to another place How have the people resisted these due to big number of investors storming the practices? districts. At the regional state level, there are those who are openly criticizing the process of land How do you think the government should do investment. At the local level, some villages are things differently – for example, is there a way resisting the programme by not cooperating to use the land for national development gains with the local governments and investors. In without harming the minority groups? one village, when they heard that their land There used to be informal consultation between is being given away to an Indian, they elected various government departments whose mandates two representatives who came to the federal were directly or indirectly involved with those government in Addis to discuss the matter land investments. However, when land lease with the federal government … they were not agreements were moved to the federal level, successful in stopping the investment … and things dramatically changed and that is when the district government appointed other leaders villagers were displaced. In short, there should be for the village who were sympathetic to the effective and meaningful consultation with local government position. p

According to forecasts, the cumulative effect Ethiopia of the drought and its impact on food security Southern pastoral and agro-pastoral areas of and human life will be severe in the long run. Ethiopia suffered from two consecutive seasons Food prices continue to rise and pastoralists of very poor rains, crop failure, high livestock continue to lose their herds due to chronic mortality and high cereal prices that left even the water and pasture scarcity. Displacement and most resilient communities in crop-dependent migration will also increase pressures, causing areas struggling to cope. tension and potential violence between migrants Although a significant proportion of and host communities. Conflicts in turn affect the population are food insecure, pastoral crop production, thereby creating a vicious communities from Afar and , cycle of poverty, as is already the case in the epicentre of recurrent in 2011, South Sudan. continued to be ‘the most acutely food insecure

64 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 in the country’, according to FEWS. Above: A member of the in the The Ethiopian government continued Danakil area, Ethiopia. Eric Lafforgue. to enforce restrictions on human rights organizations and the media in 2011, using community leaders, especially those accused the Charities and Societies Proclamation Act of supporting the National Liberation 2009 (the NGO Law) to curb political dissent Front (ONLF) and the and fundamental human rights and freedoms (OLF). In March, over 200 members of the and control the populace, in the face of Oromo Federal Democratic Movement (OFDM) recommendations of the UN Human Rights and the ’s Congress (OPC) were Council’s Universal Periodic Review to repeal the arbitrarily arrested, and at least 89 were charged law. The wider crackdown on political activists with various offences. and journalists continued to affect minority Between August and September 2011, Bekele

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 65 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Gerba and Olbana Lelisa, senior members of state-run sugar plantation. These projects have OFDM and OPC parties respectively, Debebe resulted in forced resettlement and human rights Eshetu, an actor, Andualem Aragie, a senior abuses of Mursi, Suri and Bodi agro-pastoralists member of the Unity for Democracy and Justice at the hands of the Ethiopian army. According (UDJ) opposition party, together with at least 20 to the Oakland Institute, the government has ethnic Oromo were variously arrested. Journalists not assessed the impact of the projects on the working for local and international media were environment and livelihoods of the 500,000 not spared. Journalists Woubshet Taye working indigenous people that rely on the waters and for Awramba Times, Reeyot Alemu of Feteh, adjacent lands of the and Lake and Elias Kifle, editor of the Ethiopian Review, Turkana. Villagers who do not show support for were charged with various counts. Argaw Ashine, the development projects are reportedly beaten, a correspondent of the Kenyan Daily Nation abused and intimidated. A UNESCO World in Ethiopia, was forced to flee the country. Heritage Site, the Lower Omo Valley contains Targeting journalists increases self-censorship, a two national parks and is home to approximately likely reason why Human Rights Watch (HRW) 200,000 agro-pastoralists including the Kwegu, and other organizations expressed concern that Bodi, Suri, Mursi, Nyangatom, Hamer, Karo and independent reporting on the conflict-affected Daasanach. areas of the Somali region had been severely Overall, the Ethiopian government has already restricted. leased 3.6 million hectares of land (26 per cent of The Ethiopian government was set to the country’s arable land) and an additional 2.1 relocate an estimated 70,000 indigenous Anuak million hectares is available through the federal and from the western Gambella government’s land bank for agriculture, according region into new villages by the end of 2011. to the Oakland Institute. The government argues that this ‘villagization’ scheme will enable them to provide basic social Kenya and economic services closer to people in order The year 2011 was supposed to be the one in to foster economic and cultural development. which many Kenyans would realize the fruits of Relocations started in 2010 in Gambella. Once the new Constitution promulgated in August indigenous peoples have been relocated, their 2010. Kenya’s new Constitution has been land, normally held under trust or customary hailed as a progressive document that holds the land rights, is regarded as empty or wasteland and potential to advance the rights of minorities and can be leased to large companies. Compensation, indigenous peoples and a host of key legal and when it has been provided, has been inadequate. institutional reforms. The reform process was Communities are forcibly relocated into new held up by delays in appointing officials to fill villages that lack adequate food, land for farming key judicial posts, due to political jostling. The or health and education facilities. Pastoralists eventual appointment of Dr Willy Mutunga, a are being forced to abandon their cattle-based staunch human rights defender, as the new Chief livelihoods in favour of settled cultivation. Justice of the Republic of Kenya was celebrated The government plans to develop big irrigation by civil society. projects and agricultural development, thereby Although the Constitution includes numerous ending the floods on which many people positive provisions for minorities and indigenous depend for floodplain agriculture, and to create communities, these groups feel that constitutional employment opportunities for pastoralists to gains may not translate into real positive work on farms. These projects are part of wider developments. The increased ethnicization of government plans to resettle 1.5 million people politics has deepened their exclusion. While the by 2013 from Afar, Somali and Benishangul- new Constitution could address the problem Gumuz as well as Gambella, according to HRW. of political participation, the lack of political In Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, the will to address issues relating to minorities is government has launched the controversial Gibe disturbing. Several court rulings in favour of III hydro-electric project and a 245,000 hectare minority communities against the government

66 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 remain unimplemented to date. For instance, in Above: A Turkana woman at Daaba village, 2006, the Kenya Constitutional Court found that Isiolo district, Kenya. Emma Redfern. the state had violated the right of the to political participation and must ensure exclusion. are not recognized as citizens adequate representation of minority interests. in Kenya and have not been granted full property The Kenyan government has also failed to rights, although they have occupied Kibera, an restore ownership to the Endorois people of their expansive area outside Nairobi, for well ancestral lands around the Lake Bogoria National over a hundred years. This situation has led to Reserve, as recommended by the African violent conflict with majority groups and mass Commission on Human and People’s Rights displacement, most recently in November 2001. (ACHPR) two years ago. Having failed to secure citizenship through The Nubian minority faces ongoing social the Kenyan courts, Nubians took their case to

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 67 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 the ACHPR in 2006. The case was declared confirmed charges against four senior Kenyans. admissible in 2009, but no decision has so far The Head of Public Service Francis Muthaura been taken. But in March 2011, the African and Finance Minister Uhuru Kenyatta were Committee of Experts on the Rights and Welfare charged in relation to killings, forced transfers of the Child found Kenya in violation of the and rapes, allegedly committed in Nakuru and rights of Nubian children to non-discrimination. Naivasha in January 2008 especially against The government has ambitions to turn Kenya those perceived as supporters of the Orange into an industrialized middle-income country. In Democratic Movement (ODM), in particular order to achieve this goal, it has designed a series those belonging to the Luo, Luhya and Kalenjin of flagship projects (known as Vision 2030), ethnic groups. Suspended Higher Education that will transform parts of the country into Minister William Ruto and Head of Operations modern cities at the expense of the livelihoods at Kass FM Joshua Arap Sang are charged and cultures of minority and indigenous groups separately for crimes they allegedly committed who live there. For instance, the government in the Rift Valley against supporters of President is set to develop Lamu, the largest town on Mwai Kibaki’s Party of National Unity (PNU) in Lamu Island and one of the oldest and best- 2007. The judges, however, refused to confirm preserved settlements among Swahili towns in charges against Police Commissioner Hussein East Africa, into a port, airport and a refinery. Ali and former Industrialization Minister Henry This will have potentially harmful impacts on Kosgei, due to lack of adequate evidence. the livelihoods and cultures of minority and In March, two activists from the Ogiek indigenous communities in the area. Early in hunter-gatherer community in Ngongogeri in 2011, the governments of Kenya and Ethiopia Mau Forest, Rift Valley Province, including signed an agreement to construct a railway line one woman, were attacked. The activists were between Lamu Port and . The protesting against attempts by land speculators to proposed route will pass through northern Kenya, forcibly take over Ogiek land in Ngongogeri. The affecting communities such as Bajuni, Boni and Mau Forest, home to an estimated 15,000 Ogiek, pastoralists who reside in Isiolo area. is often the scene of inter-ethnic clashes between On a positive note, the National Cohesion and the Ogiek, who are the indigenous owners of the Integration Commission (NCIC) is currently land, and neighbouring majority communities. formulating a policy on national cohesion that In 2009, Ogiek and other indigenous families will have a significant impact on how minority were evicted by the government from the Mau and majority groups relate, focusing on the need Forest without due consultation under the guise for tolerance education. of protecting the environment. Currently, more NCIC has also emphasized the need for than 25,000 people, including Ogiek, Kipsigis inclusion in public sector appointments. Its and Maasai continue to live in camps around the ethnic audit, released in April 2011, revealed forest. The Ogiek case is now pending before the that 70 per cent of all jobs in the civil service are African Court of Human and Peoples’ Rights. occupied by members of the Kikuyu, Kalenjin, Luhya, Kamba and Luo communities. Somalia The year 2011 saw the prosecution of six On 20 July 2011, the UN Country Team senior political figures – known as the ‘Ocampo in Somalia announced that parts of southern Six’ – before the International Criminal Court Somalia between the Juba and Shebelle rivers, (ICC) in April. Although they are accused by where most minorities live, were experiencing the ICC prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, of famine. The situation was exacerbated by the bearing the greatest responsibility for crimes impact of continued fighting and restrictions against humanity committed during the 2007/8 imposed on aid agencies by Islamist insurgent Kenya post-election violence, Kenyans are split group al-Shabaab, which controls the region. along political and ethnic lines regarding the By the end of July, there were about 1.5 million ICC case. Supporters of those on trial view it internally displaced persons (IDPs), 6,900 as political intrigue. In January 2012, the ICC seeking asylum and 1,965 refugees in Somalia.

68 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 During 2011, , regardless of ethnicity, including torture, beatings and beheadings. religion or clan, experienced serious human Harsh restrictions are placed upon women, rights violations in the country’s ongoing including their dress code, movement, conflict, mainly located in south and central economic activities and proscriptions on their Somalia, where the Transitional Federal associations with non-kin men of any kind, Government (TFG), supported by African which places widows and single women at a Union peacekeepers (AMISOM), are fighting severe disadvantage. Minority groups including al-Shabaab. The TFG forces and affiliated the Bantu, Benadiri and Christian communities military forces gained territory from insurgents are attacked for practising their religious beliefs. in the capital, , and along the border There are reports that al-Shabaab has continued with Kenya and Ethiopia, while al-Shabaab to forcibly recruit minorities to fight. still controls more territory in south and HRW has documented human rights abuses central Somalia. Indiscriminate attacks, killing in TFG-controlled areas against IDPs, including and injuring civilians, were carried out by looting food aid in IDP camps, arbitrary arrests all parties to the conflict during a string of and detentions and rapes. These violations are military offensives in 2011. The World Health particularly severe for both women and members Organization (WHO) treated 8,430 casualties of minority groups. for weapon-related injuries between January Amid ongoing fighting in June 2011, Somalia’s and September in Mogadishu, with a significant Prime Minister Mohamed Abdullahi Mohamed proportion of civilian casualties being women of the TFG resigned, following a UN-backed and children. deal that extended the mandates of President Although it is difficult to find statistics on Sheikh Ahmed, the speaker and the how different ethnic groups have been affected deputies until August 2012, when elections by the conflict, Somalia has repeatedly topped will be organized. Mohamed had only replaced MRG’s ‘Peoples Under Threat’ ranking, which Prime Minister Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke rates countries according to where civilian in September 2010; the latter resigned due to populations are most at risk. Minority groups internal squabbles. Somalia has been without an are estimated to constitute one-third of the total effective central government since 1991. The Somalian population of approximately 3 million future stability of the country now depends on people, according to MRG’s research. They how the TFG, the international community include Bantu, who are the largest minority, and the handle the election, and occupational groups (comprising the Gaboye, whether the new Constitution is drafted in a and Musse Deriyo), Benadiri and way that encourages participation and inclusion religious minorities. All these minority groups and promotes reconciliation, peace and stability. are diminishing in size, as thousands move The final draft of the Somali Constitution is to IDP camps in and anticipated in April 2012, to allow for elections and refugee camps in Kenya, where they face in August. renewed discrimination In October, Kenya was drawn into Somalia’s MRG research has shown that minority conflict after a spate of al-Shabaab bombings in communities in Somalia fall outside the Nairobi and the kidnappings of several Western traditional clan structure of the majority and tourists from Kenya’s coast. Since then, Kenyan also therefore the protection afforded by such troops have pushed towards Kismayo, with help systems. Because of social segregation, economic from TFG-affiliated militias from Ras deprivation and political manipulation, and the newly-formed state. There has minorities are more vulnerable to rape, attack, been a significant rise in anti-Somali sentiment abduction, property seizure and the consequences since the kidnappings in Kenya and Kenya’s of drought. military intervention. This will likely affect Al-Shabaab continues to administer a strict attitudes towards , whether they form of Sharia law in areas that it controls, are Kenyan or Somali nationals. mostly in central and southern Somalia,

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 69 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Puntland and Somaliland focus of conflict because of its strategic natural In May 2011, the self-declared Republic of resources – oil and water. The Comprehensive Somaliland and the semi-autonomous state of Peace Agreement, which brought the north– Puntland celebrated their twentieth anniversary south civil war to an end in 2005, provided of self-rule. Although these regions remain for a referendum to allow the people of Abyei largely peaceful compared to the south, there are to decide whether their region would become continued tensions between majority clans and part of Sudan or South Sudan. But the two minority groups. For instance, the long border sides could not agree on the territory the region dispute between Somaliland and Puntland partly comprised. In 2009, the Permanent Court of stems from political exclusion of Arbitration in The Hague ruled that most of from the federation by the more populous the significant oilfields lay outside of Abyei and clan in Somaliland. In western Somaliland, firmly within areas currently controlled by Sudan the people declared an autonomous (other disputed border regions include the Heglig Awdal state in protest against their treatment by oil fields in South Kordofan). the Isaaq clan. This has reinforced perceptions It was hoped that this ruling would reduce the that every clan in north Somalia has the right to likelihood of aggressive posturing over Abyei by determine its own destiny. Khartoum. But a further issue was whether the Puntland and Somaliland continued to host semi-nomadic Misseriya, who have traditionally refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants in 2011. crossed from Southern Kordofan (in Sudan) into The UN refugee agency UNHCR stated that the more water-rich Abyei to graze their herds there were frequent reports of xenophobia, during the dry season, would be allowed to vote. hostility, exploitation and arbitrary detention. Historically, the pastoral Misseriya have been in A minority woman interviewed by MRG conflict with Abyei’s settled residents, the Ngok researchers in IDP camp, Puntland, told Dinka. It is foreseen that the Misseriya would of gender-based violence where armed gunmen vote for Abyei to be part of Sudan, while the raid camps and forcibly drive women and girls Ngok Dinka would opt for incorporation into out of shelter and rape them. South Sudan. These communities are important constituencies for Khartoum and Juba respectively, South Sudan having played key roles in the conflict. Chris Chapman Although the Ngok Dinka promised the On 9 July 2011, South Sudan became the Misseriya that their grazing rights would world’s newest independent state, after an be respected if Abyei joined South Sudan, overwhelming 99 per cent of southerners voted a Misseriya chief warned that there would in favour of seceding from the Republic of Sudan be ‘immediate war’ if this happened. The in a January referendum. After 39 years of civil referendum has been postponed indefinitely due war, an estimated 2 million deaths, and human to these increasing tensions. After an escalation rights violations committed by the Khartoum of confrontations in the area in May 2011, the government, including aerial bombing of civilian northern Sudan Armed Forces occupied Abyei. populations, the result of the referendum was The UN deployed a peacekeeping force to the greeted with scenes of jubilation across the area a month later, but tensions remain high, and country. Unfortunately the birth of the new an agreement between Khartoum and Juba to nation saw an increase in tensions with Sudan withdraw their forces, reached in September, had over many issues, including oil resources, border not been implemented by early 2012. Misseriya disputes, citizenship rights for South Sudanese are increasingly fearful about future access to living in Sudan, and accusations by both grazing land, potentially compromising the governments that the other is supporting militias sustainability of their livelihood and identity. on its territory. Tensions between the two countries have South Sudan’s independence has exacerbated continued over oil. When it became independent, regional conflicts over natural resources. The South Sudan took with it 75 per cent of Sudan’s disputed border region of Abyei has become the oil reserves, but, for lack of an alternative, it has

70 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 until recently piped all of its output to Sudan including the Murle. An MRG researcher who for refining and export. Juba accuses Khartoum spoke to representatives of the Murle community of charging excessive fees for this service and in Boma found that there was widespread seizing its oil shipments, and in January 2012, ignorance about the deal, and its consequences South Sudan shut down oil output through the for land-ownership and access. Facilities for the pipeline. Oil revenues now make up about 98 per local community promised by Al Ain, including cent of the South’s revenues – feeding calls for a schools, health services, boreholes, housing and greater diversification of the economy. road infrastructure, have yet to materialize. South Sudan’s independence also saw According to a study by the Oakland Institute, worsening internal conflicts involving militias companies involved in land in South contesting the central government, and between Sudan ‘rarely consult with residents in affected ethnic groups. The most severe conflicts took communities, or conduct environmental and place in , involving the Lou Nuer, social impact assessments, as required by the Murle and Dinka Bor groups. Local officials 2009 Land Act’. claimed that over 3,000 people were killed in In September 2011, President Salva Kiir clashes in December 2011. On the surface, committed to a review of land lease agreements conflicts revolve around cattle theft, amid a signed between 2005 and independence, but the context of widespread gun ownership, and review has not yet been carried out. increasingly incidents have spiralled into endless The Transitional Constitution of the Republic revenge attacks. However, there are more deep- of South Sudan, made public in April 2011, rooted conflict drivers at play. First, smaller contains recognition and protection of ‘lands ethnic groups outside the main Dinka/Nuer traditionally and historically held or used by local nexus at the heart of government in the country communities or their members’, and provides feel divorced from decision-making. Second, the that, ‘Communities and persons enjoying rights total absence of state presence in rural regions – in land shall be consulted in decisions that may in terms of providing much-needed basic services, affect their rights in lands and resources.’ This promoting economic development and playing reinforces the already extensive protections of a peacekeeping role – has fed grievances among customary and communal land rights provided smaller groups who feel excluded from power and for in the Land Act 2009. The Transitional the economic benefits that are assumed to flow Constitution also protects the rights of ethnic from it. The Sudan People’s Liberation Army communities to practise their traditions and (SPLA), South Sudan’s military force, has even beliefs, and use their languages. But amid stated that it fears to intervene in these conflicts escalating conflict and the complete governance because it is likely to be accused of favouring vacuum in much of South Sudan, it is unlikely one particular , again reflecting the that such legislation will afford any real perception that institutions are not representative protection to minority groups. of the diversity of South Sudan. Community rights to control their natural Uganda resources and livelihoods have been further In February 2011 Ugandan’s incumbent compromised by deals made by local or national President won 68 per cent government to lease large tracts of land to foreign of votes in the presidential election. This result governments and companies. In 2008, Al Ain put him on course to become the longest- Wildlife, a United Arab Emirates company, serving president in Uganda’s history. Kizza signed a leasing agreement for 1.68 million Besigye, President Museveni’s closest opponent, hectares of the Boma National Park in Jonglei rejected the result, on the grounds of rampant state for a period of 30 years to set up a tourist election malpractices – a large number of voters safari project. The agreement, signed by the were disenfranchised, harassed by police and Ministry of Wildlife, does not allow for revenue bribed. The general elections in 2011 also saw sharing with the local community. The area is 14 members of parliament (MPs) elected from inhabited by a diverse range of ethnic groups, the Karamoja, home to the Karamajong, a

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 71 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 traditionally pastoralist ethnic group. Under a A final draft of the national land policy was loose coalition – the Karamoja Parliamentary submitted before parliament in March 2011, Group (KPG) – the MPs have drawn attention to but this process has stalled due to a cabinet poor government policy and emergency response reshuffle. Overall, the draft land policy calls to problems in their region. For example, in on government to enact laws that safeguard August, the KPG criticized the government for vulnerable communities and protect minorities’ the delay in relocating victims of landslides in and indigenous peoples’ communal land- Kaabong district that had killed and injured ownership and access to resources. In a departure many people. In September 2011, the same from previous policy, the draft does recognize the group urged the government to intervene and rights of pastoralists, but presents no framework repair roads that had been cut by torrential rains. for their participation in decisions that will affect In May 2011, parliament elected its first female them. Nonetheless, if adopted this policy could speaker, Rebecca Kadaga, which was hailed as a reflect an important shift in the attitude of the positive move by many women’s rights activists. Ugandan government. Affirmative action and reserved seats have The discovery of rich oil deposits in the boosted women’s representation in parliament to western Uganda districts of Buliisa and Hoima 35 per cent, the majority of whom belong to the continued to cause anxiety among local ruling party. communities during 2011. In areas where oil was Despite the launch of the ambitious five- discovered back in 2006, the livelihood systems year National Development Plan (NDP) in of minorities and indigenous peoples have been April 2010, minority and indigenous groups disrupted. Ethnic tensions have also erupted over in Uganda remain deprived and excluded. The communally owned lands as different groups US$ 21 billion NDP focuses on infrastructure jostle to secure ownership rights that would projects and private sector development rather guarantee them hefty compensation from oil than the needs of the country’s marginalized firms. For example, in the Waisoke and Bugana groups. According to MRG research, Uganda’s villages of Buliisa district, where vast oil deposits new development agenda contains glaring policy have been found, Bagungu, a fisher community, gaps with regard to improving the situation have been prevented from fishing due to ongoing of historically marginalized groups such as oil production, and are now embroiled in a pastoralists and hunter-gatherer communities. communal land dispute with migrant pastoralists. The NDP fails to address major challenges Bagungu claim communal ownership and want pastoralists face, such as securing land tenure, to cultivate cotton while the migrant pastoralists improving livestock productivity, access to water claim to have bought the land, according to resources, diversifying livelihoods and accessing media reports. Following a Court of Appeal order markets to sell their products. Pastoralists that granted ownership rights to the Bagungu, continue to feel excluded from the development the government evicted 600 pastoralist families agenda because the NDP document refers with over 20,000 cattle in December 2010, using to them as ‘livestock keepers’, rather than military and police. Although the government has pastoralists, a clear sign that the government promised to resettle the pastoralists, no concrete refuses to recognize pastoralism as a valuable plans have been made and some pastoralists livelihood system. have temporarily settled in the neighbouring The First Lady, Janet Museveni, who is also Hoima district. Pastoralists have challenged the the Minister of Karamoja, advocates against government in court for failing to resettle them. nomadism in favour of settled livestock- At a policy level, 2011 saw public tensions keeping, which reflects a government policy of flare over disputes about oil production-sharing sedentarization coming from the highest level. agreements. Senior officials were accused of During 2011, activists continued to report that soliciting bribes in a rush to sign controversial anti-pastoralist ordinances and policies at local agreements with oil companies, including with level are being passed to condemn pastoralism UK-based Tullow Oil, in which Uganda was and prevent free movement of cattle. projected to lose millions of dollars in revenue.

72 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 evict the Basongora from the park, drawing Case study the attention of many human rights groups and the government. Women and children were placed in camps in Nyakatonzi. Land injustice: After claims that excessive force was used, the government eventually offered Basongora Basongora in evicted from the DRC alternative land outside the park. However this settlement western Uganda was also problematic; the government ordered the Basongora pastoralists to share land in Rwaihingo with Bakonjo The Basongora are a pastoralist community cultivators. Local politicians in Kasese that lived and occupied land in Kasese dis- district have stirred up ethnic tensions trict, north of the Maramagambo forest in over land allocation in the district to delay western Uganda. any meaningful dialogue on resettlement. The Basongora rely on cattle-herding Ethnic tensions have led to clashes for their livelihoods. Under colonial rule, between pastoralists and cultivators, often Basongora lost 90 per cent of their land culminating in the death of animals and the between 1900 and 1955 to establish the destruction of property and lives. Today, the Queen Elizabeth National Park. The Basongora community number about 11,000 Basongora were evicted, their animals according to the national census (40,000 and destroyed and huts torched, and no 50,000 according to community estimates); alternative settlement was provided, all in the the area they occupy is less than 2 per cent name of wildlife protection. of their original land and they are living in Post-independence governments have done deplorable conditions. little to address the social injustice suffered In April 2012, Uganda’s President Yoweri by the community. Instead, more Basongora Museveni warned the Uganda Wildlife land has been parcelled out for government Authority against arbitrarily evicting people development projects and military use, from national parks, urging them to instead without community consultation. These communities of the benefits that actions have reduced the Basongora to a conserving national parks and tourism can vulnerable landless group. bring. ‘There is no conflict between animals In 1986, when the current government and humans … We need to bring out the took power, it promised to address historical linkages, compatibilities and the symbiosis injustices and return land to thousands of between the parks and the people,’ he said. people displaced by development projects. With a final draft of the national land In the 1990s, the Ugandan government policy – containing important recognition of recognized the Basongora as a minority the rights of pastoralists – soon to be tabled that had to be protected and provided with before parliament, maybe the Basongora will alternative land. finally see a peaceful and equitable end to Yet in 1999, large numbers of the their predicament. p Basongora community began to cross the border to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and settled in the Virunga National Park. In 2006, the DRC authorities drove the Basongora back into Uganda, where the community tried to return to the Queen Elizabeth National Park. Once again, the Uganda Wildlife Authority tried to brutally

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 73 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 In October, parliament approved a motion to northern Uganda, is believed to be responsible compel the government to delay the approval of for numerous indiscriminate killings, rapes and Tullow Oil’s US$ 2.9 billion sale of its interests kidnappings in the region. in the country to French company Total and the China National Offshore Oil Company (CNOOC), until the necessary national laws were in place. But in February 2012 President Southern Museveni sidestepped parliament and signed a new production-sharing agreement between the government and Tullow Oil, which allowed the Africa sale to Total and CNOOC to go ahead, paving the way for oil production by 2015 as well as an Rahnuma Hassan estimated US$ 10 billion investment in a refinery Land rights and resource ownership are and an oil export pipeline. In an address to controversial issues across the world. But given parliament, President Museveni spoke about how the colonial legacy confronting countries in Uganda stood to benefit, revealing details about Southern Africa, working towards equitable such an agreement for the first time, but he failed resource distribution among ethnic groups to mention how much revenue would go to the in the region is a particularly complex task. local communities affected, some of whom are Already marginalized minority and indigenous minorities and indigenous peoples. communities, such as San, who continue to During 2011, there were increasing episodes practise traditional livelihoods and have close of inter-community tensions, especially in Teso, ties to their land, are especially vulnerable to Lango and Acholi regions in northern and discrimination and economic exploitation. In eastern Uganda, fuelled by private companies’ South Africa and Zimbabwe, governments have interest in communal land. In September, eight ignored the needs of at least some of these groups clans claiming to own land in Abanga in Zombo in favour of redressing wider racial injustices district northern Uganda accused a leading under former white rulers. Governments also African manufacturing conglomerate, Mukwano grapple with pressures to use their resources Group, of collaborating with the government for national development and from northern and district leaders to take 1,285 hectares of countries and companies in an increasingly community land to establish tea and pine competitive global economy, often choosing plantations in 2008. However, Alykhan Karmali, economic gain over respecting the rights of the Mukwano managing director, told the media minorities and indigenous peoples. that the land title was given to Agricultural Enterprise Limited in 1969, which was later Botswana sold to the Mukwano Group. The clans claim In January 2011, the G/wi and G//ana that Nebbi district officials did not consult with communities of the Basarwa indigenous group them before selling their land to investors and finally won their right to access waterholes demanded that the government intervene. inside the Central Kalahari Game Reserve In October, US President Barack Obama (CKGR), where they have lived since its announced that he was sending 100 combat- creation in 1961. The Appeals Court overruled equipped troops to support Ugandan forces an August 2010 High Court judgment that fighting the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA). This prevented access to a water borehole on their raised hopes of resolving security issues caused lands; the judgment was long overdue as the by the rebels, who are accused of widespread community won the right to return to their human rights abuses. The deployment followed lands in a landmark court ruling in 2006. US legislation aimed at helping disarm the LRA The lack of access to water nearby has made and bring its leader, Joseph Kony, to justice. it particularly hard for residents to survive. By The LRA, said to have recruited children early 2012, only one water borehole had been from minority and marginalized tribes from reopened by Gem Diamonds, the company now

74 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 developing a diamond mine within the reserve. The Basarwa communities in the CKGR Case study refused to participate in the 2011 population and housing census, stating that they did not feel like citizens of the country. The protest was Basarwa evicted motivated by official refusal to provide services in the CKGR, including a polling station during over diamonds the 2009 elections. At the end of 2011, the government announced that census results would not be published until the autumn of 2012. While Botswana’s government has never Recognition of minority languages continues officially admitted to forcibly relocating to be a particular issue of contention between the G/wi and G//ana communities of the the Botswanan government and minority and Basarwa indigenous group to make way for indigenous rights organizations. Despite being diamond-mining operations in the Central a multi-ethnic state, comprising 45 tribes, Kalahari Game Reserve (CKGR), critics have Botswana’s laws and Constitution discriminate long suspected this to be the main motivation in favour of those from the dominant Tswana- for the removals. When it became known in speaking group. Reteng, a multicultural coalition late 2010 that Gem Diamonds would begin group, continues to lobby the government mining operations in the CKGR, suspicions about teaching minority languages in schools. seem to have been confirmed. In February, the chairperson of Reteng, Doctor Basarwa were granted the rights to occupy Ndana Ndana, said that a language policy that land within the CKGR, as a result of a court recognizes all languages would be an important ruling in 2006, after years of attempted first step, and that while the government argued that there were insufficient funds to teach Below: A Basarwa boy in the , minority languages in schools, this problem was Botswana, makes fire by rubbing sticks not insurmountable. together. Dietmar Temps. Minority rights groups also continued their legal struggle for non-discriminatory access for minority tribes to the of Chiefs (an influential body that advises parliament) in 2011. Under the Constitution only the eight principal Tswana-speaking tribes are admitted to the ; there is no guarantee that the chiefs of any of Botswana’s 37 non-Tswana tribes will sit in the house. A 2001 High Court ruling in a case brought by the Wayeyi tribe found that the exclusion of the Wayeyi from the House was discriminatory and unjustified. However, despite the ruling, the government has failed to remedy this discrimination. The case was lodged with the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) by Reteng with support from MRG, but the Commission declared the case inadmissible in November, stating that domestic remedies had not been exhausted. The decision is currently pending approval by the African Union.

South Africa South Africa is still grappling with its colonial

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 75 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued legacy, particularly with regard to land and resource ownership. The government aims to negotiations, struggle and litigation. redistribute a third of white-owned commercial Unfortunately, the victory was bitter-sweet as farmland to black farmers by 2014. However, the government interpreted the ruling in the progress has been slow; in early 2011 the strictest way possible, only allowing the 189 Minister of Rural Development announced that actual applicants to return to the reserve. only 5 per cent of land had been redistributed. They also refused to provide services within The government released a Green Paper on the park or to re-open the waterholes that Land Reform for public comment in 2011. The had been closed since 2002. The justification paper aims to provide a framework for discussion for this was that the Basarwa communities about land reform with different interest groups, had already been adequately compensated and is underpinned by the desire to redress racial through the provision of land and services in inequality in the rural economy, ensure that land the form of settlements outside of the park. is fairly distributed across class, gender and race, In its press releases about the opening and to ensure greater food security. However, of its US$ 3 billion Gope mine, Gem critics argue that the document is too vague and Diamonds made it clear that they would does not adequately address the shortcomings of work with the CKGR residents to ensure the government’s past efforts at land reform. For that the communities benefited from the example, the document does not discuss how to mine. However, many of the promises made secure customary land rights for farmers living by Gem Diamonds have yet to be delivered. in traditional leadership jurisdictions, such as in In addition to promising to drill four KwaZulu-Natal. The document also does not new waterholes for the communities, the address how to protect the rights of women in company told representatives of Botswana new legislation. Currently, women living in rural Khwedom Council (BKC), a local NGO, communities that follow customary law can be that they would establish a community trust particularly vulnerable to discrimination, as some so that communities could benefit from patriarchal land ownership practices undermine the mining operations. The Gope mine the rights women have under the country’s management also met with community Constitution. The document also fails to address representatives and asked for advice the concerns of San indigenous communities, regarding hiring members of the indigenous specific to their way of life and communal use of group. As of early 2012, only one of the land, only explicitly mentioning them as part of existing waterholes has been reopened, no the larger group of African people. trust had been established, and it is unclear In early 2011, the government released the whether members of the communities will most recent draft of the Muslim Marriages be hired or not. Bill for public comment. The aim of the bill is Furthermore, there is concern over to ensure that rights of women are protected, monitoring and ensuring that the needs of while respecting marriage and divorce practices the communities in the CKGR are met, as under Islamic law. For example, the bill makes organizations such as the BKC are refused provisions to ensure that women have avenues permission to enter the reserve and speak to seek divorce and receive adequate support and to residents about the conditions they live financial compensation in the event of a divorce. in. With the mine officially opening in The Women’s Legal Centre, an independent law 2013, it is uncertain when the communities centre based in Cape Town, has called for further will begin to reap the benefits of diamond- additions to the bill: to set a minimum age to mining on their land. In the meantime, they prevent forced child marriages; and to ensure that continue to live in abject poverty, still cut off women are entitled to half of their husband’s from government services. p property in the case of divorce. The Centre has also called for access to divorce on equal grounds, as the bill in its present form still favours

76 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 husbands over wives in divorce proceedings. In 2011, the Liberation Front Some Muslim organizations have rejected the (MLF), a nationalist Ndebele party, openly bill, arguing that involvement of civil courts campaigned for the establishment of an and non-Muslim arbitrators goes against Islamic independent Republic of Mthwakazi (RoM) in principles. The four-year public discussion period for the Ndebele people. The call was meant to end on 31 May 2011, but the was met with much contention and resulted heated debates around the contents of the bill in the arrest of three MLF leaders in early have made its future uncertain once more. March. The men were charged with treason for reportedly handing out pamphlets that called Zimbabwe for members of the national army to defect and Unable to challenge the seizure of their land support the formation of the RoM. While the in Zimbabwe, white farmers continued to seek accused were initially refused bail, they were justice in neighbouring South Africa. In 2010, a eventually released. The original court date was court ruling in South Africa, implementing a deci- set in November; the trial finally commenced in sion by the Southern African Development Com- March 2012 but was subsequently adjourned. munity tribunal, allowed the sale of Zimbabwean MLF’s desire for an independent state stems government property in Cape Town to provide from wanting to redress the perceived socio- compensation to farmers. In 2011, the courts economic discrimination towards Ndebele by overturned an application by the Zimbabwean the Shona majority. Party leader Paul Siwela government to prevent its assets from being sold maintains that their agenda is not tribalist. He has on the grounds of diplomatic immunity. But pointed out that Shona and other non-Ndebele despite the ruling in favour of the farmers, the people settled in the region will be allowed to auction of the property has yet to be carried out. stay in RoM if they choose to. Siwela also assured In 2000, land reforms in Zimbabwe began with the public, in a radio interview upon his release, the forceful reacquisition of property from Zimba- that the MLF’s activities would continue to be bwe’s 4,000 white farmers. The land was redistrib- peaceful unless the state initiated aggression. But uted to a million black Zimbabweans, motivated concerns about violent outbreaks remain. by the legacy of forced evictions under colonial Anglicans in Zimbabwe continue to face harass- rule in favour of white settlers. Government sup- ment from the state-supported breakaway faction porters argued that these reforms were integral to led by self-appointed bishop Nolbert Kunonga, redressing colonial inequalities, but they have been and are unable to gather and worship freely. In largely condemned by the wider international June 2011, Anglicans were denied access to the community for their often violent nature. Further- official shrine of African martyr, Bernard Mizeki, more, the exodus of white farmers from Zimba- for the second year running. In September, bwe affected the economic stability of the country, leader of the mainstream Anglicans, Bishop Chad throwing the agricultural sector into turmoil. Gandiya, reported that the seizure of church Although the land reforms may have property with the cooperation of the police force contributed to improving food security for at was intensifying; even an orphanage, home to least some poor farmers, critics have pointed out more than 100 children was targeted for eviction. that the reforms were not as inclusive as they In October, the Archbishop of Canterbury visited claimed to be. In 2011, the Zimbabwe Women’s Zimbabwe and met with President Mugabe, who Resource Centre and Network (ZWRCN) promised to speak to Kunonga. Shortly after the asserted that land reform has done little to redress Archbishop’s visit, a High Court judge ruled that the gender imbalance in land ownership. Women staff members of the Daramombe Mission School continue to face discrimination under customary would be allowed to return to their posts immedi- land ownership laws, and national legislation ately, after being served eviction notices the previ- has inadequately addressed this inequality. ous month. Whether international scrutiny will Furthermore, land distribution programmes have any lasting impact remains to be seen. have reportedly discriminated against Ndebele, Zimbabwe’s largest . State of the World’s Minorities Africa 77 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Popular Army for the Restoration of Democracy (APRD), were demobilized. Central However, conflict and human rights abuses against civilians are still rife, fuelled in part by competition for access to the country’s mineral Africa resources. These include diamonds, which are extracted primarily by informal artisanal mining, Paige Jennings and gold. Incumbent President François Bozizé, who Central African Republic took power in a 2003 coup, won a second Since independence in 1960, the Central African five-year term in January, in the first round Republic (CAR) has been afflicted by chronic of elections, which while largely peaceful internal instability, exacerbated by the spillover were denounced as fraudulent by opposition of conflicts from neighbouring Democratic candidates. President Bozizé is a member of Republic of Congo (DRC), Chad, Sudan and the Gbaya ethnic group and has been accused, nearby Uganda. as have previous leaders, of using the In 2011, the government made some progress country’s mineral wealth to empower his own towards peace. In June, it signed a ceasefire group’s elite. agreement with the last remaining rebel group, The year saw several armed confrontations the Convention of Patriots for Justice and Peace between the Union of Democratic Forces for (CPJP), which operates in the north and is Unity (UFDR) militia, dominated by the Gula reported to be made up primarily of members ethnic group, and the Convention of Patriots for of the Runga ethnic group. Several thousand Justice (CPJP), which is predominately Runga, as combatants from another armed group, the mentioned above.

78 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Ba’Aka woman from the Central African of the agreement. However, the impact of the Republic. Simon Umbreit. proposed initiative on traditional forest-dwelling communities remains to be seen. In September, near Bria, the country’s diamond hub located in the east of the country, Democratic Republic of Congo the UFDR and CPJP fought for control over a Ongoing conflict in the east diamond mine, with 50 combatants and civilians Conflict continued during 2011, fuelled by reportedly killed. In response, over 8,000 people competition for land and resources, and often reportedly fled their . A ceasefire between manipulated by identity-based politics. A the two groups was signed in October, but the reported 1.7 million people were displaced, the situation remains volatile. At the height of the majority from the troubled North and South tensions, reports indicated that fighters went Kivu regions. Continued insecurity contributed house to house targeting persons belonging to to a slowdown in the rate of return in 2011; the other ethnic groups. situation for those who did dare to return home All in all, conflict forced more than 22,000 remained difficult, due in part to land tenure people from their homes in 2011, bringing the issues. While all returnees face a precarious total of internally displaced in the country to situation, Batwa or Bambuti have particular nearly 170,000. Nearly 165,000 CAR nationals problems, reporting lack of access to targeted are currently refugees in neighbouring countries. support. Another major source of the upheaval was In North Kivu, the ethnic Democratic the Lord’s Resistance Army (LRA), pushed out Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR) of Uganda in 2008. It continued to terrorize continued to fight rival militias and the Armed civilians across ethnic groups in the south- Forces of the Democratic Republic of Congo east, causing mass internal displacement into (FARDC); all sides have been accused of abuses towns under control of CAR and/or Ugandan against the civilian population. But minorities, security forces. One of the drivers of the LRA’s including Batwa or Bambuti, are particularly continuing expansion into the interior of the vulnerable to attack. In one such incident, CAR is reported to be access to its mines. soldiers of the FARDC were implicated in mass Following calls for greater involvement from rapes in the villages of Bushani and Kalambahiro international and regional human rights and civil on 1 January 2011. society groups, in October the US government One person was arrested and charged in announced that it would send 100 military connection with mass rapes by armed groups advisers to help coordinate efforts against the in July and August 2010 in Walikale (see case LRA. The UN peacekeeping Mission in Central study), where the army had refused to deploy African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) after a dispute over control of local mining. withdrew in late 2010, but a sub-regional In South Kivu, armed groups, as well as the peacekeeping force remains in place. army itself, continued to attack civilians and In the CAR’s south, logging continues to affect NGOs. Impunity contributed to all types of the forest-dwelling Ba’Aka people, disrupting the violence against civilians, including incidents of hunting and gathering activities that traditionally sexual violence affecting both women and men of are the mainstay of their livelihoods. The CAR diverse ethnic groups. is working towards ratification of a Voluntary Despite the February convictions in court of Partnership Agreement agreed with the EU eight FARDC soldiers and their commanding (European Union) in late 2010, under the officer for mass rapes carried out in Fizi on 1 EU Forest Law Enforcement Governance and January 2011, soldiers defecting from the same Trade (FLEGT) Action Plan to combat illegal army unit in June carried out another series of logging and associated trade. The ‘rights of mass rapes in nearby villages. workers, local and indigenous communities’ are Attacks on civilians across ethnic groups by the included among 10 principles for establishing the LRA intensified in the north-eastern Orientale legality of timber to be traded under the terms province in the first half of 2011. Tens of

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 79 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Batwa boy wearing a home-made raincoat with his mother on the outskirts of Kitshanga village, DRC. Chris Keulen/Panos.

through the presidential and parliamentary campaign to polling day and subsequent conflict over results. Targeted killings and ‘disappearances’ of candidates and supporters were reported, as well as shootings and arrests of demonstrators. Journalists and human rights defenders were attacked, detained or threatened. At times, candidates or their supporters used apparent ethnic hate speech to incite violence against opponents, despite an agreed code of conduct for political parties. Opposition sympathizers and leaders, such as Kabila’s rival for the presidency Etienne Tshisekedi, a Kasaian of Luba origin, were reported to be the most frequent targets.

Natural resources The DRC is rich in minerals (see case study), forest products and energy sources. Many of the country’s indigenous Batwa or Bambuti peoples depend in part on forest hunting and gathering, and have seen their livelihoods threatened by deforestation. The EU is the DRC’s largest market for timber. To combat illegal logging, the DRC is negotiating a Voluntary Partnership Agreement under the EU FLEGT scheme. The FLEGT framework includes a specific project to ensure that civil society organizations, including indigenous peoples’ organizations, are fully aware of and encouraged to be involved in the negotiation process. The DRC government has also completed a Readiness Preparation Plan under the UN-REDD (UN Collaborative thousands were displaced. FARDC soldiers in the Programme on Reducing Emissions from area were accused of violations, including against Deforestation and Forest Degradation in the Mbororo, semi-nomadic Islamic pastoralists. Developing Countries) initiative, with several pilot forestry projects under way. Violence around parliamentary and As in other countries in the region, 2011 saw presidential elections new agreements with international investors to Flawed presidential elections in November significantly expand land under cultivation. One 2011 led to the re-inauguration of incumbent such deal, facilitated by the of Katanga Joseph Kabila. Electoral violence, ranging from province in what he described as an effort to widespread violations by state security forces increase food security and reduce the area’s against opposition candidates and activists, to dependency on mining, opened up 14 million violence between supporters of different political hectares of land to foreign development. parties, began early in the year. It carried on

80 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 including children, work in harsh conditions in Case study the mines, at times subject to forced labour or debt bondage. While competition over the mines is obviously Mineral resources not the root cause of conflict in the DRC – complex issues of ethnic identity, regional rivalry, in the DRC economic interests, political power and access to land all play a part – the trade has clearly helped to sustain and perpetuate conflict. Armed ‘We no longer have to suffer this wealth men control some mines directly and also profit as a curse’ by taxing transport of minerals through their territory. Over four days in July and August 2010, Following the Walikale findings, the DRC rebel fighters cut off, encircled and attacked President Joseph Kabila attempted to impose 13 villages in the remote Walikale area of control by mandating the closure, without North Kivu. At least 387 women, men and community consultation, of all artisanal children were systematically subjected to production and trade in minerals and ordering brutal rapes. According to local residents, the demilitarization of mining zones. most of whom belong to the Nianga ethnic According to some reports, the measures were group, the attacks were punishment for their not universally enforced throughout the vast suspected pro-government sympathies. They and remote region, but were reported to have told UN investigators that they believed rape seriously damaged the livelihoods of individual was deliberately chosen as a weapon because miners and their families in areas where they of the stigma traditionally attached to it in were. They were lifted in March 2011. their culture. Official stakeholders in the mining UN investigations revealed that the industry, including government officials and attackers were from three different rebel representatives of artisanal miners, companies groups that had joined forces so as to buying and trading minerals and concerned civil force the government into negotiations by society groups, agreed a new code of conduct. demonstrating their power to harm civilians. Critics pointed out that the code’s scope was The groups were using the minerals trade in limited given that influential but unofficial actors the resource-rich area to help finance their such as the army and other armed groups were activities. Meanwhile, the army commanders not included. responsible for protecting the villagers were Internationally, efforts focused on regulating distracted from their duty by the same trade, trade. The Organisation for Economic having ordered their units not to deploy to Co-operation and Development (OECD) issued the new posting in Walikale because their old Due Diligence Guidance for Responsible Supply one was in a more lucrative zone. Chains of Minerals from Conflict-Affected and The findings caused the government and High-Risk Areas, endorsed by the International its international partners to stop and take Conference of the Great Lakes Region in stock of the role of minerals in sustaining December 2010. The UN Security Council conflict in eastern DRC. The region, which is adopted a similar framework in its November about the same area as the United Kingdom, resolution on DRC. The global mining industry is rich in gold, as well as tantalum, tin and has also reportedly drawn up new internal rules tungsten vital to the electronics industry. regarding ‘conflict minerals’. Up to 90 per cent of its mining, according Due diligence principles became legally to the United Nations Environmental binding under Section 1502 of the US Dodd- Programme (UNEP), is ‘artisanal’, or small- Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer scale and informal. Roughly 2 million people, Protection Act, which came into effect in April

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 81 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued Republic of Congo The UN Special Rapporteur on the rights of 2011. It required companies listed with the indigenous peoples visited the Republic of US Securities and Exchange Commission Congo in November 2010. His July 2011 (SEC) to investigate their supply chain report examined the situation of the country’s and disclose annually for the public record indigenous population, including Ba’Aka, a whether they used minerals from the DRC traditionally nomadic forest people. Together or its nine neighbouring countries in their with groups such as Mbendjele, Mikaya, Gyeli, products. The SEC was charged with Luma, Twa and Babongo, they are distinct from drawing up implementing regulations, but as the majority Bantu ethnic groups that have held of this writing they had not been published. political and economic power since independence Critics of the Dodd-Frank law say that from France in 1960. In the absence of reliable it has impoverished local miners and census data, these indigenous groups, some of their communities by forcing companies which still live by hunting and gathering in the to boycott DRC minerals altogether. In forests, are estimated to make up between 1.4 per December, the UN Group of Experts on the cent and 10 per cent of the national population. DRC indicated that in peaceful areas where Building on the National Action Plan on guidance has been followed, production and the Improvement of the Quality of Life of exports have increased; but in conflict areas, Indigenous Peoples (2009–13), in February the few if any changes have been made and Republic of Congo adopted the continent’s first output has indeed fallen. Moreover, a greater law on indigenous rights. Act No. 5-2011 on proportion of trade has become criminalized, the Promotion and Protection of Indigenous and the military and/or armed groups are Populations contains provisions on cultural still involved. rights, education and collective and individual Supporters of due diligence argue that rights to land; it explicitly prohibits any form of time and help are needed to work out discrimination or . implementation, and that short-term losses While passage of the law is laudable, its will be more than offset by the long-term enforcement will pose challenges. In November, benefits. A Walikale NGO, BEDEWA a local NGO, the Congolese Human Rights (Bureau of Study, Observation, and Observatory, reported ongoing forced labour Coordination of the Regional Development and debt servitude of some indigenous people by of Walikale) has written to the SEC in members of the Bantu majority. The UN Special support of Dodd-Frank. In a public Rapporteur drew attention to the same abuses in statement in August, the group responded to his report. critics of the measures: The law’s provisions on individual and ‘Come visit the territory of Walikale to assess collective rights to land and natural resources, its population’s degree of vulnerability. Come and mandating consultation on any measures see how this territory and local communities that may affect indigenous communities, may have not benefited from these riches. Come also prove difficult to enforce. In the area of see the displacement of populations fleeing agriculture, the Congolese government agreed atrocities committed by belligerents seeking in March to grant long-term leases of 80,000 to control mining zones... Walikale local hectares of arable land to a South Africa-based communities must now have a say and express company in an effort to boost productivity. their views on the exploitation of their resources Indigenous peoples rarely hold formal titles to and its generated profits sharing. It is necessary lands they have traditionally used, increasing the to correct past mistakes. We no longer have to risk that their lands may be designated as vacant suffer this wealth as a curse.’ p or unproductive. In such cases, the lands would fall under state ownership and could potentially be made available for lease or sale. Timber has been the country’s second largest

82 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 export, after oil, and the resulting deforestation margins of mainstream society’. has in places threatened the livelihoods of In the aftermath of the 1994 genocide, in indigenous communities. The Republic of which as many as 800,000 to 1 million people Congo exports primarily to the EU and China; – a large part of the country’s minority it was the first Congo Basin nation to agree and population, along with Batwa and moderate sign a Voluntary Partnership Agreement against – were killed, the Rwandan government illegal logging under the EU FLEGT Action undertook to promote reconciliation between Plan. As part of the process, the government the ethnic groups by constitutionally outlawing has reportedly committed to improvement in ethnic distinctions. However, experts noted the areas of participation of civil society in the that the government’s refusal to recognize the allocation of forest rights; inclusion of local existence of minority or indigenous groups and indigenous people in forest management, has had a negative impact, contravening including through a community-based approach; international standards by which ethnicity can and enforcement of rules and agreements be recognized on the basis of self-identification between companies and local communities. and undermining official efforts to address The Congolese government also participates in inequalities. the UN-REDD initiative, launched in 2008 to Specifically, CERD voiced concern at the combat climate change by reducing deforestation weak impact of government measures to help and forest degradation in developing countries. Batwa, who continue to suffer poverty and It is negotiating a pilot project under the discrimination with regard to access to education, programme. Some elements of the national housing, social services and employment; and REDD+ strategy would reportedly take place in at the failure to replace lands expropriated areas inhabited by indigenous peoples, and the from them for the creation of nature reserves, process has highlighted the need to ensure that disrupting their traditional lifestyles. they take part in and benefit from the activities. One area of controversy in late 2010 and 2011 In his report, the UN Special Rapporteur was the official ‘Bye Bye Nyakatsi’ programme noted the potential impact of the REDD for replacing traditional thatched roof houses programme on indigenous lands and resources, with iron-roofed ones. While the government but drew attention to concerns expressed to him described the programme as an effort to ensure about inadequate consultation and participation adequate housing for all, experts argued that it of indigenous peoples in the REDD process, affected Batwa disproportionately due to their as well as a perceived lack of detail regarding frequent use of traditional building methods, and the rights of indigenous peoples to share in the that it had in the short-term appeared to leave benefits of any government revenues from the many without shelter. programme. In 2011, the Congolese government announced a 1 million hectare reforestation Dealing with the legacy of the genocide project (roughly 5 per cent of the national CERD, Expert and the UPR territory). outcomes all expressed concern about vaguely worded laws prohibiting ‘genocide ’ and Rwanda ‘divisionism’. Though the authorities pledged In 2011, a landmark visit by the UN Independent to review the laws, they continued to be used to Expert on Minority Issues, as well as examinations prosecute government critics, including journalists by the UN Committee for the Elimination of and opposition politicians, for what in many cases Racial Discrimination (CERD) and the Universal appeared to be the simple exercise of free speech. Periodic Review (UPR) process, highlighted The International Criminal Tribunal for key concerns about treatment of the Batwa Rwanda (ICTR) continued to prosecute those community. The Batwa number around 33,000, responsible for genocide and other serious or roughly 1 per cent of Rwanda’s population; violations of international humanitarian law according to the Independent Expert, they live ‘in during 1994. At the end of 2011 there was one conditions of great hardship and poverty on the person awaiting trial, three cases in progress, 44

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 83 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 completed cases, and nine accused still at large. A female former government minister, four senior military commanders and two leaders West of the dominant political party in 1994 were among those found guilty and sentenced during 2011. For the first time, in 2011 three cases Africa were transferred from the ICTR to Rwandan jurisdiction. Ukoha Ukiwo Mali The fragility of Mali, one of Africa’s countries, was exposed with the resumption of

84 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: A Tuareg woman carries water through a sandstorm at Lake Banzena, Gourma Region, Mali. Abbie Trayler-Smith/Panos.

Azawad (MNLA), a movement founded at the end of 2011, spurred by the return of thousands of Tuaregs from fighting for Muammar Gaddafi in Libya. The resumption of the conflict towards the end of 2011 led to the displacement of pastoralists in northern Mali to other parts of the country and to neighbouring Niger Republic. Many of the internally displaced (IDPs) and refugees had to leave their livestock when fleeing, while those who could salvage some livestock have difficulty being admitted to IDP and refugee camps, which are not designed to provide sanctuary for livestock. During 2011, minorities also faced difficulties arising from the commodification of natural resources. For instance, Dogon people, who live in the arid Mopti plateau region, faced exploitation by water privatization programmes, which have reduced their access to water, excluded them from water management and undermined Dogon culture, which is intimately linked to water. In June 2011, the Mali Committee for the Defence of Water wrote in a report that these water privatization programmes were in violation of a 2010 UN Resolution that declared the right to water and sanitation as a fundamental human right. The Malian government has recently granted about half a million hectares of land concessions to large investors, according to a 2011 report by the Oakland Institute. Thousands of hectares of land were sold to mainly foreign buyers during 2011, by the government, which is desperate for the Tuareg rebellion in northern Mali following foreign investment, at a very low price, displacing the revolution that toppled the Libyan dictator smallholder farmers and minority groups. The Muammar Gaddafi. Nomadic Tauregs are one biggest buyers include Malibya from Libya of Mali’s nine main ethnic groups. Mali has (100,000 hectares), China (17,000 hectares), experienced a series of Tuareg uprisings since the West African Economic and Monetary the 1960s, in which Tuaregs have demanded Union (14,000 hectares) and Tomota, a Malian recognition of their identity and an independent company (100,000 hectares). state in the north of the country. The latest Land deals include the right to extract water uprising ended the fragile peace established for irrigation at very low prices, which is radically between separatists and the government in 2009. reducing water available for indigenous groups Insurgents organized themselves under the banner and farmers. For example, a lease granted to of the National Movement for the Liberation of Moulin Moderne du Mali – a public–private

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 85 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 partnership with the Malian government – elected its first civilian president from a minority involves a rent-free lease of 20,000 hectares on the ethnic group. Dr Goodluck Jonathan, an Ijaw banks of the . This project has affected from the Niger Delta region, was sworn in the Samana Dugu indigenous community in the as president following the death of President Office du Niger, West Africa’s largest irrigated Umaru Yar’Adua in 2010. In the April 2011 zone. Samana Dugu who opposed the deal report general elections, Jonathan defeated General serious threats to their livelihoods, with little or , former military head of no consultation or compensation. The Secretary state and candidate of the opposition Congress of State in charge of development in the Office du for Progressive Change (CPP), which drew most Niger zone denies that the communities living on of its support from the Hausa and Fulani ethnic the leased lands are indigenous and has stated that groups in the north. such communities have ‘installed themselves’ on However, apart from its symbolism, the the land without permission. Violent attacks on electoral victory of Jonathan has not changed the indigenous groups and smallholder famers have fortunes of minorities in the country. Although been reported. In June 2010, men, women and the amnesty for Niger Delta militants which young people from the Samana Dugu community came into force in 2009 held for much of 2011, protested against the work of bulldozers and Niger Delta minority communities – including the cutting of hundreds of their trees. About 70 Etche, Ijaw, Kalibari and Ogoni – continued to gendarmes were brought in to quell their protest. experience environmental devastation due to oil Protesters were beaten and about 40 of them were spills and gas flares. Decades of oils spills from arrested, among them 14 women. multinational oil company operations, sabotage Despite Mali’s limited availability of arable of pipelines and widespread gas flaring have left land and food scarcity, much of the land leased the Niger Delta heavily polluted. Oil spills from is used to grow crops for bio-fuels or for water- dilapidated infrastructure were aggravated by intensive rice cultivation. The land acquired spillage caused by the activities of oil thieves. by the Libyan company in Segou, the most Throughout the year, authorities of the Nigerian fertile region of the country, also includes a 40 National Petroleum Corporation (NNPC) km canal. In November 2011, farmers and repeatedly acknowledged that 150,000 barrels indigenous groups organized an International of oil were being lost to illegal oil bunkering Conference of Peasant Farmers in Sélingué which every day. aimed to stop the land and water grabs. A 2011 report published by United Nations The livelihoods of minorities in Mali are Environmental Programme (UNEP) found that also increasingly negatively impacted by gold- oil contamination in Ogoniland is widespread and mining. The growing presence of multinational severely affecting the environment. Cleaning up companies involved in gold-mining across oil pollution in the Ogoniland region may require western Mali is having an adverse impact on US$ 1 billion and take up to 30 years. The UN pastoralists and agriculturalists. For example, report found that oil contamination had migrated Fulani, Soninke and Bamana minority groups into the groundwater in at least eight spill sites have been negatively impacted by cyanide that the Anglo-Dutch oil giant Shell had claimed poisoning caused by the Sadiola mine in the far they had cleaned up, according to Human Rights west of the country. There are also 200 artisanal Watch (HRW). The Ogoni forced Shell to stop mining sites, most of which operate outside the exploration and production activities in their land government’s regulatory framework. Mining after the Nigerian government ordered Ogoni methods are mostly substandard, involving use environmental rights activists, including Ken of highly poisonous mercury and exploitation of Saro-Wiwa, to be killed in 1995. At the end of child labour. February 2012, the US Supreme Court heard whether or not corporations can be held liable Nigeria for complicity in human rights abuses outside the The year 2011 can be described as the ‘Year country. The case specifically concerns the alleged of Minorities’ in Nigeria because the country involvement of Shell in the torture and killing of

86 Africa State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Ogoni activists. In the north-central region of the country, inhabited mostly by ethnic minorities, several communities continued to witness violent clashes between local farmers and migrant herders. Clashes are linked to increasing desertification, which has forced pastoralists to move southwards in search of pasture for their cattle. Pressures on land arising from an increase in population and land grabbing by commercial farmers have undermined existing regulations on resource use as encroachment on pastoral corridors and grazing reserves forces pastoralists to graze on farmlands. Estimates of casualties vary. HRW reported that 200 people were killed in between January and April 2011. Between January and June 2011, 100 people were killed in clashes between Tiv farmers and Fulani herdsmen in , and over 20,000 persons displaced and scores of communities destroyed. Towards the end of the year, another 5,000 people were displaced in Benue and Nasarawa States as Fulani herdsmen clashed with farmers. Up to 10 people were killed in the attacks. The perennial tensions between herders and farmers over land and water use have become more complicated as the two occupational groups are on opposite sides of the ethno-religious faultlines. Attacks perpetrated by suspected members of the Boko Haram Islamist group, which launched several suicide attacks in Nigeria, including the August bombing of the UN office in , have increasingly targeted farming communities in dispute with pastoralists. The ethnic and religious dimensions of the conflict appear to be overshadowing the underlying basis, which is competition over natural resources. The government has focused on so-called anti- terrorism campaigns while failing to address resource depletion and ethnic conflict in the country, particularly between minority groups. p

State of the World’s Minorities Africa 87 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Alaska (US)

CANADA

NORTH PACIFIC

ATL ANTIC

OCEAN

CUBA Hawaiian Islands (US) DOMINICAN REP. HAITI Puerto Rico (US) BELIZE JAMAICA GUATEMALA HONDURAS EL SALVADOR NICARAGUA

COSTA RICA VENEZUELA PANAMA COLOMBIA Guyane (Fr.) SURINAM

ECUADOR

PERU BRAZIL

BOLIVIA

PARAGUAY

SOUTH CHILE URUGUAY PACIFIC ARGENTINA Americas Maurice Bryan he resource-rich Americas region is populations tended to have only a limited effect. socially and economically diverse, with In 2011, the consistent failure of most states T millions of indigenous and African in the Americas to comply with these norms descendant populations as well as immigrants in good faith, often resulted in non-receipt of of European, Asian-Pacific and Middle Eastern promised land titles, privatization of communal ancestry. In 2011, the most disadvantaged and lands, forced removals and inadequate access to vulnerable continued to be people of African and decision-making processes on the use of their indigenous origin. This is due to the enduring territories, resources and the resulting revenues. influence of cultural attitudes, economic policies A specific recurring factor, where large resource and social patterns established during the earliest extraction and infrastructure projects are being centuries of colonial expansion. These are still planned or implemented, was inadequate reflected in contemporary issues such as disloca- compliance or complete circumvention of tion from traditional lands for large-scale agricul- legally required free, prior and informed consent ture and natural resource extraction. processes. Activists in countries such as Canada, During 2011, the strong global competition Ecuador, Guatemala and Peru especially pointed for diminishing primary resources – including by to the lack of standard national guidelines and newly industrializing nations – contributed to an mandated procedures that can and ought to increasing drive to exploit previously untouched be followed by national officials during such lands, alternative energy sources and untapped consultation processes. mineral deposits. Significantly, many of these are Added to this reality, indigenous and located in the often remote areas traditionally African descendant communities in most occupied by indigenous and African descendant Central and some South American states faced communities. The result is that during 2011, constricted public investment, limited economic indigenous peoples and African descendants in opportunities, poor access to social services, most Central and South American countries high levels of public insecurity and the strong continued to struggle against attempts to separate influence of organized criminal enterprises. All of them from their ancestral lands, and in North these challenges were exaggerated by the generally America fought against efforts to limit their right weak state presence in remote geographical zones, to control the resources within their territories. as well as by fragile institutions, uneven justice administration, politicized judicial systems, Clearly seen but treated hard and continuing high levels of corruption and In South American countries such as Bolivia, impunity – particularly in Central and South Chile, Ecuador and Peru, indigenous peoples America. In Central American states especially, who protested against government decisions to this was reflected in the ongoing militarization use natural resources for revenue accumulation of civil society and the increasing use of private were sometimes criminalized. Indigenous peoples paramilitary forces in the service of powerful and rural African descendants who mobilized to special interest groups bent on the dispossession defend their interests – in Argentina, Colombia of indigenous and African descendant and Honduras – were often seen as ‘standing communal lands. in the way of development’, resulting in their being not only criminalized by the state but Partial to progress also threatened, harassed, forcibly evicted and A key element in forcible land alienation during sometimes even assassinated by non-state agents. 2011 was the continuing drive to expand large- Constitutional allowances and international scale mono-crop bio-fuel plantations, as well treaties such as the UN International Labour as the extensive region-wide efforts to increase Organization Convention No. 169 (ILO 169) and hydrocarbon extraction, mining, and mega- the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous projects such as dams and highways through Peoples (UNDRIP), and the Inter-American traditionally held lands. All of these had a direct Court of Human Rights (IACtHR) standards and also indirect – mostly negative – impact on developed to safeguard the rights of these indigenous and African descendant communities

90 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 that were routinely excluded from key planning This contributed to conflicts between and decision-making processes and denied indigenous communities and private resource opportunities for meaningful prior consultation, extraction companies, which, in contrast to the often prompting them to seek legal redress. As affected groups, are significantly facilitated by a consequence, during 2011, some governments legal authorities and the judicial system. that earlier enjoyed significant support from indigenous groups and organizations, especially Natural gas explosion in Bolivia and Ecuador, found such cooperation According to the US Department of Energy, diminishing as original peoples sought to Argentina possesses the world’s third largest safeguard or exercise their legally guaranteed potential reserves of unconventional gas – 774 rights. trillion cubic feet. Reports by Argentina’s During 2011, the combination of these factors Neuquen Observatory on Indigenous Peoples’ coupled with unprecedented climate disasters Rights indicate that of the 59 Mapuche – extensive floods and landslides – across all communities in southern Argentina, 19 are of Central America as well as in many South affected by the hydrocarbon industry or live in American countries, posed significant challenges areas being considered by companies looking to to vulnerable indigenous and African descendant expand exploration. communities. The overall result was a continuing In the Chubut province in , an oil constraint to their self-determination, general concession granted in June 2011 prompted socio-economic stagnation and, in extreme cases, Mapuche Tehuelche communities to hold a further degradation of the quality of their lives. trawun (parliament) in mid-October to evaluate the impacts of the industry. In Chaco province, Argentina 12 resource extraction blocks have been created. According to the Additional Survey on Some affect indigenous Wichi, Qom and Moquit Indigenous Populations, published by the lands, where the local Servicios Energéticos del National Institute of Statistics and Censuses Chaco and the state-owned Argentina Energy (INDEC), the indigenous population in Service began exploring for hydrocarbons in mid- Argentina is about 600,000. A census was 2011. conducted in 2010 but was criticized by minority This expansion is meeting with criticism. and indigenous activists for lack of accuracy Members of the Mapuche community charge and under-counting of Argentina’s African that the Argentine government’s aggressive descendant population and the 19 indigenous push to increase energy supplies by allowing oil peoples. These include Mapuche, Toba, Wichi/ company exploration on their lands will cause Mataco, Guaraní/Mbyá, Chiriguano, Quechua irreversible social and environmental damage. and Aymara. In November 2011, the Gelay Ko Mapuche According to local MRG partner organization community in Neuquen province blocked gas- Casa de la Cultura Indo-Afro-Americana, a well drilling work on their land by the US oil major preoccupation of indigenous communities company . Among their complaints was during 2011 continued to be insecurity over that they had not been consulted about the land-ownership and the many problems and project. They demanded that the provincial delays they encounter when trying to obtain government create commissions to evaluate the legal titles. Indigenous people such as the Toba, social and environmental impact as well as to Wichi/Mataco and Mapuche continued to be monitor oil company activities. especially concerned about the lack of dialogue During 2011, Salta province in northern and participation prior to the start of resource Argentina was also the scene of conflict between extraction and other economic projects on the extractive industry and indigenous groups. their lands. In many instances, land traditionally In October and November, the Wichí Lewetes occupied by indigenous groups was Kalehi and Lote 6 communities tried to stop appropriated by the authorities, especially at seismic testing on their territory. They reported the provincial level. being harassed by the police as well as by the

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 91 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Above: An indigenous woman walks near the acquiring a standard Spanish-language education. village of Colchani, Bolivia, on Salar de Uyuni, Many indigenous communities retain their the biggest salt lake in the world. The people of own languages, but illiteracy rates in the the village make a living by mining the salt. country’s north-east, where many indigenous Ivan Kashinsky/Panos. peoples live, is more than twice the 1.9 per cent national average. Lack of access to bilingual exploration company contracted by the Unión education is partly due to a shortage of trained Transitoria de Empresas Maxipetrol. teachers; in part, this is caused by an absence of Following an 11-day visit to Argentina in measures to facilitate university entry for eligible 2011, the UN Special Rapporteur on the rights indigenous students. of indigenous peoples, James Anaya, concluded that the government must strengthen legal Bolivia mechanisms securing indigenous land-ownership Bolivia is a landlocked country, extremely rich and establish a meaningful dialogue with in natural resources but with a historically communities in decisions which affect them. downtrodden indigenous majority (approximately 60 per cent of the population). Bolivia’s Continuing marginalization first indigenous president Evo Morales, has In addition to territorial issues, Argentina’s internationally championed the rights of indigenous peoples in their often remote indigenous peoples and the environment. locations remained concerned about the lack Nonetheless, the country relies heavily on of access to adequate education. This includes resource extraction as the main source of the bilingual instruction and inter-cultural exchanges revenue and foreign exchange used for national to help keep indigenous languages alive while also development.

92 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 In Bolivia, resource extraction is also a Highway blues cottage industry. There are about 650 mining One 300 km stretch of this 1,400 km route cooperatives consisting of some 75,000 is slated to run between the departments mostly indigenous members, which operate (provinces) of Beni and Cochabamba, crossing in the mineral-rich but impoverished western the Isiboro Sécure National Park and Indigenous highlands. The artisan miners extract tin, Territory (TIPNIS). The park land is collectively tungsten, silver, zinc and gold. Hundreds of owned by some 15,000 people of the Moxeño, women cooperative members work up to 14 Yuracaré and Chimane indigenous groups, who hours a day in the freezing tunnels dug into were granted collective property rights in 2009. the side of high-altitude mountains and deep Some organizations are opposed to any major underground. Previously, women miners were road construction through TIPNIS, however given the most menial tasks and were only the government argues that the road is needed recently recognized as cooperative partners and to promote national integration and provide shareholders; now there are some women-only services, such as health and education to remote cooperatives. Still, women miners with little indigenous communities. Protests turned violent schooling and limited financial experience during 2011. remain at a particular disadvantage when selling Critics charge that the highway project runs minerals to intermediary buyers. counter to the 2009 Bolivian Constitution, which grants broad rights to indigenous communities, Indigenous sceptics and to national laws that declare TIPNIS and In April 2010, Bolivia hosted the ‘The First other collectively owned land the ‘inalienable and World Conference of the People on Climate indivisible’ property of indigenous communities. Change’. It included the drafting of a Universal Arguably the strongest accusations relate to Declaration of Rights for ‘Mother Earth’, which Bolivia’s apparent non-compliance with ILO 169 assigns the earth value that is independent of regarding free, prior and informed participation human interests – including the right to be with respect to projects affecting indigenous respected and cared for. However, during 2011 a territories. Bolivia ratified the convention in number of proposed development mega-projects 1989. have caused some indigenous organizations to A coalition of dissenting groups – indigenous question the government’s international stance, and environmental activists, spearheaded by while their home-grown environmental and social CIDOB – began a 500 km march from Beni concerns apparently go unaddressed. to La Paz in August, to protest against the In 2011, organizations such as the 1 million- road. In September 2011, about 1,000 of the member Confederation of Indigenous Peoples anti-highway protest marchers were stopped of Bolivia (CIDOB) continued to complain by police. According to media reports, security about slow progress in titling of indigenous forces used tear gas and truncheons to break up ancestral lands and plans to establish settlements the gathering. Hundreds of activists were also in forest reserves, including attempts by new detained but later released. Several high-profile settlers to undermine indigenous territorial rights. government officials resigned over the violent Indigenous groups are also concerned about crackdown. plans for hydroelectric dams and the ongoing At the end of September 2011, President Evo seismic testing, drilling and mining operations Morales suspended highway construction plans. throughout the and south-eastern The government announced that local regions Bolivia. CIDOB has accused the government of and indigenous peoples would be given a chance using ‘dishonest and corrupt prior consultation to vote in a referendum, although it could take methods’ to obtain approval from indigenous up to six months or more to organize one. And communities for some projects. This includes in October, Bolivia’s lower house approved a bill the construction of the US$ 415 million trans- formally suspending construction of the Beni– Bolivian trade/export highway linking Brazil’s Cochabamba portion of the highway pending Atlantic coast with Chile’s Pacific coast. a consultation with the affected indigenous

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 93 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 peoples. It also officially declared TIPNIS an (it uses 50,000 litres a day) open-pit mine that ecological reserve that is of ‘fundamental interest threatens local soil and water quality. In April to the nation’. However, the delay did not meet 2010, angry community protesters set fire to with universal approval within indigenous circles. offices and overturned loaded railroad cars used Towards the end of 2011, another organization, to export minerals. the Indigenous Council of the South Artisanal mining has a long history in the (CONISUR) which represents 20 member- area, and it was the Uyuni Regional Peasant communities in the affected reserve, organized a Federation that initially proposed the industrial march of their own – this time in support of the lithium mining project. Therefore, south-west road project. Potosí’s indigenous communities in general As Bolivia’s rights advocates pointed out, the welcome the new industry. Nonetheless, there 2011 highway controversy highlighted the need are unresolved issues related to land-ownership for standard procedures that can be followed in and resource royalties. Potosí civic and union prior consultations with indigenous communities. leaders believe the department is entitled A draft bill on prior consultations had already to a greater part of the lithium benefits for been introduced in the Bolivian Congress. It local development; in 2011, the government outlines binding procedures and standard legisla- allocated just 5 per cent of lithium royalties to tive and administrative guidelines for mining, the area. logging, oil drilling or infrastructure projects. Additionally, some indigenous communities However, at the end of 2011, as observers noted, are especially concerned about the potential for given the current dispute over the TIPNIS high- a serious water crisis as a result of mining in an way project, there could be a notable delay in the area already short of this resource for traditional passage of this particular measure. agriculture and herding. Large quantities of toxic chemicals will also be needed to process the Lithium expansion lithium. Experience in neighbouring Chile points In early 2011 Bolivia moved a step closer to to the possibility of chemical leaching, mountains the goal of becoming a world leader in the of discarded salt, soil contamination and huge production of lithium and its by-products – the canals filled with chemically polluted water. At country has the largest reserves in the world. the end of 2011, indigenous communities in Lithium is a key ingredient in the manufacture Potosí could only hope that the government’s of the rechargeable batteries used in millions of US$ 30 million allocation for lithium waste- mobile phones and laptop computers. Lithium management and other measures to reduce reserves are located in the country’s Salar de environmental impact will be enough to avoid Uyuni, a vast expanse of scenic lakes, marshes potential problems. and salt flats in Bolivia’s mineral-rich south- west Potosí province. Traditionally indigenous Brazil communities in the area have relied on the Salar A century after thousands of mainly Anglophone de Uyuni for salt harvesting, llama herding, the Afro-Caribbean workers moved into the production of highly nutritious quinoa grains Brazilian Amazon to build the Madeira– and, recently, for tourism. Mamoré ‘rubber boom’ railway, a new wave With lithium sales expected to jump of Caribbean migrants is now arriving to join from US$ 100 million to US$ 103 billion Brazil’s estimated 90 million African descendant annually over the next 20 years, a number of population. Brazil has become an increasingly international corporations and governments attractive destination for economic migrants have been seeking deals with the Bolivian from Haiti, who find it difficult to get entry government. Among these is the giant visas for their first choice countries – the US Sumitomo Corporation, which already has a and France. Since the 2010 Port-au-Prince stake in the controversial San Cristóbal silver, earthquake, around 4,000 Haitians have gone zinc and lead mine also located in the Potosí to Brazil in search of economic opportunity; region. San Cristóbal is a large water-intensive with some 85 per cent finding employment.

94 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 In January 2012, the Brazilian authorities announced a one-off plan to grant residence visas Case study to those Haitians already in the country while tightening border controls. Belo Monte Dam: Murder of Guarani leader Large infrastructure projects in Brazil such as Drowning out dam and highway construction have played a major role in promoting expansion into the indigenous protests Amazon since the 1970s, bringing deforestation and land-grabbing conflicts, including the in the Brazilian invasion of ancestral lands and massacres of indigenous people. Amazon According to Amnesty International, in early November 2011 Nísio Gomes, a religious leader and rights defender of the Guarani indigenous Belo Monte, which translates as ‘Beautiful group in the south-western Brazilian state of Hill’, is located in the northern Pará state Mato Grosso do Sul, was made to lie on the of Brazil. Ever since the federal government ground by some 40 masked gunmen and then publicized its intention to construct a giant executed in front of his son and community hydroelectric energy facility in the Amazo- members. His body was taken and three children nian rainforests of Pará, a heated national were abducted. It is the latest incident in the and international debate has arisen over the decades-long land dispute between Guarani form, function and implications of the proj- and local ranchers who – with impunity – ect – especially with respect to indigenous employ hired gunmen in violent attacks against peoples and the overall environment. The indigenous people attempting to reclaim ancestral Belo Monte hydroelectric dam project was lands. The spiritual leader and up to 70 other first proposed back in 1987 by the Brazilian Guarani had recently returned to their traditional power company Electrobras. Despite its mas- lands after being evicted by cattle ranchers some sive size, it was intended to be just one unit 30 years ago. of a monumental six-dam Amazon mega- Based on federal government estimates, there project; however the resulting outcry led to are over 40,000 Guarani in Brazil. This makes the shelving of the other five plans. In 2005, them the largest indigenous group in the country. the Belo Monte project was declared a prior- However in 2011, their existence continued to ity by the administration of President Luiz be threatened by the extensive patchwork of Inácio Lula da Silva. Dam construction was cattle ranching, and soya and sugar cane bio- then fast-tracked by the Brazilian Congress fuel plantations illegally established on their leading to increased overall momentum as traditional lands. well as the related controversy. Contention within the government Uncontacted community itself led to the resignation in late 2009 of In the Amazon state of Maranhão, Awá, one of two senior environmental agency officials. the last nomadic hunter-gathering groups left in Brazil’s Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office the Amazon, now face extinction according to also filed suit to stop the dam. It charged . In the 1980s a railway was that the region’s indigenous peoples had not built through Awá territory to extract massive been consulted as required by the Brazilian iron ore deposits; loggers, settlers and cattle Constitution (Article 231) as well as by ranchers soon followed. Survival International Brazil’s obligations under ILO 169 and other estimates there are currently only about 350 international agreements. surviving members, more than 100 of whom Upon taking office in 2009, Lula’s have had no contact with the outside world.

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 95 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued km of pristine land, drowning trees and wildlife and causing population dislocation. successor, President Vilma Rousseff, continued to The National Indigenous Foundation push for construction while criticism mounted. (FUNAI) – the government agency responsible The government argued that the massive US$ for protecting the country’s indigenous 17 billion project is crucial for development and Amerindian population – has publicly will create jobs, as well as provide electricity for claimed there will be no direct effects on any millions of homes. indigenous group. However, this does not Opponents of the Belo Monte dam charge that apply to indigenous peoples on lands that the hydro-project offers little real benefit either are not demarcated as tribal territory. In fact, to indigenous communities or to the majority of although the Brazilian government estimates the national population. In addition to displacing that the dam will displace about 16,000 people, thousands of indigenous people, they state that it environmental groups such as Amazon Watch will produce publicly subsidized energy primarily put the figure at 40,000. They point out for the large privately owned extractive industries that it will directly affect the livelihoods and in the Amazon region. threaten the survival of the thousands of Arara, The Belo Monte dam is expected to produce Juruna and Kayapó indigenous peoples who around 11,200 megawatts of power and will be live downstream. Environmentalists warn that the third largest in the world. When completed diverting some branches of the Xingu River will in 2019, the 5 km wide dam will back up the cause abnormally low water levels during the dry Xingu River, which is one of the main tributaries season. This will likely disrupt the reproductive of the giant Amazon River, and flood 500 square cycles of some species of turtles and fish that have

96 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Below: Activists gather in Avinada Paulista, judge blocked dam construction citing São Paulo, Brazil, to protest against the Belo 29 unmet environmental criteria. The Monte Dam in June 2011. Pedro Ribeiro. government appealed the stop order. At the end of March 2011, the IACHR also asked traditionally provided food security for Amazon Brazil to stop the dam’s licensing process indigenous communities. In addition, according until its developers consulted with indigenous to electrical engineering experts, even under groups and environmentalists in the area. optimum conditions the huge costly dam will The Brazilan government’s response only function at 10 per cent of potential capacity was immediate, uncompromising and during Brazil’s three- to five-month dry season. unprecedented. The country’s foreign In the face of the apparent inevitability of ministry publicly rejected the IACHR construction, a united opposition emerged, request, calling its move ‘unjustified’. consisting of indigenous communities, the President Rousseff also decided to Movement of People Affected by Dams – which immediately halt Brazil’s approximately US$ claims to represent 1 million people displaced 800,000 annual contribution to the IACHR. from their lands by other dams – as well as several Furthermore, the government decided to environmental organizations and scientists. In late withdraw from Brazil’s 2012 participation 2010, indigenous groups filed a complaint with in the IACHR itself. The country suspended the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights the membership on the IACHR of Brazil’s (IACHR). They claimed their right to free, prior candidate – a former Human Rights Minister and informed consent had not been respected. under the previous administration. Shortly During February 2011, a Brazil federal court thereafter, in June 2011, the Brazilian environmental agency gave final approval to the dam. In November 2011, in response to more suits filed by environmentalists and indigenous groups, a federal court handed down a ruling in favour of the project. While one judge raised concerns, another noted that while consultations with indigenous groups were ‘informative’, they were not relevant to the decisions made by the Brazilian Congress. Judge Maria do Carmo Cardoso argued that since the actual infrastructure of the Belo Monte dam and its reservoirs would not be physically located on indigenous lands, she saw no need for consultation with the indigenous groups. There was also special concern about her statement that ‘indigenous peoples should consider themselves “privileged” to be consulted about large projects that affect their livelihoods’. The conflicting opinions of the judicial panel as well as the fact that the case involves a constitutional issue, all but ensures that the legal turbulence caused by the Belo Monte dam and its effect on indigenous populations will continue to eddy all the way up to the of Brazil. p

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 97 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Chile Right: A Mapuche woman is detained by police In 2011, the acute socio-economic divide persisted officers during a demonstration in support of between the majority population and most of the four imprisoned Mapuche activists outside of indigenous peoples of Chile, especially Mapuche Chile’s Supreme Court in Santiago, June 2011. people in the south and Aymara in the north. AP Photo/Roberto Candia. In southern Chile, discontent over the historical loss of ancestral lands, waterways and forest total of 34 Mapuche prisoners staged a hunger resources continued to smoulder during 2011. strike at several facilities in south-central Chile In the mineral-rich arid north, many indigenous in protest against the law. This ended after 82 Aymara men and women joined a rural-to-urban days when the government agreed to amend the exodus, aggravated by national policies that do Anti-Terrorist Law, and to stop using military not recognize collective land rights. tribunals against Mapuche civilians. Nevertheless the controversial anti-terrorism Mapuche resistance 2011 legislation was used once again against the four In late November 2011, Mapuche protesters prisoners charged in the 2008 convoy attack. The in the southern region of Araucania once repeat use of the law was seen as a violation of again clashed with Chilean police. They the 2010 accord and considered reason enough to demonstrated against plans to build an airport on mount another hunger strike in 2011. Mapuche land; police used tear gas against the demonstrators, who were blocking the highway. Water resource ownership In January, the Santiago Court of Appeals had Resource extraction and water rights affected rejected the Mapuche claim and ruled that the Chile’s indigenous populations during 2011. In airport project could go ahead. The decision was Chile, water is not a public good nor is it any criticized for not adequately taking into account longer a resource tied to land-ownership – as it the consultation requirements of ILO 169. The was up to the mid 1980s. Water privatization in Chilean government has reportedly committed the 1980s gave priority to commodity production to holding roundtable talks and set aside US$ 40 for international export – grapes and other fruits, million for local development. cereals and vegetables – and favoured majority Earlier, in June 2011, four Mapuche prisoners urban areas. being held in prison in southern Chile Water management is regulated according ended their 86-day hunger strike after Chile’s to the 1981 Water Code and, like the anti- Supreme Court agreed to lower their sentences terrorism legislation used against the Mapuche, from between 20 and 25 years to a maximum of it was developed by the Pinochet regime. It is 15 years. The four were charged with an October based on private sector development of water 2008 shotgun ambush on the police convoy of markets and infrastructure with tradeable water a public prosecutor, who lost a limb. Roman permits. Regulatory agencies are meant to mediators and human rights provide oversight, but critics have charged that advocates pledged to convene a commission to Chile’s system for buying and selling water is review the use of Chile’s anti-terrorism legislation exceptionally permissive, with little government against indigenous activists. control or environmental safeguards. They also Mapuche demonstrations and hunger strikes point to growing competition for water between have been an almost annual occurrence since agro-industry operators, resource extraction 1984 when the state enacted the Anti-Terrorist industries and the nation’s cities in a situation Law No. 19.027 during the military dictatorship of limited supply. A 2005 reform to the 1981 of General Augusto Pinochet. The law was aimed Water Code addressed some social equity and at curbing Mapuche protests over the loss of their environmental protection concerns but did lands and resources. Among other controversial little to alter the underlying structure. Private features, the law allows for military trials and ownership of water resources is so concentrated the use of witnesses who cannot be in some areas that a single electricity company cross-examined by the defence. During 2010, a from Spain, Endesa, has bought up to 80 per

98 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 State of the World’s Minorities Americas 99 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 cent of the water rights in a large part of the life is centred around high water table marshes Mapuche-claimed south, causing an outcry. known as the Bofedal, used for feeding llamas While privatization may have encouraged and alpacas. The ecologically integrated bofedales infrastructure investment, academic researchers need permanent water inundation to survive. If and environmentalists argue that Chile’s system water is diverted or reduced, the sun burns the is inherently unsustainable because it promotes plant roots causing permanent ruin. Nevertheless speculation, endangers the environment in Chile, indigenous collective water rights have and allows smaller interests like indigenous never been recognized by government agencies. communities to be squeezed out by powerful Springs that accumulate in the mountains on forces, like Chile’s giant mining industry. indigenous lands can be traded away leaving Chile’s water originates in springs and glaciers parched bofedales that cannot be revived. high in the Andes mountains. While it is a low University of Chile researchers reported that emitter of greenhouse gases, it is the planet’s the rights to the highland spring in one of the ninth most vulnerable country to climate indigenous communities of the Salado River change. One result is that many of the glaciers tributary of the Loa River were given to the are melting at an increasing rate, and the Fourth copper mining giant Codelco Chile. After 1985, Assessment Report from the Intergovernmental this cut off the community water source and Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) warns that caused permanent damage to fields used to feed some glaciers could be gone over the next thousands of llamas and sheep. By 2011, the decades. This would very likely increase the Saldo River community had become almost competition for diminishing water rights and completely depopulated, with most of the former sharpen the existing divide. residents now living in urban zones. Chile has the largest reserves of copper on In Tarapaca, the national electric company of the planet and is now the world’s number one Chile and the Department of Irrigation diverted copper producer. Copper is primarily mined and the natural flow of the high plateau Lauca River processed in Chile’s arid northern desert at sites for irrigation in the Azapa Valley and hydro- owned by the state mining giant Codelco Chile. electricity for the city of Arica. The springs dried Water is a key ingredient in the various stages of up and this affected the bofedales. Pastoralists had copper extraction. The copper mines on average to reduce their herds or move to the city. consume 11.5 cubic meters of water per second – At Chusmiza, a remote altiplano Andean village in an extraordinarily dry ecological zone. rich in warm sulphur springs, Aymara engaged in Discussion over water management in the a seven-year legal battle against a mineral water northern copper-bearing desert is relatively bottling enterprise they claimed had illegally recent. This zone is home to the historically deprived them of their land and water sources. In marginalized and excluded Aymara and 2009, they won the right to suspend the bottling Atacameño indigenous communities, who have business but failed to gain the water concession attracted less media attention than indigenous itself. groups in the south. According to researchers Indigenous residents claim that Quillagua was at the University of Chile, the indigenous formerly a unique oasis in the Atacama desert, populations and their livestock in the north fed by the Loa River, until mining companies are having to leave their Andean slope villages bought up much of the water use rights. because of acute water scarcity. According to the University of Chile, in 1987 Mineral extraction industries such as lithium the military government reduced the supply of and copper mines, bottled water enterprises water to Quillagua by more than two-thirds. and medium-sized northern cities such as Arica, Then, in 1997 and 2000, during the critical rainy Iquique and Calama have appropriated the summer months, two episodes of contamination available water rights. They siphon off rivers killed off the shrimp and ruined the river for crop and tap scarce water supplies. This has left some irrigation or livestock. An initial study concluded Atacama towns to dry out and wither. that the 1997 contamination – including heavy Traditional Andean indigenous agricultural metals associated with mineral processing – had

100 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 probably come from a Codelco copper mine. Chile’s , which focuses on Codelco denied any responsibility, and blamed promoting cultural homogeneity, ensured that heavy rains for sweeping contaminants into the Arica’s large Aymara population – although water. Chile’s regional Agriculture and Livestock officially recognized – also remained socially Service refuted Codelco’s findings and attributed marginalized. Even more, in 2011 they continued the contamination to human actions. According to be widely regarded as indigenous migrants to the head of the Aymara indigenous group in from Peru or Bolivia – not as home-grown Quillagua, without suitable water many residents descendants of the first peoples of northern responded to outside offers to buy the town’s Chile, who have been dispossessed by the water rights. They sold and left. The mining country’s water resource extraction policies. company, Soliloquies (SQM) ended up buying about 75 per cent of the rights in Quillagua. Colombia By 2011, the once shrimp-filled Loa had been The efforts to reclaim or remain on ancestral reduced to a polluted trickle running through lands and protect basic rights continued to be the town. Just 150 residents were left in what a major focus of many indigenous peoples and was once a settlement of over 800 people and African descendants in Colombia during 2011. which for the past 37 years has appeared in the Along with what they see as systemic socio- Guinness Book of World Records as the ‘driest place economic and political exclusion they continued on earth’. to feel the worst effects of the long-running With water sources diminishing and the internal armed conflict. Although arguably less bofedales drying out, the carefully constructed pervasive than in previous years, the negative terraces on the Andean slopes – that had sustained impact of the conflict on these populations Aymara for thousands of years – continue to continued, along with the state’s unswerving be abandoned and the rural-to-urban exodus policy of total eradication of insurgency groups. accelerates. In 2011, dislocated indigenous Reports by Colombian think-tank Nuevo Arco populations continued to migrate to northern Iris indicated a 10 per cent increase in attacks cities such as Calama, Arica and Iquique. compared to 2010, as both sides struggled to regain or retain strategic territory. Most Arica of this occurred in rural zones with majority Of the more than 100,000 Aymara in northern Afro-Colombian and indigenous populations. Chile, the majority – approximately 60,000 – They continued to be targeted as suspected now reside in Arica. The coastal city – a tax- and collaborators by both sides and to experience duty-free zone – is Chile’s most northern city, assassinations, bombings and high displacement located 19 km from the border with Peru, and levels during 2011 – especially in the northern serves as the Pacific exit port for landlocked Cauca department. Bolivia. Culturally diverse Arica is also home The Presidential Agency for Social Action to a significant Afro-Chilean population of and International Cooperation (Acción Social) approximately 8,000. Activists from the Afro- reported that between 2010 and 2011 some Chilean Alliance have been increasing efforts to 86,312 people were displaced nation-wide. achieve official recognition of Afro-Chileans as However, based on independent monitoring, an ethnic group in a country where diversity has the Colombian NGO Consultancy on Human never been a part of national policy. Rights and Displacement (CODHES) puts that After almost four years of concerted figure at 280,000. negotiations with the Chilean government – According to a CODHES report released during which official promises were publicly in 2011, from 1985 to 2010 some 5.2 million given and community hopes raised – in people (11.4 per cent of Colombia’s population) September 2011, the state officially rejected the have been internally displaced – the highest rate request to include questions about Afro-Chilean of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the demographics in the 2012 census. Economic world. reasons were cited for the exclusion. The ongoing counter-insurgency programme

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 101 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 was launched in 2007 during the presidency of mercenaries continue to be the most active land Alvaro Uribe. It was described as an initiative disposessors. to bolster investor confidence and help realize During 2011, rural farmers, Afro-Colombian ‘democratic security policies’. Half of the total and indigenous community groups indicated number of Colombia’s IDPs fled their areas during that these paramilitary gangs, operating under President Uribe’s eight years in office. Officially names such as ‘Black ’, ‘Los Rastrojos’ called the ‘National Plan for the Consolidation (Field Stubble) and ‘Gaitainistas’ (The of Territory’, it was implemented in 86 of Bagpipers) continued intimidating, displacing Colombia’s 1,141 municipalities. According to and assassinating victims with impunity. This CODHES, of the 86 municipalities involved in includes targeting those who work to improve the programme, 44 had the highest rates of violent the living conditions or secure the rights of rural land seizure, massacres and people killed. populations. In early 2011, a threatening leaflet Moreover, CODHES reports that transnational signed by the self-styled ‘urban commandos’ of mining industries are now active in 21 of those ‘Los Rastrojos’ was received by human rights 86 municipalities, and large-scale mono-crop defenders and UN agencies. Rights activists and cultivation of oil palm, teak and rubber as well advocates have learned not to take such threats as cattle-rearing is occurring on ‘consolidated lightly. territory’ in 14 others. Much of this is fertile Apart from the general issues of Law 1448, communally held land claimed by displaced perhaps the biggest initial surprise for indigenous indigenous and Afro-Colombian communities, and Afro-Colombian communities was the most of whom are small-scale or traditional non-inclusion of reparation allowances for their subsistence farmers. populations. This is despite their being among the main victims of the conflict and being The Victims’ Law repeatedly subjected to forced displacement, After nearly five decades of armed conflict and killings, rapes and abduction. millions of IDPs, in June 2011 the Colombian NGOs such as MRG partner CIMMARON Congress passed the landmark Law 1448, entitled (Movimiento Nacional por los Derechos the Victims and Land Restitution Law (Victims’ Humanos de las Comunidades Afrocolombianos) Law). Government sources explained that Law estimate that nearly 30 per cent of all IDPs 1448 seeks to restore to rightful owners some – approximately 1.5 million – are of African 17 million acres of land stolen over the past descent. In addition, although indigenous 25 years and also to assist and compensate the Colombians constitute only about 3 per cent of relatives of those killed. Observers cautioned that the estimated 45 million national population, implementation could be an enormous challenge Acción Social indicates that indigenous people and, according to the BBC, officials estimate it make up a disproportionate 15 per cent of the could take up to a decade to realize and cost US$ IDP total. 20 billion (£12.3 billion). To address Afro-Colombian and indigenous Although Law 1448 is seen as a step in the exclusion from the Victims’ Law, the government right direction, critics point to the failure to introduced a separate provision granting special compensate all of those affected. Reparations powers to President Juan Manuel Santos to enact are being directed at those who were victimized an executive legal decree. It was to be shaped by from 1 January 1985 onwards; however, there a six-month process of free, prior and informed are concerns about coverage for victims of more consultation with the respective communities. recent crimes committed by the so-called ‘neo- While a group of Afro-Colombian organizations paramilitaries’ or ‘criminal gangs’. These are the established an informal consultative roundtable, successor groups that arose following the 2005 the state opted to use its own Consultative official demobilization of Colombia’s main Commission for Afro-Colombians and to run paramilitary umbrella organization – the Self- consultative commissions at the departmental defense Forces of Colombia (AUC). By many (provincial) levels. Afro-Colombian organizations accounts, these outlaw bands of well-armed such as the Proceso de Comunidades Negras

102 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 en Colombia (PCN) and the Afro-Colombian the lands of people in the first place. Solidarity Network (ACSN) argued that the Colombian rights defenders caution that state’s commissions were mandated purely by attempts to return dispossessed lands could government edict and not properly free. They initiate a new wave of violence and expulsions. petitioned for direct local-level participation in Many of the armed groups have become quite the consultation process, but this did not occur. wealthy by selling vacated lands to large agro- As CIMMARON explained, Colombia’s African industry and mining transnationals. descendant population numbers over 15 million, During 2011, several local leaders who so their communities are by no means monolithic. campaigned for community land return were killed. According to Reiniciar – an NGO that Enter Law 4635 represents a group of victims in a case before the Nonetheless in early December 2011, President IACtHR – over 19 human rights defenders were Santos decreed Law 4635, thus creating a murdered in Colombia during 2011, bringing mechanism for government compensation and this total to 104 over the past four years. assistance to displaced Afro-Colombians and In June 2011, Ana Fabricia Cordoba, a noted indigenous peoples. Members of the PCN and female Afro-Colombian leader of displaced the ACSN – among others – once again charged communities and a member of the Ruta Pacífica that Colombia’s black, Raizal and Palenque de las Mujeres (Women’s Peace Route), was communities had been denied their constitutional assassinated on a Medellín city bus by a gunman. right to prior consultation and informed consent. Local human rights organizations indicated They especially pointed to the lack of any that she had accused the Medellín police of preparatory meetings with the state to discuss supporting the local far-right paramilitary draft texts and establish the overall consultation structure and had reported multiple death threats methodology. but obtained no protection. Her husband and In contrast to the Afro-Colombian experience, son had previously been killed. according to the University of the Andes, Observers also note that even if people return indigenous communities were able to establish a they are unlikely to find any of their former national-level roundtable (Mesa Permanente de structures, infrastructure or even the landscapes Concertación Indígena) which first met with the they once knew. The PCN cites the case of government to agree on the basic methodology African descendant communities (Jiguamiando to be used during the consultation process. The and Curvarado) in the Choco department, where indigenous roundtable prepared its own draft in February 1997 4,000 people were forced to decree with special provisions and negotiated leave their homes by the army and right-wing with the government over reconciling their draft paramilitaries. Undaunted, the communities with the government’s version. They also agreed decided to fight for their territorial rights. on the modalities of the prior consultation. In late 1999, when the communities returned as part of a process of restoring rural property, they Issues of return found that their 35,000 hectares of communally Nonetheless, with land rights being central to held lands had been acquired by bio-fuel investors the Colombian conflict and military offensives and overrun with large palm oil plantations and again on the rise, advocacy groups argue that other monoculture crops. The area had been ensuring the safe return of Afro-Colombians clear-cut and the soil degraded. In March 2011 and indigenous people to their ancestral lands after nearly 14 years of death threats, leadership ultimately will determine the usefulness of assassinations and community intimidation by the new legislation. NGOs including Human both state agents and armed illegal groups, the Rights Watch have highlighted the difficulty of government finally officially titled 25,000 hectares protecting those attempting return while violence to these victims. However, the state offered no and dispossession are still occurring and strong assistance for land clearance of the large palm trees links remain between various political actors and or the re-establishment of the victims under safe the paramilitary groups responsible for clearing physical conditions. PCN claims that persecution

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 103 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 by ‘neo-paramilitaries’ has continued, despite complaints to local and national authorities, and at Case study the end of 2011 the communities were still unable to enjoy a peaceable return. Afro-Colombian Ancestral mining According to Afro-Colombian activists, the women defend difficulties with inclusion in Law 1448, plus the lack of social investment in their communities, their heritage as well as ongoing land dispossessions are all occurring in a developmental environment that privileges large-scale export-oriented resource ‘I’m really proud of mining, of course. In this extraction and agro-industries. This is at the region most women are miners, because that’s expense of traditional economies of self-sufficient how we earn a living to raise our kids. For me small-scale farming and artisan mining which it’s really unfair, because there are people who are still practised by rural Afro-Colombian come from other places to occupy our mines. communities – and in which women play a key I mean, they want to come and take over ter- role. ritories where there’s mining. The mines should The Colombian government’s policy of ‘modern be just for people from here, we make our living efficiency’ is not only encouraging expropriation from mining, and if they come and take the of community lands for industrial mining. It is fruits of our labour away from us, then what also specially targeting small-scale low-impact will happen to us? We’d have to leave here, but community artisan miners with proposed new I think the only way we would leave is in our legislation to make such practices illegal. coffins.’ Jazmín Mina, an Afro-Colombian The Colombian Network Against Large-scale woman miner. Transnational Mining estimates that nearly 40 Afro-Colombians have been carrying out per cent of Colombian territory is now given small-scale, ancestral mining in the Cauca as concessions for industrial mining projects by region of Colombia since the days when their large UK, Canadian and US-based transnationals. emancipated enslaved ancestors settled here in In 2011, the Afro-Colombian La Toma gold 1637 to mine the gold found in the hillsides. mining community of northern Cauca – which Today the miners’ descendants continue to was established in 1637 – continued to resist chip away at the red earth in search of small land loss and the inroads of giant transnational industrial gold mining companies such as Below: Jazmín Mina, an Afro-Colombian AngloGold Ashanti, whose mining practices, miner. MRG/Morris Producciones. they argue, can cause significant environmental damage. According to the PCN, as a result of their fight to protect their land rights, for the past three years the Community Council leaders of La Toma have been facing death threats from local paramilitary gangs. Nevertheless, in mid-2011, on the grounds that the Afro-Colombian communities were not informed or consulted about the impact of the government’s plan of action on their territories, Colombia’s Constitutional Court ruled against the policy of trying to outlaw artisan mining in favour of intensive industrial extraction. Local community leaders remained doubtful, as such big economic interests are at stake.

104 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 specks of gold, and see it not only as a means Ecuador of earning a modest living, but also as an In early October 2011 in the Andean highlands activity intrinsically linked to their culture of southern Ecuador, Canadian company and ethnicity. Iamgold’s Quimsacocha extraction project was One of the most important towns in voted down by a community referendum. It the area with a large population of Afro- overwhelmingly rejected mining, with 92 per Colombians was Salvajina. It was blessed cent of people voting against. with plentiful natural resources, fertile According to the government, however, farmland, abundant water sources and, the referendum is invalid because it was not most importantly, huge reserves of minerals authorized by state institutions. In contrast, beneath the soil. CONAIE (the Confederation of Indigenous In 1985 the Colombian government Nationalities of Ecuador) – the country’s most decided to build a vast hydroelectric plant powerful and influential indigenous umbrella on the Cauca River. The subsequent organization – not only actively supported flooding of the surrounding area meant that the referendum, but also strongly advocated it around 1,300 Afro-descendant families were should be replicated wherever communities are displaced to the nearby town of La Toma, affected by mining. During 2011, other local where, as compensation for the upheaval they governments also called for a total ban of mining had experienced, the government promised activities in jurisdictions where such projects are them electricity, running water, health care located. and schools. In 2011 the Afro-Colombian The Andean community referendum – the residents of La Toma were still waiting for first of its kind in Ecuador – raised basic those promises to be honoured. constitutional questions regarding autonomy, Between 2002 and 2010, while gold the extent of state powers and the rights of local prices soared on world markets, Colombia’s governments to control land use and regulate government gave out 7,500 mining industries. exploration titles to national and foreign Since 2008, indigenous organizations in mining companies, such as AngloGold Ecuador have become increasingly critical Ashanti, eager to exploit the precious of government policies on water rights and resource. In La Toma, many of these exploitation of natural resources. They complain concessions overlapped with areas where that the government has been attempting to Afro-Colombians have practised ancestral, divide the indigenous movement over these family-run mining operations for generations. issues. According to the CONAIE, there are Afro-descendants and indigenous currently 189 indigenous Ecuadoreans charged communities in Colombia have the with terrorism, sabotage and other public safety- constitutional right to be consulted prior related crimes and for protesting against the to resource extraction projects in the areas privatization of natural resources. These include where they live. But La Toma residents, the president of the CONAIE and three other who were never consulted before mining prominent indigenous leaders who have been titles were granted, decided to take the protesting against state control of access to matter to Colombia’s Constitutional Court. water. Meanwhile, President Rafael Correa has In April 2011, the court made a decision accused protesters of ‘standing in the way of to suspend all further mining titles in the development’ and argues that resource extraction area – requiring that title-holders carry out revenues can be used to develop other economic ‘adequate consultation’ before proceeding sectors such as agriculture. with further mining plans. The decision is a victory for La Toma, but only time will Words or ? tell if it will be effective in halting powerful The conflict is all the more pertinent given multinational mining interests. p that, after his 2009 second term re-election, President Correa has spoken out vigorously

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 105 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 on environmental justice. As in Bolivia, his indigenous and mestizo (mixed) members of administration pioneered the granting of some 80 rainforest communities who demanded special rights to ‘Mother Nature’ in the 2008 the company clean up the pollution and pay Constitution and has made public gestures reparations for the health damages. The trial towards ending the extraction economy. Ecuador opened in November 1993 in the US Federal is South America’s second largest oil exporter Court, but after nine years of hearings was to the United States. Oil revenues account for then moved to Ecuador in October 2003 – at more than half of the national budget; there are Chevron’s request. During the trial, Chevron an estimated 1 billion barrels of heavy crude admitted that Texaco had deliberately discharged in the Amazon bordering Peru. At the UN in 68 billion litres of toxic ‘production water’ May 2007, President Correa made an innovative directly into the environment. Texaco also offer to leave Ecuador’s largest oil reserves created and abandoned more than 900 unlined underground in the Amazon. The country waste pits that seeped pollution into the earth, was willing to forego an estimated US$ 9.2 spilled more than 17 million gallons of pure billion in revenues in exchange for international crude oil into the rivers and streams and community compensation and debt cancellation continually ‘flared’ contaminants without any for conserving the biosphere. However, by early environmental controls. However, Chevron 2011 there were plenty of promises but very little argued that Texaco spent US$ 40 million real cash. Some countries, such as , that cleaning up the area during the 1990s and initially made financial commitments to the fund also signed an agreement with Ecuador in had actually withdrawn their offers. 1998 absolving it of any further responsibility. At the end of 2011, this seems to have left Nonetheless, environmental activists visiting the government little choice but to proceed with the Amazon site in 2009 wrote about finding a exploration plans in an area of pristine Amazon tangled jungle landscape with oil slicks, festering rainforest which is home to the nomadic sludge and rusted pipelines. and Taromenane – indigenous groups who The plaintiffs accused Chevron of trying to voluntarily reject contact with the outside world. hide the extent of its environmental crimes This will not only elevate the risk to indigenous and cited ailments such as leukaemia, cancers, communities of more environmental disasters liver failure and respiratory and skin problems. like the Chevron-Texaco oil spills in the Amazon Eventually, in February 2011, after nearly 18 but also increase chances of the extended years of legal struggle they won the historic US$ litigation that seems to be required in trying to 8.6 billion verdict, which was more than obtain redress. doubled after the company failed to make a public apology. The judgment was also Chevron enforceable in the US, based on the 2003 trial In February 2011 – after nearly two decades relocation agreement. of litigation – an Ecuadorean court found the The Ecuadorean court also found that Chevron American oil giant Chevron liable for US$ 18 repeatedly tried to delay the proceedings as well billion in damages stemming from contamination as threatened judges in efforts to evade liability. caused by Texaco. Between 1964 and 1990, Chevron appealed the sentence, and then sued Texaco – which merged with Chevron in 2001 – the indigenous plaintiffs in the US, citing drilled roughly 350 wells across 7,000 square km Ecuador’s violations of the US–Ecuador Bilateral of . The company made some Investment Treaty and international law. The US$ 30 billion in profits. oil giant also took its case to the International In 1993, Texaco was accused by Amazon Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, indigenous communities of dumping 68 billion which, in February 2011, ordered Ecuador ‘to litres of toxic materials into Amazon streams suspend any judgment against’ Chevron. In and rivers that people used for fishing, bathing, September 2011, a US appeals court overturned swimming and drinking water. a decision to block the fine collection and at the The lawsuit was filed on behalf of 30,000 end of 2011, an Ecuadorean appeals court upheld

106 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 the 14 February 2011 ruling in all its parts. The Amazon petroleum contamination by Case study Texaco is considered by many to be the worst oil-related disaster on record, surpassing the 1989 Exxon Valdez oil tanker spill on the coast Guatemala’s of Alaska as well as the 2010 BP deepwater rig explosion oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. agrofuel However, in a further example of the long uphill battle indigenous litigants can face against plantations feed powerful resource extraction companies, Chevron challenged the fine, arguing that lawyers and land dispossession supporters of the indigenous groups conspired to fabricate evidence. Ever since the Spanish Crown granted colo- Guatemala nial land titles for what were ancient tradi- As in other countries in the region, resource tional Maya lands, indigenous communities extraction also had an impact on indigenous in Guatemala have been involved in a con- peoples and minorities in Guatemala during tinuous struggle for land rights. 2011. In late December 2011, the Inter- In mid-March 2011, hundreds of American Commission on Human Rights Guatemalan army and police anti- (IACHR) withdrew an earlier recommendation personnel using live ammunition and tear to suspend operations at the controversial gas, evicted thousands of residents of 14 Goldcorp Marlin gold mine in the Guatemalan small Maya Q’eqchi’ villages located in the province of San Marcos. municipality of Panzos, Alta Verapaz, in the The facility, located near the border with fertile Polochic River Valley. According to Mexico, has been the subject of an ongoing series the Guatemala Solidarity Project (GSP), the of human rights-related complaints by indigenous affected Maya Q’eqchi’ – who were regarded communities. In addition to the IACHR, the as ‘land invaders’ – were given an hour to ILO’s Committee of Experts and the UN Special gather all their possessions and were not Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous people allowed to salvage their crops, which were had also recommended operation suspension close to harvest. Following the government until local communities are adequately consulted. security crackdown, masked paramilitaries Moreover, the Canadian mining company’s hired by a privately owned sugar cane own human rights assessment had also advised company reportedly dismantled and burnt the company to halt land acquisition and mine hundreds of homes and destroyed crops. expansion pending community consultations. With nowhere to go, some 800 Maya According to the NGO Mining Watch Q’eqchi’ families – including thousands of Canada, just prior to the IACHR ruling reversal, children – were left to camp out in the rain the Guatemalan government, in conjunction with no shelter or food; many on the sides with a company-sponsored water committee, of roads. According to local leaders, the released a hydro-geological study that apparently raids came just one day after a community contradicted the perceptions of local Mam delegation had met with the big land-owners Maya communities that the Marlin mine is in a government-negotiated meeting. The contaminating their local water supply and impending eviction was never discussed. should be closed. While this can be seen as another clash Although the report’s lack of impartiality was in the long-running post-colonial struggle questioned, it seemed enough to prompt the between the indigenous people of the area IACHR to rescind its decision. In Guatemala, and settler families of European origin, there environmental impact studies cited by the is now a bio-fuel element involved. At issue is government are usually financed and contracted

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 107 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued According to local media, in 2009 the sugar- cane planting initiative went bankrupt and the access to traditional Maya Q’eqchi’ ancestral lands were left abandoned. This encouraged the land in one of Guatemala’s most fertile river historically dispossessed Mayan Q’eqchi’ to begin valleys. During the 36-year Guatemalan civil war, moving back down from their refuge in the near- the Maya Q’eqchi’ of Panzo – like many other by mountains. They re-established settlements on indigenous communities – experienced massacres the lands they formerly occupied before the con- and were driven off ancestral lands into the Sierra solidation process and began sowing subsistence de las Minas mountains. The subsequent post- crops. In a region with high rates of malnutrition, conflict peace accord allowed for return and the this cultivation is vital to ensure that the impov- promise of territorial security. By 2000, with credit erished families barely avoid starvation. available to allow rural communities to buy land, However, in late 2010 a solution was dozens of Maya Q’eqchi’ communities believed developed for the bankrupt sugar company they were close to finally gaining land deeds. involving recapitalization with investment by However, the bio-fuel boom was about to change the largest exporters of sugarcane-produced all that. ethanol in Central America – who have also This came in the form of Guatemalan sugar- expanded into palm oil cultivation. As a result, in cane refining interests, reportedly with strong February 2011 local radio stations began running links to the sitting government. They were able to advertisements reportedly paid for by the sugar secure large loans of up to US$ 31 million from company calling on former cane workers to regional and multilateral development banks, evict the indigenous families from the plantation which enabled the company to move sugar and lands. A few weeks later, in mid-March 2011, the ethanol refining operations away from traditional armed government security forces and plantation cane-producing zones on Guatemala’s south-west paramilitaries moved in to get the job done. coast and relocate them across the country in the Between March and August 2011, private Polochic Valley. Meanwhile, between 1998 and helicopters were used to drop grenades on the 2006, palm oil production was introduced into the cornfields that survived destruction, aimed at valley. According to estimates by the Guatemalan intimidating the families trying to harvest the National Institute for Agrarian and Rural Studies, crop. Community land rights defenders were also between 2005 and 2010 the area of the country threatened and murdered and families attacked at given over to oil palm plantations increased by 146 night by masked paramilitary forces. per cent. In June 2011, the Guatemalan Human In the Polochic Valley, both palm oil Rights Commission and a coalition of local producers and the newly arrived sugar ethanol and international organizations petitioned the interests began a systematic land assembly IACHR which approved precautionary protective process. According to Oxfam, this often involved measures for the 14 communities. It called on the negotiating sales or rental of small farms Guatemalan government to take concrete steps accompanied by thinly veiled death threats to to ‘prevent irreparable harm’ to the communities discourage refusals. The agrofuel producers and persons at risk. then appropriated the farms and evicted the In addition to questioning the social disruption indigenous residents to create the large sugarcane of indigenous people in the Polochic Valley, and palm oil plantations. Along with the critics have accused Guatemalan bio-fuel displacement of thousands of indigenous peasant producers of being more interested in profiting families, the need for large amounts of irrigation from climate change subsidies than in meeting water has prompted diversion of the Polochic climate change goals. These subsidies include River. Environmentalists claim this has destroyed the UN Framework Convention on Climate wetlands and ruined surrounding farms, when Change’s ‘Clean Development Mechanism’ unprecedented annual floods result as the river (CDM). Since 2008 almost all the palm oil tries to regain its channel. extraction companies in Guatemala have received

108 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 CDM certification, allowing access to the by the mining companies themselves. available financial credits and making it Critics, including the Guatemalan possible to expand their activities. Constitutional Court, have noted the permissive With recognition that bio-fuel production mining climate encouraged by the Guatemalan was actually devastating environments and government and, in 2008, even deemed some communities around the world, the World practices unconstitutional. These include Articles Bank and the Inter-American Development 19 and 20 of the country’s Mining Law, which Bank placed a freeze on bio-fuel loans while lets extraction begin while the relevant paperwork they prepared so-called ‘sector strategies’. One is still being processed, and Article 75, which of these strategy mechanisms – the Round allows mining companies to discharge tailings Table on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) – is pond effluents directly into surface water. supposed to help identify ‘environmentally Despite the ruling reversal, the IACHR did friendly’ palm oil producers. Two of the large retain some precautionary measures. It ordered Polochic Valley producers have received RSPO that Guatemala now has an ongoing obligation to certification. This allows them access to addi- ensure that community water quality is suitable tional financing, thus making it potentially pos- for domestic and irrigation uses. It also requested sible to expand production even more – onto the government to advise the IACHR on how land claimed by indigenous people. Even less this duty is being fulfilled. favourable for the displaced in the Polochic The Center for International Environmental Valley is that the new version of the pro- Law (CIEL) and Mining Watch Canada gramme for Reducing Emissions from Defor- cautioned that the IACHR decision represented estation and Forest Degradation in Developing an alarming trend in the Americas, that regional Countries (REDD+) allows palm oil planta- member states now seem to be able to force and tions to be considered as green ‘forested’ areas even threaten the organization into weakening and earn carbon capture credits. It therefore its human rights decisions. As further evidence, also provides an additional incentive for Guate- they cited the earlier 2011 ruling reversal, when mala growers to keep expanding sugarcane and the IACHR backed away from its order to the palm oil acreages under cultivation. Brazil government to halt construction of the Meanwhile, in the Polochic Valley at the controversial Belo Monte dam. end of October 2011, the intimidation, sporadic attacks and displacement were Honduras still continuing, and the Commission Two years after the June 2009 coup d’état in of Petitioners for Preventative Measures Honduras, African descendant Garifuna as well was forced to denounce the failure of the as indigenous peoples have been attempting to Guatemalan government to comply with the regroup and recover lost socio-economic and precautionary measures recommended by political gains, including the ability to teach the the IACHR. No aid had reached the affected Garifuna language in schools and to be informed families, and nothing had been done by the of and included in land negotiations. government to resolve the land conflict. In 2011, a Constitutional Assembly of Afro- By year’s end, as Guatemalan bio-fuel Honduran and Indigenous Women was held enterprises continued to position themselves in the town of Copán Ruinas. According to the to benefit from multi-million dollar female Garifuna leader and coordinator of the international climate change reduction Fraternal Organization of Black Hondurans payouts, the evicted indigenous Mayan (OFRANEH), the major objectives of the 300 Q’eqchi’ of the Polochic Valley were left women – representing Lenca, Maya Chortí, landless, homeless and at the mercy of Garifuna, Tawaka, Miskito, Pech and Tolopan whatever charitable handouts they may indigenous groups – was to strengthen alliances happen to receive from those sympathetic to to ensure greater inclusion of female voices and their plight. p experiences at both community and national decision-making levels. They also sought to

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 109 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 examine a number of their specific gender lines, so land dispossession has dealt a particularly concerns such as ethno-cultural and institutional strong and direct blow to women. invisibility, which they argue go mostly Adding to the land loss, during 2011 the unaddressed within the international women’s Honduran National Congress approved plans rights movement. Of special overall concern were to establish separate development regions with issues related to community autonomy, resource model ‘charter’ cities on Garifuna communal extraction and territorial loss. The dispossession lands. These special new zones would in effect of communal lands of African descendant be an independent territory – virtual city- Garifuna, Miskitu and indigenous peoples – to states within the country, each with its own establish tourist enclaves and especially to enlarge governor, its own laws courts, private security palm oil plantations – has advanced very rapidly forces, independent international trade relations, over the past decade. These groups have not authorized inhabitants and manufacturing only been deprived of territory but also excluded complexes under the complete control of foreign from any benefits. Garifuna have been killed, corporations. threatened and economically pressured to give up Garifuna have resisted through highly visible their territory according to OFRANEH. pre- and post-coup political demonstrations and Only 20 per cent of Honduras land area is protests, as well as via their bilingual community arable. Approximately half of that is located in radio station Faluma Bimetu, which suffered the Caribbean Coast departments of Atlántida an arson attack in 2010. This and other radio and Colón – an area where Afro-indigenous stations created the Honduran Community Garifuna have traditionally established Radio Network in 2010, to enhance their communities and farmed on communally activities. The fact that their broadcasts regularly held territory dating back to 1797. Garifuna denounce the seizure of ancestral lands, and organizations point out that approximately 95 the related harassment and murders by armed per cent of the 300,000 Garifuna who reside paramilitary groups puts them at special risk. in Honduras live in the communities within And in 2011, Congress considered suspending these two departments. Wealthy and powerful the granting of frequency permits and licences commercial and political elites in Honduras for low-power stations – citing airwave over- now desire this coastal property and are aided saturation. considerably by policies of international financing Meanwhile, those involved in palm oil institutions and global investors. production in Honduras face weak oversight Since passage of the 1992 Agricultural mechanisms. In July 2011, the UN Clean Modernization Law which prioritized Development Mechanism Board (CDM) profitability, the Honduran government has approved a palm oil biogas project of the supported the removal of ‘backward’ Garifuna Honduran company Grupo Dinant. This and small farmers from what are deemed company has been involved in land conflicts ‘unproductive’ lands to install capital-intensive in the Aguan Valley, which indigenous and export-oriented oil palm plantations and other activists have linked to serious human also tourism projects. The US Department rights abuses, including some 50 killings. In of Agriculture’s Foreign Agricultural Service August 2011, one month after the CDM Board (USDA-FAS) reported in 2009 that 1,150 square decision, Biofuelwatch.org reported that 12 more km – half the cultivable land in Honduras – is people were killed in land disputes in the Aguan devoted to oil palm. area. Six of the murders reportedly took place Consequently in 2011, Garifuna in Honduras on oil palm plantations. Over 900 Honduran continued to see the major portion of their Armed Forces personnel were sent to guard the lands overwhelmed by vast mono-crop oil palm plantation zone, where heavily armed palm oil plantations, further limiting their access to company security forces were already deployed. productive soil and fishing sites. In Garifuna Consequently, at the end of 2011, affected society, women are the main cultivators and indigenous and Afro-Honduran populations traditionally land is passed along matrilineal found little reason for optimism. Given the long-

110 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 standing land-based nature of their societies, activities. continued massive land loss will create enormous Their protests occurred within a new legal challenges to the ability of Garifuna communities climate in Peru. In August 2011, the new to retain their distinctive way of life and culture, Peruvian Congress unanimously passed the which UNESCO has listed as one of the World’s groundbreaking Consultation with Indigenous Intangible Cultural Heritages. Peoples Law. It will now be mandatory in Peru to seek indigenous peoples’ consent before Peru development projects are allowed to proceed on In June 2011, former army officer Ollanta their lands. It is one of the first instances in the Humala won the presidency of Peru. In a Americas where a binding legal framework has precedent-setting move, he chose Afro-Peruvian been developed to implement ILO 169 and the Susana Baca as culture minister, making her the UNDRIP, both of which Peru has backed. The first African-descendant government minister new law also mandates that indigenous peoples in the history of the Peruvian state. Baca, aged be consulted before Congress can approve any 67, is an internationally renowned singer of the proposed law that could affect their rights. rich Afro-Peruvian musical cultural tradition and However, despite the new legislation, engaging winner of a 2002 Latin Grammy. in prior consultations with Peruvian indigenous Before his election, Humala – who campaigned groups that have chosen to remain in voluntary as a populist – sought to assure companies they isolation may pose a practical as well as a legal could proceed with existing and new multi- challenge. Based on sightings by neighbouring million dollar resource extraction projects. At the indigenous communities, loggers and other same time, to help ease community concerns over outsiders, it is estimated that more than a dozen mining and oil drilling, he promised that Peru’s autonomous nomadic indigenous groups live in natural resources would be used to improve the voluntary isolation in the country’s Amazonian lives of the mostly poor indigenous and Afro- regions. Many inhabit the remote forests near Peruvian people in the country. Nevertheless, the Brazilian border, relying on their territory during 2011, increasing social conflict over for subsistence. They remain highly vulnerable mining in both the indigenous Andean highlands to easily transmitted common diseases and reject and lowland Amazon rainforest threatened the contact with the outside world, which is both implementation of large-scale mining and oil the source of infections and of intrusion into extraction projects. The result was an increase their territories. Their mortality rate first spiked in mining protests involving as many as 200 in the 1980s when oil exploration was initiated disputes nation-wide. in the area. By the year 2000, five reserves had been established in the Peruvian Amazon Amazon protest basin to protect isolated indigenous peoples. In In October 2011, some 500 indigenous Shuar addition to existing protected areas, indigenous men and women from Peru’s northern Amazon organizations have filed petitions for five more blocked the Morna River to stop Canadian reserves. energy company Talisman carrying out oil exploration on their ancestral lands. The area New mining regulations traverses land inhabited by Achuar, Shapra, During October 2011, however, the Peruvian Shuar and Kandoshi indigenous groups. It also state proposed new regulations governing oil crosses the internationally protected Pastaza drilling, mining and forestry operations in these River Wetland Complex, the largest wetland remote rainforest reserves. area in the Peruvian Amazon. Indigenous Critics, such as Peru’s largest Amazonian groups are particularly concerned about the indigenous organization AIDESEP, the Inter- risk of contamination of ancestral hunting and Ethnic Association for the Development of the fishing grounds. Traditional hunting practices Peruvian Amazon (Asociación Interétnica del help guarantee food security and supplement Desarrollo de la Selva Peruana) charged that the any income gained from wage labour or other new regulations threaten nomadic indigenous

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 111 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 groups and are designed to help expand the establishment of reserves to protect the exploration and extraction into already designated territory used by indigenous or original peoples indigenous reserves. Under the proposed in isolation; that is until they decide to settle in regulations, extractive activities can be carried communities and seek legal title. out in indigenous reserves deemed ‘untouchable’ Critics question whether this is just a under Peruvian law, provided there is a real public conciliatory initial step on the way to eventual need and the state guarantees the use of methods assimilation. They also note that the regulation that ‘respect these peoples’ rights.’ The new rules comes just as the consortium operating the call for the establishment of a ‘comprehensive Camisea gas field in the Peru’s southern Amazon protection committee’ for each reserve, which will basin plans to expand operations into a block consist of government officials, representatives of which overlaps the Nahua-Kugapakori (nomadic) neighbouring indigenous communities and an Indigenous Reserve. AIDESEP points out that anthropologist. There is to be a coordinator for oil or gas leases already overlap several indigenous each reserve, as well as a strategic plan and a series reserves in Peru and the organization has so far of monitoring mechanisms. tried without success to have the government At the root of the Amazon conflict redraw extraction leases to eliminate such are contradictory provisions of the 2006 overlapping to avoid the shrinkage of indigenous indigenous protection law. This provides for territories. In October, the newly constituted

112 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Andean people protest against Newmont Newmont Mining has been operating in Peru Mining’s Conga gold project during a march for over two decades. To some extent, the 2011 near the Cortada lagoon in Peru’s region of protests represent the latest manifestations of Cajamarca in November 2011. ongoing community dissatisfaction with the Reuters/Enrique Castro-Mendivil. mining company’s presence in their region. The US company already operates the Yanacocha gold Peruvian government retreated from the planned mine located near to the proposed Conga mine regulations. site. In 2000, there was a mercury spill at the Yanacocha mine, which produced lasting anger in Cajamarca protests the community. Consequently, four years later, Although before elections Humala pledged to in 2004, when the company sought to expand use resource extraction revenues as a means of the Yanacocha mine onto the nearby Cerro improving the lives of Peru’s most disadvantaged, Quilish mountain, the resulting protests brought after taking office in July 2011 anti-mining exploration to a halt. Then as now, the issue opposition often tested his government’s resolve involved pollution and reduction of water supply to realize this. Most extraction projects in to communities that have traditionally regarded Peru are located in rural highland and lowland natural sources of water in both a practical and a zones with majority indigenous populations, spiritual light. consequently it is they who are most negatively The mining company now runs extensive affected by mining. community development programmes in the In November 2011, thousands of indigenous area, but these have failed to diminish concerns men and women in the city of Cajamarca in over the potential dangers of mining. It has northern Peru began a protest against plans by certainly not stopped residents from wanting to the US-based Newmont Mining Corporation halt expansion – or, even more – from trying to to open a goldmine in the high Andes. The stop mining in Cajamarca altogether. resistance included an 11-day general strike that Faced with daily street demonstrations, a closed schools, hospitals and businesses and general strike that paralysed the region for 11 stopped buses from running in the region. days and a multi-billion dollar project stuck in The US$ 4.8 billion Conga Mine Project is the its tracks, the President tried to negotiate with biggest mining investment in Peruvian history the protest leaders in Cajamarca. But after failing and is located at 13,800 feet (4,200 metres) in to reach any agreement, Humala felt forced to the Andean mountains. The gold reserves are declare a one-week state of emergency. worth about US$ 15 billion at current prices. The state of emergency suspended freedom The Conga project is jointly owned by Peruvian of assembly and allowed the army to help precious metals mining company Buenaventura, police end the protest marches and rallies. and the multi-billion dollar project had been Security forces used rubber bullets and tear gas approved by President Humala on the grounds against demonstrators, and fired live rounds that it would be a major source of government after some demonstrators began vandalizing revenue and generate thousands of jobs. mining company property. Up to 30 people Newmont Mining had promised to provide a were reportedly injured. Newmont Mining series of specially constructed reservoirs to replace then suspended work on the mine, after the natural glacier-fed mountain lakes that would government requested help in calming the be eliminated by the mine. In addition, the situation and asked for more dialogue with the company claimed their project plans had been highly sceptical local community. drawn up in consultation with local communities In early December 2011, the head of the following ‘exhaustive’ environmental studies. civic association as well as the leader of the Nevertheless, the protesters maintained the Environment Defense Front of Cajamarca proposed new mine would destroy their natural (EDFC) were detained briefly after addressing water supplies, cause pollution and create health a congressional panel. The EDFC leader problems. indicated the organization’s intent to file a legal

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 113 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 stages of development. Among existing sites is Case study the enormous Syncrude-operated mine, which is the largest open-pit mine (by area) on the globe. Even so, according to the provincial Athabasca tar sands: government of Alberta, only 3 per cent of the estimated bitumen reserves have been mined to Heavy repercussions date. At the projected 2015 production rate of 3 million barrels of oil per day, experts expect the for indigenous Athabasca tar sands to keep producing oil for the next 170 years. This has caused indigenous communities communities and environmentalists on both sides of the Canada–US border to realize the extent of the challenge that may lie ahead in efforts to The Athabasca tar sands extraction programme safeguard their rights and continued existence. in western Canada is the largest industrial proj- Currently, the tar sands produce about 1.5 ect on earth. However, indigenous communities million barrels of crude oil daily. The bulk (97 downstream from its multi-billion dollar opera- per cent) is exported to the US. This has made tions have called it ‘a slow industrial genocide’. Canada the largest supplier of oil and refined Currently, indigenous communities in Alberta products to the US, ahead of and and throughout are battling Mexico. It has also led to increased interest in to safeguard their lands, cultures, heritage and the tar sands project among US Native American health against the hyper-project and its proposed activists and organizations. transcontinental delivery pipelines. Extraction is costly and destructive. Large- The tar sands are a mixture of sand, clay and scale strip mining removes the entire surface heavy crude oil (bitumen) lying under 140,000 layer ecosystem, consisting of old-growth forests, square km of ancient northland old-growth forest peat marsh and other habitat of importance to and peat bogs in north-eastern Alberta, Canada. local fauna. This affects animals such as moose Historically, the tar-like bitumen was used by the and caribou traditionally hunted by indigenous indigenous Cree and Dene communities to water- communities. According to the Indigenous proof their canoes. Today the extensive bitumen Environmental Network, the Beaver Lake Cree deposits are regarded by experts as the second larg- First Nation has experienced a 74 per cent est source of oil on the planet after Saudi Arabia. decline of the Cold Lake herd since 1998 and a This has implications for several indigenous com- 71 per cent decline of the Athabasca River herd munities in the area since the tar sands are located since 1996. Today, just 175–275 caribou remain. within the traditional indigenous territorial bound- Tar sands extraction also burns huge amounts aries of Treaty Eight (1899). Besides land tenure, of natural gas. Carcinogenic emissions are the treaty guarantees local indigenous peoples the released into the air and enter the food chain in cultural right to hunt fish and trap. an area where hunting and fishing have long been Once a sparsely populated area of pristine traditional survival activities. The extraction also northland forest, clean rivers and fish-filled deeply affects the strong cultural identification lakes, over the past decade the Athabasca delta and spiritual connection which indigenous – a UNESCO heritage site – has become a communities feel with the earth. devastated and bare semi-desert of enormous

open-pit mines and huge contaminated tailings Processing ponds that can be seen in views of the earth from There are issues related to processing as well. space – not to mention also on the ground by Transforming the extracted bitumen into the indigenous communities in their vicinity. synthetic crude oil piped to refineries in the US Amerindian Four huge oil sands mines are currently and Canada requires large-scale upgrade facilities in operation and two more are in the initial that also use large amounts of water and energy,

114 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 with smoke stacks billowing pollutants into the well. In 2006, according to the Indigenous air. According to the Indigenous Environmental Environmental Network, an unusually high rate Network, each barrel of oil produced from the of rare cancers was reported in the community tar sands takes from 110 to 350 gallons (or 2–6 of Fort Chipewyan. In 2008, the Alberta Health barrels) of water. And Greenpeace reports that Ministry confirmed a 30 per cent rise in the tar sands operations leak millions of litres of number of cancers between 1995 and 2006. toxic waste into the Athabasca River and the However, the study was preliminary and many groundwater. residents consider it to be a conservative estimate.

Impact on indigenous health Oil pipeline distribution The scale of the operations has prompted Besides the impact of the tar sands, there are also real concern for the well-being of indigenous legal and environmental concerns about pipeline populations. Heavy metals, including cobalt, delivery systems and refineries which threaten lead, mercury and arsenic, are naturally present communities and landscapes throughout North in oil sands, so consequently extremely large America – especially in indigenous, rural and quantities of toxic chemicals are discharged. poor settlements. Two major pipeline projects These end up in the Athabasca River and its are under consideration. One is Keystone XL, tributaries, then flow northward (downstream) a pipeline that is intended to run from Alberta further into indigenous territories. Although in western Canada across the North American impact assessments were among the conditions of continent to refineries on the US coast of existing agreements signed between indigenous the Gulf of Mexico. The other is the North and extraction companies, the bulk of the Gateway project from the tar sands in Alberta to research defending tar sands development is done tanker ports in Kitimat, British Columbia. An by monitoring programmes affiliated with the oil agreement has been signed between the Enbridge industry. But independent studies have shown Pipeline System and PetroChina to build two high deformity rates in fish caught downstream parallel 1,200 km pipelines from Alberta to the and that other wildlife food sources have been west coast port. Critics such as the Indigenous negatively affected as well. Since toxic tar sands waste has been entering Below: The Suncor oil sands plant north the river, groundwater and the food chain, of Fort McMurray, Alberta, Canada. ultimately it may be entering humans as Dan Woynillowicz/The Pembina Institute.

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 115 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued suit against the Alberta government and over inadequate consultation about Environmental Network claim the project in situ mine expansion. In 2008, the ACFN would cross 785 waterways, fragmenting wildlife filed a suit against the provincial government habitats and affect fragile salmon fisheries. of Alberta over lack of consultation. Agreed- Indigenous environmental activists note that upon meetings and discussions were not held; between 1999 and 2008, the Enbridge pipeline nonetheless the court of appeal ruled that an company was responsible for 610 spills. Moreover Alberta government webpage entry constituted in 2010, it was responsible for a 1 million gallon consultation. The decision is contested, as it spill of tar sands crude into the Kalamazoo ignores both the internet technological divide River in Michigan; the second largest spill in and good faith negotiations on behalf of the US history. As well as environmental concerns, Canadian government. It will likely end up in the indigenous groups also claim the pipeline . In 2008, the Prairie developments are in violation of commitments Chipewyan First Nation also launched a lack of – particularly regarding prior consultation and consultation lawsuit against the Government of consent – made through various treaties and the Alberta regarding the mining project approved UNDRIP, which Canada initially voted against on their territory. In 2008, the Beaver Lake but then signed in 2010. Cree First Nation filed a lawsuit based on Nevertheless major oil companies, banks and 20,000 infringements of their . investors are pouring billions of dollars into The Cree are specifically concerned that Total’s Alberta tar sands development; there are currently planned Surmont in situ project will further 64 companies operating several hundred projects, decimate caribou populations through habitat including major European-based multinationals. fragmentation. In 2010, the Duncan and Horse First Nations were granted a Supreme Court Indigenous resistance of Canada hearing regarding consultations over In Canada, the provincial governments are impacts on the Peace River complex, which is responsible for setting environmental and located in traditional territory. The community natural resource development policies, however reports massive losses of wildlife and habitat responsibility for prior consultations and fragmentation. accommodation of indigenous concerns rests at the federal level. So far, Canadian courts Pipeline protests have failed to define clearly what consultation In addition, there are also suits and protests means, and this is further complicated by specifically related to the pipelines that threaten jurisdictional issues between the provincial and First Nations communities not only in Canada federal levels. In late November 2011, the Chief but also Native American communities and Council of the Athabasca Chipewyan First throughout the US. The traditional territories Nation (ACFN) rallied outside of Shell Canada of the five indigenous communities of the Yinka corporate headquarters in downtown Calgary, Dene Alliance cover approximately one-quarter Alberta. They stated that Shell’s failure to take of the proposed Northern Gateway route. In agreed-upon measures to lessen the project’s February 2011, they rejected the company’s impact has harmed ACFN’s constitutionally revenue-sharing offer, citing the risk of oil spills protected rights and culture. Moreover, Shell’s and accusing the company of lack of respect for proposed massive expansion and new projects their rights. According to indigenous leaders, over are in an area that is very important to ACFN’s 80 indigenous communities in British Columbia traditional way of life. (BC) located along more than half of the Alberta To date, there have been five tar sands-related to BC pipeline and tanker route have indicated legal proceedings brought before Canadian that the project is against their laws and will courts by indigenous communities. In 2007, the harm both themselves and fellow indigenous Woodland Cree First Nation (WCFN) filed a nations living near the extraction zones.

116 Americas State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Indigenous peoples from the headwaters complaint against the government. The Conga of the Fraser River watershed to the Pacific mine controversy also led to the resignation of coast have united under the ‘Save the Fraser the Vice Minister for the Environment, who Declaration’ and are working to ban the had previously headed an anti-mining NGO. pipeline altogether. Company offers to have He cited a leaked ministry memo that indicated indigenous communities borrow money to the Conga mine would indeed hurt the local purchase a small fraction of the pipeline ecosystem despite company claims to the met an unfavourable response. Indigenous contrary. leaders indicate they are not willing to At the end of 2011, the anti-mining protest compromise the well-being of future marches in the Peruvian highlands were still generations in return for cash. In solidarity occurring, along with continued demands by the with indigenous communities from Canada, indigenous communities to cancel the project. By US-based indigenous communities have also all appearances, the gold that drove the destiny sworn to stop the pipeline project. In early of the old Inca will continue to propel November 2011, thousands of protesters the protests of Peru’s contemporary indigenous circled the White House in Washington populations in 2012. p to demonstrate against the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline and to press President Barack Obama and the US State Department to deny the permit. In January 2012, President Obama rejected the proposal, although the project looked set to be an election-year issue. Given its 34 million population size, Canada is a relatively large emitter of greenhouse gases. According to the Kyoto Protocol, Canada was meant to have cut its greenhouse gas emissions by 6 per cent from its 1990 level by 2020. Rather, it is heading towards a 16 per cent increase, or more like 30 per cent if forestry is included. In June 2011, Canada was criticized for under-reporting the contribution of the tar sands project to its overall emissions. The government states that the tar sands project contributes about 5 per cent, but researchers believe the figure is closer to 10 per cent. In December 2011, Canadian Minister of the Environment Peter Kent indicated that Canada will be formally withdrawing from the Kyoto Protocol, thus becoming the first country to pull out of the global treaty. He argued that withdrawal allows Canada to continue generating jobs and economic growth. Canada’s indigenous communities, who live near the booming tar sands project, are already aware of what such growth means for them. p

State of the World’s Minorities Americas 117 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 ARCTIC OCEAN

RUSSIA

JAPAN KAZAKHSTAN NORTH MONGOLIA KOREA SOUTH KOREA PACIFIC Jammu and AFGHANIS- Kashmir CHINA TAN OCEAN

PAKISTAN TIBET NEPAL BHUTAN BANGLADESH Hong Kong INDIA BURMA LAOS PHILIPPINES THAILAND VIETNAM CAMBODIA Andaman and Nicobar BRUNEI Islands Bougainville MALAYSIA PAPUA NEW SOLOMON ISLANDS MALDIVES GUINEA SINGAPORE Borneo Sulawesi Wallis and Futuna (FR.) Sumatra INDONESIA TIMOR-LESTE ISLANDS French Polynesia (FR.) Java New Caledonia (FR.) INDIAN

OCEAN AUSTRALIA

NEW ZEALAND Asia and Oceania Nicole Girard, Irwin Loy, Marusca Perazzi, Jacqui Zalcberg the country. However, this doctrine is opposed by nationalist groups, who interpret it as an attack on ethnic Kazakh identity, language and Central culture. Language policy is part of this debate. The Asia government has a long-term strategy to gradually increase the use of Kazakh language at the expense Matthew Naumann of Russian, the other official language, particularly in public settings. While use of Kazakh is steadily entral Asia was more peaceful in 2011, increasing in the public sector, Russian is still with no repeats of the large-scale widely used by Russians, other ethnic minorities C violence that occurred in Kyrgyzstan and many urban Kazakhs. Ninety-four per cent during the previous year. Nevertheless, minor- of the population speak Russian, while only 64 ity groups in the region continue to face various per cent speak Kazakh. In September, the Chair forms of discrimination. In Kazakhstan, new of the Kazakhstan Association of Teachers at laws have been introduced restricting the rights Russian-language Schools reportedly stated in of religious minorities. Kyrgyzstan has seen a a roundtable discussion that now 56 per cent continuation of harassment of ethnic Uzbeks in of schoolchildren study in Kazakh, 33 per cent the south of the country, and pressure over land in Russian, and the rest in smaller minority owned by minority ethnic groups. In Tajikistan, languages. In higher education, a slight majority ethnic Uzbeks have also reportedly come under study in Kazakh and just under half use Russian. increased pressure from the authorities, often for The number of students enrolled in university alleged membership of banned Islamist groups. courses taught in Kazakh has quadrupled Meanwhile, Chinese nationals in Tajikistan have since the early 1990s. However, in September, reportedly been targeted by new legislation tight- discontent with the speed of language reform led ening rules on marriage with foreigners, following to a group of intellectuals and opposition leaders public disquiet over the alleged acquisition of writing an open letter to the President, the Prime land by China in the country. In Turkmenistan Minister and parliamentary leaders, calling for the ‘Turkmenization’ policy continues, with removal of Article 7 of the Constitution, which school children now reportedly required to pro- guarantees that Russian can be used as well as vide evidence of their ethnic origin for unclear Kazakh in official communications. President reasons. Finally, in Uzbekistan the challenging Nazarbaev is reported to be categorically opposed human rights situation continues to affect all eth- to such a change. nic groups, while the increasing shortfalls in flow A snap election in April saw Nazarbaev of the River disproportionately blight re-elected with 95.5 per cent of the vote. Two the ethnic Karakalpak population, who live in its prominent opposition politicians did not take delta area. part because they failed to pass the required Kazakh language test. In elections for the Kazakhstan Majilis, the lower house of parliament, held President Nursultan Nazarbaev of Kazakhstan on 15 January 2012, about a quarter of the 98 has consistently voiced a desire for inter-ethnic candidates elected by party list appeared to be accord and tolerance in the country. However, from Russian-speaking ethnic minorities (of his government continues to tighten its control whom almost half were women). This represents over religious minorities. Since October 2009, a substantial increase on the previous parliament. President Nazarbaev has promoted a National A further eight out of the nine representatives Unity Doctrine put together by the Assembly of appointed by the Assembly of the People of the People of Kazakhstan – an umbrella body that Kazakhstan were from minority ethnic groups. represents the interests of minority ethnic groups – Two Assembly-nominated deputies were women, which stresses the consolidation of a Kazakhstani representing the Slavic and the Tatar-Bashkir identity drawing on the multi-ethnic nature of communities.

120 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011 Over the past 20 years, about a million ethnic crackdown on these statements of religious faith Kazakhs have returned or migrated to Kazakhstan in some areas. under the state-run Oralman scheme (named after the ethnic Kazakh diaspora) – settling Kyrgyzstan largely in Mangistau, South Kazakhstan and Following the turbulence of the overthrow of Almaty provinces, and the cities of Almaty President Kurmanbek Bakiev and the clashes and Astana. They have come primarily from between ethnic Uzbek and Kyrgyz groups Mongolia, China, Afghanistan, Iraq and in 2010, during which over 400 people died Turkey, as well as Russia and other Central and many more were wounded and displaced, Asian republics. Reportedly these immigrants Kyrgyzstan had a quieter year in 2011. Elections have faced problems with land allotments, on 30 November saw the peaceful transfer of employment, and access to Kazakh- and Russian- power to Almazbek Atambaev, who had been language training. Another concern is the prime minister under interim President Roza acquisition of citizenship, though there have been Otunbayeva. Atambaev drew most of his support some measures taken to simplify this in 2011. from his native north of the country. Those Some politicians claim that failures in migration who voted among minority ethnic groups in the policy were partly responsible for strikes by oil south also tended to support Atambaev, whose workers in Mangistau and Aktau provinces in appeals to inter-ethnic unity reassured them more December that saw 16 deaths; and that ethnic than the nationalist rhetoric of the candidates Kazakh immigrants are linked to the new Islamist who came second and third. Though two ethnic groups purportedly responsible for bombings and Russians and one ethnic Kazakh were among the attacks on the police in 2011. initial 83 candidates, by the time of the vote, The upsurge in Islamist activity in 2011 only ethnic Kyrgyz were standing. Overall, the has caused concern among authorities. On 22 election campaigns were marked by an increased July, President Nazarbaev reportedly called for use of nationalist rhetoric by politicians and the increased surveillance of religious communities media, which implicitly scapegoated Uzbeks for and for unspecified ‘extremist religious ideology’ the 2010 violence and broader problems. to be ‘strictly suppressed’. A new Religion Law, Back in March, the grief of some ethnic Kyrgyz which came into force on 26 October, restricts – who lost relatives during the 2010 violence the rights of religious minorities in contravention and created the ‘Osh Martyrs’ movement – was of Kazakhstan’s human rights commitments. The channelled into demonstrations in Osh and new law imposes a complex tiered registration Bishkek against Atambaev, other members system, bans unregistered religious activity, of the 2010 interim government, and Uzbek imposes religious censorship and requires both community leaders, whom the group considers to central and local government approval to build be jointly responsible for the violence. or open new places of worship. The new law A new coalition agreement, formed after could mean that only the Muslim Board, which Atambaev’s victory, led to the exclusion of the is the state-backed religious authority for Sunni more nationalist Ata Jurt party from power, with Muslims, and the Russian Orthodox Church are the other four parliamentary parties agreeing recognized as top-tier religious organizations. the composition of a new government. Under Further plans are under discussion to build the new government formed in December on this law by banning all independent and 2011, Ravshan Sabirov, who in 2010 had ethnically based (such as Uighur, Tatar become the first ethnic Tajik parliamentarian in or Chechen), taking over all formal Islamic Kyrgyzstan, became its first ethnic Tajik minister, education, and using the state-controlled Muslim responsible for social welfare. There are no other Board to control and report on all permitted representatives of minority ethnic groups in the Islamic activity. While there is no prohibition on new government. men wearing beards and women wearing hijab President Atambaev is likely to follow the in the new legislation, the introduction of the principles of the Concept of Ethnic Development new law appears to have been accompanied by a and Consolidation in the Kyrgyz Republic, drawn

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 121 and Indigenous Peoples 2011 Above: Children in a damaged mahalla or cultural and language policies focusing on Kyrgyz Uzbek neighbourhood in southern Kyrgyzstan – identity. Approval of this document shows that an area affected by the inter-ethnic violence nationalist ideas have broader support in parliament in the summer of 2010. Skrypnyk/ than just within Ata Jurt. One contentious Nonviolent Peaceforce. issue, for example, is the current provision that internal passports state a person’s ethnicity. In his up under Otunbayeva to increase levels of trust inauguration speech, Atambaev spoke of his desire between different ethnic groups. The principles to see this provision removed, in order to promote call for the rule of law, respect for human rights civic rather than , while senior Ata and cultural diversity, preservation of the identity Jurt figures wish to see it maintained as a symbol of ethnic groups and non-discrimination, ensuring of identity. There are ongoing efforts to reconcile equal opportunities for political participation and these two approaches, and the results of this policy transition from ethnic identity to civil identity. debate will be crucial for peace-building efforts in The concept also calls for an education system in Kyrgyzstan in the coming years, and will have major which young people from all minority groups learn repercussions on ethnic relations. to speak Kyrgyz, the state language, rather than The situation in southern Kyrgyzstan remains continuing to rely solely on Russian for inter-ethnic strained. While inter-ethnic violence has largely communication. The draft concept was adopted abated, and many houses have been built with by the Assembly of the Peoples of Kyrgyzstan, an international support to replace most of those umbrella body for minority ethnic groups, on 17 destroyed in the violence, widespread economic, June 2011. social and legal harassment of the Uzbek community However, in the same month, parliament voted continues. Local newspapers in the city continue to approve a document developed by the Ata Jurt to publish derogatory and inflammatory articles party, which proposed another approach to ethnic targeting the ethnic Uzbek population. policy, founded on the notion of Kyrgyz ethnicity Human rights organizations continue to as the central element of nationhood, and set out document arbitrary detention and torture in

122 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011 police custody, predominantly of ethnic Uzbeks. Between July and September, Human Rights Case study Watch (HRW) recorded 10 cases of arbitrary arrest and torture of ethnic Uzbeks; two died as a result of torture. Trials stemming from the June Land scarcity fuels violence in southern Kyrgyzstan have also been marred by physical attacks on lawyers and ethnic ethnic conflict in Uzbek defendants. Police and other officials have refused to intervene, and only one investigation Kyrgyzstan into these attacks has so far gone to court. Meanwhile, the vast majority of the crimes committed during the violence, Several violent incidents revived fears of disproportionately those targeting ethnic ethnic conflict in December 2011. Such Uzbeks, remain unsolved. Women who have disturbances in rural areas of Kyrgyzstan been victims of gender-based violence and are caused by a complex range of factors, often now face serious psychological and health including migratory pressure driven by problems, feel unable to approach the authorities poverty, and perceived injustice caused by for support because of their community’s historical disparities between ethnic groups. conservative traditions, and the hostility of This case study seeks to shed light on these the overwhelmingly ethnically Kyrgyz police. ongoing tensions. Prolonged detention of Uzbek men, and When two brawls broke out between increased outflow of migrant workers to Russia teenagers of Kyrgyz and north Caucasian from already high levels have led to a rise in ethnicity in the northern Chuy Valley female-headed households in the city. in December 2011 and January 2012, Prominent government figures have alleged analysts feared these had the potential to that support for militant Islamist groups has provoke wide-scale inter-ethnic conflict. increased among ethnic Uzbeks. However, some There have been various sizeable minority analysts see the reports as merely a pretext to farming communities that have had justify further discrimination and persecution relatively good relations with local Kyrgyz against the minority. neighbours in the Chuy Valley since the Official approval of some houses that have 1930s. However, the lack of economic been rebuilt in ethnic Uzbek areas of central viability in remote mountainous areas Osh remains unclear, as the local government following independence, coupled with continues to press for implementation of a master a rise in ethnic nationalism, has meant plan which would see these areas replaced by that Kyrgyz internal migrants from high-rise buildings. The more inclusive inter- impoverished areas have increasingly ethnic policies of successive national governments begun to lay claim to such farmland. have had little sway in recent years in Osh, where Meanwhile, both a parliamentary and a Mayor Melis Myrzakmatov continues to play to his government commission were established nationalist powerbase, musing on an independent in January 2012 to investigate clashes police force for the city and building massive that broke out on 28 December between monuments to Kyrgyz folk heroes. ethnic Kyrgyz and Tajik in the far south- The trend of transition from Uzbek- to Kyrgyz- west of the country, which resulted in language schooling is continuing for many children the looting of Tajik-owned shops and in southern Kyrgyzstan. This is partly because of the burning of houses. This area has seen concerns about the quality of Uzbek-language complex migratory patterns in recent years, education, particularly given the acute shortage of with ethnic Kyrgyz moving away in large modern textbooks in the language. There are also numbers to find work abroad or in the few prospects for higher education in Uzbek, after capital, while ethnic Tajiks from across the the two universities in Kyrgyzstan that taught in

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 123 and Indigenous Peoples 2011 Case study continued Caucasian ethnicities and Meskhetian Turks, were deported there en masse before border have bought up land and property in and during the Second World War. While their place. In an area where the international some of these immigrants moved to cities, boundaries are not yet clearly defined, this others joined collective farms in the valleys, trend is of concern to some of the ethnic many of which were ethnically based. Kyrgyz population. As the Soviet economy and its subsidies Almost a third of Kyrgyzstani adults, collapsed in the 1980s, many Kyrgyz including Kyrgyz and other ethnic groups, found themselves unable to survive in the work as migrant labourers in Russia and mountains and massive internal migration Kazakhstan, and in recent years many from began to the cities and farmland in the the countryside have moved to Bishkek valleys. occurred in the south in for work. Until poverty and disparities 1990 when ethnic Kyrgyz, who had been between regions are addressed, grievance forced by poverty to leave their mountain over land ownership fuelled by a sense of villages, demanded land in the grounds ethnic entitlements has the potential to lead of a primarily Uzbek collective farm. The to further outbreaks of violence in both the total number of deaths in the violence is north and south of Kyrgyzstan. unknown, but 171 deaths were officially Ethnic tensions over land have a long reported. history in Kyrgyzstan. Until the 1930s, the Soon after, Askar Akaev became ancestors of today’s ethnic Kyrgyz were President. After independence in 1991, he primarily nomadic, taking livestock high sought to maintain Kyrgyzstan as a multi- into mountain pastures in the summer and ethnic state with international support. returning to lowland for the winter. Kyrgyz When nationalists in parliament passed pastoralists were forced out of the fertile legislation that favoured ethnic Kyrgyz in valleys of what is now the Kyrgyz Republic land ownership and use, President Askar when other ethnic groups settled there Akaev vetoed it three times, before a under the in the nineteenth less discriminatory land privatization act century, with Turkic-speaking sedentary was passed in 1997. In the first years of relatives of the Kyrgyz living in the southern independence, much of the demand for Fergana Valley, and European ethnic groups good farmland among ethnic Kyrgyz was moving into the northern Chuy Valley. met in northern Kyrgyzstan from land left After the Russian Revolution, in the by the thousands of Russians, , 1920s, the borders of the Kyrgyz Republic Germans and others who left the country were defined, and all citizens were ascribed for their historical . However, ethnicities – most of the Turkic-speakers in people from many other ethnic groups, the Fergana Valley were recorded as Uzbeks, including Dungans (ethnic Chinese while the vast majority of pastoralists were Muslims), Meskhetian Turks and ethnic now officially Kyrgyz. In the 1930s, these groups originating from the North Caucasus ethnic Kyrgyz were forced to give up private continued to farm the land that their ownership of their livestock and end their families had tilled for decades or centuries. nomadic lifestyles, often to live in demanding Meanwhile, in the south, the Uzbek mountainous areas. These mountain community continued to farm much of the communities received massive subsidies from fertile land in the Fergana Valley. central government as compensation. At In 2005, Akaev was overthrown in the same time, further waves of European the face of widespread allegations of migrants were encouraged to move to the corruption and growing authoritarianism. Republic during much of the Soviet period, The protesters were predominantly rural while other ethnic groups, such as north Kyrgyz, and many reported that they had

124 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011 been promised land in the Chuy Valley. the language were closed in 2010. Ethnic Uzbek An ethnic Turkish community faced parents around southern Kyrgyzstan have elected severe threats in 2005, and a largely ethnic to send their children to Kyrgyz-language classes. Dungan village experienced wide-scale There has also been active support for the move damage to its buildings in 2006. There to Kyrgyz-language teaching among prominent are reports that this violence was in part members of Kyrgyzstan’s ethnic Uzbek caused by resentment among ethnic Kyrgyz community, who see this as a way to improve internal migrants that they were ethnic relations. fields from non-Kyrgyz. The situation of religious minorities In June 2010, larger-scale inter-ethnic is relatively better in Kyrgyzstan than in violence occurred in southern Kyrgyzstan neighbouring countries. However, problems still between ethnic Kyrgyz and Uzbeks, with remain. For instance, two Jehovah’s Witnesses, at least 475 fatalities. Although the direct arrested in May 2011 for possession of Hizb-ut impact was primarily in urban areas, rural Tahrir Islamist literature which they maintain families displaced by the violence in the was planted by police, were released on appeal in south were among the most severely affected July. Human rights groups have also expressed as they returned to find houses fully or concerns that many parliamentarians appear to partially destroyed, farming machinery and want to erode the secularism enshrined in the tools looted or burned, and livestock stolen country’s constitution by providing extended or dead. Meanwhile, many of the ethnic breaks for prayers on Fridays and opening a Kyrgyz participants in the conflict had come Muslim prayer room in the parliament building. from impoverished remote mountainous districts with pastoralist traditions such as Tajikistan Alay and Karakulja. Tajiks comprise the largest ethnic group in the In the aftermath of the rioting, Kyrgyz- country, accounting for 79.9 per cent of the language media outlets tacitly repeated the population. Other groups include Uzbeks (15.3 assertions of certain prominent politicians per cent), Russians (1.1 per cent) and Kyrgyz (1.1 that land in Kyrgyzstan belonged to ethnic per cent). Only two of the 63 parliamentarians Kyrgyz and that Uzbeks should be regarded in Tajikistan are ethnic Uzbeks. Uzbeks as mere tenants. On 7 November 2010, a primarily live in the west of the country, near group of about 1,000 Kyrgyz attempted to the border with Uzbekistan. Tajikistan’s plans seize about 70 hectares of land from Uzbeks to build a major hydroelectric dam at Rogun near Osh. The authorities took action to have aggravated relations with neighbouring disperse the squatters, with promises to look Uzbekistan and have reportedly led to the Uzbek at their requests for land in 2011. In April, minority facing increasing pressure inside the it was reported that the government was country. planning to allocate 31,200 plots of unused One barrier to political empowerment for the land around Osh city, but that the number Uzbek community is the government’s language of registered applicants for land was twice policy. Though the Constitution guarantees that and rising. While this has alleviated linguistic plurality, media reports reveal that pressure on livelihoods, the fact remains in practice the use of anything besides Tajik in that good agricultural land in the country’s public discourse is discouraged, and few radio or fertile valleys is at a premium. As the television broadcasts are in Uzbek. In addition, incidents in 2010 and 2011 show, tension civil servants are required to speak Tajik. Language remains high among communities in both policy also inhibits upward mobility for Uzbeks. the north and south of the country. p University applicants must be fluent in Tajik. Although schoolchildren study the Tajik language for two hours a day, for many rural Uzbeks this is not enough to master reading and writing. Non-nationals of Tajikistan wanting to marry

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 125 and Indigenous Peoples 2011 Above: Soldiers at a checkpoint on the road to Tajikistan to lease 2,000 hectares of land to the site of the Rogun dam, Dushanbe, Tajikistan. China’s Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region in Carolyn Drake/Panos. January 2011. Ethnic Kyrgyz women in Tajikistan are local citizens have been hit by new legislation increasingly falling victim to bride kidnapping, passed in January, which requires foreigners which is widespread in Kyrgyzstan. Media to have lived in the country for a year before reports suggest that some of their ethnic Tajik they can marry locals and to sign pre-nuptial neighbours in the north-eastern Jyrgatal district agreements committing them to providing have begun to copy the practice. housing for their spouse. Reportedly, the changes In March, Forum 18 reported that all religious target two specific groups – male Afghan citizens activity independent of state control, by Muslims, and ethnic Uighurs from China – some of whom Christians, Jews, Jehovah’s Witnesses and other are suspected to enter into marriage with local religious believers, has continued to be targeted women to secure residence rights and accelerate by the state. Violations perpetrated by the acquisition of citizenship. There are fears within government include: demolitions and closures Tajikistan that immigrants from China will fill of mosques, churches and the country’s only the vacuum caused by the mass migration of synagogue; a ban on all religious activity without Tajik citizens seeking employment in the Russian state permission; arbitrary jailing of Muslims and Federation. Fears of an influx from China were criminal charges against Jehovah’s Witnesses; raised in the media following the decision of limitations on the right to share beliefs; and tight

126 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2011 government censorship. The government justifies Turkmen, and all 14 candidates for the 2012 the imposition of these controls by the impact of elections were ethnic Turkmen. extremism and on national security. Marking a new development in the In 2011, it continued to carry out military raids Turkmenization strategy, in September it against alleged Islamist militants who had been was reported that, for the first time, school hiding in areas that were opposition strongholds children were being required to give personal during the civil war in the 1990s, particularly the information on immediate family members Rasht Valley, home of the Garmi community. going back three generations. Authorities gave In a visit to Tajikistan in October, US no explanation for this new requirement, which Secretary of State Hillary Clinton suggested resembles previous policies for those applying for that recent steps to control faith could drive public employment and higher education that ‘legitimate religious expression underground’ and the UN Committee on Economic, Social and fuel extremism. Cultural Rights also expressed concern about A law passed in August to ban children under in November. Meanwhile, in spite of specific 18 who are not receiving state-approved religious legislative provisions, the possibilities for ethnic education from places of worship, appeared in minorities to study in their mother tongues are October to be targeting mainly independent limited. It is reported that the country’s few Muslims. Members of other religious groups remaining Russian-language schools are in great continued to face legal problems, including a demand, with parents paying large bribes to Jehovah’s Witness with Uzbekistan citizenship, administrations or local education authorities for who was deported to Uzbekistan in September admission. despite having a legal right of residence in In January, new travel restrictions were Tajikistan. reported for those planning to enter or exit the country. This is likely to have particular Turkmenistan repercussions for those with dual Turkmen- It remains difficult to access information about Russian citizenship, which has been made minority issues in Turkmenistan because of invalid in recent years by the authorities in the lack of press freedom and restrictions on Turkmenistan. civil society. There is no disaggregated national In more positive news, Turkmenistan has data available on the demographic composition made progress in combatting statelessness. Several of the population and the enjoyment of thousand persons were registered as stateless, and rights. Extrapolating from a mid-1990s 3,000 received citizenship in 2011. In December, census, the country has Uzbek, Russian and the country acceded to the UN Convention Kazakh and other minority communities. It relating to the Status of Stateless Persons. is clear that minority groups continue to be Most of these people were left stateless at the sidelined from many educational, training, break-up of the in 1991, having employment and political opportunities as a moved to Turkmenistan originally from former result of the government’s continuing policy of Soviet republics such as Armenia, , Turkmenization, which sets out preference for Moldova, the Russian Federation, Tajikistan and persons of Turkmen origin, especially in the field Uzbekistan. of education and employment. The authorities The Kazakh minority in Turkmenistan have not undertaken measures to prevent these numbered around 90,000 in 1995, but many practices, or to improve the situation. have taken advantage of Kazakhstan’s Oralman There are no ministers or deputy ministers scheme, which supports ethnic Kazakhs abroad from minority ethnic communities in voluntarily repatriating to the country. In Turkmenistan. Heads of regional and district May, a court in Turkmenistan announced it administrations are likewise all ethnic Turkmen. had conditionally freed Bisengul Begdesinov, Even in predominantly national minority areas, a prominent ethnic Kazakh, following a fraud persons from these minorities only occupy low- and bribery trial. Among his activities within ranking posts. The President is required to speak the community, Begdesinov helped ethnic

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 127 and Indigenous Peoples 2011 Kazakhs to privatize property and relocate to violence of 2010 and ongoing discrimination Kazakhstan under the Oralman scheme. Despite faced by ethnic Uzbeks in Kyrgyzstan. A small being freed, Begdesinov was refused an exit visa demonstration held by a local human rights to leave Turkmenistan in December, leading to group in Tashkent to mark the anniversary of the speculation that this was an attempt to intimidate ethnic conflict in southern Kyrgyzstan and protest Kazakhs residing in Turkmenistan to discourage the continuing discrimination faced by Uzbeks them from privatizing their . resulted in 15 activists being briefly detained in Religious minorities in Turkmenistan June. Nevertheless, there have been reports of continue to suffer discrimination. Plans to ethnic Kyrgyz leaving Uzbekistan for Kyrgyzstan revise the Law on Religion, after a December in 2011, particularly the Fergana Valley provinces 2010 report by the Organization for Security of Jalalabad and Osh, in fear of retaliation. and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) criticized Uzbekistan’s already strained relationship with many of its provisions for violating international Tajikistan has deteriorated in recent years, partly human rights standards, have been shelved until due to the belief that a new hydroelectric dam 2012. The OSCE recommendations included being built upstream in Tajikistan would reduce an end to the ban on unregistered religious Uzbekistan’s water supplies. This has reportedly activity and on the private teaching of religion. led to the Uzbek minority facing increasing The law also has no provision for conscientious pressure inside the country. objection to military service. Two Jehovah’s This year has seen ethnic Tajik nationals of Witnesses were imprisoned in the summer Tajikistan working in Uzbekistan coming under for their conscientious objection. While one suspicion. A former metallurgist was sentenced was amnestied in August 2011, the other was by a military court in August to 12 years in sentenced to two years in a labour camp, after prison for espionage. His lawyer denied the which he may be sent to another labour camp, accusations. In September, another ethnic Tajik where seven other Jehovah’s Witnesses and was reportedly deported for inciting ethnic one Protestant pastor are known to be held. hatred; the man denied having been involved in Meanwhile, there have been further reports of Tajik–Uzbek issues. harassment of Protestants by the police and The situation of religious minorities remains religious authorities. difficult in Uzbekistan due to tight state control of religion. According to Forum 18, followers of Uzbekistan all faiths are subject to National Security Service Given the restrictions placed on the media, civil surveillance, which can often be highly intrusive, society and human rights work in Uzbekistan, as well as the use of informers inside religious it is hard to get a clear picture of the situation communities. Muslims who wear atypical of minorities within the country. HRW clothing or longer beards, and Protestants, appear reported in 2011 that in recent years, arrests particularly vulnerable. In 2011, Protestants had and persecution of political and human rights religious literature seized and destroyed, were activists have increased, and credible reports fined, and prevented from leaving the country of arbitrary detention and torture of detainees, after importing religious literature. Meanwhile, including several suspicious deaths in custody, a scheduled visit by the Russian Orthodox have continued. HRW itself was forced to close patriarch in November was postponed, reportedly its office in Uzbekistan in June. However, the because the government disagreed with the country’s continued strategic importance as an appointment of a bishop for the country. As of entry point to Afghanistan appears to have meant spring 2012, there was no indication when the that NATO countries feel obliged to tone down visit might take place. Many religious groups their criticism of the country’s human rights remain unable or unwilling to officially register, situation. while those that do operate legally continue to be Tight state control continues to curb any pressurized to prevent children attending worship potential retaliatory action against Uzbekistan’s and not to proselytize. ethnic Kyrgyz minority following the ethnic

128 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 delta of the Amu Darya River and the Aral Sea Case study area for several hundred years. Their traditional lifestyle revolved around cattle breeding, fishing and irrigated agriculture. A sea that fled However, these sources of livelihood have become increasingly unviable since the 1950s, its shores when the Soviet Union developed a massive system of dams, canals and water pumping stations in . Major rivers were With the retreat of the Aral Sea, thousands diverted to irrigate cotton and other water- of Karakalpaks have lost their livelihoods and intensive crops in arid areas and deserts. Irrigated are being forced off their land. land expanded by 150 per cent in the Amu The shrinking of the Aral Sea by 90 per Darya Basin (primarily in Uzbekistan and cent and desertification of most of its terri- Turkmenistan) in this period. At this time, most tory is one of the most visible environmen- ethnic Karakalpaks became farmers, producing tal disasters in the world over the last fifty cotton, rice and other crops, primarily on years. While improved water management collective farms. has led to modest growth in the volume of Since independence, Uzbekistan has made some Kazakhstan’s northern portion of the sea in efforts to move away from cotton monoculture. recent years, there is little prospect of similar But the volume of water reaching the sea has changes in the southern section, which is continued to shrink, as industrial and domestic surrounded by the Autonomous Republic of use of water also increases. UNEP reports that Karakalpakstan, a part of Uzbekistan. more than 50 per cent of Amu Darya irrigation This environmental disaster has had serious water is lost due to lack of canal lining, excessive economic, social and health consequences for filtration, evaporation and other reasons. the ethnic Karakalpak population, which is The Aral Sea disaster has destroyed the region’s native to the region immediately around the fishing industry. In addition, desertification sea. A 2011 report by the United Nations is under way in much of the surrounding Environment Programme (UNEP) on the agricultural land. Local climate change, especially Amu Darya River shed further light on the falling rainfall, is also affecting farmers further serious social, economic and health impacts afield. A local farmer told RFE/RL in July that the of the Aral Sea crisis on the Karakalpak situation in the Amu Darya delta is worsening: population. They have lost their traditional livelihoods and are being forced to move ‘This is the third time during the last 10 years that away from the sea to find work and healthier the flow of water has been this low in the Amu environmental conditions. Darya,’ he said. ‘Things are only getting worse here, The three largest ethnic groups in and because of this people are abandoning Karakalpakstan by population size are the village.’ Uzbeks, Karakalpaks and Kazakhs. There has been no census in Uzbekistan since In addition to the drop in water flow, 1989, but it is believed that the Karakalpak the quality of drinking water in the area is population is about 500,000–700,000, of deteriorating because of the toxic residues of past whom the vast majority grew up in this area. over-use of pesticides and defoliants. Exacerbated Karakalpakstan is one of the two poorest by grossly inadequate levels of health care, this regions of Uzbekistan, and the Karakalpak has led to rises in kidney, thyroid and liver population suffers higher levels of poverty, diseases and anaemia caused by reduced iron unemployment and sickness than their Uzbek absorption, as well as tuberculosis and cancer. neighbours. Ethnic Karakalpaks, who are Resolution of the Aral Sea problem is culturally close to Kazakhs, have lived in the complicated by interstate disputes over water use.

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 129 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued opportunities. Less than 9 per cent of the workforce is involved in industrial Uzbekistan’s government is alarmed about production, and there is limited access to the building of large hydroelectric dams in credit to develop new businesses. Others upstream countries, particularly the Rogun have moved to Uzbekistan proper or Dam in Tajikistan. There are also concerns migrated to work in the stronger economy about the long-term effects of glacial retreat of Kazakhstan, where they often face on river flow, and of increased demand for discrimination. Unofficial estimates suggest water in Afghanistan, another upstream state. that 50,000–200,000 Karakalpaks have In order to mitigate the current and future made the move to Kazakhstan. Karakalpaks water quantity and quality problems of the remain one of the most threatened Aral Sea Basin, collective solutions will need minorities in Uzbekistan because of the to be found to improve water sharing and ecological catastrophe. Their position will cooperation throughout the Basin. not improve without significant external Meanwhile, in the face of the loss of intervention to tackle the problems of the livelihood opportunities and health concerns, southern Aral Sea. p the Karakalpak population is faced with difficult decisions. While the mainstay of Below: A Karakalpak man stands in front the region’s economy remains agriculture, of old discarded fishing boats that once many have moved south to the region’s worked on the Aral Sea, in Karakalpakstan, capital Nukus, where there are few work Uzbekistan. Jason Larkin/Panos.

130 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 substantial number of civilians who were killed during NATO-led night raids. South Afghan Local Police (ALP) will in part step in to replace international troops, particularly in rural areas. But in a September report, Human Asia Rights Watch (HRW) warned that such a civilian defence force could ratchet up ethnic tensions Irwin Loy if authorities fail to prevent ethnic or political interest groups from commandeering the process. The quest to develop natural resources was a A year after US officials announced the burgeoning issue in many South Asian countries discovery of US$ 1 trillion worth of untapped during 2011. Authorities face a dilemma when mineral deposits in the country, Afghanistan pursuing such development: taking advantage made significant moves to profit from its of natural resources can be a vehicle used to resources. In late December, authorities pull populations out of poverty, yet in doing so announced they had inked a deal with China the needs and livelihoods of local populations National Petroleum Corporation to explore for are often ignored. Across the region, minorities oil in the northern Amu Darya Basin. and indigenous peoples continued to experience In November, Afghanistan awarded contracts ongoing conflict throughout the year, in many to Indian and Canadian companies to develop cases related to land rights and unfettered natural the potentially lucrative Hajigak iron ore deposit resource extraction. in Bamyan province, home to ethnic Hazara. But watchdog groups were quick to warn of the Afghanistan dangers associated with resource development. A The start of 2011 ushered in a political crisis local civil society organization, Integrity Watch in Afghanistan, which saw President Hamid Afghanistan said: ‘In the peaks of opportunity, Karzai locked in a stalemate with the country’s Hajigak Mine can be a source of revenue, Independent Electoral Commission (IEC) over employment and development, or a curse if not the results of the disputed 2010 parliamentary [dealt with] properly.’ Afghanistan is a candidate elections, raising questions about his legitimacy. country for the Extractive Industries Transparency Ultimately, in August Karzai announced that the Initiative (EITI), and its government has final authority on election results indeed rested committed itself to EITI’s internationally with the IEC. recognized transparency principles. The year marked the start of significant troop Religious and ethnic tensions continued to withdrawals of NATO forces from Afghanistan. simmer throughout 2011. There were reports In June, United States President Barack Obama that children from Hindu and Sikh communities ordered his country’s military to withdraw were forced to drop out of school because of 10,000 troops by the end of the year, with a bullying. more significant pull-out to occur by mid-2012. In December, a suicide bomber killed at Other NATO countries made similar plans. least 19 people at a funeral procession. The But with the reduction of foreign troops, blast went off in Uzbek and Tajik-dominated there are significant question marks over how province, where Taliban attacks had been Afghan forces will perform on their own. Civilian relatively rare until recent years. casualties in the country continued to soar. Also in December, at least 60 died and another The UN Assistance Mission in Afghanistan 200 were injured when a suicide bomber struck (UNAMA) documented 3,021 civilian deaths an important Shi’a shrine in Kabul, in an attack in 2011, an increase of 8 per cent compared blamed on Pakistani militants. On the same day, with 2010 and a 25 per cent increase from a bomb detonated near a Shi’a in the 2009. Seventy-seven per cent of the deaths were northern city of Mazar-i-Sharif, killing four. The attributed to anti-government forces, although attacks coincided with the major Shi’a festival of critics noted that the tally appeared to exclude a Ashura.

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 131 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Above: Hazara girls tending crops in Bamiyan 2009, in exchange for political support from province, Afghanistan. Iva Zimova/Panos. fundamentalist elements within the Shi’a community. The highly criticized legislation The year also saw much debate over the US allows husbands to withhold food from their and the Afghan governments’ stated plans to wives for not having sex, hands custody of involve the Taliban in peace talks. Considering children to fathers in divorce proceedings and the Taliban’s history in Afghanistan, the forces women to seek permission from their situation for minorities – particularly women husbands in order to work. from minority communities – remains a crucial The Karzai-appointed High Peace Council, concern. Some members of a coalition of ethnic which is tasked with seeking peace talks with the minorities, made up of prominent opposition Taliban, also includes former warlords, critics say. leaders who were members of the former A deputy chair of the council told the Institute Northern Alliance that fought against the Taliban for War & Peace Reporting that women should in the 1990s, have said they support peace talks, not fear a reconciliation agreement with the but minority communities must be a part of the Taliban. But he also said women should not discussion if they are to be successful. expect ‘unconditional freedom in areas where Advocates say women’s rights in the country Islamic rules and Afghan values were dominant’. are already under threat, despite the previous In any event, the future of the peace talks is far 10 years of relative progress. An Oxfam briefing from certain. In September, a suicide bomber issued in October said: ‘The Afghan government assassinated Burhanuddin Rabbani, an ethnic has already demonstrated its willingness to Tajik who had headed the High Peace Council, sacrifice women’s rights for political ends.’ dealing an early blow to the process itself. The paper referred to the Shi’a Personal The year also ended in controversy after Karzai Status Law that President Karzai approved in replaced three members of the Afghanistan

132 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Independent Human Rights Commission ‘Indigenous peoples have lost and are continuing (AIHRC). Authorities said the commissioners to lose their ancestral lands at an alarming rate had finished their terms on the independent as a consequence of forceful eviction from and body, but rights groups questioned whether the expropriation of their lands through development move was in response to the AIHRC’s planned projects and occupation by the military.’ release of a report covering war crimes in the country, which was scheduled to be released In the meantime, the violence continued in the during 2012. CHT area throughout 2011, often pitting local indigenous populations against Bengali settlers. Bangladesh In April, indigenous villagers allegedly killed In Bangladesh, the issues of ethnic identity and three Bengali settlers; in retaliation, settlers land rights were closely intertwined in 2011. This allegedly attacked nearby villages and set fire to at was underscored by the government’s failure to least 60 homes. Local rights groups say similar resolve tensions in the Hill Tracts violent disputes over land were common (CHT) area of south-eastern Bangladesh, home throughout 2011. According to the NGO to at least 600,000 indigenous people. Not Kapaeeng Foundation, which campaigns for the only did the authorities again fail to implement rights of indigenous peoples, violence in the area the long-delayed peace accords meant to bring saw more than 130 homes of indigenous people stability to the region, but also Bangladeshi burned to the ground. Indigenous women also officials in effect denied the existence of the brunt of the violence. The group indigenous people in the country, much to the recorded 16 rapes of indigenous women surprise of the communities themselves and of nationwide, including five who were a UN Special Rapporteur tasked with assessing also murdered. the situation. The prolonged tensions mean that indigenous During the year, Bangladesh passed children in the area are among the country’s least amendments to its Constitution that struck educated. Literacy rates among ethnic minority the term ‘Adivasi’, or indigenous, from the children from the CHT are far lower than the documents and replaced it with ‘small ethnic national average. Medical authorities said hospital groups’. Some communities in the CHT said the facilities in the area are also dangerously under- government refusal to recognize non-Bengalis in staffed, a key problem which is contributing to the area as indigenous will only come as a further high infant mortality rates in the district, namely threat to livelihoods, culture and language. 63 deaths for every 1,000 live births, compared Bangladeshi officials contended that allowing with the national average of 49. special treatment for any population would not Elsewhere, worries over the proposed Phulbari be in the country’s best interests and proceeded Coal Mine project in north-west Bangladesh to press the case with foreign diplomats and UN were a dominant issue for environmentalists. The agencies, according to local media. project would involve an open pit coal mine, In May, the UN Special Rapporteur urged which critics say would devastate almost 6,000 Bangladesh to set a timeline to implement the hectares of farmland and uproot nearly 130,000 CHT peace accord, which has largely languished indigenous people who rely on farmland. since it was signed in 1997. For years, the CHT Peaceful protesters, who opposed the Phulbari has been the site of conflict between indigenous project, were also subject to violence. In people and Bangladeshi authorities. In addition May, advocates accused ‘thugs’ linked to the to heavy militarization, the government has government of assaulting protesters during a rally. also exacerbated the conflict by encouraging In December, riot police used batons and tear gas Bengali settlers to move into CHT areas, a policy to break up another demonstration against the which has had consequences that play out in the Phulbari project. form of present-day land disputes. The Special Religious discrimination is prohibited under Rapporteur, Lars-Anders Baer, said land was the the Bangladeshi Constitution, yet NGO Odhikar crucial issue in the CHT: nonetheless recorded multiple rights violations

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 133 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 against religious minorities in the Muslim- majority country. These included more than 100 Case study By Oliver Scanlan reported injuries to religious minorities as well as 25 attacks on places of worship. In one April incident recorded by Odhikar, supporters linked A year of broken to a parliamentarian with the ruling Awami League party allegedly attacked a Hindu temple promises and several homes in central Bangladesh. The supporters then reportedly attacked local reporters who had arrived to cover the violence. In ‘My grandfather used to tell me not to go in February, the Asian Human Rights Commission there,’ the old man points to a wide expanse said officials in Gazipur District disrupted an of grass where Bengali children are playing annual convention of Ahmadiyya, even though football, ‘because of the tigers in the forest’. prior permission had already been granted. He is a member of the Garo community; one The NGO Bangladesh Minority Watch of Bangladesh’s estimated 46 indigenous or (BDMW) also recorded several alarming instances Adivasi peoples. He is an activist fighting for of violence against Hindus, in which girls and his people’s ancestral forests in Modhupur, in women were targeted. In October, a 15-year-old north-central Bangladesh. And he is losing. Hindu girl was gang raped and killed. In August, When the Awami League swept to power BDMW said another Hindu girl was abducted in 2008, their election manifesto included and then forcibly converted to . unparalleled commitments to Adivasi com- Bangladesh’s Rohingya refugees continued to munities of Bangladesh, both in the restive face problems throughout the year. The NGO CHT region in the south-east and in the Refugees International warned that the Rohingya, ‘plain-lands’. The League promised to imple- an ethnic minority from neighbouring Arakan ment the 1997 Chittagong peace accord that (or Rakhine) State in Burma, enjoy few rights brought the 30-year insurgency to an end, in Bangladesh and are subject to abuse. It is and to secure the plain-lands Adivasis access believed that more than 200,000 Rohingyas live to their forests and lands. But in 2011, when in Bangladesh, though most of them are not Bangladesh passed amendments to the Consti- officially recognized as refugees. The situation is tution that denied Adivasis their right to iden- particularly troubling for women. The NGO says tity, these promises were severely undermined. reports of sexual violence against unregistered Communities that live in the CHT and refugees have increased over the last year. those that live in the plain-lands face distinct The government has long viewed the Rohingya problems, according to recent research as illegal migrants. Throughout 2011, Burma by Bangladeshi scholars. The CHT, still made international headlines as it incrementally under military control, has seen enormous allows greater freedoms for its citizens. Yet demographic changes over the past 60 Rohingya in Bangladesh remain wary of the years. Following a massive influx of Bengali reforms and are unlikely to return there soon. settlers as part of a government-sponsored Women from minority communities were also programme, today Adivasis are a minority the subjects of deep concern throughout the year in their own land. Over the past 30 years, in Bangladesh. During a February session, the UN collectively managed land in the CHT shrank Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination from 76 per cent of the total to 26 per cent. Against Women (CEDAW) expressed concern Adivasis have lost their land, through forced about the prevalence of violence against women, eviction and expropriation, to Bengali settlers, including rape and acid attacks. The CEDAW the forests department and the military. Committee said minority women often suffer The plain-lands, while not subject to the many forms of discrimination, yet Bangladesh same degree of military control, constitute has only limited information or statistics about a far larger area, and indigenous groups are disadvantaged women and girls.

134 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 more numerous but more diffuse. There are at recognized and enforced by the government if least 34 plain-lands communities spread over their communities are to survive. 90 per cent of Bangladesh’s territory compared The 15th Amendment of the Constitution with 11 groups inhabiting the 10 per cent that had the potential to address the identity issue comprises the CHT. as an essential precursor to resolving land and In the plains, indigenous groups are nominally forest disputes. By enshrining the term ‘Adi- governed by the same laws and protections as vasi’ in law, as opposed to the pejorative term other Bangladeshis. However, because of far ‘upajati’, the government could have signalled lower literacy rates and discrimination, they are its acceptance of a multicultural state. overwhelmingly more vulnerable to land theft, Instead, on 30 June 2011, the amendment largely through the non-existent implementation passed with provisions that excluded the term of Bangladesh’s principal land act, which ‘Adivasi’, and replaced it with ‘small ethnic prohibits the transfer of land from ‘aboriginal’ groups’ to refer to Bangladesh’s indigenous to ‘non-aboriginal’ tenants without the written peoples. It also upheld the legal recognition permission of local government officers. The of the pejorative term ‘upajati’. The people results have been similarly disastrous. of Bangladesh, according to the new law, A recent survey of ten plain-lands groups found are now to be know universally as ‘Bengalis’, that all of them had suffered land deprivation to completely denying the rights of Bangladesh’s some extent in the last 30 years. The hardest hit minorities to self-identification. communities include the Patro of the north-east, So the Garos of Modhupur continue to where 68 per cent of households reported land hold rallies; the national Adivasi activist expropriation, Santals in Rajshahi district (65 organizations continue to hold roundtables in per cent) and Rakhain of Patuakhali in southern . But the climate is gradually worsening Bangladesh (45 per cent). as the high expectations that accompanied the As a result, certain communities are now on Awami League’s election to power in 2008 the brink of extinction in Bangladesh; only a few have dissipated. State-sanctioned violence hundred Lushai remain in Bandarban district in against indigenous groups, often related to the CHT; and fewer than 3,000 Patro in north- land disputes, also continues unabated. east Sylhet. Adivasi activists are adamant that By choosing to continue the mono-cultural both substantive rights regarding their identity, nation-building project inherited from its as well as rights to lands and forests, must be predecessors, and eschewing efforts to address land issues and human rights abuses, 2011 was Below: A Garo woman in the Madhupur the year that the government of Bangladesh forest, Bangladesh. G.M.B.Akash/Panos broke faith with its indigenous citizens. p

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 135 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 India As elsewhere in South Asia, the pursuit of natural resource development without full consultation with predominantly indigenous local communities continued to exacerbate tensions in India. In one prominent project in India’s Odisha state (formerly known as Orissa), which is home to more than 100 indigenous groups, South Korean steel giant POSCO has been granted rights to a US$12 billion steel project in the area. Opponents were bolstered after Tribal Affairs Minister Vyricherla Kishore Chandra Deo publicly denounced the project, saying it would come at the expense of tribal peoples’ rights. Still, tensions simmered throughout the year as authorities moved in to acquire land for the controversial steel plant. In December 2011, rights groups said non-violent protesters demonstrating against the POSCO project were injured after a private force confronted them. By the end of the year, Abhay Sahoo, a local political leader who had rallied farmers against forcible land acquisition in Odisha, had been arrested. Amnesty International claimed that the authorities falsely charged him in a bid to silence his campaign. Increasingly large demonstrations calling for his release continued into the new year. The POSCO project was one of many controversial development plans throughout the country. Many of these proposed projects UK’s Vedanta Resources to build a bauxite mine are putting local indigenous groups up against in Odisha province. But that decision is under corporations. In Arunachal Pradesh province appeal and was scheduled to be revisited in mid- alone, authorities are planning for a network of 2012. 168 individual hydroelectric projects, according In August 2011, Shehla Masood, an to media reports. The rush to develop the environmentalist who campaigned for the rights province’s hydro potential has drawn criticism of indigenous people, was shot dead at her home from advocates for indigenous people as well as in Madhya Pradesh state. Her murder remains authorities in downstream districts. unsolved. Local media have questioned whether Yet, as the year progressed, Indian authorities her death was linked to her advocacy against pushed forward with new plans for further diamond mining in her state, involving the development. In March 2011, the Asian Human world’s second largest mining company, Rights Commission (AHRC) deplored plans for Rio Tinto. a power plant project in Madhya Pradesh. The In 2011, the government’s response to the proposed project, the AHRC warned, would ongoing conflict with the Maoist movement, deprive local indigenous communities of vital known as the Naxalites, continued to be a access to food and water supplies. Indigenous major human rights issue. By the end of the people had earned a hard-fought victory in 2010 year, the government claimed an ‘historic low’ when the Dongria Kondh tribe managed to in Maoist-related violence. Officials said the convince Indian authorities to block plans by the number of civilians who died as a result of the

136 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: An Adivasi woman carrying a pot of water on her head in front of a Vedanta aluminium Case study By Satbir Singh refinery in Lanjigarh, Odisha state, India. conflict was at its lowest level in two decades. ‘This land is our Yet violence continued to blight 2011. In May, rebels killed and dismembered the bodies of land’ – mining, 10 policemen. In July, Maoists in central India blew up a bridge, resulting in the deaths of four conflict and India’s people. At the same time, government forces also bear responsibility for deadly violence. In Adivasis March, security forces in Chhattisgarh state were accused of killing three indigenous people in a week of violence that saw almost 300 homes Numbering 85 million, India’s 600 burned, according to Amnesty International. Scheduled Tribes or Adivasis (‘original Three women were sexually assaulted and 300 people’) are kaleidoscopically diverse and homes were destroyed and looted. Amnesty make up nearly a quarter of the world’s also deplored the killings of 25 Maoist suspects, indigenous peoples. Concentrated in an including 10 indigenous people, in Odisha area of central and eastern India that during the early part of the year. Police have stretches from Maharashtra to West Bengal, claimed the suspects were armed combatants, many tribal groups share their homelands though rights activists dispute this. with some of the most significant mineral The government’s handling of the Maoist deposits in the world – resources which have insurgency is critical to minority rights. While attracted increasing interest in recent years, the rebels claim to represent some of India’s most precipitating mass displacement, worsening marginalized, including Dalits and indigenous poverty and fuelling one of the world’s people, it is often these communities that get longest-running conflicts. caught up in the violence. A positive move came Adivasis are by far the most vulnerable in 2011, when the Supreme Court declared that and marginalized socio-economic group in the Chhattisgarh state authorities should disarm India; gaps in poverty, literacy and mortality and disband the notorious Special Police Officers between tribal and non-tribal groups are (SPOs), also known as ‘Salwa Judum’ or ‘Koya widening, despite the economic changes Commandos’. The poorly trained militias are sweeping India. These challenges have been alleged to have committed serious human rights compounded in recent years by the arrival of violations. global mining giants, for whom governments Across the north-east, including Assam have used the colonial Land Acquisition and Meghalaya States, a worrying scarcity of Act of 1894 to forcibly displace millions communal land in the area is one of the drivers from their ancestral lands. This deepening of what has become a rarely reported ethnic poverty and alienation have fuelled the conflict. According to a report by the Internal decades-old Maoist-Naxalite insurgency, with Displacement Monitoring Centre and the the 100,000-strong militia consolidating Norwegian Refugee Council, almost 50,000 its grip in areas of weak government, high people were displaced during violent clashes malnutrition and mass displacement. The between the Rabha and Garo peoples as the year government’s security response has in turn began. Monitors say at least 76,000 remained brought an influx of personnel and weapons homeless as of November 2011. into the region. With poor accountability Dalits and indigenous people continue to suffer and an often blurred boundary between the from the poorest health statistics in the country, counter-insurgency mandate and broader caused by poor sanitation and inadequate access economic imperatives, civilian populations to safe drinking water and health care facilities,

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 137 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued has been initiated and the Dantewada police chief Ankit Garg, an officer named by Sori as are often caught in the crossfire and fall victim to being involved in her torture, was awarded a atrocities on both sides of the conflict. medal for gallantry by the President of India in Child soldiers are routinely recruited on January 2012. both sides of the conflict. In addition to the Such disregard for serious allegations is 50,000-strong security force deployed under commonplace and, along with the intimidation, ‘Operation Green Hunt’, up to 7,000 youths – disappearance and persecution of opposing many Adivasis themselves – have been armed by voices, it has contributed to a culture of the Chhattisgarh state government as ‘Special impunity within the security forces in the region. Police Officers’ with the Salwa Judum or Political and mining interests have become fused ‘purification hunt’. In July 2011, the Supreme through a complex web of campaign financing Court ordered the Chhattisgarh state government and corruption, which has led to security forces to dismantle the Salwa Judum and investigate all frequently straying from their mandates. Some allegations of human rights violations, including individual units of both state and rebel forces the recruitment of child soldiers. Chhattisgarh have independently formed relations with Chief Minister Raman Singh responded that his private bodies. In 2011, a general manager of government is not inclined to disarm its Special Indian multinational Essar Group was arrested Police Officers and has not yet taken any steps for paying Maoist rebels to secure 267 km of toward investigating atrocities. pipeline through Odisha and Chhattisgarh. In January 2011, in the state of Odisha, the For their part, mining giants responded central Ministry of Environment and Forests gave to growing hostility in 2011 with aggressive final clearance to Korean steel giant POSCO for public relations campaigns. Vedanta Resources a US$ 12 billion refinery and captive port. A launched a short film, ‘Creating Happiness’, number of panchayats (village councils) who have broadcast daily across television networks. expressed their opposition to the acquisition of It trumpets the philanthropic efforts of the their lands have seen their constitutional right company, whose bauxite projects in Odisha to consultation undermined by the deployment have attracted international condemnation of state security forces. In the village of Dhinkia, for destroying the sacred Niyamgiri hills and state officials described the panchayat leaders as driving the Dongria Kondh tribe to near- ‘encroachers’, calling in state troopers and threat- extinction. Tata Steel similarly launched ening to ‘use force if necessary’. Abhay Sahu, lead- an advertising campaign highlighting the er of the anti-POSCO movement in Odisha, was employment generated by mining. Their new arrested in November and journalists, activists and tag-line, ‘Values stronger than steel’ does little academics are now unable to enter the proposed for the 12 Adivasis shot dead in 2006 by police displacement zone. in Kalinganagar for protesting against the Elsewhere in India, opposition to mining- construction of the Tata steel plant. related displacement continued to be a dangerous Though they do not provide redress, these undertaking throughout 2011. In August, campaigns are proving remarkably successful 38-year-old activist Shehla Masood was shot in shifting public opinion outside the region dead after calling for an investigation into in favour of big mining and driving a wedge allegations of illegal mining by Rio Tinto. In between tribal and non-tribal communities. Chhattisgarh, Soni Sori was arrested for alleged In this state of exception, corporate criminals involvement in a Maoist protection racket. become ‘national champions’, displacement The Adivasi schoolteacher and human rights becomes ‘creating a good investment activist was stripped, beaten, repeatedly raped environment’ and any opposition to the and electrocuted, and remains in custody despite violation of domestic and international law demands from domestic and international human becomes an act of terrorism, never to be rights groups for her release. No investigation spoken of out loud. p

138 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 according to a report published by an NGO through land occupied by the endangered coalition in December 2011. The survey report Jarawa tribe. Tourism in the area, critics warn, found that nutritional indicators for Dalits and amounts to little more than a ‘human safari’. A some indigenous groups dropped below the video showing a local police officer commanding general population as children grew up. Girls, Jarawa girls to dance for tourists later sparked too, were more likely to have stunted growth or outrage. be underweight, the report stated. Prime Minister Manmohan Singh called child malnutrition ‘a Nepal national shame’. Nepal courted a constitutional crisis throughout In a positive move, however, the state of much of 2011, as it continued its uneasy Madhya Pradesh in July became the first in the transition from a Hindu monarchy to fledgling country to set up a specialized court tasked with democracy. The country failed to hammer out prosecuting crimes against scheduled and a constitution by what had been a May 2011 tribes. But, in an example that illustrates the deadline. By the end of the year, officials were problem of unaccountability for perpetrators saying that they would cement a new constitution of such crimes nationwide, it was reported that by mid-2012, but at the time of publication yet Andhra Pradesh state has a backlog of as many as another deadline was missed. 1,600 cases. In one sense, these delays present an In July, more than 20 people were killed in opportunity for some of the country’s most a series of bomb blasts in Mumbai. Another marginalized – including indigenous people, bombing at the Delhi High Court in September Dalits and women from minority communities killed 17 people and injured more than 90 – to have a greater say in the drafting of such others. But right groups are also warning an important document. Prominent advocates that authorities’ pursuit of terrorism suspects are demanding that women be guaranteed is snaring innocent civilians from religious proper representation in state institutions. Other minorities, particularly Muslims. An HRW advocates have expressed fear that women have report documented the alleged use of torture and been left out of the process altogether. coerced confessions of terrorism suspects. Indigenous people, too, have not been fully In a related example, authorities released represented in the discussions. A July submission seven Muslim youths in November, who had by local advocacy organizations to the CEDAW been convicted of bombing a mosque in 2006. Committee noted that indigenous people The case had become an embarrassment for have been unable to freely choose their own investigators, who now blame Hindu extremists representatives in the process to draft the new for the attack. In November, an Indian court constitution. Rather, the process demands that sentenced 31 people to life in prison for their participants come from political parties. In a joint roles in the deaths of 33 Muslims who were submission, the National Indigenous Women’s burned alive during the 2002 Gujarat riots. Federation (NIWF) and the Lawyers’ Association In August, the State Human Rights for Human Rights of Nepalese Indigenous Commission of Jammu and Kashmir State People (LAHURNIP) said: ‘Because the political revealed the discovery of more than 2,000 manifestos do not promote indigenous peoples unidentified bodies found in mass graves or indigenous women’s rights, it is difficult to in northern Kashmir. HRW urged India to achieve effective collective representation.’ investigate the long-standing claims of enforced Just as concerns over the wording of the disappearances in Indian-administered Kashmir. constitution persisted in 2011, so too did the During 2011, questions were raised over aftermath of Nepal’s civil war. Five years after exploitative tourism practices in indigenous the end of combat, roughly 100,000 people communities in parts of India. Survival displaced by the fighting have still been unable International called for the closure of a main to return home. Often, it is women who face highway in the Andaman Islands, which passed the most trouble reintegrating. Former female-

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 139 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 combatants, widows of fighters and rape victims NIWF and LAHURNIP specifically highlighted have difficulty finding acceptance in their old a growing problem facing indigenous women communities. due to the rapid expansion of Kathmandu, the Many Dalits were also drawn to the Maoist capital city. Since title deeds are usually held by insurgency. Some joined voluntarily, attracted to men, indigenous women are being left out of the an ethos that once preached equality, while others decision-making process. were swept up in the violence between both sides. The year 2011 also saw incidents of religious But, post-conflict, they are returning to a society discrimination in Nepal. In June, a Buddhist in which discrimination still persists, despite nun was attacked and gang-raped in eastern the government’s stated efforts to eradicate it. Nepal. But the problem was compounded when Rights groups say that Nepal’s government the woman was later expelled by the Nepal has gained little ground in reducing economic Buddhist Federation because she was judged to inequality in many parts of the country. In the have lost her celibacy. The decision was later Terai region, economic disparity continues to be reversed following a public outcry. Rights groups a driving force of ethnic tension. The UN Office say that poverty among the Tamang indigenous of the High Commissioner for Human Rights community to which the woman belongs causes said that the activities of ‘armed criminal groups’ families to send younger siblings off to become in southern Terai districts continue to hamper monks or nuns. development, and again raised concerns over Nepal’s Tibetan community continued to bear previous ‘credible allegations’ of extra-judicial the consequences of the country’s increasingly killings in Terai at the hands of security forces. close relationship with China. In March, Multiple cases of caste discrimination were police attacked Tibetan protesters who were reported during 2011. In August, a Dalit man demonstrating against Chinese rule in Tibet. was stabbed to death after his son married a Tibetans in Nepal were also barred for voting woman from another caste. Witnesses claimed for their government-in-exile, according to the woman’s family was incensed by the inter- media reports, even though India made no such caste union, according to the Nepal National moves towards its Tibetan exile community. Dalit Social Welfare Organization. Later that month, a Chinese delegation signed Kyung-wha Kang, the UN’s Deputy High a US$ 20 million military aid deal with the Commissioner for Human Rights, voiced Nepalese government. concern over caste discrimination following an April visit. She acknowledged the government’s adoption of anti-discrimination legislation, but Pakistan remained a volatile place for religious stressed that more must be done to ensure the and ethnic minorities during 2011. This was laws are implemented and enforced. highlighted by the murders of two prominent Rights groups also warned during 2011 politicians who spoke out against the country’s that indigenous women are likely to be controversial anti-blasphemy laws. Critics say the disproportionately affected by the government’s legislation, which levies penalties including life in activities on indigenous land, including prison and death, have unfairly targeted religious hydropower construction and the expansion of minorities such as Christians and Ahmadis, but conservation areas. Current potential ventures, also mainstream Muslims themselves. including the Melamchi Water Supply Project in The January assassination of Punjab governor central Nepal and the Arun Valley hydropower Salman Taseer marked a troubling start to the project in eastern Nepal, risk being implemented year. The governor had earlier publicly supported without the support or consultation of local a Christian woman, Asia Bibi, who was sentenced indigenous populations. to death for blasphemy. Then in March, Shabhaz In their CEDAW submission, local advocates Bhatti, Pakistan’s Minister for Minority Affairs NIWF and LAHURNIP said indigenous men are and the only Christian member of the cabinet, often assumed to be the heads of the household, was gunned down while on his way to work. The with formal land titles issued in the man’s name. UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues,

140 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Gay McDougall, called Bhatti’s death ‘an attack than 80 people. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistan, often on the rights of all religious minorities and on referred to as the Pakistani Taliban, claimed human rights in Pakistan’. responsibility. Though it was initially described The consequences of Taseer’s death continued as a ‘revenge attack’ for the death of al-Qaeda to reverberate through the year. In the aftermath leader Osama bin Laden, killed in Pakistan by of the January killing, the ruling Pakistan US forces two weeks earlier, local police told People’s Party backed away from proposed media the attack was more likely the latest in a reforms to the legislation. This drew criticism long-standing battle between the Pakistani army from one prominent member of the party, who and Taliban forces. In August, a suicide bomber warned that the ‘appeasement of extremists will killed 48 people at a mosque in Jamrud. have a blow-back effect’. Also in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province, The In October, Taseer’s former bodyguard was Guardian newspaper reported on the increasing sentenced to death for his murder; sympathizers militarization of the Kalash valley – a develop- demonstrated in support of the accused before ment that could pose a threat to the Kalash peo- court appearances. ple. The Pakistani military has been deployed to In April, human rights monitors say more than the Kalash valley for the first time, it was report- two dozen residents of a Christian community ed, though locals feared they would be caught in in Gurjanwala, in north-east Punjab province, the crossfire between the army and the Taliban. were hurt after they were attacked by a mob, Either way, the continued strength of the comprising more than 2,000 Muslims. A local Pakistani Taliban remains a serious concern for NGO, Human Rights Focus Pakistan (HRFP) religious minorities – particularly women. In says the mob attacked homes, schools and December, religious extremists destroyed two churches in the community. The assailants had important Sufi shrines in the Khyber Agency, a accused a member of the Christian community of region where Pakistani Taliban forces have been burning a Qur’an. active in the past. They have been blamed for The next month, HRFP reported that two at least 25 similar attacks on religious sites in Christian women were forcibly converted to recent years. Islam. Local police subsequently refused to In a 2011 report, the NGO Human Rights investigate the matter – a common occurrence Commission of Pakistan (HRCP), predicted that that is rendering women from minority religious the situation can only worsen for the country’s communities, including Hindus and Christians, minorities, citing a ‘direct link between the rise of particularly vulnerable. the Taliban and the suppression and oppression Minorities within the Muslim faith also faced of the minorities and all of those whose beliefs persecution throughout the year. In one example, differed with those of the extremists’. Women in assailants shot and killed a 55-year-old Ahmadi tribal areas of north-west Pakistan are particularly man in Punjab province in what was a suspected threatened by the Taliban. The Taliban continue hate crime. In May, Ahmadis in Lahore marked to oppose education for girls, setting back the one-year anniversary of one of the deadliest education targets for minority women in areas attacks on the community in Pakistan. In 2010, where the Taliban hold sway. Maryum Bibi, an 88 Ahmadis were killed when assailants attacked official with Peshawar-based NGO Khwendo Ahmadi places of worship. Relatives of the dead Kor, told media that women remain fearful: bemoaned the sluggish pace of the resulting police ‘Despite the official stance that the Taliban investigation. HRW also recorded 18 separate have been defeated, they remain present in attacks on Shi’a Muslims during the year. remote areas.’ The wider regional conflict continued to affect Throughout the year, Pakistan’s development the Pushtun community in Pakistan. Large-scale of natural resources fuelled conflict in resource- bomb attacks occurred near Peshawar, the pro- rich areas where minority communities live, vincial capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. such as and Balochistan provinces. In For example, a pair of suicide bombers attacked a April, several campaigners with a Sindh group paramilitary training centre in May, killing more that advocates for greater local autonomy over

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 141 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 natural resource exploitation were abducted. in Sindh province through September, rights The AHRC pointed a finger at law enforcement groups reported to MRG that Dalits were being and state intelligence agencies, charging that the discriminated against because of their caste. abductions are part of a long line of ‘enforced Advocates said Dalit families had been turned disappearances’ at the hands of state actors. away from government relief camps and been Balochistan remained a severe and under- given unequal access to relief supplies. reported example of how the development of natural resources without the full consultation of Sri Lanka local communities can drive conflict. The south- As Sri Lanka marked another year since the end western province, one of the country’s most of its bloody civil war in 2009, the problem of ethnically diverse, boasts a wealth of resources, how to ensure justice for wartime atrocities and including potentially lucrative mineral deposits reconciliation between the majority Sinhalese and rich natural gas reserves. Yet control over and the Tamil minority remained unresolved. such resources has stoked tensions and given In 2011, the government and the military issued rise to a nationalist Baloch movement that has a pair of reports that sought to address some of clashed with government forces. Added to a the violations, yet ultimately they proved to be mix that includes foreign interest in resource a disappointment to rights groups hoping for extraction and the province’s prime location significant signs of progress. on the borders with Iran and Afghanistan, the The government established the Lessons Learnt resulting conflict has had violent and deadly and Reconciliation Commission (LLRC) in 2010 consequences for civilians. under a storm of protest from rights groups, who State actors play a central role in the violence, questioned its independence and mandate. The targeting ethnic Baloch suspected of engaging in resulting report, released in December 2011, nationalist activities. HRW recorded the killing contained some positive measures. MRG, for of at least 200 Baloch nationalist activists and example, praised the report’s acknowledgement of dozens of disappearances in 2011. In its 2012 the impact felt by Sri Lanka’s minority Muslim World Report, the organization concluded that community. But MRG was also concerned that conditions had ‘markedly deteriorated’ during the the LLRC report did not sufficiently investigate course of 2011. Prominent cases included that serious allegations of war crimes and crimes of Abdul Ghaffar Lando, a Baloch nationalist against humanity during the final days of the activist who had been abducted in 2009 and war. The report, MRG noted: ‘exonerates the whose body was found in 2011. When the family government for the manner in which the military had gone to the police to register the abduction, campaign was conducted during the period’. the police stated that Lando was being held in Earlier in the year, a Sri Lanka defence ministry detention. In a July report, HRW recorded the report made a rare concession by acknowledging cases of 45 recent alleged disappearances; three of that civilians were killed in the government’s final the victims were children, the youngest of whom assault on the Liberation Tigers of was 12 years old when he was abducted. Human (LTTE), commonly known as the Tamil Tigers. rights activists and academics were also targeted. However, this report also contended that soldiers The local coordinator for the HRCP, Siddique used only ‘necessary force’ and was seen by critics Eido, was killed in 2011. The situation led The as presenting a one-sided account. Guardian newspaper to label the secretive conflict A UN report released in April was far more as Pakistan’s ‘dirty little war’. critical. The panel stated that it had found Nationalist militants have targeted non- ‘credible allegations’ of war crimes and crimes Baloch minority groups perceived to be against against humanity by both the Sri Lankan the movement. Sunni and Shi’a militants have government and the LTTE. Many of these also been active. In May, an extremist Wahhabi allegations focused on the final stages of the war organization claimed responsibility for the in 2009, when Sri Lanka’s army pushed into murders of 13 Hazara Shi’a Muslims. Tamil areas of the north, trapping hundreds As Pakistan battled with severe flooding of thousands of civilians in the crossfire. It is

142 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 believed that tens of thousands of people lost time, estimates suggest that unemployment in their lives in the war’s final five months. ‘The the north could be quadruple that of the national panel’s determination of credible allegations average. reveals a very different version of the final stages In the aftermath of the civil war, its effect of the war than that maintained to this day on Muslims has been largely ignored. The by the ,’ the report Tamil Tigers forced out much of the Muslim stated. The report called on Sri Lanka to begin population from the north. Failure to implement credible investigations into alleged violations proper reintegration and reconciliation measures of human rights law; it also urged the UN in the region will only serve to exacerbate Secretary-General to establish an independent tensions between Muslims and Tamils. international mechanism capable of conducting The report from the UN Secretary-General’s its own investigations. Neither the government of panel on accountability warns that recent President Mahinda Rajapaksa nor the UN made government policies – requiring the national such moves during 2011. anthem to be sung only in Sinhala, for example In the meantime, human rights groups – will alienate Tamil-speakers. Tamil groups also continue to raise concern over recent complained of destructive sand-dredging activities disappearances. In December, two local human in Batticaloa district. In December, Tamil groups rights advocates disappeared while they were claimed that two activists, who were former preparing for a press conference in . The Tamil Tiger members, were arrested after they AHRC also reported on two other cases involving protested against sand-dredging in the area. missing men who were later found murdered. During 2011, advocates raised concern over Critics say the government has taken little action a tourism development in the Kalpitiya region on these and other forced disappearances. of western Sri Lanka. They said up to 10,000 In November, a UK-based charity, Freedom people, mostly Sinhalese Muslims, could be from Torture, said it had compiled evidence that displaced or otherwise affected by a complex torture persists in Sri Lanka, despite the end of of hotels planned for the area. This project has the war in 2009. The group’s physicians assess raised concern that similar projects in other parts Sri Lankan asylum-seekers and refugees, mostly of the country, particularly in the north and ethnic Tamils, often for use in asylum claims. north-east, where post-war tensions still run high, They had found at least one case showing that could undermine human rights for minority torture had continued during 2011. communities. In its annual report released in Problems of reintegration for those displaced December, the AHRC raised concerns that the by the conflict continued throughout the year. Sri Lankan government’s concept of development Women in particular faced unique hardships ‘does not include the guaranteeing of human upon return. Increasingly, women are bearing rights’. the burden of restarting their families’ lives. A government report released last year found that nearly one-third of families returning to the Tamil north are headed by women. One Jaffna- South based organization, the Center for Women and Development, estimated there were now 40,000 widowed female-headed households in the area – East Asia a figure that excludes women whose husbands are missing or detained by the government. Nicole Girard This has resulted in a precarious situation for Tamil women. In a December briefing, the Across South East Asia, minorities and International Crisis Group said there has been an indigenous peoples are struggling to protect alarming increase in gender-based violence within their lands, livelihoods and way of life. In the community. Women have been forced into Mindanao in the Philippines, Indonesia’s Papua, prostitution or trafficked abroad. At the same and ethnic minority regions of Burma, control

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 143 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 over natural resources is central to a number of country, or violate the 2008 Constitution. long-running armed conflicts. In Cambodia, Tensions between the junta and armed ethnic indigenous Kuy are fighting to protect their groups in the run-up to the November 2010 traditional way of life in Prey Lang forest. In election broke out into renewed fighting in 2011. Vietnam and Laos, minority populations have The military broke a 22-year ceasefire with the been subject to resettlement as a result of dams Shan State Army-North in March, mobilizing and other development projects, largely without an additional 3,500 troops. By June, the 17-year consultation. In Burma, dams in Kachin State ceasefire with Kachin Independence Army (KIA) threaten the livelihood of thousands of minority was breached. By December, an estimated 34,000 and indigenous peoples, and in 2011 led to people were in displacement camps along the fighting that broke ceasefires with two major border with China from this recent outbreak; armed ethnic groups. the government was not allowing access to The construction of two major dams, the international relief organizations. Increasing Myitsone in Burma and the Xayaburi in Laos, militarization in Kachin State led to an increase was delayed in 2011. This was welcomed by in human rights violations. In their 2011 report, environmental and indigenous peoples’ groups, the Kachin Women’s Organization documented but worry remains over whether construction on the rape by soldiers of 34 women and girls, 15 Myitsone has actually been halted and how long of whom were subsequently killed. The Burma plans for Xayaburi will be suspended. military’s use of rape as a weapon of war has been Debate on how best to address ethnic conflicts well documented and continues under the new continued in the region in 2011. Thailand made government. some efforts to increase accountability for human The fighting in Kachin State broke out at the rights violations in the southern Malay-Muslim location of a Chinese-operated hydroelectric majority provinces. In the Philippines, peace talks dam project at Daepin. Earlier, the Kachin with the Moro Islamic Liberation Front were Independence Organization (KIO) sent an open initiated. The government of Burma secured letter to the Chinese government, warning that ceasefires with major armed ethnic groups by the if it continued with construction of the 6,000 end of the year, making offers of reconciliation megawatt Myitsone dam on the Irrawaddy River, not seen in decades of conflict. Some ceasefires, armed conflict would likely ensue. To the surprise however, had yet to be enacted on the ground. of many, in September the Burmese government temporarily halted the Myitsone, citing public Burma opposition. However, local Kachin groups report Burma convened its first parliament in over that construction at the dam site has continued, 22 years in January 2011, after elections in and the approximately 1,000 displaced Kachin November 2010. In March, Thein Sein was have not been permitted to return to their homes. sworn in as President, officially dissolving The US$ 3.6 billion Myitsone dam is one of military rule. The government has eased eight dams planned on the Irrawaddy River, and restrictions on media, permitted the creation of is being developed by China Power Investment trade unions, and passed a law to allow peaceful Corporation (CPI) and Asia World Company of assembly and protest. It has also reached out to Burma. Ninety per cent of the power is expected opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi, released to be sold to China. There are serious concerns significant numbers of political prisoners and about the quality and independence of the pledged to prioritize minority issues. But environmental impact assessment, funded by CPI; whether reforms translate into genuine progress a social impact assessment was not carried out (see remains to be seen. While 17 out of the 22 case study below). ethnic political parties won at least one seat in Resource extraction in minority and indigenous the election (15.7 per cent of available seats), peoples’ areas has fuelled army land confiscation, the conduct of parliamentarians is governed by property destruction, designation of ‘out-of- laws criminalizing comments that are considered bounds’ high-security areas, militarization and a threat to national security or the unity of the destruction of livelihoods. Both the Burmese army

144 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 was exacerbated by tensions over Chinese Case study companies surveying future dam sites. Ninety per cent of the power from these dam projects will be exported to Burma’s Dams feed ethnic neighbours. Chinese companies are involved in many of the projects, but Burma has also conflict in Burma signed agreements with Thailand, Bangladesh and India. The dams are expected to bring revenues of US$ 4 billion for the Burmese ‘The soldiers came to my house and said, government. But according to Sai Sai of the “Starting now you cannot grow on the Burma Rivers Network, the dams will not farms near the river,” and I asked him improve the lives of Burma’s ethnic nationals: back: “Why?” He gave the reason that ‘These mega-dams are fuelling further conflict, they will build the dam in that area. not benefiting the people of Burma,’ he said. They confiscated the land from my farm, it was about 18 acres.’ Loss of land, loss of life The dams are proceeding without any proper On 30 September 2011, President Thein consultation with ethnic minorities and Sein announced an indefinite halt to indigenous peoples, and, for the indigenous construction of the 6000-megawatt communities, without their free, prior and Myitsone dam, on the Irrawaddy River informed consent. Compensation for their loss in Kachin State, saying that public of land and livelihoods has been inadequate. opposition to the Chinese-funded dam In Karenni State, power plant-related was overwhelming. development and militarization of the area saw Perhaps the game has changed since the 114 villages flooded; 12,000 people displaced; military rulers stepped into their civilian an estimated 18,000 landmines planted; local roles. But many remain sceptical. ‘We do communities subjected to forced labour, not trust what the President has said about sexual violence and extra-judicial killings; suspending the Myitsone dam,’ said a and prioritized water scheduling leading to local affected by the dam, ‘we can see the crop destruction. Eighty per cent of the local workers and dam construction machines population still has no access to electricity. still at the site.’ For local communities, For years, the Burmese government has the stakes are high. The dam will displace used anti-insurgency military operations to around 15,000 people, mainly ethnic clear areas for dam projects. In 1996, for Kachin who revere Myitsone as the example, fighting in central Shan State led birthplace of their culture. to the displacement of nearly 60,000 people, Currently, the Myitsone dam has only clearing the area for the Tasang dam on the been halted until 2016, when Thein Salween River. Since 2005, some 25,000 Sein’s term in office ends. But even if it people in Karenni State have been forced by is permanently shelved, it is only one of military offensives away from the Weigyi and 48 dams currently in various stages of Hatgyi dam sites. More recently, in the case development in Burma. Twenty-five of of the Shweli dams in Karenni State, villagers these are ‘mega-dams’, with a capacity were ordered off their land by the military comparable to the Myitsone. and given a three-year ‘grace’ period, with Most of the large dams are located in some small compensation. ‘The Government ethnic minority areas and many are in said it will give half the worth of land and conflict zones. The fighting that broke property as compensation, but I absolutely do a 17-year ceasefire with the Kachin not believe that they will,’ one man from the Independence Army (KIA) in June Molo village said.

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 145 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued contributing to rising migration. Local people are able to secure only low-wage, temporary and The very existence of some communities unsafe jobs on the project, and are reportedly is under threat. The Weigyi dam on the unable to complain about working conditions or Salween River will submerge the ancestral wages without retribution. lands, cultural sites and means of livelihood A draft land law was proposed in parliament in of Yin Ta Lai people, of whom only 1,000 2011, but according to the Asian Human Rights remain. Commission (AHRC), under the law farmers If the new Burma government is serious could be evicted to make way for whatever about heeding the voice of the people, it government officials claim to be in ‘the national should halt all dam projects in conflict zones. interest’. The law was reportedly drafted without Consultations prioritizing the protection consultation with key stakeholders or land law of minority and indigenous peoples’ experts. rights, coupled with the development and The Myanmar National Human Rights implementation of environmental policy Commission was established in 2011, mandated and law (including land policy) based on to investigate complaints on human rights international standards, is the only way any violations. But critics questioned whether it is of these dams should proceed. Otherwise in line with the Principles relating to the Status the dams could spell disaster for the affected of National Institutions for the Promotion and communities. Protection of Human Rights (Paris Principles), if its members – many of whom were generals ‘I have grown up in this village since I was under the previous military regime – are hand- born by drinking the water from the Shweli picked by the state. River. My livelihood is fishing which is related The elections did not improve the situation of directly to this river. After we leave we do not Rohingya Muslims from Arakan State, denied know what we will do for our livelihoods or citizenship on the assumption that most are how to earn money to survive.’ Molo villager not from Burma but come from Bangladesh. facing eviction p Thousands flee every year the harsh restrictions and persecution from Burma’s government, ending up as asylum-seekers throughout Asia. In and armed ethnic groups have relied on natural December, the government agreed to repatriate resources for funds, drawing heavily on logging 2,500 refugees from Bangladesh on condition and mining, including gemstone mining. Burma that they already have citizenship in Burma, is the biggest producer of jade in the world and effectively excluding many ethnic Rohingya. the most significant jade mine is in Kachin State, While serious clashes continue in Kachin State with little of its wealth reaching the people. and parts of Shan State, late in the year some The Shwe oil and gas pipeline project is being positive progress was made in peace talks between advanced by the China National Petroleum the government and armed ethnic groups. A Corporation along with companies from Korea new Internal Peace Building Committee was and Burma and is slated for completion in 2013. created by the government, which has offered Started in 2010, the 2,800 km pipeline will bring joint political talks with all such groups, an offer gas to China from Burma’s western coast. Over not seen during the 60 years of conflict. By mid- 800 km runs across Burma through territory December, two major armed ethnic groups had occupied by armed ethnic groups, in Shan reached ceasefire agreements. For Burma’s ethnic State in particular. The pipeline is set to ignite minorities, this offered some hope for their future. conflict in minority regions, as Chinese workers are brought in to construct it and the Burma Cambodia military is used to protect it. Widespread land In 2011, four top former leaders of the Khmer confiscation for the pipeline corridor is leaving Rouge faced proceedings in the Extraordinary farmers jobless and fishing grounds off-limits, Chambers in the Courts of Cambodia (ECCC),

146 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 set up to try those charged with crimes committed during the Khmer Rouge regime Case study By Mao Chanthoeun (1975–9). The ruling Cambodian People’s Party (CPP) under Prime Minister Hun Sen has been accused of interfering with the proceedings and Cambodia’s Kuy the trials have been plagued by controversy. Bringing the leaders of the Khmer Rouge people rally to save to justice will be an important step for the Cambodian judiciary to prove its effectiveness ‘our forest’ in addressing a grave historical wrong. It could also be significant for minorities, including the ethnic Vietnamese and Cham Muslims, whose I am Mao Chanthoeun, a Kuy, from Chaom persecution as part of the larger aims of the Svay Village near Prey Lang forest in Khmer Rouge could in itself constitute genocide. Kampong Thom, Cambodia. Civil society faced direct attacks, including new I was born here about 30 years ago. My laws which were introduced or drafted during parents and grandparents were also born here. 2011, according to a report published by the We’ve always been dependent on Prey Lang, Cambodia League for the Promotion and Defense which in Kuy means ‘our forest’. of Human Rights (LICADO). These included When I was young, the forest was large and an anti-corruption law, a draft trade union law, thick. Prey Lang gave us food, medicines, and and a draft law on associations and NGOs. housing materials. We collected resin for sale. Individuals working to defend the rights of Since resin trees can be tapped for generations, indigenous peoples continued to be threatened by this was sustainable. We lived happily. the Cambodian government in 2011, in particular In 2002, we learned that Cambodia’s those combating land-grabbing by corrupt forests were being destroyed. Our forest was officials. By the end of the year, Human Rights threatened. We fought back. With hundreds Watch (HRW) estimated that at least 60 people of other Cambodians, we protested against were imprisoned or awaiting trial for protesting logging concessions and they were suspended. against forced evictions and land-grabbing. We had a time of peace. Our communities The government continues to grant large agreed rules to preserve the forest. This economic land concessions (ELCs) for hydro- became harder over the years. Poaching and electric projects, mining and agricultural illegal logging took their toll. plantations. Land concessions are granted, often In 2009, rubber companies came, first to in an illegal way, over community land, and build roads and then make plantations. We with no regard to national laws that require don’t know why they would grow rubber public consultations and environmental impact here; the soil is not good. We think they assessments, or laws that stipulate that state want to profit from logging. concessions cannot be granted in forested areas. We began organizing our Network in 2007. Prey Lang forest, home to Kuy indigenous The Prey Lang Community Network has people, who depend upon it for their sustenance members in all four provinces straddled by the and livelihoods, is a case in point. Peaceful forest. I’ve been a community representative community and civil society efforts to protect for six years. We’ve petitioned the government it have been curtailed by the authorities in a to protect Prey Lang, cancel agro-business and conflict that escalated throughout the year. mining concessions, and rehabilitate cleared Government officials have recognized this areas. We also want the government to recog- large primeval forest as an important area for nize us as Prey Lang’s co-managers. conservation, but according to the Prey Lang We conduct local patrols to try to stop Network, a local activist group, more than illegal activities. We also went to the capital 40,000 hectares of the forest have been granted city to call on the country to help us. To get for rubber plantations, while 27 exploration

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 147 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued I feared my baby had died inside me. But I had to go on for the sake of all children. Life attention, we dressed like the ‘avatars’ we saw in is not worth living if we lose our forests. a movie. When we put on blue faces, people paid My husband left me while I was pregnant. attention to us. Now four months later, I am alone with In my community, we confronted someone my baby boy. It’s not easy for me to live. who illegally cleared forest. When a group of us, Whenever I go out, others must accompany including the village chief, uprooted his cassava, me; illegal loggers are angry with me for he brought legal complaints against us. Those are challenging them. still pending. Today, in the village, a local businessman Now we are suffering. Thousands of resin trees announced on a loudspeaker that everyone have been cut; many families have no income. must shun me or face consequences. He Even our rice paddy is not good since we have claims I’m ‘inciting’ people because I tell lost water. them their rights and encourage them to In November, when I was six months pregnant, protect the forest. I joined hundreds of other Network members in My community and our Network are laying claim to the forest. For almost two weeks strong. We have good cooperation. We work we walked from all directions across the forest to together to solve our problems peaceably. stop illegal activities and to confront plantation Now my neighbours are circulating a petition companies. The walk was difficult. We had little to support me. food and water. We were often cold in the rain. I try not to lose hope. But it is difficult when one confiscated chainsaw is replaced by Below: A woman at a protest in Phnom Penh, two others. Cambodia, in May 2011. Around 100 local We ask the world to join us in saving activists attended a demonstration appealing to Prey Lang. ‘Our forest’ belongs to everyone. the government to save the Prey Lang forest. Case study provided by the East-West REUTERS/Samrang Pring. Management Institute / Prey Lang Network. p

148 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 licences and related concessions have been Ahmadis were killed in February in West Java, handed to mining companies. Logging continues after a group of 1,500 people attacked 21 of although the government stopped granting them, in order to expel them from the village. logging concessions in 2002, and the creation of Police did little to intervene. Twelve men were logging roads has taken an environmental toll as tried, and received sentences of between only well as opening up the forest to new migrants. three and six months, on a variety of charges but According to the Cambodian Center for not for manslaughter. Human Rights (CCHR), authorities detained By September, 26 regencies and municipalities over 100 peaceful protesters in August, many across the country had issued decrees banning from the Kuy community, for distributing or restricting Ahmadiyya religious practice, pamphlets about the issue; in December, local stemming from a 2008 ministerial decree authorities filed complaints against members of preventing public propagation of the Ahmadiyya CCHR on charges of ‘incitement’ for holding faith. The decree contradicts President Susilo training seminars for locals. Soldiers hired by a Bambang Yudhoyono’s continual assertion of mining company that has been illegally granted Indonesian ‘tolerance’, and is justified on the an ELC in Prey Lang have prevented Kuy women logic that restricting the religious expression of from gathering tree resin, according to a 2011 minorities serves to protect them from violence. Amnesty International report. The government continues to push the Cambodia does have laws that recognize and Religious Tolerance Bill, but rights groups have protect indigenous peoples’ access to land. But denounced the draft bill, completed in October, they are often not implemented, or are flagrantly for limiting certain activities in the name of violated. Those who defend their legal rights tolerance. For example, the bill attempts to risk intimidation, violence and imprisonment. regulate proselytizing, celebration of religious Despite some actions, Prime Minister Hun Sen holidays, construction of houses of worship, appears unwilling to seriously address these issues. holding of funerals and organization of religious Indigenous peoples and Cham Muslims are education. The bill continues to define and recognized under Cambodia’s Constitution, punish blasphemy; existing laws on blasphemy but other ethnic minorities, such as ethnic have already served to discriminate against and Vietnamese and , are denied harass religious minorities. citizenship, are therefore unable to access Indigenous peoples have long struggled health care and education, and endure social to realize their rights in the Indonesia state, discrimination. Lack of citizenship combined especially the right to land and free, prior with endemic poverty makes ethnic Vietnamese and informed consent. In May, as part of the women vulnerable to trafficking, mostly within government’s agreement with over the Cambodia, and forced prostitution. ‘One third of Reducing Emissions from Deforestation and girls and young women of Vietnamese origin are Forest Degradation (REDD+) project – a US$ reported to be sold into prostitution,’ according 1 billion project to protect forests and reduce to a 2011 report by the UN Committee on the carbon emissions while fostering economic Rights of the Child. development – President Yudhoyono, declared a two-year moratorium on new concessions Indonesia in primary forest and peat lands. But this Discrimination, harassment and violence against was flouted: ongoing illegal clearing of these religious minorities in Indonesia increased in protected lands in Central Kalimantan by a 2011. The Setara Institute, an Indonesia religious Malaysian company was reported by Indonesian rights monitoring organization, recorded 244 NGOs. such incidents, up from around 200 the previous In December, the Indonesian parliament year; government officials, military and police passed a new bill which will allow the were responsible for many of the incidents. government to acquire land from citizens in the Ahmadiyya Muslims continued to be one of name of a vaguely defined ‘public interest’. The the main targets for violence and abuse. Three legislation is intended to settle disagreements over

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 149 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 evictions and speed up infrastructure projects. Those affected do not have the right to appeal Case study and compensation is only provided upon proof of certification of land-ownership, often lacking in the case of indigenous communities. A coalition The campaign of Indonesian NGOs says the bill is a direct threat to the rights of indigenous peoples and is against likely to increase conflict over land. Indigenous communities struggling to destructive palm secure their right to land won a small victory in September, as two articles of the 2004 oil plantations Plantation Act were dropped after being declared unconstitutional by the Constitutional Court for discriminating against indigenous farmers. The The rapid expansion of palm oil articles, which prohibited damaging plantation plantations in South East Asia is being land or equipment, or preventing plantation driven by rising global demand for business have been used to imprison and fine edible oils and bio-fuels. Thailand and hundreds of people who have protested against the Philippines have a burgeoning palm corporate grabs of ancestral lands, especially by oil industry, plantations have been palm oil companies. established in Cambodia, and Vietnam is However, in October, the Indonesian exploring the possibility of cashing in on government curtailed the legitimate activities this crop. of rights defenders by passing the long-debated Malaysia and Indonesia are the top Intelligence Bill – giving law enforcement power producers of palm oil in the world, and to spy on civilians to protect ‘national security’. in these countries the industry fuels land Military documents exposed by HRW in 2011 dispossession and loss of livelihoods for suggest that unlawful military spying on peaceful indigenous peoples. Global consumption activists in Papua is commonplace. of processed palm oil more than doubled In Papua, the government failed to make any over the last ten years, with demand progress towards implementing the rights granted increasing mostly in China, India and to the province under the Special Autonomy Eastern Europe. Large-scale production Law of 2001. At least three people were killed in in Malaysia and Indonesia started in the October by security forces during the Third Pap- late 1980s and rapid expansion between uan People’s Congress, a peaceful gathering of 2007 and 2010 has devastated bio-diverse indigenous Papuans demanding a referendum on rainforests, replacing them with mono- independence from the Indonesian state. Security crop ‘green wastelands’. forces have yet to be held accountable. Six indig- Millions of hectares of land have enous Papuan men were charged with treason, been swallowed by these plantations: adding to the approximately 40 existing Papuan an estimated 4.6. million hectares in political prisoners, according to the AHRC. Malaysia, and 9.4 million in Indonesia. Cases of torture, arbitrary detention and military Both countries intend to continue operations continued to be reported during 2011 increasing the amount of land dedicated in the provinces of Papua and West Papua. to palm oil. In Malaysia’s Sarawak state, Indonesian military and special police forces the government plans to double the area conducted massive counter-insurgency ‘sweeping’ devoted to palm oil while Indonesia plans operations aimed at suspected Free Papua to double its palm oil production to 20 Organization (OPM) separatists in the central million hectares by 2020. This expansion highland area of Panai, West Papua. The Jakarta will continue to be driven by large estates, Post reported that at least 500 people had fled rather than independent smallholders. from Dagouto village since raids in November.

150 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 To achieve this expansion, the governments and helped shape the RSPO’s criteria of Malaysia and Indonesia have handed over for certification. The standard affirms indigenous peoples’ lands for palm oil, despite the rights of indigenous peoples to their their customary land claims. In Sarawak, customary lands, requires adequate Malaysia, and in Sumatra, Indonesia, oil compensation, and insists that no lands plantations have polluted rivers, destroyed can be taken from indigenous peoples and wildlife that once supported indigenous local communities without their free, prior peoples’ livelihoods, and led to communities and informed consent. The standard also being evicted from their lands. Many of the requires the fair treatment of smallholders land conflicts in these countries are directly and prohibits discriminatory practices related to the expansion of palm oil. against women. Indigenous peoples’ opposition to palm oil One of the biggest players in palm oil expansion has become increasingly violent. In – Singapore-based Wilmar International, November 2011, indigenous Dayak Benuaq a leading agribusiness group in Asia – is peoples in Indonesia’s East Kalimantan a member of the RSPO and has made province protested against the conversion of various commitments to sustainable palm their lands into palm oil plantations. But the oil production. In November, however, the Malaysia-based PT Munte Waniq Jaya Forest People’s Programme in partnership company has continued to clear the land and with Sawit Watch released a report evict the community, supported by the police documenting continued land confiscation, and other security personnel, according to evictions and intimidation by the reports from local NGO Telapak. Indonesian police on behalf of Wilmar’s Communities like Dayak Benuaq, who suppliers against an indigenous community struggle against palm oil plantations, meet in Jambi. Director of Sawit Watch violent reprisals. According to the Borneo Abetnego Tarigan commented: ‘Frankly we Resource Institute, in February an indigenous are very disappointed. We expect leading community in Rumah Ranggon, Sarawak, members of the RSPO to scrupulously Malaysia, were intimidated by a hundred adhere to the agreed standard.’ armed men, allegedly hired by the palm While the RSPO has developed strong oil company to force residents to halt their standards through consultative processes, blockade protecting their forests. Police later further efforts are needed to ensure that arrested the leader of the armed group. these standards are implemented. But A flood of these incidents has led to in September, the Indonesian Palm Oil increased pressure on palm oil companies Association withdrew from the RSPO, to prevent abusive and destructive practices. and the Indonesian government says The industry formed a Roundtable on it will now implement it own ‘green’ Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) in 2004, to standards for sustainable palm oil. The promote sustainable palm oil practices and Malaysian government is also starting its raise the environmental profile of the industry. own certification process for ‘sustainable’ Comprising oil palm producers, manufacturers, palm oil. This has drawn accusations investors and social and environmental NGOs, that these versions of sustainable palm the RSPO has created a process to have oil are ‘greenwash’ and a watering down plantations certified as sustainable. of the RSPO’s criteria. The international Some NGOs have refused to join the community must continue to demand RSPO, arguing that its standards have not palm oil that follows the sustainability done enough to address land disputes and model provided by the RSPO, along with environmental issues. But others, such as Sawit implementation that protects the rights of Watch, Indonesia’s leading watchdog NGO affected communities. p on the palm oil industry, have participated

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 151 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Local media estimate the military operation has Laos forced about 10,000 people to flee their villages, The ninth Party Congress of Laos People’s and that 20 villagers had been shot. The raids Revolutionary Party (LPRP) was held in 2011. had been escalating since April. Indonesia’s But there were few new faces to be seen. National Commission on Human Rights Elections for the National Assembly were held (Komnas HAM) called on the National Police shortly after, with the LPRP winning all but four chief to withdraw all troops from the area. of the 132 seats in this one-party state. Ethnic In 2011, police admitted to receiving pay- minority parliamentarians won 38.6 per cent of offs from the US-owned Freeport-McMoRan the seats in the National Assembly. However, to protect their Grasberg gold and copper mine party members secured their positions through in Papua, the largest gold mine and third larg- patronage, rather than by campaigning for the est copper mine in the world. This mine project rights of minority communities. has long been criticized for violating the rights of There are at least 240 ethnic groups in indigenous Papuans through land confiscation, the country, but the Lao government only environmental destruction and militarization. officially recognizes 49. Most minorities live Indonesian military forces who ‘protect’ the mine in the mountainous highland areas, whereas have reportedly raped Papuan indigenous women. the Lao majority has traditionally been in the Papua has consistently had the highest rate lowlands, dominating political and economic of HIV infection in Indonesia, at 15 times the life. Ethnic minority villages have been subjected national average. In May, the head of the Papuan to government relocation programmes since AIDS Prevention Commission reported that the 1970s, increasing in scope in the 1990s, the number of people living with HIV/AIDS in ostensibly aimed at ending swidden agriculture Papua jumped by 30 per cent in four months, and opium production. to over 17,000. Mimika, the district of Freeport The Lao government aims to transform the McMoRan’s mine, had the highest increase and country into the ‘battery of South East Asia’ by overall number of HIV/AIDS-infected people, exporting the power generated by numerous with associated high numbers of prostitutes hydroelectric projects. In June, the National and brothels. While these numbers do not Assembly announced plans to complete ten large- differentiate, past studies have suggested that scale dam projects between 2011 and 2015; five prevalence of HIV/AIDS among Papuans is twice are already under construction. The proposed as high as among non-Papuans. 1,200-megawatt Xayaburi dam on the Mekong The rights of indigenous Papuans to their River has attracted the most controversy. It will ancestral lands also continued to be threatened displace an estimated 2,100 people, the majority by the Merauke Integration Food and Energy of whom are ethnic minorities (including Project (MIFEE), a mega-agro initiative Khmu, Leu and Hmong), and threaten the launched in 2010, which involves the conversion livelihoods and food security of another 200,000 of a vast area of land, including forests, into people. The Xayaburi project is backed by Thai plantations. In a report submitted to various UN companies, and Thailand is expected to be one of mechanisms in 2011, an NGO coalition claims the main beneficiaries of the power generated. that MIFEE has proceeded without regard The Mekong Rivers Commission, a regional for the principles of free, prior and informed river basin organization, twice delayed a decision consent, and has forcibly acquired around on whether to approve the Xayaburi dam 2 million hectares of traditional lands. The in 2011, under strong pressure from Laos’s military has also reportedly been harassing those neighbours, pending further environmental resisting the project. In October 2011, President studies. However, with the tacit approval from Yudhoyono set up the Unit for the Acceleration Lao authorities, the Thai dam building-company of Development in Papua and West Papau is proceeding with construction work, without (UP4B) to stimulate economic development. consulting affected minorities. Little attention has been given to Papuans’ right In 2011, a national survey carried out by to autonomy and self-governance, however. the Lao government estimated that 5 million

152 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 hectares – about 21 per cent of the country’s animism/ancestor worship or have converted to total territory – has been granted as concessions . In 2011, rights groups continued to either domestic or foreign parties, mainly for to report incidents of local authorities harassing mining exploration (85 per cent). Many land and illegally detaining members of Christian concessions in Laos have also been granted to communities. foreign companies from Vietnam, Thailand and In 2011, the group of over 4,000 Hmong that China, for large-scale agribusiness plantations, were forcibly repatriated to Laos from Thailand such as bio-fuels, rubber and eucalyptus, as well in 2009 are reportedly still facing ‘severe as mining and hydro-electric projects. restrictions’ on their freedom of movement and Though all land is state-owned in Laos, are unable to make a living. communal land use rights are recognized under the Constitution and various national Malaysia laws. But land and forest concessions have Civil society in Malaysia, including those organi- been granted without proper documentation zations struggling to secure the rights of minori- or implementation of legal processes, leaving ties, continued to experience restrictions on the local livelihoods unprotected, according to a right to assembly. In September 2011, Prime 2011 report by the NGO Forest Trends. Such Minister Najib Razak pledged to repeal the Inter- concessions are often facilitated through bribe- nal Security Act (ISA), which allows the authori- taking by local and central officials. Affected ties to detain people indefinitely without charge groups are left without access to their traditional or trial. The move was welcomed by a broad livelihoods or adequate compensation, despite a range of civil society organizations, but Razak’s government decree guaranteeing it. commitment was questioned as authorities con- Displacement and government attempts tinued to arrest people under the ISA. to eliminate swidden agriculture have had Razak proposed two other pieces of legislation. a disproportionate impact on minority and The Race Relations Bill was set to be debated in indigenous women from communities such as parliament in 2012 but Malaysian human rights the Khmou and Phone, where their status derives organization Suara Rakyat Malaysia (Suaram) from their role in such agricultural activities. argued that the draft law would not adequately In November 2011, the Laos government protect minorities from hate crimes. At the time issued its first set of communal forest land titles, of writing, it appeared that the government was acknowledging the community rights of four going to drop the initiative. villages to bamboo forests in Sangthong district In December, the senate passed the near Vientiane. It is hoped that communal titles controversial Peaceful Assembly Bill, despite will now be issued in other areas of the country widespread opposition from local civil society where minority and indigenous groups are at a and international NGOs. The law bans street high risk of being displaced from their land. protests, prohibits those under 21 years old from In one positive development, the Lao Ministry assembling peacefully, and provides a wide range of Energy and Mines proposed amendments to of powers to the police. the Minerals Law in 2011 in order to address The new legislation comes after crackdowns loopholes that were thought to be giving free rein on protests throughout 2011, including protests to mining companies, for example to use sites by religious minority organizations. In February, for purposes for which they were not granted, authorities denied a request by the Hindu Rights such as logging and plantations. Other proposed Action Force (HRAF) to conduct a peaceful anti- changes include stricter environmental standards discrimination march. HRAF was banned after and increased compensation for affected a peaceful demonstration in 2007 for the rights communities. of religious minorities in Malaysia. Authorities Freedom of religion is guaranteed in the arrested at least 59 members of HRAF and the Lao Constitution, but in practice some laws Hindu Rights Party (HRP) hours before the rally are used to suppress unsanctioned religious began. All were released on bail, charged with activities. Many ethnic minorities in Laos practice being part of an ‘illegal association’.

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 153 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Above: A Penan family at a temporary shelter in attempting to convert Muslims at a charity event, Malaysian Borneo. Sofia Yu. an accusation the group denied. Soon after, rallies against alleged Christian proselytizing were held The HRAF protest was in part sparked by across the country, organized by Himpun, an controversy over the Interlok, compulsory ad hoc coalition of Muslim groups pushing for a reading for students in secondary school, that conservative, pro-Muslim Malay agenda. includes racial stereotyping of Indian and In April, Abdul Taib Mahmud was reelected Chinese communities. On 15 January, the novel as Chief Minister of Sarawak – a forested was removed from the syllabus, but the decision state on the island of Borneo – continuing was reversed on 28 January. It remains on the his 30-year reign over a state where 50 per syllabus, but sensitive words will be removed. cent of the population are indigenous people, Many in the Indian community and others think collectively referred to as Dayak or Orang Ulu. the book generates inter-racial conflict. Elections were marred by reports of vote-buying Shi’a Muslims, listed as a ‘deviant’ sect by and intimidation of indigenous communities. Malaysia’s Islamic law in this majority Sunni International observers as well as local election Muslim state, also continued to face difficulties. monitors were reportedly not allowed into the In May, in the central state of Selangor, state, and some indigenous people were not authorities broke up a gathering of Shi’a who registered to vote because they had been denied were celebrating the birthday of a daughter of the national identity cards. At least 480,000 people Prophet, on accusations of proselytizing. Four (one-third of eligible voters), largely from rural people were reportedly detained. areas affected by land-grabbing, are not registered In August, police raided a Methodist-Christian to vote. Members of the Penan community say Church in Selangor, accusing members of they have repeatedly sought identity cards but

154 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 their applications are never processed. Forestry Department had issued illegal logging In 2011, accusations of corruption against licences for land covered by native customary the Chief Minister gained momentum: the UK rights of the Krian people. It is hoped that this government announced it would investigate ruling will have positive implications for land accusations of money-laundering against him. rights cases pending in lower courts against Taib has notoriously provided business contracts state confiscation of indigenous ancestral lands; to his family and associates for logging, hydro- estimates of the number of cases vary from electric projects and palm oil plantations in around 200 to over 300. Sarawak. Three Chinese state-owned companies are helping to build a network of as many as Philippines 51 controversial dams to spur rapid industrial Conflict and displacement affecting Philippines’ development. Many of these concessions minority groups continued during the first year have been granted in territories contested by and a half of Benigno Aquino III’s presidency, indigenous peoples, whose rights are recognized both as a result of militarization and natural under Malaysian law. Less than 10 per cent of disaster. The Moro Islamic Liberation Front Sarawak’s forest is reportedly left intact, a figure (MILF), a major armed Islamic group, is hotly contested by the Chief Minister. currently engaged in peace negotiations with In June, the Malaysian national human rights the government. The Mindanao region, home institution, Suhakam, announced its National to a significant number of Muslim Moro or Inquiry into the land rights of indigenous Bangasmoro, has seen a long-running struggle peoples, and has so far received almost 900 land with armed insurgency groups seeking autonomy rights complaints. Suhakam plans to conduct a in the majority Christian Philippine state. series of consultations in affected areas and release Negotiations resumed in February 2011. While its report by June 2012. an agreement was reached in December to create Indigenous community attempts to enforce a functioning autonomous government for the their traditional land rights in Malaysian courts Moros, negotiations are ongoing and will have have had mixed results. In September, members to address the rights of minorities within Moro of indigenous groups lost their decade-long fight territory, a major cause of the breakdown in talks against state confiscation of land to construct in 2008. the controversial 2,400-megawatt Bakun dam in Mindanao is also the ancestral territory of Sarawak. The Federal Court ruled that the state indigenous groups, collectively known as Lumad. had not violated their native customary rights. In northern Cordillera, in the Luzon region, However, the Chief Judge of Sabah and Sarawak a variety of heterogeneous indigenous groups expressed concern that provisions in the land are collectively referred to as Igorot. Indigenous code seem to give wide powers to ministers to groups in the Mindoro region of the Vasayas are override customary land rights. In October, with collectively called Manygyan. Many indigenous the help of Sinohydro and China Export Import communities across the country have been drawn Bank, the dam became operational after nearly into the conflict between the central government five decades of delays. and the New People’s Army (NPA) – the armed Indigenous groups won a victory in September, wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines when the state government postponed the (CPP) that has been fighting for over four construction of the Baram dam, set to displace decades for a communist take-over. Communities 20,000 people. Strong resistance from affected have been accused of supporting the NPA and Kayan, Kenyah and Penan groups is thought targeted by anti-insurgency operations of the to have been the impetus behind the decision. Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP). In However, the dam will only be delayed for February, the government resumed negotiations further social impact assessments and until the with the CCP-NPA in Oslo for the first time in Baleh dam is complete, a project that will resettle six years. But talks stalled later in the year. fewer communities. Also in September, the Both human rights defenders from indigenous High Court in Sabah and Sarawak ruled that the communities and those supporting their rights

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 155 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 have been targeted for extra-judicial killings, of the Koronadal Indigenous Peoples Women threatened and harassed throughout the Gathering, an indigenous women’s coalition, Philippines. During Aquino’s first 18 months said: ‘This sounds like a blanket call to intensify in office, the National Alliance of Indigenous attacks against us.’ According to KAMP, 60 Peoples in the Philippines (KAMP) recorded per cent of the total land area of the Cordilleras 13 indigenous rights activists killed, at least has been approved for mining applications 4 of whom were resisting mining in their and operations. Indigenous communities in communities. Pampanga and Cagayan Valley also contend with The AFP has long been implicated in these the massive influx of large-scale mines. and other politically motivated killings over the In November, the Internal Displacement last decade. Rudy Dejos, a B’laan indigenous Monitoring Centre (IDMC) reported that community leader in Santa Cruz, Davao del Sur, 34,000 people remained displaced following was killed in February 2011 along with his adult separate instances of heavy fighting between the son. According to HRW, Dejos’ body showed AFP and MILF, as well as suspected renegade signs of being tortured. He had previously been MILF groups, in October in Basilan and threatened by the AFP; the police blame the Zambonga Sibugay provinces. Drawing on UN NPA, but his family is not convinced. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Conflicts relating to mining concessions in Affairs (OCHA) findings, the IDMC reported a Moro and indigenous peoples’ lands continued total of 46,000 displaced at that time. throughout 2011. The Xstrata-controlled On 17 December, tropical storm Washi hit Sagittarius Mines-proposed open-pit gold and northern and south-western parts of Mindanao. copper mine in Tampakan, South Cotabato drew By January 2012, over 1,200 had died in the particular controversy. The company intends to flash floods. The devastation was exacerbated by push forward its application despite evidence of deforestation, leading the Autonomous Region lack of free, prior and informed consent on the of Muslim Mindanao’s (ARMM) recently part of affected B’laan communities, as well as a appointed governor Mujiv Hataman to declare province-wide ban on open-pit mining that was a logging ban in ARMM, at the behest of the declared in 2010. The company claims it has central government. the backing of local communities, while activists question whether those who support the project Thailand understand its environmental consequences. The In July, Thailand elected its first female Prime mine will straddle the territory of four ancestral Minister, Yingluck Shinawatra of the Pheu Thai domains of the B’laan indigenous people. The party, younger sister of ousted Prime Minister project has led to a string of violent incidents Thaksin Shinawatra. Her supporters, mainly in 2011, including the murder in February of a rural poor from the north, had previously filled S’bangken indigenous leader who supported it. the streets of Bangkok with their protests. Her The NPA has attacked the mine in the past and leadership has since been tested by flooding in warned of further violence if the project proceeds. the central provinces and increasing violence in In January, Aquino instituted a counter- the south. insurgency programme, the Oplan Bayanihan Conflict continued to plague Thailand’s four (OB), ostensibly to foster peaceful relations southern-most provinces, where Malay-Muslims between conflict-affected communities and the are a majority in this majority Buddhist state. military. KAMP has argued that it only increases Since 2004, these provinces have endured a militarization in indigenous areas. In October, violent separatist insurgency. Insurgents target the NPA attacked three mining operations in civilians for extra-judicial killings and regularly Surigao del Norte, killing three private security detonate explosives in public areas. From 2004 to guards and damaging equipment. In response, the end of 2011, nearly 5,000 people have been the government agreed to allow mining killed in the conflict. Thai military and security companies to hire militias to protect their sites. forces have been accused of arbitrary arrests, A statement released by the Special Committee detention without charge and torture of Malay-

156 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Muslim suspects, under Decree to health and education services, face restrictions and martial law. on their movement and endure harassment by Yingluck Shinawatra’s Pheu Thai party state authorities. won no seats in the south, but her campaign For decades, indigenous peoples have been promises included increasing the number of forcibly evicted and relocated from their lands Muslims permitted to attend the hajj and more on grounds of national security, development public input into decision-making processes. and resource conservation. In the north, smaller According to Deep South Watch, a local conflict- mountain-dwelling ethnic groups, including monitoring organization, violence spiked in the Akha, Hmong, , Lahu, Lisu and Mein, month after Yingluck Shinawatra’s appointment. struggle to survive economically and culturally in In December 2010, then Prime Minister the face of development projects, land-ownership Abhisit Vejjajiva attempted to quell the unrest issues and the influx of ethnic Thais. through changes to the recently revived South- In July, officials at Kaeng Krachan National ern Border Provinces Administrative Centre Park, Phetchaburi province, stormed and burned (SBPAC), a civilian body that oversees develop- a total of 90 homes and rice barns in a Karen ment and policy-creation. It can now receive village. Officials justified this as a means to complaints on mistreatment by security forces prevent forest destruction, even though it is and has the power to discipline or remove offi- the constitutional right of these Karen to reside cials or police officers. But by October Yingluck in the forests, as they have been on the land Shinawatra’s Cabinet had replaced the admin- for generations. Many of the families remain istrative head of the SBPAC, to the disappoint- displaced, some reportedly hiding in the forest ment of southern Muslims who saw this as a without sufficient food or shelter. political appointment that did not reflect their On 3 September, Tatkamol Ob-om, a Karen interests. In December, the Cabinet extended the community activist brought the case to the Emergency Decree for another three months. National Human Rights Commission. He was Human rights defenders working to achieve shot and killed on 10 September. A warrant was justice for victims in the southern provinces issued for the arrest of the park director Chaiwat continue to face threats. In April, the AHRC Limlikitauksorn, who later turned himself into reported that Yaena Salaemae was being harassed police, denying the charges. He has since been by security forces for her work to achieve justice released on bail and has retained his role as park for the seven Muslims shot by security forces head, still justifying his violent evictions of the while peacefully protesting in 2004. A further Karen village. 78 protesters had died after the group had been Forest officials have blamed Karen traditional herded into trucks to be taken into detention. swidden agriculture – pejoratively known as In the case of the 2004 disappearance of lawyer ‘slash and burn’ – for contributing to forest Somchai Neelapaijit, who had also fought for the degradation and global warming. From 2005 to rights of Muslims, the defendants were acquitted 2011, 38 cases of ‘global warming’ were brought in March on technical grounds. against Thailand’s indigenous forest-dwelling Thailand’s diverse indigenous peoples peoples, nine of which have been settled resulting have also been engaged in a long struggle to in fines of over 18 million baht. Marine park defend their rights. Hundreds of thousands conservation has also pushed indigenous Moken of indigenous people have been denied Thai and other sea off their territory, making citizenship, stemming from state neglect, it illegal to fish in protected waters. These and corruption or rejections on the basis that many other such cases criminalize indigenous groups have migrated from Burma. In cooperation with for practising their traditional livelihoods and NGOs and UN agencies, the government has residing in areas to which they have ancestral enabled some to receive Thai citizenship, but land rights claims. in 2011 approximately 30 per cent or 296,000 of Thailand’s indigenous peoples still lack Vietnam citizenship. They are consequently denied access January 2011 saw the reappointment of Prime

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 157 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Minister Nguyen Tan Dung for a second five-year term in the Politburo of Vietnam’s Case study Communist Party (CPV), the ruling party in this tightly controlled one-party state. Vietnam officially recognizes 54 ethnic Asia’s Commission groups, among whom the majority ethnic Kinh make up 86 per cent of the population. Ethnic on Human Rights minority and indigenous groups have significant populations in the northern highlands, central highlands and the Mekong delta region – The establishment of the ASEAN Inter- including Hmong, Khmer, Muong, Tay and governmental Commission on Human Thai. In the central highlands, in Gia Lai and Rights (AICHR) on 23 October 2009 Dak Lak provinces in particular, about two dozen marked a momentous achievement for indigenous groups collectively self-identify as human rights in the region. But there is no Montagnards, many of whom are also Protestant explicit mention of the rights of indigenous Christians. peoples and minorities in its mandate and Vietnam’s central highlands are rich in natural civil society organizations continued to resources, including bauxite. In September, a push to include these rights in the draft Chinese-backed bauxite mine in Lam Dong ASEAN Declaration on Human Rights. province began operations, despite unusually high The AICHR has been criticized for levels of public criticism about environmental getting tied up in procedural issues, failing consequences and Chinese involvement. Bauxite to consult with civil society and for being is a mineral used to produce aluminum, and, unable to receive information officially with the third largest reserve of bauxite in the from civil society groups about severe world, the government has shown little regard human rights violations. There is also for the concerns of central highland peoples, concern about the independence of the including over potential contamination of water commissioners, inadequate resources and an resources as well as adverse impact on crops. unclear protection mandate. Land in Vietnam is state-owned – with There is no specific mechanism for the individual land use rights – and can be protection and promotion of minority re-appropriated for state interests. With or indigenous peoples’ rights within the forests and mineral-rich lands in minority and AICHR. Civil society groups created an indigenous areas, state land confiscation can Indigenous Peoples Task Force in order have a devastating effect on these communities. to lobby and inform ASEAN and its In her January 2011 report on her official visit relevant bodies, particularly to establish a to Vietnam in 2010, the Independent Expert focal person for indigenous issues and to on Minority Issues, Gay McDougall, noted establish an ASEAN Working Group on the massive resettlement caused by the Son indigenous issues. La hydropower plant, where 91,000 people The team drafting the Declaration on belonging to ethnic minorities were relocated Human Rights was formed by the AICHR by 2010 – the largest resettlement programme and was expected to present its first draft in Vietnam’s history. Ten different groups have in January 2012. The drafting process has been affected, the majority being ethnic Thai. been held largely behind closed doors and The Vietnam Union of Science and Technology the terms of reference have not been made Associations reported: ‘[R]elocation is breaking public. p down existing social structures and community relationships and creating trauma for minority groups … Most are left without any agricultural land.’ In May, seven land rights defenders, some of

158 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 whom also struggle for religious freedom, were of faith and declarations of allegiance to the tried for ‘subversion’ in the Ben Tre People’s state, against indigenous Montagnards. HRW Court; all received prison sentences ranging further reported that since 2001, more than 350 from two to eight years. Pastor Duong Kim Montagnards have been imprisoned for public Khai was one of those found guilty. A leader of protests, attending unregistered house churches the Mennonite ‘Cattle Shed’ religious group – or trying to flee to seek asylum in Cambodia. so-called because their church was confiscated Vietnam has, however, demonstrated a by authorities and they began using a shed for sustained effort to collect disaggregated data worship – has assisted people in the Mekong on its ethnic minority populations in order to delta with land rights claims. implement more effective development projects. The government maintains strict controls In 2011 a recent study by the government in on freedom of religion, permitting only state- conjunction with UN agencies reaffirmed that sanctioned , and using complex ethnic minorities in Vietnam have worse health registration requirements, surveillance and indicators, particularly for minority women, who intimidation to control the practice of faith. had less access to reproductive health care than Religious activists and those practising their majority counterparts. ‘unauthorized’ religions are targeted by the government. In July, police arrested three Catholic activists as they returned from a conference abroad. Twelve more religious East Asia activists were arrested by the end of September, the majority of whom were later charged with Marusca Perazzi ‘subversion’. In December, Nguyen Van Lia, a 71-year-old who has raised international China awareness about the situation faced by fellow- The year 2011 revealed unmistakable signs of members of the Hoa Hao Buddhists, was ferment and frustration in Chinese society. sentenced to five years in prison for distributing Unsettled by the pro-democracy Arab Spring ‘anti-government’ propaganda. uprisings and the country’s scheduled leadership Vietnamese authorities continued to use transition in October 2012, the government violence and intimidation in the central launched the largest crackdown on human highlands and north-west provinces, especially rights lawyers, activists and critics in a decade. against Protestant ethnic minorities and others This resulted in tightened internet censorship, conducting ‘unsanctioned’ religious practices. persecution of high-profile critics, and an Since the state restricts foreign media in these increasing number of forced disappearances and areas, it is difficult to get a clear picture. HRW, arbitrary detentions. however, reported that thousands of Hmong During 2011, the Chinese government Christians began protesting in the north-west continued to limit religious practice to officially province of Dien Bien at the end of April. approved religious institutions. There was a This was met by a violent response from the continued crackdown on unregistered religious military, with unconfirmed reports of numerous organizations, including underground Christian deaths and injuries. According to the BBC, the groups. In April, the government pressured a protesters demanded more religious freedom, Beijing landlord to evict the Shouwang ‘house secure land rights and greater autonomy. church’ with 1,000 congregants from its location Unrest over land rights and the struggle for in his restaurant. Consequently, services were religious freedom in the central highlands during held outdoors attracting police attention and the last decade has made the area a security resulting in the temporary detention of more concern for the government. In a 2011 report, than 100 of its members. Thousands of Falun HRW detailed how security forces have used Gong spiritual practitioners, members of a violence, arbitrary arrest, imprisonment and group targeted by the authorities, continued to torture, as well as forced public renunciations face intimidation, harassment and arrest. The

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 159 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 government continued to heavily restrict religious the country’s east coast. activities in the name of security in minority During 2011, the Chinese government areas, particularly in Tibet and Xinjiang. called for accelerated development in minority While ethnic minorities in China constitute areas under its 12th Five-Year Plan (2011–15). only 8 per cent of the overall population, they Also in 2011, the US Congressional Executive inhabit large areas rich in natural resources, Commission on China (CECC) reported that in especially energy and minerals, in some of the ethnic minority autonomous regions the Chinese most impoverished regions of the country. For government continued to implement top-down example, has rich coal deposits; development policies that have undercut the Xinjiang is known to have China’s largest oil and promotion of regional autonomy and limited gas reserves; Tibet has massive deposits of gold, the rights of minorities to maintain their unique copper and rare earths, as well as much of the cultures, languages and livelihoods, while country’s water resources. bringing a degree of economic improvement. The Over the past decade, these areas have been the government push on development also meant an target of the government’s ‘Go West’ campaign. intensification of the long-standing majority Han Ostensibly, the government’s goal has been to migration into minority areas. These new arrivals reduce regional disparities and bring economic have disproportionately benefited from economic development to the western provinces and opportunities, which has caused resentment autonomous regions (Ningxia, Tibet, Inner among ethnic minorities. Also, the environmental Mongolia, Guangxi and Xinjiang); critics have degradation that accompanies natural resource defined the campaign as ‘internal colonization’, exploitation continues to exacerbate tensions. aimed at bringing large areas in minority regions under control so as to exploit their natural Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region resources to support further development along The Chinese authorities have continued to

160 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: A Tibetan monk sits in his room with a end of 2011, and many Uighurs have been photo of the Dalai Lama and Karamapa on the forcibly evicted and relocated to make way wall at a monastery in Sichuan province, China. for a new city centre, dominated by the Han Photos of the Dalai Lama are prohibited in population. Forced evictions have become a China but many monks carry one secretly. routine part of life in China amid rampant Shiho Fukada/Panos. development. But rural land grab disputes hit new highs in 2011 and are spreading further into implement a repressive security regime in undeveloped regions of western China, according Xinjiang Uighur Autonomous Region, since to an October report by Xinhua’s magazine, violent riots broke out in July 2009 – the Outlook Weekly. worst ethnic conflict in recent Chinese history. According to Human Rights Watch (HRW), the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region government has still not accounted for hundreds Violence also broke out in the Ningxia Hui of people detained after the riots and continues Autonomous Region in north-west China. On to target human rights activists. 30 December 2011, police clashed with ethnic Tensions in the region have been exacerbated Hui Muslims in Taoshan village. According to by increasingly tight controls over religious the Hong Kong-based Information Centre for practice and use of minority languages. Human Rights and Democracy, 50 people were Government-led development projects have injured and two people killed after authorities undermined the rights of Uighurs and other non- declared a newly refurbished mosque illegal and Han communities. Employment practices in both the police tried to demolish it. the private and public sectors have also continued to discriminate against Uighurs and other non- Grassland policies Han groups, who together comprise roughly 60 At a State Council meeting in April 2011, per cent of Xinjiang’s population. authorities called for ‘more forceful policy During the summer of 2011, the region was measures’ for ‘speeding up development of the scene of several violent incidents. In July, at pastoral areas, ensuring the state’s ecological least 18 people were killed when rioters, some security, and promoting ethnic unity and border armed with homemade explosives, attacked a stability’. This strengthened ongoing grassland police station in the city of Hotan. And on 30 policies that impose grazing bans, and resettle and 31 July, at least 13 people were killed and herders, forcing them to give up their pastoralist 44 injured in two episodes in Kashgar, the state lifestyle, which affects Mongols, Tibetans, news agency Xinhua reported. Following these Kazakhs and other minorities. Critics have incidents, the authorities launched an anti- questioned the effectiveness of such policies in terrorism campaign in August, targeting illegal meeting the declared goal of restoring degraded religious activity and implementing patriotic grassland, while affected communities report education campaigns. forced resettlement, inadequate compensation In October, Xinhua reported that the and loss of traditional livelihoods and culture. government was considering new stricter anti- terrorism legislation, claiming that the country Inner Mongolian Autonomous Region faced serious threats from Islamist groups. In During the year, rising ethnic tensions in December, police killed seven Uighurs accused the usually relatively calm Inner Mongolian of being terrorists in Pishan County, a Uighur- Autonomous Region rattled the Chinese majority area near the Pakistan border. However, authorities. In May, a Mongolian herder overseas Uighur groups said they doubted the protesting against the destruction of traditional official account of events. grazing land was killed by a Han driver Land seizures in the ancient Uighur city of transporting coal in Uxin County. The incident Kashgar also stirred up resentment. Eighty per sparked the worst demonstrations in two cent of traditional Uighur neighbourhoods in decades in Inner Mongolia. Protesters called Kashgar were scheduled for demolition by the for the government to respect herders’ rights

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 161 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 and condemned the exploitation of grasslands. While the government executed the truck driver Case study By Gabriel Lafitte responsible, the mining project that caused the protest continued. Further protests broke out when another Mining Tibet herder was killed by an oil truck in a similar incident in October. This prompted the government to tighten security and cut off Gold internet and mobile-phone access to large parts of Tibetans call the Plateau of Tibet ‘the land the region, according to the Southern Mongolian surrounded by mountains’. Among the massive Human Rights Information Center (SMHRIC). mountain chains, a few peaks are especially Mongolian herders continue to complain that sacred, attracting pilgrims from afar. In rugged their traditional grazing lands have been ruined eastern Tibet, nowhere is as sacred as the hidden by mining, that widespread desertification is land of Kawa Kharpo. turning the grassland to dust, and that the The sacred Kawagebo mountain sits on government has forcibly relocated them into the border between the Tibetan Autonomous settled houses. Region and China’s Yunnan Province; its eastern side is part of the Three Parallel Rivers Tibetan autonomous areas area, a UNESCO World Heritage Site. In The situation in the Tibet Autonomous Region, February 2011, a small gold-mining operation and other Tibetan autonomous areas of Qinghai, started near the village of Abin, which is on Sichuan, Gansu and Yunnan provinces grew the western side of Kawagebo, along the path increasingly tense throughout 2011. Since the of an 800-year-old pilgrimage route that circles brutal crackdown on protests that swept the the mountain, attracting tens of thousands of plateau in 2008, Chinese security forces have Tibetans annually. maintained a heavy presence. Large numbers In 2012, Tibetan villagers, acting out of of Tibetans, including intellectuals, monks and reverence for the holy peak, attempted to stop farmers, have been imprisoned, and monasteries, the operations of a Chinese mining company. seen by the Chinese government as the focus of The response was threats and violence from dissent, have been subject to intensified controls company representatives, then harassment and and political pressure. Tibetans are increasingly arrests by local police. On two occasions, men economically marginalized, as development has armed with wooden sticks with nails reportedly brought an influx of majority Han Chinese into attacked villagers, injuring more than a dozen. Tibetan regions; the newcomers dominate the job After efforts to negotiate with the local market, and local businesses as well as culture. government failed, villagers pushed US$ During the second half of the year, there was 300,000 worth of mining equipment into the a wave of self-immolations mainly involving Nu River. A leader of the group was arrested, Buddhist monks and nuns across eastern Tibet. but later released when 100 villagers surrounded In March, a monk from the Kirti monastery in the local police station where he was being held. the Tibetan Ngaba region of Sichuan province A few months later, however, mining resumed set fire to himself in protest against Chinese rule and tensions grew. Harassment, death threats and the ongoing repression of Tibetan religious and attacks on villagers increased, and some and cultural identity. In August, local authorities women and children fled to other villages to imposed heavy prison sentences on three Tibetan escape the violence. monks who had assisted him. Ten more Tibetan On 20 January 2012, a village leader who monks and one nun had self-immolated by mid- had tried to confront the mining company was November, all expressing their desperation in arrested by local police. Some 200 community the face of ongoing repression. By March 2012, members surrounded the police station, a reported 30 Tibetans had set themselves on resulting in violence and injuries on both sides, fire in Tibetan areas of China to protest against

162 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 with at least one villager hospitalized with Along the Nu River (known as the Salween serious injuries. Hundreds more villagers from once it reaches Burma), the longest free-flowing the surrounding area joined in. On 23 January, river in mainland south-east Asia, a 13-dam with tensions mounting, a local government cascade has been proposed. The scheme leader ordered the mine closed and the includes several dams in or very close to the equipment trucked out of the village. World Heritage Site mentioned above; these This story represents a rare victory in would wipe out portions of the pilgrimage the struggle against the despoiling of the route around Kawagebo and displace numerous landscape of Tibet. All too often, local Tibetan communities along the river valley. Although communities are powerless, knowing that any the project was put on hold in 2004 in the protest will be quickly labelled as ‘splittist’ and wake of widespread protest, it is certainly not a challenge to China’s rule, invoking a massive dead. security presence to quell dissent. The Kawa Last year, the World Heritage Committee Kharpo episode is remarkable, both because issued a statement expressing concern over the villagers won and because the world got to reports of unapproved construction under way hear about it, due to a brave conservationist at one dam site on the Nu River, and surveying from the Chinese environmental NGO Green work – including road-building and drilling Earth Volunteers, who witnessed the protest – at three others. But in February, Chinese and reported it. Usually, such protests are not officials revealed plans to resume the Nu River only swiftly curbed but all mention of them is dams as part of China’s ambitious hydropower repressed. plans to meet its renewable energy targets. The Mining is widespread in hundreds of project will displace 50,000 people belonging locations across Tibet, despite official bans on to ethnic minorities, including Lisu, Nu and small-scale gold mining in 2005 and 2007. Tibetan people. The soaring price of gold, and the even faster Nearly all the dams scheduled for rise in Chinese domestic demand for gold, has construction in China by 2020 are in Kham, made Tibet a magnet for gold-seekers. The one of the three provinces of Tibet, which environmental cost of gold mining is extremely is now administratively fragmented into high, with cyanide and mercury being used in the Chinese provinces of Sichuan, Yunnan, the processing, despite their toxic effects on Qinghai and Tibet Autonomous Region. Kham those living downstream. The most systematic is not only a historically coherent province of way of extracting gold in a river is to assemble a Tibet, all of its counties and prefectures are dredge, a house-sized machine on tracks, which officially designated as areas of governance by crawls along, chewing up everything whilst and for the Tibetans as a people. But west-to- gathering the specks of gold. These methods east transmission networks will increasingly are highly destructive, yet Tibetans have supply coastal China with electricity from been unable to form their own community Tibet, triggering serious questions as to associations, speak up, articulate their concerns whether Tibetans will benefit in any way. and let the world know. The Kham hydroelectric dam cascade is not for rural electrification, to provide light for Hydroelectric power children to study by night and improve their Unfortunately, Abin is but one of many school grades. It is not for Tibetan farmers Tibetan villages threatened by economic forces. to buy electric threshing machines for their There is a greater overarching threat to the barley crops, or for village millers to roast and region, namely hydroelectric dam development. grind the dried barley seeds to make tsampa, The government is increasingly turning to the staple of the Tibetan diet. The ultra high Tibet to solve China’s impending water and voltage lines will pass them by, en route to energy crisis. factories in Shanghai and Guangzhou. p

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 163 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 government policies the Yellow River. The self-immolations have raised the level of The government is ramping up its hydropower tension and distress in Tibet to new heights. ambitions in a bid to meet renewable energy Security forces have used violence when targets, resurrecting projects previously raiding monasteries, searching for signs of shelved for environmental reasons. The NGO allegiance to Tibet’s exiled spiritual leader, the International Rivers has reported that China Dalai Lama, and arbitrarily detaining monks. has begun to build a series of dams in ethnic Demonstrations, vigils and expressions of moral minority regions of south-west China, including support for protesters seen as martyrs by the the Jinsha (upper Yangtze), Lancang (Mekong) wider population have been met with ever and the Nu (Salween) Rivers. tighter security clampdown. The wave of self- immolations has caused the central authorities Japan considerable embarrassment but has resulted in The year 2011 was a very challenging one for no change in their repressive policies. Japan as it struggled to cope with the economic, The recent acceleration in natural resource social and political aftershocks of the most development has led to increasing conflict and devastating earthquake and tsunami in 140 years, protests in the region. The completion of the which struck the country in March. The disaster Qinghai–Tibetan railway in 2005 and new left 20,000 dead and many more homeless, and highways is spurring an economic boom in Tibet, triggered the meltdown of three reactors at the including hydropower and mining (see case study Fukushima nuclear plant. on page 162). For example, Tibetans protested Although Japan promotes itself as a against the Gyama mine project, controlled homogeneous society, the country has significant by Vancouver-based China Gold and located numbers of minority and indigenous groups, just upstream of Lhasa in 2010. The mining including Burakumin, and indigenous Ainu operation has reportedly dried up spring waters, and Okinawans. Korean and Chinese minorities poisoned drinking water, killed animals and have had a long-standing presence, along with destroyed flora and fauna in the region. Despite newer arrivals from South America and Asia, who this, in August 2011, China Gold announced continue to appear vulnerable to exploitation, that it will proceed with a major expansion of the prejudice and discrimination. project. The estimated 200,000 Burakumin belong Across Tibet, nomads are being systematically to a social minority of the same ethnicity as and often forcibly relocated into settled other Japanese but are nevertheless victims communities as part of a policy known as of deep-seated caste-based discrimination. ‘ecological migration’. For example, since 2005, Modern reforms, including regarding access to 50,000 Tibetan nomads have been relocated from housing and employment, have improved social the Sanjiangyuan National Reserve in Qinghai conditions to some extent, but the root causes of province on the Tibetan Plateau into unfamiliar their marginalization – social discrimination and urban areas where there are few economic prejudice – have not been adequately addressed opportunities. Some experts have pointed out by the government. that the locations of the recent self-immolations Ainu were officially recognized by the correspond, ‘with a few exceptions’, to areas of government as indigenous settlers of northern intensive resettlement. Social problems – such as Japan in 2008 but, to the disappointment high levels of unemployment and crime – have of many activists, this recognition has failed quickly emerged in these areas. The government’s to address problems of social and economic ostensible goal is to preserve fragile ecosystems marginalization. Amid growing frustrations over and to counteract the negative impact of over- the lack of tangible progress securing their rights, grazing. But during 2011, the boundaries of at the end of October, Ainu representatives the reserve have quietly been redrawn to allow formed their own political party. There are for large-scale gold mining by Inter-Citic, a an estimated 30,000–50,000 Ainu in Japan. Canadian mining company, near the source of Research carried out in 2006 indicated that

164 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 the number of Ainu living on welfare was over again failed to respond to requests by the three times the national average, and that the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial proportion of Ainu receiving higher education Discrimination (CERD) and the UN Committee was one-third the national average. on the Elimination of Discrimination Against Over the centuries, Ainu have been stripped of Women (CEDAW) to provide economic and their land, resources and traditional livelihoods. social data reflecting the situation of minorities, More recently, Ainu people have been caught up and data to expose the extent of violence against in a struggle to control their ancestral waterways. minority women. CEDAW has also requested A government plan to build a second dam on the data on the education, employment, social Saru River in the Hidaka Region of Hokkaido welfare and health status of minority women. has raised concerns about the rights of the Ainu people. The first Nibutani dam on the Saru Taiwan River, the most important river for local Ainu, The 14 officially recognized indigenous groups was completed in the 1990s. In a landmark in Taiwan make up about 2 per cent of the decision in 1997, a district court judge ruled that island’s population (collectively referred to as the government had illegally expropriated land ‘yuanzhumin’) and mostly inhabit the central owned by Ainu farmers to construct the dam mountains and the eastern coastal region. Ami and recognized Ainu’s cultural rights. The ruling constitute the largest group, and they along did not reverse the all-but-completed dam, but with the Paiwan and the Saisiat communities the case set a precedent and, as a result, work are able to maintain a visible traditional cultural on the second Biratori dam further upstream life. Other smaller groups (known as ‘pingpu’ or was delayed until 2010. And now, as it is going lowland tribes) are still fighting for recognition. ahead, the Ainu community has become engaged Other communities on the island include the in the construction process of the dam, aiming to majority Hokkien/ Minanese (69 per cent), ensure preservation of local Ainu culture. Hakka (13 per cent) and more recent immigrants But in other cases, the government has from mainland China and elsewhere. failed to uphold Ainu rights. In a collective While historically Taiwan’s indigenous statement made at the UN Permanent Forum peoples have been discriminated against and on Indigenous Issues in May, the NGO Asia deprived of fundamental freedoms including Indigenous People’s Pact along with other their land rights, in recent years the government civil society organizations accused the Japanese has invested more funds to support indigenous government of failing to fully implement peoples’ culture. The Taiwanese government has indigenous rights. According to the statement, also adopted a number of laws and regulations the Mombetsu city government in Hokkaido to protect indigenous peoples’ rights, including prefecture authorized plans to build an industrial with regard to political participation, culture and waste dumping site near the Mobetsu River language. However, serious inconsistencies and in February 2010, a sacred salmon spawning contradictions in legislation alongside partial site for Ainu, without obtaining their free, implementation of laws guaranteeing the rights of prior and informed consent. The statement indigenous peoples have partly thwarted progress also condemned the heavy presence of US towards self-governance. military bases in Okinawa territory as a form of The government has pursued a policy of discrimination against the Okinawan people. economic development which, according to A new base is under construction at Henoko/ local indigenous activists, has negatively affected Oura Bay, plus six helipads elsewhere, despite indigenous peoples’ traditional lands. Forested long-standing opposition from local indigenous areas and land with mining potential have been communities. In response to their protests, claimed as national property; areas of natural the authorities have filed a lawsuit forbidding beauty have been designated national parks for local indigenous members to stage sit-ins at the tourism; and the government has reportedly heliport construction site. also taken large tracts of land from indigenous In 2011, the Japanese government yet communities living in mountainous areas under

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 165 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 the pretext of national security. At the end the Act does not define or grant them rights to of January, members of the Ami indigenous indigenous lands, and that if it is passed, they group protested against the government’s would lose much of their input into decision- occupation of their traditional land. Subsequent making. This prompted activists to criticize discussions with officials failed to make any the government in December for failing to progress. In June, about 300 Paiwan leaders and implement the Indigenous Peoples Basic Law, representatives from other indigenous groups as already passed by Taiwan’s highest legislative demonstrated in Nantien village in Taitung assembly in 2005. County against government plans to build Ongoing protests are evidence that a number of nuclear waste facilities. Also in 2011, academics indigenous communities have not benefited from and civil society and indigenous groups Taiwan’s economic boom, partly due to economic successfully managed to stop the construction of disparities and lack of proper access to education a section of coastal highway that would overlap in their areas. Education is still a key issue, with with the ancient Alangyi Trail in south-west endangered indigenous languages put at great risk Taiwan and pass through previously untouched of extinction, despite constitutional guarantees coastal forest used by indigenous people for and the National Language Development Act. hunting. On a positive note, in 2011 Taiwan’s In June, indigenous groups rejected the draft legislature adopted a law to implement the UN Indigenous Autonomy Act, which sets out the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of legal framework and process for establishing Discrimination Against Women, and followed autonomous regions for indigenous peoples, up by establishing a national Department of saying it was disrespectful, unconstitutional Gender Equality in 2012, both key steps to and violated the Indigenous Peoples Basic combat gender discrimination. Much remains to Law. Indigenous groups are concerned that be done, since trafficking and child prostitution

166 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Taiwanese indigenous activists shout companies to extract resources, principally slogans during a protest outside the Executive timber, fisheries and in some cases minerals, Yuan in Taipei in January 2009. Hundreds with little benefit for their own peoples. This gathered to protest against what they said was exploitation is causing loss of wildlife habitat a lack of protection for historic land rights. and pollution of environments, which have REUTERS/Nicky Loh (TAIWAN). an enormous impact on local peoples and communities. Moreover, as many indigenous remain significant issues. To combat such illegal communities throughout the region attach practices, the Taiwanese authorities announced spiritual values to their surrounding ecosystems, that they will adopt a zero tolerance gender the development of these projects impacts violence policy, as well as judicial measures to significantly on their cultural practices. strengthen protection mechanisms and improve Other social ills plague the indigenous peoples law and order. of the region, most notably the extreme rates of violence against women and the exploitation of girls, with rates of abuse and rape in the Pacific Oceania among the highest in the world. Fiji Jacqui Zalcberg Fiji has suffered four coups and a military mutiny since 1987, mainly as a result of Oceania is made up of some of the most tension between the majority indigenous Fijian ethnically diverse populations in the world. population and an economically powerful While Oceania is not often associated with large- Indian minority. Over five years have passed scale resource extraction, the region is gaining since the most recent 2006 coup d’état by increasing attention for its natural resources. For Commodore Josaia Voreqe Bainimarama, who the small island states of Oceania, the sea remains has since assumed the post of prime minister. a key resource, and many of the subsistence During this time, Fiji’s military government has needs of the peoples of the region, including been heavily criticized for its infringement of food security and livelihoods, are underpinned rights to free speech, press, peaceful assembly, by marine resources. The explosive growth of and association. However, Bainimarama lifted Asian fish markets has put increasing pressure on martial law in January 2012 and indicated that Pacific marine resources and is affecting people’s consultations on a new constitution would livelihoods. This has been compounded by the begin shortly thereafter, with a promised return impact of climate change, where higher sea to democratic elections within the next two temperatures have led to loss of marine habitats years. He has stated that it was a priority to which also impact on the fish and shellfish that end ethnic tensions, and to put an end to a support many coastal communities in the region. system that classifies based on ethnicity. Moreover, the rise of China as an economic Regulations introduced when martial law was power coupled with the high global demand lifted raised fears that government critics could for mineral resources has contributed to the still be silenced. accelerated pace of exploitation of previously untouched natural resources in the region. For Papua New Guinea example, a Chinese corporation is building its With more than 800 indigenous tribes and first large nickel mine in Papua New Guinea. languages, Papua New Guinea has the most However, in many instances the economic diverse indigenous population in the world. benefits of these large-scale extraction projects Papua New Guinea is also one of the poorest have not properly benefited the indigenous countries not only in Oceania, but in the world. peoples in whose lands, waters and territories The country faces some serious obstacles to these resources are found. Typically, weak development, with some of the worst health and Pacific island governments have allowed foreign education outcomes in the region, driven by high

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 167 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 levels of poverty and a largely rural population, indigenous community leaders challenged the often living in remote locations. validity of the mine’s environmental permit, Geologically, Papua New Guinea contains which was issued by the government against the many natural resources, including copper, gold, advice of its own experts. In December 2011, oil and natural gas. The government hopes however, the Supreme Court dismissed the that greater exploitation of the mineral wealth appeal, ruling that the company can proceed with of the country will provide an opportunity to its activities. increase wealth and result in significant social The Barrick Porgera mine continues to be the and economic change. For example, the PNG subject of ongoing tension, particularly regarding LNG (Papua New Guinea Liquefied Natural the severe environmental impact and human Gas) Project operated by ExxonMobil subsidiary rights abuses associated with mining. Human Esso Highlands, is the country’s largest gas Rights Watch (HRW) published a report in 2011 development project and is predicted to double detailing serious violations, including gang rape, Papua New Guinea’s gross domestic product. committed by security guards against members Yet the case of the PNG LNG Project of the local community. The company, Barrick highlights the tensions generated by many such Gold, conducted an internal investigation, but development projects in Papua New Guinea. For HRW pointed out that it should have acted before example, the land upon which the project will being prompted to do so. In 2011 a ‘Request take place is registered as state land and has been for Review’ of the project was filed by two leased by the government of Papua New Guinea community groups and Mining Watch Canada to Esso Highlands. However, local communities against Barrick Gold under the Organization have filed a legal claim, citing their customary for Economic Co-operation and Development land rights. Moreover, in 2011, after a local boy (OECD) Guidelines on Multinational Enterprises, died due to toxic poisoning from a project site, alleging breaches of the guidelines regarding landowners forced the temporary closure of the sustainable development, human rights and the Hides gas conditioning plant. A landslide in environment. The Canadian OECD National early 2012 destroyed communities living below Contact Point has jurisdiction over the matter a quarry used by the PNG LNG Project and was as Barrick Gold is a Toronto-based gold mining believed to have killed at least 25 people; the company and owns 95 per cent of the Porgera Red Cross feared that the final figure could be mine through subsidiaries. closer to 60 fatalities. Locals are demanding a full investigation into the connection between the Australia quarry and the landslide, as a preliminary report Indigenous Australia failed to even make mention of the mine. There The year 2011 has been a significant one for are fears that the increasing tensions between indigenous peoples in Australia. A referendum indigenous local communities and the company to recognize and could lead to civil unrest in the region. remove racially discriminatory provisions in Other large-scale mining projects in Papua the Constitution now seems likely, following a New Guinea are also being contested by local recently released expert report which received communities. Communities at Krumbukari in bipartisan support. The report recommended, Madang Province are opposed to the development among other things, the constitutional of the Ramu nickel mine. Arguably one of recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait the richest nickel deposits in the southern Islander peoples, and the insertion of a hemisphere, the project, which is being run by prohibition on racial discrimination. a company jointly owned by the Chinese state Another important national initiative to company China Metallurgical Group Corporation recognize the fundamental place of indigenous (MCC) and the Australian-based Highlands peoples in Australia is the National Congress of Pacific, will result in the dumping of over 100 Australia’s First Peoples, whose first board took million tonnes of slurry waste at sea – a practice office in July 2011. Established with the support banned in both China and Australia. In 2010, of the Australian government, the Congress is

168 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 a national representative body for Aboriginal Above: The late Aboriginal elder Ned Cheedy, and Torres Strait Islander peoples, which who worked to preserve the law and culture has been notably lacking since the abolition of the Yindjibarndi people in the Pilbara of of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Western Australia. Juluwarlu Group Aboriginal Commission (ATSIC) in 2005. The Congress is Corporation/Alan Thomson. independent and will provide a formal national mechanism with which the government, the Territory Bill 2011. Yet a Senate Committee private sector and community groups can partner inquiry has already received criticism of the with indigenous and Torres Strait Islander proposed legislation, namely that it extends many peoples on reform initiatives. aspects of the measures introduced in 2007 as Much attention in previous years was paid part of the NTER and continues to raise serious to the Northern Territory Emergency Response human rights concerns. (NTER) laws, which put in place a number of Statistically, indigenous Australians still con- extraordinary measures, including an income tinue to occupy the bottom rung across the full management regime, imposition of compulsory range of development indicators. Education, leases, and community-wide bans on alcohol health and life expectancy indicators fall signifi- consumption and pornography, purportedly to cantly below non-indigenous averages. Moreover, protect indigenous children and communities. indigenous peoples are highly over-represented in These measures were internationally criticized the criminal justice system: according to figures as discriminatory and in breach of Australia’s released in 2011, the imprisonment rate increased international human rights obligations. The by 59 per cent for indigenous women and by 35 federal government recently announced a new per cent for indigenous men between 2000 and legislative framework intended to replace the 2010. Indigenous people are 14 times more likely NTER, the Stronger Futures in the Northern to be sent to jail than non-indigenous people.

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 169 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Indigenous minors are particularly at risk; indig- Kimberley coast at James Price Point, Western enous girls and boys are 23 times more likely to Australia. A deal was struck between some of be imprisoned than their non-indigenous coun- the indigenous traditional landowners of the terparts. The situation of extreme indigenous region, Woodside Petroleum and the State of disadvantage has been addressed by a number of Western Australia. The agreement included targeted nation-wide policies, most notably the a generous benefits package; foresaw high- ‘ the Gap’ strategy, launched in 2006 level cultural and economic engagement from that has set clear targets to improve the lives of traditional landowners in the proposed project; indigenous Australians. However, recent analysis and gave traditional landowners rights to oppose indicates that the government is on track to meet the development on environmental grounds, in only two of its six targets under this initiative. return for foregoing native title claims over that While Australia has been found to contain a land. The deal caused a lot of tension within plethora of high-demand natural resources, the the community. Opponents of the project mining sector does not appear to have benefited claimed that not all traditional landowners indigenous peoples, upon whose lands these were consulted, that the project would destroy resources are often found. To the contrary, ancient Aboriginal sacred sites, and that it was it appears that many traditional owners have pushed through under the threat of compulsory not been properly consulted regarding the acquisition. In December 2011, the Western development of such projects on their lands, and Australian Supreme Court ruled the notices many are outright opposed to their development. of compulsory acquisition invalid, but state For example, the Yindijbarndi people have authorities and the company insisted that the been challenging a proposed project by Fortescue decision would not stop the project. Metals Group to develop the Soloman Hub Indigenous peoples also fought the proposal iron deposit in the Pilbara region. The land on to build the Limmen Bight iron ore mine inside which the iron ore is found is subject to a long- Limmen National Park in 2011. The project standing native title claim by the Yindijbarndi would involve the construction of a pipeline people, who have requested that emergency out to Maria Island in the Gulf of Carpentaria, powers be invoked to stop the development. Yet which would impact on the land and waters of in December 2011, the Minister for Indigenous the Marra people, for whom the island is a deeply Affairs of Western Australia removed or amended sacred site. The community are not opposed to previously imposed conditions requiring the the mining project per se, but they have objected company to identify and protect Yindjibarndi to the transport of the ore via pipelines through heritage, allowing the project to proceed without traditional sacred areas. key safeguards for the more than 200 sites of To mitigate some of the concerns around the cultural significance contained on the proposed dominance of the resource industry, including project site. environmental issues, and to ensure that the The Anindilyakwa traditional owners of the Australian society as a whole benefits from the region near Groote Eylandt, off the Northern resource boom, an important national discussion Territory coast of Arnhem Land, are also deeply evolved around a government proposal to opposed to the development of a project to introduce a controversial 30 per cent minerals undertake open-cut mining of manganese on the resource rent tax (MRRT or mining tax) on big sea bed. The area has very important cultural mining companies. After much discussion, the significance for both the Waunindilyakwan, and tax cleared the first major hurdle, passing through the Nunnggubuyu peoples who inhabit the area; parliament’s lower house and will go to the senate communities carry out burial rites and believe the in early 2012, with predictions that it will enter sea is where reincarnation takes place. It is also a into force later in the year. key source of subsistence and economic resources for the communities. Minorities and migration Another highly controversial project is the Topics of migration and asylum-seekers processing plant for an offshore gas hub off the continued to capture Australian national

170 Asia and Oceania State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 attention. In 2011, a number of boats study on infectious diseases has illustrated transporting migrants ran aground or sank in that Maori and Pacific Islanders suffer from Australian waters, leaving many people dead, higher rates of disease and are twice as likely including women and children. Nevertheless, to be hospitalized as those New Zealanders of the Australian government maintained bipartisan European heritage. Asians are the minority group support for its mandatory detention policy most often perceived to be discriminated against. for all refugees and asylum-seekers. While the Maori have long been seeking more secure government has indicated a shift in policy to protection of their treaty rights through release all children from detention, there still constitutional provisions. The government appear to be numerous minors mandatorily recently announced that it is planning to detained for extended periods. A government undertake a constitutional review process, which proposal to send 800 asylum-seekers to Malaysia will include a review of Maori representation, in return for 4,000 processed refugees, the the role of the Treaty of Waitangi and other so-called Malaysia Solution, was declared constitutional issues. unlawful by the High Court of Australia. The Regarding mining, New Zealand has a wealth government has declared that it will pursue the of as yet untapped natural resources. The current initiative through legislative amendments. government has put economic growth at the top Strong political desire to criminalize and of its agenda and is keen to emulate Australia’s prosecute all aspects of illegal migration led to mining success. One proposal tabled was to open the passing of anti-people-smuggling laws with mines in national parks and other protected mandatory minimum sentences in 2011. The lands. The strength of the public backlash led to laws have resulted in the arrests of over 493 the proposal being abandoned in 2010; however, people, however criticism of the scheme has been the government is now working with community strong. In particular, of those charged under these leaders on the possibilities of mining on Maori- offences, only six people were actual organizers owned land. or facilitators of the smuggling operations. The The controversial Marine and Coastal Area rest are reportedly deceived into working on these Bill, which replaces the much-debated Foreshore ships as crew members, and thus may themselves and Seabed Act 2004, was passed in 2011 in have been victims. Moreover, some of the parliament. The original act vested the ownership detained crew members claim to be children, of the public foreshore and seabed in the yet the processes used to determine their age are government, thereby extinguishing any Maori such that, to date, all are nonetheless held in customary title over that area, while private adult prisons. title over the foreshore and seabed remained unaffected. The act was strongly criticized as New Zealand being highly discriminatory against the Maori New Zealand’s general election, held in community, by both Maori themselves and November 2011, saw the incumbent Prime international actors, including the UN Special Minister, John Key of the National Party, retain Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, his position. The Maori Party won three seats, and the UN Committee on the Elimination of down two from the previous election, and has Racial Discrimination. The new bill purportedly formed a coalition government with the National restores the customary interests extinguished by Party. the Foreshore and Seabed Act. Yet in order to The Maori enjoy a relatively strong position obtain customary marine title under the new law, in society compared to other indigenous peoples a Maori group must prove that it has used and around the world, thanks to the Treaty of occupied the area claimed according to custom Waitangi. New Zealand also has a very sizeable (tikanga) without substantial interruption from minority population of Pacific Islanders, and 1840 to the present day, and to the exclusion of an Asian minority community. Both Maori and others, which is an extremely high threshold. p minority groups are often, however, in situations of economic and social disadvantage. A recent

State of the World’s Minorities Asia and Oceania 171 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 ICELAND

ATL ANTIC FINLAND

OCEAN NORWAY SWEDEN RUSSIA

ESTONIA

LATVIA UNITED DENMARK KINGDOM LITHUANIA Kaliningrad (Rus.) NETHERLANDS GERMANY POLAND BELGIUM LUXEMBOURG CZECH REP.

SLOVAKIA

LIECH. MOLDOVA FRANCE SWITZERLAND AUSTRIA HUNGARY SLOVENIA ROMANIA CROATIA BOSNIA GEORGIA ANDORRA SAN MARINO SERBIA PORTUGAL AND HERZE. BLACK SEA MONACO MONTENEGRO AZERBAIJAN

Kosovo SPAIN ARMENIA MACEDONIA AZER. ITALY TURKEY GREECE

CYPRUS

MEDITERRANEAN SEA Europe Katalin Halász he year 2011 marked the tenth anniver- Right: Migrants from Libya, being transported sary of the 11 September 2001 attacks to Lampedusa, Italy. These people were among T on the United States. These al-Qaeda almost 500 people rescued from a skiff in the attacks and subsequent incidents in European Mediterranean Sea. UNHCR/F. Noy cities, with bombings in Madrid in 2004 and London in 2005, fuelled fears that immigrants from wearing the garment. These measures not and ethnic, religious and linguistic minori- only stigmatize minority women but also risk ties could present a security threat in Europe. effectively excluding them from access to essential European policy-makers responded by tightening social services. laws and imposing stricter controls An event shook the continent on 22 July, over newcomers. New or strengthened when two attacks – in the Norwegian capital anti-terrorism laws have had profound implica- of Oslo and on the nearby tiny island of Utøya tions for migrant and minority communities. – claimed the lives of 77 people. As it emerged The events of September 2001 also served that the perpetrator of the gruesome massacre, to compound existing Islamophobia. Right- Anders Behring Breivik, had links to extreme wing commentators have ramped up fears in right-wing groups, the European Union’s recent years, amid growing economic and social (EU’s) Fundamental Rights Agency (FRA) and problems caused by the global recession. The EU politicians warned against xenophobia and European Network Against Racism (ENAR) and growing intolerance in Europe. other human rights groups used the anniversary The far right continues to grow across Europe, to appeal to European countries to move away espousing an ideology that openly embraces hard- from the politics of fear and acknowledge line nationalist, anti-immigrant and xenophobic human rights abuses committed during the rhetoric. In some EU countries – such as so-called ‘global war on terror’. In May, Council Sweden, Finland, Hungary and the Netherlands of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights – far-right parties have experienced sudden Thomas Hammarberg voiced his concern that the electoral successes in recent years. However, in official responses to the attacks have undermined other countries, such as France, Italy, Austria, human rights in Europe, while at the same time Denmark and Switzerland, where they are an he called for respect to be paid to those who established part of the political architecture, far- lost their families and friends. Islamophobia right parties have experienced varying degrees of continues to rise. According to figures released by electoral support in 2011. the French Interior Ministry, 115 cases of attacks In France, Marine Le Pen, the daughter of and harassment against Muslims were reported to Jean-Marie Le Pen took control of the 38-year- police in France in the first nine months of 2011; old National Front party in January 2011 and the Muslim umbrella group, Conseil Français recorded increased support in the first round of du Culte Musulman (CFCM) commented that the 2012 presidential election. Swiss and Danish the figure was probably a gross underestimate far-right parties lost ground in the 2011 national since many cases go unreported. CFCM feared elections, showing a positive shift away from their that these figures will increase ahead of the 2012 decades-long influence on mainstream politics. general election, as the main political parties But in Germany and in the Czech Republic, remain divided in an ongoing national debate extremists and neo-Nazi groups took to the on secularism and the place of Islam in French streets. In May 2011 around 150 neo-Nazis society. tried to march through the mainly alternative In April 2011, France became the first country district of Kreuzberg in Berlin. Participants in in Europe to ban wearing a full-face veil, the march chanted ‘Wahrheit macht frei’ (‘The burqa or niqab, in public, which some Muslim truth makes one free’) – a slogan resembling the women regard as a religious duty. In July, a law one at the gates to several Nazi concentration banning the full-face veil also came into force in camps, such as Auschwitz and Dachau, ‘Arbeit Belgium; and in February the central German macht frei’ (‘Work makes one free’). In Dresden state of Hesse forbade public sector employees 17,500 protested against the annual neo-Nazi

174 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 march to mark the anniversary of the bombing call for help with funds and accommodating of the city during the Second World War. migrants, criticizing the country for raising false Neo-Nazi gatherings and marches took place alarms. In fact, according to UNHCR, over in other towns and cities across the country, 55,000 boat migrants, including at least 3,700 which is fighting a hard battle against extremism. unaccompanied children, reached Lampedusa Far-right supporters also faced opponents in from North Africa in the first seven months of the Czech city of Brno in May, when eight the year. By September, the Italian authorities extremists were detained, including one German. declared the island an unsafe port. The decision In Italy, a member of an extremist group killed was taken in the wake of violent disturbances two Senegalese traders and injured others in which saw Tunisian migrants damage the island’s December in an attack that was condemned by reception centre and other buildings. Italy’s President Giorgio Napolitano as a ‘blind Amid fears of a flood of North African explosion of hatred’. migrants, European countries’ first reaction The popular protests and ensuing unrest was to close their borders and to press for in North Africa and the Middle East in 2011 re-admission accords with governments in the brought thousands of migrants and asylum- Middle East and North Africa. Italy and France seekers to European shores. proposed a radical revision of the Schengen The UN estimated that at least 1,400 people Agreement – the regime of passport-free travel died crossing the Mediterranean in the first within the EU’s borders – in order to allow seven months of 2011, most as they tried to flee member states to restore border controls. Libya. The UN refugee agency UNHCR urged The agreement covers more than 400 million European states to improve their mechanisms people in 22 EU countries, as well as Norway, for rescue at sea. In May, a delegation of Switzerland, Liechtenstein and Iceland. Germany, the Committee on Migration, Refugees and the Netherlands, Greece and Malta also Population of the Parliamentary Assembly of the supported the move to curb freedom of travel, Council of Europe (PACE) visited Lampedusa, one of the cornerstones of an integrated Europe, a tiny Italian island in the Mediterranean Sea, while still underlining the importance of an where large numbers of those fleeing North ‘open Europe’. Africa were arriving, and called for rapid action. This policy shift followed the Danish But prior to the visit, the EU rejected Italy’s government’s decision to reintroduce security

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 175 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 checks at the country’s borders with Sweden and Right: Roma children at the village of Cetăţeni, Germany. But after the European Commission Romania. Cinty Ionescu. criticized the ‘unjustified’ new border controls, the new centre-left Danish government agreed confirm the high degree of discrimination faced to roll back the controversial policy. However, at by many minorities in Europe. The Macedonian an emergency meeting on immigration and the Centre for International Cooperation found that Schengen Agreement in June, EU leaders agreed 67.7 per cent of the interviewees believe people to establish a ‘safeguard mechanism’ allowing the suffer from discrimination on an ethnic basis. reintroduction of internal borders in exceptional An opinion poll carried out by the Centre for circumstances. The European Council President Democracy and Human Rights in Montenegro Herman Van Rompuy insisted this did not revealed that one-fifth of the respondents did not weaken the basic principle of free movement want an ethnic Albanian neighbour. of persons, stating that ‘the mechanism now The 2011 European Commission on Racism allows “as a very last resort” the exceptional and Intolerance reports on Azerbaijan, Cyprus reintroduction of internal border controls in a and Serbia also highlight concerns regarding truly critical situation’. But the move to reinstate the institutional and legislative frameworks to internal border checks in the EU’s Schengen combat racial and religious discrimination. The zone was sharply criticized by Commissioner Council of Europe Advisory Committee on Hammarberg: ‘It is proof that Europe is not the Framework Convention for the Protection living up to its own declarations about human of National Minorities welcomed a number rights’, he said. of measures Armenia has taken to further the In its annual review of the application of the implementation of the Framework Convention EU’s Charter of Fundamental Rights, the FRA but, in a report issued in April, pointed to underlined three major concerns: member states’ the lack of comprehensive anti-discrimination poor treatment of asylum-seekers; continuing legislation, as well as the urgent need to take social exclusion of the Roma; and poor personal action to protect minorities from racially data protection. The FRA also provided motivated violence, and promote minority evidence on the persistent discrimination against cultural, media and linguistic rights. minorities in many areas of life, including employment, education, housing and health care. Roma Both the FRA and the European Parliament Europe’s 10–12 million Roma continue to face repeated calls for the adoption by EU member a climate of increasing violence, harassment states of the draft anti-discrimination directive, and intimidation across the continent. Roma which was proposed in 2008. But Germany communities, who live dispersed across Europe, and other member states halted any dialogue on were targeted for mass expulsions and evictions the draft, which would add to the existing EU throughout 2011. The French government’s anti-discrimination legislation by forbidding campaign to evict and deport Roma, which discrimination based on religion or belief, attracted strong international criticism in disability, age or sexual orientation in access to 2010, continued aggressively in 2011. In June, goods and services, education and social benefits. the French Interior Minister Claude Guéant Recent surveys show that discrimination announced plans to return as many as 28,000 is rife in Europe – both within EU member allegedly illegal immigrants in 2011. states and beyond EU borders. In February, the Roma continued to be targeted for ongoing FRA published its first ever EU-wide survey on evictions in other countries in Europe. According multiple discrimination. The survey showed to the European Roma Rights Centre (ERRC), that people belonging to ‘visible’ minorities, evictions were carried out during 2011 by such as people of African origin and Roma, are Albania, Bulgaria, France, Italy, Macedonia, more likely to be discriminated against on more Romania, Serbia, Slovakia and the UK. Between than one ground compared to other minorities. April and October, 46 evictions affecting 5,753 Surveys on discrimination outside the EU people were recorded by the organization in

176 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 France. Between June and August, at least 500 (including children, pregnant women and elderly Roma were evicted from camps in Marseille. The people) in February. After an intervention by Italian authorities have also been aggressive in ERRC, the authorities restored the water supply, pursuing a policy of evictions, affecting thousands but the reconnection was not made known to of Roma in both Milan and Rome in recent residents and living conditions remain deplorable. years. Between April and December, ERRC In Serbia in June, Police Minister Ivica Dacic monitored 131 evictions (usually affecting many issued an official apology to a Roma family, four households at a time) in Italy. Roma support years after their son was brutally beaten by police groups reported evictions taking place during the in the eastern city of Vrsac. Police brutality is spring of the Roma community in the Magliana widespread in the country according to human aqueduct area of Rome, several families in the rights groups. ERRC also raised concerns about Piazza Lugano settlement in Milan and a family disproportionate use of police force in in Prato. With no alternative accommodation city in western Ukraine, and urged authorities being provided, these clearances had disastrous to investigate unlawful discriminatory identity consequences for the affected families. checks of Roma youth, including fingerprinting In northern Romania, the local authorities of and document verification without any allegation Baia-Mare erected a concrete wall to separate a of involvement in criminal activities. Roma community from the rest of the town. In In Hungary, Roma were targeted by a far- response to criticisms of institutionalized racism right vigilante paramilitary group – ‘For a and ghettoization, the mayor of the town Better Future’. The group deployed patrols claimed that the wall was to protect citizens in the northern village of Gyöngyöspata. The against car crashes. intimidation reached its peak in March, when In Portugal, the municipality of Vidigueira 1,000 black-uniformed neo-Nazis marched destroyed the water supply of 67 Roma through the village with dogs and armed with

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 177 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 whips and chains. These incidents prompted the UN Special Rapporteur on racism, Githu Case study Mujgaj, to visit the village in May and meet with representatives of the Roma community, local politicians and police authorities. He said that Corporate abuse the country had yet to effectively tackle racism, xenophobia and related intolerance. flows along the Forced sterilization of Roma women remains an unresolved issue in some countries. Roma Baku–Tbilisi– women in the Czech Republic are still waiting for adequate redress for irreparable injuries oil pipeline two years after the Czech government under Prime Minister Jan Fischer expressed regret for individual sterilizations. However, a 20-year-old Early in 2011, the UK government ruled that woman won her human rights appeal against a BP-led oil consortium was not carrying out Slovakia before the European Court of Human the human rights responsibilities of multi- Rights (ECtHR) in November. In its first national companies in its operations on the judgement on sterilization, the Strasbourg court controversial Baku–Tbilisi–Ceyhan (BTC) oil ordered Slovakia to pay €43,000 in damages for pipeline. The 1,770 km pipeline runs from violating the human rights of a woman who was offshore oil fields in the Caspian Sea near sterilized without her informed consent. Azerbaijan’s capital Baku, to Tbilisi, the capital Amid growing controversy, the European of Georgia, and on to the port of Ceyhan on Commission adopted the EU Framework for the southern shores of Turkey in the Mediter- National Roma Integration Strategies in June. ranean Sea. Construction of the BP flagship This was welcomed as a step forward and will project started in 1993 and was completed in enable the EU to take steps to fight anti-Roma 2006. BP has consistently promoted the BTC discrimination and racism. But MRG has pipeline project as exemplary in its approach to pointed out that the Framework, by narrowly human rights. focusing on the social and economic situation The ruling followed a complaint lodged in of Roma, falls far short of fully tackling the 2003 by a group of six NGOs and human challenges of Roma exclusion. It remains to be rights organizations under the Organization for seen how well the European Commission and Economic Co-operation and Development’s the member states convert the Framework’s (OECD’s) Guidelines for Multinational Enter- human rights commitments into tangible and prises. The BTC pipeline passes through areas ambitious national strategies that are effectively with significant ethnic and religious minorities; implemented. Sadly, only 15 out of 27 EU Kurdish villagers living in north-eastern Turkey member states had met the end of 2011 have struggled to hold the consortium account- deadline for submitting national integration able for alleged human rights abuses associated strategy reports. with its development. Between 2003 and 2005, the NGO coalition conducted annual fact- Bulgaria finding missions to areas along the route of the Issues concerning ethnic and religious BTC pipeline in the three countries. discrimination featured prominently in public The coalition found that the BTC debates in Bulgaria in 2011. The mistreatment consortium had failed to ensure that the of the Roma community – who make up more project complied with OECD guidelines and than 10 per cent of the country’s population the Voluntary Principles on Security and and are the country’s second largest ethnic Human Rights, which say that: minority after ethnic Turks – continued to ‘[C]ompanies should record and report any remain a grave concern. Gay McDougall, credible allegations of human rights abuses by UN Independent Expert on Minority Issues,

178 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 public security … Where appropriate, companies minorities in relation to employment practices should urge investigation and that action be taken and in the carrying out of development pro- to prevent any recurrence.’ Since the inception grammes. of the project, human rights campaigners in In Georgia, concerns were raised about Turkey and the UK have been alarmed that expropriation of land, poor environmental Kurds and members of other local communities standards, lack of consultation or compensa- have faced intimidation and interrogation by tion for damage caused, unacceptable use of security forces when they have raised objections untested materials during construction and to the pipeline. Ferhat Kaya, a local human rights labour violations. In Azerbaijan, serious con- defender, was reported to have been detained and cerns were raised over compensation for land, tortured by the paramilitary police for insisting corruption and restrictions on local press and on fair compensation. The coalition argued affected communities regarding criticism of that intimidation deterred local people from the project. But the most serious issues relat- participating in BP’s consultations about the BTC ing to minorities were raised in Turkey. The pipeline’s route and from seeking compensation UK government ruled that, despite widespread for loss of their land and livelihoods. awareness of the heightened risk of intimida- The group also found that, in Turkey, the BTC tion, BP failed adequately to respond or to project has contributed to displacement of the investigate allegations brought to its attention Kurdish minority, who have been subject to state of cases of abuse by state security forces in repression for decades. In north-eastern Turkey, Turkey guarding the pipeline. where Kurds constitute 30–40 per cent of the local The ruling could set a new precedent for population, displacement has been less a result multinationals to implement more robust of direct military action against the supporters of human rights impact assessments. Rachel the Workers’ Party (PKK) – which was Bernu of the Kurdish Human Rights Project more the case in other parts of the country – but reflected on the ruling, saying that: was due to gradual economic pressure and state ‘It has taken eight years for the claims of villag- harassment. Affected villagers described the BTC ers facing repression in this isolated area of Tur- pipeline as an added pressure on them to leave; it key to be recognized. We hope this ruling marks a disrupted their subsistence agricultural production turning point for the governments and companies without providing any compensation or alterna- involved so that villagers receive just compensa- tive source of income. There were also allegations tion, and human rights are not only respected but that the BTC project discriminated against ethnic also promoted through investment in future.’ p

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 179 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 visited the country in July in order to assess Roma and to conduct a full investigation and the situation of minorities – particularly Roma, prosecution of all responsible perpetrators. Turks and other Muslim minorities. She The UN also voiced deep concern about the concluded that government measures to address anti-Roma rallies and accompanying hate the deep-rooted discrimination, exclusion and speech. Although incitement to racial hatred poverty faced by Roma have been superficial and discriminatory public communication are and inadequate. Bulgarian government prohibited under Bulgarian law, these provisions commitment to Roma equality remains weak: are rarely enforced. MRG has stated its alarm Roma unemployment rates are peaking at 80 that non-enforcement of the law creates a sense per cent; in the capital, Sofia, 70 per cent of of impunity and erodes what little mutual the Roma population lives in dwellings without trust remains between Roma and non-Roma access to basic infrastructure such as running communities. water, sewerage, paved streets, waste collection These events stirred up panic among other or street lights. The current financial crisis has minority communities as well. Turkey’s Hürriyet put a strain on resources, but, as highlighted newspaper reported that the Turkish community by the Independent Expert, the government’s in Bulgaria feared a nationalist backlash in the current inconsistent pilot project-based wake of the anti-Roma rallies. And on 20 May, approach will never be sufficient to address Ataka provoked clashes with Muslims gathered these socio-economic challenges. for Friday prayer at the Banya Bashi mosque in Roma have also been the victims of forced Sofia, protesting against the use of loudspeakers evictions. Although the government, in its to issue the call to prayer. Bulgarian politicians third periodic report on the implementation condemned the ensuing violence and desecration of the International Covenant on Civil and of religious symbols. Political Rights, stated that Roma were Shortly after, the ruling political party only evicted after extensive legal procedures GERB distanced itself from the far-right Ataka were carried out, giving Roma time to find by proposing a declaration adopted by the alternative accommodation, reports by the parliament which condemned the attack on Bulgarian Helsinki Committee, ENAR Bulgaria the mosque. The secretary of the Chief Mufti’s and Justice 21, a Bulgarian human rights Office, Husein Hafazov, provided a detailed organization, do not support this view. The account of numerous cases of harassment of Bulgarian Helsinki Committee pointed to large- Muslims in Bulgaria, including: threats against scale house demolitions in Sofia and Burgas in Muslim women wearing headscarves, setting 2009, and in Yambol and Maksuda in 2010, dogs on them and spitting, painting the walls noting that few if any alternatives were provided of religious schools and mosques with anti- and that the evictions were often accompanied Islamic slogans, destroying mosques and religious by excessive use of force. property, and physical attacks. In September, an incident in Katunitza, in Other religious minorities also suffered from which a Bulgarian teenager was killed by a Roma harassment, physical attacks and damage to driver allegedly linked to a notorious crime-boss, property in 2011. The Jewish community has the self-proclaimed ‘Gypsy Tsar’ Kiril Rashkov, long suffered from anti-Semitic attacks. In sparked violent clashes in the village. Anti- 2011, a Jewish organization, Shalom, published Roma protests spread across the country. The its first bulletin on ‘Anti-Semitic actions in right-wing party Ataka held demonstrations and Bulgaria in 2009–2010’, which includes a long demanded tough action from the government, list of acts of religious desecration and damage even calling for the death penalty to be reinstated to religious buildings. In April, the House of in the country. Prayer of Jehovah Witnesses, a legally registered Prime Minister Boyko Borisov came under since 2003, was violently criticism for not reacting quickly enough to the attacked in a rally organized by VMRO unrest. The ERRC and Amnesty International (the International Macedonian Voluntary urged the Bulgarian authorities to protect Organization) in Burgas.

180 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Greece new asylum service that will deal with a backlog On 3 January 2011, the Minister for Citizen of applications. The law also puts in place a Protection, Christos Papoutsis, announced plans procedure for appeal following the rejection of an to build a 12.5 km fence along its border with asylum request. The move comes after repeated Turkey, to prevent undocumented migrants delays. In 2011, the largest groups of people entering the country. The minister stated that came from Afghanistan (with 44 per cent), as some 128,000 migrants and asylum-seekers well as Algeria (16 per cent), with other smaller reached Greece in 2010, more than 40,000 of groups arriving from Pakistan, Somalia and Iraq. them crossing the border from Turkey at the In September 2011, Human Rights Watch Evros border post. Greece’s land border with (HRW) raised grave concerns regarding the Turkey is more than 200 km long, running conditions of migrants and asylum-seekers kept mostly along the Evros River, and is increasingly in detention. Unaccompanied children, single used by Asian and African migrants to enter the women and mothers with children are housed country since traditional routes across the central with unrelated adult men in overcrowded and western Mediterranean have been blocked by conditions. HRW accused the EU and its strengthened maritime surveillance and bilateral member states of becoming ‘complicit in Greece’s repatriation deals between Italy and Spain with shameful conduct’ when a multinational team various African countries. But it is unlikely that a of FRONTEX (the EU border agency) border 12.5 km fence will prevent waves of immigrants guards were deployed along the Turkish border from flowing into the country. and helped Greece apprehend and detain Various agencies, including the European undocumented migrants. At the same time, the Commission, UNHCR and the International ECtHR fined the Belgian and Greek authorities Organization for Migration, expressed concern after Belgium had sent an Afghan back to that the fence would simply make migrants more Greece. In December, the European Court of dependent on people-smugglers and therefore Justice advised courts in the UK and Ireland more vulnerable. Fears that many more would that transfers of asylum-seekers to Greece should drown in the river at the hands of smugglers not take place if their human rights would be are compounded by serious shortcomings of the jeopardized. By the end of the year, Germany, the Greek asylum system, which has been described UK, Sweden, Norway and Iceland had suspended as ‘dysfunctional’ by the UNHCR. The FRA transfers of asylum-seekers to Greece because of carried out a field research mission in the the poor conditions awaiting them there. Evros region in January and concluded that the The impact of the worst economic and social humanitarian situation of asylum-seekers and crisis in Greece’s recent history has been felt migrants, particularly those held in detention among the country’s minority and migrant centres, was extremely worrying. populations. The Turkish minority in Western Despite the international outcry, the Greek Thrace has been severely affected economically, government moved ahead with plans to build according to the Anatolia News Agency, as a the fence. ‘We have unemployment and result of the collapse of the local tobacco industry serious problems’, commented Papoutsis, who and small businesses that were their primary denounced the ‘hypocrisy of those who criticize’. source of income. Government restrictions on Just days after the announcement of plans to tobacco-growing had affected the local Turkish build a fence, Papoutsis put forward a plan to community even before the economic crisis, and use floating prisons and old army bases to house the small number of factories left in the region undocumented migrants. Greece’s administrative have gradually closed. court subsequently approved the plans to build a The economic crisis has weakened migrant fence, and construction began in February 2012, workers’ labour rights, rendering this group despite the EU’s refusal to fund the project. increasingly vulnerable. On 25 January, 250 Also in January 2011, the Greek parliament migrants in Athens and 50 in Thessaloniki began passed a new law to remove control of asylum- a hunger strike to protest against their living seekers from the police and hand it over to a conditions and insecure legal status. The strike

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 181 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 ended after six weeks when the government offered a deal for them to obtain residence Case study permits, which ensure continuous employment and social insurance payments. The legal requirements for acquiring Greek Sami rights to citizenship have changed to allow second- generation migrants who were born in the country culture and or have studied in Greece for six years to apply for Greek citizenship. Further legislative changes natural resources have made it easier for long-term residents to vote and stand in local elections. Another initiative established local integration councils In January 2011, James Anaya, the UN Spe- that act as consultative bodies for migrants. As cial Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous the Greece Section of ENAR has commented, peoples, issued his report on the human these developments were positively received by rights situation of the Sami indigenous peo- civil society and migrant communities, but there ple living in the Sápmi region of Norway, is still concern over whether these reforms will be Sweden, Finland and Russia. A semi-nomadic implemented effectively. people, who rely on reindeer herding, hunt- Social tensions increased between the ing, gathering and fishing, the Sami are majority population and minority and migrant united by a common identity and linguistic communities throughout 2011, according to and cultural bonds. ENAR-Greece and HRW. The number of racist Reviewing the situation of Sami in the incidents and hate crimes against minorities Nordic countries, the Special Rapporteur and migrants has increased with the rise in the concluded that they do not have to deal with number of migrants and asylum-seekers over past many of the socio-economic concerns that decades. The economic crisis has exacerbated commonly face indigenous peoples throughout already existing xenophobia, Islamophobia and the world, such as serious health problems, anti-Semitism in Greece. Local media often extreme poverty or hunger. In particular, the associate migrants – and especially Muslims of governments of Norway, Sweden and Finland different ethnic backgrounds – with crime and each pay a relatively high level of attention to criminality, ENAR-Greece pointed out. Far-right indigenous issues, at least in comparison to groups, such as Golden Dawn, with xenophobic, other countries. However, more remains to be nationalist and anti-immigrant agendas are done to ensure that Sami people can pursue gaining popularity. their right to self-determination and their right On 6 December 2011, the government to natural resources. proposed a draft measure to tighten Greek laws The Sami population is estimated to be on speech that incites hatred, discrimination or between 70,000 and 100,000 in northern violence, in line with EU rules on hate speech. Europe, with about 2,000 living in the In the same month, HRW issued a report on Russian Kola Peninsula. Of the three Nordic increased racist violence in Greece, welcoming countries, Finland hosts the smallest Sami the trial of three people who assaulted an Afghan population of about 9,000. The first elected asylum seeker in Athens in September 2011. Sami body within any of the Nordic states This was the first trial of its kind since 1999, was the Sami Delegation (Sámi Parlamenta) even though racist violence in the capital has in Finland, established in 1972, and now increased in recent years, reaching alarming replaced by the Finnish Sami Parliament proportions in 2011. As HRW stated, this case (Sámediggi). There are now Sami parliaments is just the tip of the iceberg in the crisis-torn in all three Nordic countries, with varying country, where the police and state authorities degrees of authority, as well as the regional remain tardy and ineffective in responding Sami Parliamentary Council. properly to racist violence.

182 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Finland Sweden Sami are recognized as indigenous people by the On 1 January 2011, the Swedish Constitution Constitution of Finland, which also stipulates was amended to explicitly recognize Sami as a their right to cultural autonomy within their people. This was pursuant to a long-standing , noting that ‘in their native region, request of Sami to be distinguished from other the Sami have linguistic and cultural self- minority groups in Sweden. Nonetheless, the government’. However, large-scale natural UN Special Rapporteur heavily criticized Sweden resource exploitation and development projects in his 2011 report for its failure to tackle the threaten the traditional way of living for the most pressing issues for Sami, in particular those reindeer-herding community. In February 2011, related to land and resource rights. Like Finland, the world’s fourth largest mining company, Sweden has not yet ratified the ILO 169. Anglo-American, conducted exploratory drilling The Swedish Sami Parliament’s powers are in a Sami reindeer-herding area, and found limited to monitoring the issues related to Sami large deposits of nickel, copper and gold. The culture. It has limited opportunity to participate Canadian mining company First Quantum is also in decision-making processes when it comes conducting exploratory drilling in the region. to issues about land and natural resources. In The expansion of mining activities could make Sweden, 3,000 Sami practise reindeer herding, reindeer herding increasingly difficult in Finland. managing approximately 250,000 reindeer in Relevant legislation does not acknowledge or grant areas scattered across the northern 40 per cent any special land rights to the Sami community of the country. The 1971 Reindeer Grazing Act or acknowledge any exclusive rights for Sami allows Sami to use land and water for themselves people to pursue their traditional livelihoods. and for their stock, but only within certain Furthermore, unlike in Norway and Sweden, geographic areas defined by the law. Reindeer- reindeer husbandry is not reserved for Sami in herding rights in Sweden are exclusive and Finland, but is open to any citizen of the EU. limited to those Sami who live within designated The Finnish Sami Parliament lacks specific communities, called samebyar, and practise decision-making powers regarding the use of reindeer herding as their principal livelihood. lands or access to water and natural resources But specific reindeer-grazing areas have not been in Sami territory. The state is the legal owner demarcated and Swedish courts put the burden of 90 per cent of the land designated as Sami of proof on Sami to demonstrate land use. Sami homeland. There is at least a measure of are required to prove long-term use of the area protection, however. The Finnish Reindeer claimed, despite the fact Sami leave few if any Husbandry Act of 1990 affirms that state physical marks on the land they use. authorities should consult with representatives ‘It is remarkable that still in 2011, a colonizing of Sami reindeer-herding cooperatives when power tells the indigenous population that it planning measures on state land that will have a must prove its right to exist on its traditional land substantial effect on reindeer herding. before the courts of the colonizer’, said Mattias Finland has ratified all major UN human rights Åhrén, head of the Sami Council’s human rights treaties, including the Framework Convention for unit, commenting on a case in which three Sami the Protection of National Minorities, and voted reindeer-herding communities in the Härjedalen in favour of adoption of the UN Declaration on region were being pushed by the state to sign the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. However, the a tenancy fee agreement, forcing them to pay country has not ratified the International Labour grazing fees to local land-owners. This follows a Organization Indigenous and Tribal Peoples lawsuit in 2004, when majority land-owners in Convention No. 169 (ILO 169), which would Härjedalen successfully claimed that no grazing grant Sami stronger land rights as it recognizes rights existed for Sami on land to which they the rights of indigenous peoples to land and hold title. In a positive development during natural resources as central to their material and April 2011, however, Sweden’s Supreme Court cultural survival. ruled that customary land use, showing due

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 183 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Case study continued including the prohibition of their languages under the ‘Norwegianization’ policies enforced in consideration to reindeer-herding practices, the past. as opposed to Swedish , should The Act of 2005 was an important determine access. step forward for Norwegian Sami’s right to self- The development of renewable resources, determination and control over natural resources. such as wind turbines and hydroelectric Although the legislation was a compromise dams, is also increasingly encroaching on between Sami and majority interests, and has reindeer-grazing lands in Sweden. Over 2,000 therefore met with some criticism, it recognizes wind turbines have been planned in reindeer- that Sami and others have acquired rights to land herding areas. In March, Lars-Anders Baer, and resources through long-term customary use. a reindeer herder and a former president of The Act transferred 95 per cent of the land in the Swedish Sami Parliament, called recent the Finnmark region to the Finnmark Estate, developments ‘windmill ’. He the board of which comprises local government was specifically reacting to the Markbygden officials and Norwegian Sami Parliament wind farm project, which the Swedish Sami representatives. Concern has been expressed Parliament has criticized regarding the lack that the Act does not go far enough to protect of proper consultation, disrespect of their the rights of particularly vulnerable indigenous rights and the fact that they were not offered communities, such as the East Sami people. fair compensation for the loss of land and The right of access to marine resources is a livelihoods. With more than 1,100 wind particular worry for Norwegian Sami, due in part turbines planned, Markbygden will be to the industrialization of Norwegian fisheries. Europe’s largest land-based wind-power park This has led to diminished local control as well as and will be built in the municipality of Piteå, environmental problems. Also, regulation of stock where the Sami community of Östra Kikkejaur is decided centrally, without taking into account has its winter reindeer-herding pastures. customary decision-making or local knowledge. Sami in Sweden are also not protected The Norwegian Mineral Act requires that from expanding mining projects, as existing the Sami way of life be safeguarded and that mining laws do not contain provisions to the Norwegian Sami Parliament should have an safeguard the rights of Sami people. In opportunity to comment when permits are being Kiruna town, Luossavaara-Kiirunavaara AB considered. However, Sami representatives have company has plans to relocate half the town criticized the limited scope of the consultation in order to accommodate the expansion of an process as well as the fact that it is limited to existing iron ore mine into reindeer-herding Finnmark and does not extend to traditional lands and vital reindeer migration paths, lands elsewhere. without consulting the Sami community. Russia Norway In Russia, the Sami language is endangered, The Sami National Day on 6 February, partly due to the comparatively small size of the commemorating the first Sami congress held community. Sami arrived at the Kola Peninsula in , Norway in 1917, is celebrated some 5,000 years ago, but the traditional way of in all four countries where Sami live today. life for the Sami in Russia has been slowly fading Norway was the first Nordic country to away, as they have been pushed back from tundra ratify the ILO 169 and voted in favour of grazing lands by a steady expansion of industry, the adoption of the UN Declaration on forestry and mining, and by urbanization. the Rights of Indigenous Peoples in 2007. During the , Sami reindeer herders Norway has also recognized and apologized were pushed back from a 200-mile exclusion for the discrimination and imposed zone along the border, and Sami fishermen were assimilation that Sami people suffered, forced away from the shore of the Barents Sea, as

184 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Above: A Sami reindeer herder in Russia. extract gas from the sea and transport some Alexander Stepanenko. to Murmansk; but, from 2016, the majority of the gas will be piped to Europe across the Soviet military built a network of secret navy the Baltic Sea via the Nord Stream pipeline. installations there. Further threats have emerged Shtokman Development AG is a joint project as the mineral riches of the Kola Peninsula and of Gazprom, Total SA and Statoil ASA. its geographical location on the shores of the According to the Shtokman company, gas Barents Sea have made it attractive to the oil and supply in the Barents Sea is enough to meet gas, and other extractive industries. Sami also global demand for a year. A civil society complain that tourism companies keep them expert group organized by the World Wildlife from practising their traditional fishing by the Fund (WWF) conducted an investigation Voronya River and Lovozero Lake. into the Shtokman project and in February The Shtokman oil field is one controversial 2011 concluded that environmental damage project under development that will potentially could be great should development of the have a grave impact, not just on the Sami but on field proceed. While large-scale investment other communities living on the Kola Peninsula. in the Shtokman project could improve One of the largest explored natural gas fields in conditions in Teriberka town, where the world, the shelf deposit lies in the Russian unemployment is high and living standards part of the Barents Sea, some 600 km from are desperately low, experts warn that its Murmansk town, a large regional centre on the environmental impact could have tragic Kola Peninsula where the Russian part of the consequences for natural ecosystems in the Sápmi region lies. region and further curtail the traditional way The Shtokman Development AG has plans to of living of the Sami. p

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 185 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Turkey the European Convention on Human Rights Electra Babouri (ECHR), with 159 cases. Despite the government’s announcement of Following the Kurdish Workers Party (PKK) its ‘democratic opening’ programme in the ceasefire declaration and subsequent decrease of summer of 2009, aimed at bringing about a clashes between the PKK and the security forces peaceful solution to the Kurdish situation and in 2010, violence escalated again significantly in upholding the rights of all groups in the society, 2011 with fatalities on both sides. There were little progress was made in 2010. However in also significant Kurdish civilian fatalities as a 2011, Turkey witnessed some potentially positive result of the attacks, and upheaval within these developments. communities continued, particularly in the south- At the general election in June 2011, the east of the country and near the Iraq border. Justice and Development Party (AKP) won a During an air raid in December 2011 near the third term in office with 50 per cent of the vote. Turkey–Iraq border, 35 Kurdish civilians were The election brought Kurdish success too as 36 killed. The government stated that the attacks independents fielded by the pro-Kurdish Peace were targeting armed PKK forces and passed on and Democracy Party (BDP) won seats (rising official condolences to the bereaved families. from 24 in the 2007 election). Seventy-eight In addition, Kurdish officials and activists, women, one of whom is Kurdish, won seats in most of them allegedly associated with the Union the 550-seat parliament (rising from 50 in the of Kurdistan Communities (KCK) and the PKK, 2007 election). continued to be arrested. In August 2011, 98 Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan former mayors and eight other politicians were promised that the process to fully revise arrested because they had demanded better Turkey’s Constitution would commence: conditions for Abdullah Öcalan, the imprisoned ‘through consensus and negotiation … with the ex-PKK leader. An estimated 9,000 individuals opposition, parties outside of parliament, the have been arrested since 2009 for alleged links to media, NGOs, with academics, with anyone the KCK. In spring 2011, trials of another 153 who has something to say’. Changes to the Kurds in custody resumed. The defendants in the Constitution are crucial for Turkey’s minorities, Diyarbakir Heavy Penal Court asked to conduct since only three minority groups are currently their defence in Kurdish, but this was denied by recognized, namely , Greeks and the court. Jews; others, including Alevis, Kurds and Roma, It remains illegal for Kurdish to be spoken and remain excluded. Even recognized minorities taught in schools, thus Kurdish pupils continue continue to face discrimination. The Parliament to face disadvantage, sometimes taking years Conciliation Commission has been set up to longer to learn to read and write compared work on revising the Constitution, with draft to their Turkish classmates. Moreover, it is expected in 2012. Representatives of minority prohibited for official signs to appear in Kurdish groups have begun to push for their cultural, alongside Turkish. Recently, though, there have linguistic and civil and political rights to be been a few positive developments as Kurdish- incorporated in the new Constitution, and to be speaking radio and television have been allowed, recognized as equal citizens. and in October the first Turkish University In August, the Ministry of Justice established (Artuklu University in the south-east) began a Human Rights Directorate to help harmonize teaching a degree course in Kurdish. Turkey’s judicial practices with those of the EU. Other minorities in Turkey face similar This will hopefully push forward implementation discrimination. Assyrians who have adopted of rulings from the ECtHR. Turkey ranks second Turkish surnames because of prior legislation after Russia in terms of the number of cases now want to go back to using their original taken to the ECtHR, with nearly half of them surnames, but a Constitutional Court ruling on violations of fundamental human rights. In in 2011 said that the law did not permit this. 2011, Turkey topped the list of countries that Many Assyrians felt increasingly frustrated had been found by the ECtHR to have violated and under attack in 2011 as the trial involving

186 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 their most sacred site, the 1,700-year-old Mor communities as, due to the conflict over the Gabriel monastery, continues. The monastery decades between PKK and Turkey, many have is located in province in south-east been displaced from their land. Turkey. In 2008, the inhabitants of the villages The government took some steps in 2011 of Yayvantepe, Çandarlı and Eğlence filed a suit towards safeguarding women’s rights. In May, against the monastery, claiming that the land Turkey was the first signatory to the Council of on which it is situated does not belong to the Europe Convention Against Domestic Violence monastery. Simultaneously, some government and Violence again Women. However the authorities filed similar land-related suits against situation remains grave. According to a report the monastery. Assyrian representatives rebut based on a national survey by a consortium of these claims and have brought their case to the Turkish academic institutions, in the south- ECtHR. The first hearing has yet to take place. east of the country, one in two women have Alevis, whose belief system combines experienced violence, which is above the national elements of Shi’a Islam and pre-Islamic folk average. A report by Roj Women’s Association, customs, make up 10–30 per cent of Turkey’s which works on Kurdish and Turkish women’s population according to unofficial estimates. In rights, states that: ‘[I]n 80 per cent of cases, school they have to take compulsory religious victims of custodial rape were Kurdish women, education classes that exclude their own belief and in 90 per cent of cases women cited political system. Alevis, whose places of worship are or war-related reason as causes for their arrest.’ not recognized, have requested that they be Despite there being legislation and relevant exempt from these compulsory classes and protections in place to help protect women, some have taken the issue to court. Despite an such as emergency shelters, these laws exclude ECtHR ruling in 2007 that such exemption unmarried and divorced women and those should be permitted, Turkey’s Department married according to unrecognized religions. of Education has not yet complied with the The gaps in the law, coupled with the lack of verdict. In December 2011, Education Minister enforcement, perpetuates the cycle of incidents Ömer Dinçer pledged that passages in Turkish not being reported, perpetrators not being history textbooks that are antagonistic towards penalized and women not being able to escape Armenians and Assyrians would be amended. their violent environments. In 2011, the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate and others continued to demand that Turkey allow Economic development the Halki seminary on the island of Heybeliada Turkey’s continued economic growth has often to be reopened. The seminary trained generations affected its minority communities negatively. As of patriarchs and was shut in 1971. Turkish many of these groups may be socio-economically courts have ruled that an old orphanage should vulnerable and reside within areas earmarked for be handed back to the Patriarchate, and in development, they have been unable to assert August the government signed a historic decree their rights or benefit from these projects. For to return property seized 75 years ago from example, in 2008 several thousand Roma were minority foundations, including schools, stores evicted from the Sulukule area (one of the oldest and houses. permanent Roma settlements in the world) Since Turkey collects no disaggregated data on in . The Roma in Sulukule ended up minorities, it is difficult to gain a clear picture having to sell their homes to private investors of how the situation looks for minority women and the municipality and moved to a new in the country. But at the fourth UN Forum on district, Tasogluk. But costs of this alternative Minority Issues in November, a Turkish NGO, accommodation proved to be too high, and Association for Social Change, highlighted the Sulukule residents have subsequently had to acute levels of discrimination faced by Kurdish move again to find . women as a result of customs regarding women In 2011, other minority families, including and girls, sexual violence, employment and Roma, Kurds and Greeks, have been threatened poverty. The latter is more acute within these with eviction and some have been forced to

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 187 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 leave Tarlabaşı, a small area in the middle of the serious problems and strong opposition. But city. Some of the Kurds living in Tarlabaşı had campaigners fear the government will push ahead settled there after they had been displaced from with the project. Ilisu is only one of a series south-eastern Turkey during the 1990s, when of dams planned as part of the US$ 32 billion the conflict between the Turkish government Southeastern Anatolian Project (Güneydoğu and the PKK was particularly violent. Residents Anadolu Projesi) in the Euphrates and Tigris were intimidated and threatened by the local basins that envisions the construction of 22 dams municipality and law enforcement officials, and 19 hydroelectric plants. The US$ 4 billion according to an Amnesty International Beyhan project on the Euphrates is causing great report. Residents facing eviction had not been concern that the local population will face forced consulted, given adequate notice, access to legal evacuation. At another project in the Senoz remedies, or given adequate alternative housing valley on the Black Sea, dam work continues or compensation. Some officials reportedly despite court rulings. Large forest sections above forced residents to sign eviction notices without the valley have been cleared, causing landslides permitting them to read them. and soil erosion, and the water is being polluted These problems are not restricted to urban adversely affecting the local community and redevelopment. In March 2011, a report killing thousands of fish. launched by Turkish and German civil society organizations highlighted how Turkish dam Ukraine construction projects have caused severe The twentieth anniversary of a referendum that human rights violations. Dams are developed restored the Crimean Peninsula’s autonomous without meaningful consultation with the status was marked in Ukraine on 20 January affected communities, and without sufficient 2011. The referendum, approved by 93 per cent compensation or the provision of alternative of voters shortly before the dissolution of the income sources for those affected. The report Soviet Union, continues to cause divisions on the highlighted the particularly vulnerable Sarıkeçili Peninsula. The pro-Russian Sevastopol–– Yuruks, who are Turkish nomads who have Russia National Front held a protest on the lived in Anatolia for 900 years and now consist anniversary, claiming that the 1991 referendum of approximately 200 families. Nomads remain was really about the Republic of Crimea completely dependent on river valleys and becoming a union republic within the Soviet pastures to support their subsistence life based on Union (USSR), not within Ukraine, as the USSR herding. still existed when the referendum was held. In the Göksu-Ergene basin in southern Turkey, Many , who are indigenous many small dams and hydroelectric plants are to the Crimean Peninsula, boycotted the being built. Construction work is closing many referendum. According to Refat Chubarov, a of the traditional routes that nomads use to move Crimean Tatar community leader quoted by the between winter and summer pastures, leaving media outlet Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty many families without water and food. (RFE/RL) Ukrainian service, the Crimea’s Development of hydroelectric dams continues, current autonomous status does not guarantee despite the negative impact on humans and the the protection of cultural, social or economic environment. The Turkish government intends rights of the Crimean Tatars. to build over 1,700 dams and hydroelectric On 18 May, more than 15,000 Crimean power plants within the next 12 years. Tatars gathered in the centre of Simferopol, the Some of Turkey’s larger proposed dam projects capital of Crimea, to mark the anniversary of in the Kurdish south-east have sparked fierce the mass deportation of the Crimean Tatars by opposition. For example, the construction of Soviet leader Joseph Stalin in 1944, when the the 1,200 megawatt Ilisu dam on the Tigris entire Crimean Tatar population was deported River in south-east Turkey will displace as to Central Asia and the Siberian region of Russia many as 55,000–65,000 Kurds. European for alleged collaboration with Nazi Germany. As backers withdrew funding in 2009 because of reported by RFE/RL, the demonstrators carried

188 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Ukrainian and Crimean Tatar national flags and where Crimean is taught. In April 2011, the banners with slogans such as ‘The deportation of Supreme Council of the Autonomous Republic 1944 should be recognized as genocide against of Crimea announced that adopting a draft the Crimean Tatars!’ The Crimea was officially law on languages in Ukraine was an issue transferred from Russia to the Ukrainian Soviet ‘of extreme urgency’. In February 2012, the Socialist Republic in 1954. Crimean Tatars Crimean parliament appealed to the Ukrainian started returning en masse to Crimea from parliament to adopt draft legislation that would Central Asia in the late 1980s and 1990s, and ensure the use of minority languages in culture demanded their land and property back. They and education. The Council of Europe’s Venice currently account for about 13 per cent of the Commission recommended passage of the Peninsula’s 2 million population, 60 per cent of draft law in December 2011. The law was also whom are Russians. supported by 16 higher educational institutions In February 2011, the Post reported on and the representatives of 36 national the long struggle of the repatriated Crimean minorities. Tatars to reclaim their land. Allegedly a total of 1,400 hectares of land are occupied by 15,000 United Kingdom Crimean Tatars who have been unable to buy The UK prime minister’s condemnation of ‘state land legally on their return to Crimea. Some are ’ and call for a stronger ‘shared now illegally on plots of land without national identity’ stirred up heated reactions in basic infrastructure, running water and electricity. Europe. , addressing a security Crimean Tatars and the authorities contest the conference in Munich on 5 February 2011, requirements for obtaining land. Prime Minister argued that previous policies dealing with ethnic Vasyl Dzharty reportedly stated that Tatars do and cultural diversity had encouraged different not face discrimination in obtaining land, while cultures to live separate lives and ‘even tolerated according to the newspaper source more than 60 these segregated communities behaving in ways per cent of the Tatars have never received any that run counter to our values’. Cameron’s land and have no place to live. speech came after the German Chancellor In its 2011 report, CERD noted that the Angela Merkel remarked on the ‘utter failure’ question of ‘restitution and compensation for of Germany to create a multicultural society in the loss of over 80,000 private dwellings and October 2010. Stating terrorism as the biggest approximately 34,000 hectares of farmland threat to his country, Cameron was careful to upon deportation remains unresolved’. This is differentiate between Islam as a religion and a particularly crucial issue since 86 per cent of Islamic extremism as a political ideology. His the Crimean Tatars living in rural areas did not speech was nonetheless condemned by the have the right to participate in the process of opposition , who accused him agricultural land restitution because they had not of ‘inflaming racial tensions’, and by human worked for state enterprises. CERD called for the rights and Muslim community groups. ENAR government to restore the political, social and argued that Cameron’s statement reinforced economic right of the Tatars in Crimea. ‘prejudice and discriminatory perceptions against At the UN Forum on Minority Issues in immigrants, and more generally against British 2011, Nara Narimanova of the Crimean Tatar Muslims largely perceived as foreigners’. Youth Council, gave evidence on the situation of Policing was also a key concern in 2011. The Crimean Tatar . High levels fatal by the police in of unemployment, poor living conditions and , north London, on 4 August sparked discrimination have put Crimean Tatar women off violence after years of simmering tensions in a particularly vulnerable situation, according to between locals and the police; riots quickly Narimanova. spread across other neighbourhoods in London A major issue is the lack of opportunity for and cities in England. David Cameron cut Crimean Tatars to educate children in their short investigations into the underlying causes, mother tongue; there are only two universities asserting that the riots were ‘criminality pure

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 189 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 190 Europe State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: A caravan burns as police and bailiffs in of Farm in Essex made major headlines Basildon, UK, begin the eviction of Travellers in 2011, galvanizing civic action against their living at Dale Farm on 19 October 2011. planned eviction from a site between the towns Mary Turner/Peace Fellow of The Advocacy of Billericay and Basildon. In March, Basildon Project 2011. Council cut short a decade-long legal battle with the residents, and voted to take direct action and and simple’ and that the ‘broken society’ must evict 400 residents from Dale Farm, with only a be replaced by a stronger sense of morality and 28-day notice period and a budget of £18 million responsibility. But human rights groups urged put aside for the operation after the High Court the UK government to conduct a serious public ruled that the eviction could go ahead. CERD inquiry into the multi-faceted causes of the riots: called on the UK government to suspend the public policy; social and racial inequality; high planned eviction of Dale Farm residents and unemployment; and cuts in public services and to ensure ‘a peaceful and appropriate solution, economic collapse. Questions were raised over including identifying culturally appropriate police responses, especially their stop-and-search accommodation, with full respect for the rights policies, for singling out particular minorities and of the families involved’. The eviction affected 90 hindering the promotion of equality. families, including older residents, women and Issues concerning policing are not without 150 children. Representatives from the Council precedent in the country. In January 2012, two of Europe also visited the site and petitions men were finally convicted of murdering Stephen were signed to stop the largest ever eviction of Lawrence in April 1993. Stephen Lawrence Travellers in the UK. was a black British youth who was murdered UK jurisprudence recognizes while waiting at a bus stop by a gang of young and Romany Gypsies as separate ethnic white people chanting racist slogans. A public minorities. At Dale Farm, the residents were inquiry was held in 1998 to examine the initial mainly Irish Travellers. After a short delay Service investigation, led granted in September restraining Basildon by High Court judge Sir William Macpherson. council from clearing structures until the case had The inquiry concluded that the police force been heard in the High Court, the Court finally was ‘institutionally racist’, and acknowledged ruled that the eviction could go ahead. According professional incompetence as well as a failure of to the ruling, the Travellers delayed too long in leadership in the capital’s police force. challenging Basildon’s decision, and the council’s The UK government has not developed a race actions were not deemed to be disproportionate. equality strategy. This was a key issue outlined in But hours after the eviction operation started the UK NGOs Against Racism submission, led on 19 October, violence erupted. Bricks and by the Runnymede Trust, to the UN Committee debris were thrown at police, as officers used on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination taser electro-shock weapons at close range. The (CERD) in August 2011. CERD raised concerns operation to remove caravans and chalets from 51 about the government’s response to the August unauthorized plots finished at the beginning of riots; the reported increase in negative portrayals November, but despite the injunction obtained of ethnic minorities, immigrants, asylum- by Basildon council to prevent reoccupation of seekers and refugees by the media, especially the site, some Travellers attempted to return and pointing to the depiction of minority women continue to live there. p as unempowered; and the impact of austerity measures adopted in response to the current economic downturn. There are an estimated 90,000–120,000 nomadic Travellers and Gypsies in the UK and a further 200,000 who live in housing, according to the Gypsy and Traveller Law Reform Coalition. The Gypsy and Traveller community

State of the World’s Minorities Europe 191 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 LEBANON SYRIA

ISRAEL/OT/ Palestinian Authority

EGYPT JORDAN

IRAQ

KUWAIT

IRAN

SAUDI ARABIA BAHRAIN QATAR

U.A.E .

OMAN

ARABIAN SEA Middle East and North Africa Doreen Khoury ery few seasoned observers of the Right: A crowd of Coptic women leaving a Middle East and North Africa could church service in Egypt during a Coptic Moulid V have predicted the wave of uprisings of Mari Girgis, a religious festival celebrating the that spread throughout the region in 2011. life of Saint George. James Morris/Panos. The self-immolation of Tunisian street vendor Mohamad Bouazzizi on 17 December 2010, the of 2011 had entered its ninth month, was, event which triggered the Arab Spring, was a according to some observers, in danger of desperate cry for dignity in a repressive state and erupting into a sectarian civil war between the symbolized the plight of many citizens in the regime, led by the Alawite Assad family, and the region. Young people in particular, who led the Sunni-led opposition. revolutions, felt disenfranchised and disconnected The situation of minorities in other Arab from the decades-old obsolete state countries did not improve in 2011. In Saudi which had failed abysmally to provide employ- Arabia, persecution of the Shi’a minority ment, social mobility and prosperity. escalated, as the kingdom feared that shockwaves Future prospects for minorities in the region from demonstrations in Bahrain would spill over became a much discussed topic, especially onto its own soil. Iran’s numerous minorities, following the tragic outcome of the Maspero despite inhabiting regions rich with natural demonstrations in Cairo on 9 October 2011, resources, continued to experience high rates of during which Coptic Christians, who were unemployment, poverty and health problems protesting against the destruction of a church in because of weak infrastructure and poor Aswan, were attacked by the Egyptian army, with government investment in their regions. up to 27 protesters killed. Maspero symbolized Across the region, minorities have suffered the current predicament of minorities after the from the confiscation of their land and property, Arab Spring: will the prejudices and identities of and the degradation of their surrounding the old order continue to dominate or will public environment due to development projects, space open to allow minorities to express their irresponsible agricultural methods as well as a culture and enjoy full political participation? general lack of government response to climate As 2011 drew to a close, the prospects did not change. Minorities whose livelihoods have been look particularly promising. In Egypt, Coptic negatively affected by these problems have Christians continued to suffer violent attacks on received little or no help from their governments, their property and churches by Islamists while the as this chapter will show. Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF) The Arab Spring is an ongoing process, where that replaced ousted President Hosni Mubarak the relationship between citizens and the state is repeatedly failed to hold perpetrators to justice. still being redrawn and negotiated. While the old The victory of the Muslim Brotherhood in the may be waning, more inclusive Egyptian elections has also caused concerns national identities in the region – one more that non-Sunni minorities will face further accommodating to minorities and not defined by discrimination and repression of their religious a dominant religion, ethnicity or language – has and cultural rights. yet to form. The full political, social and cultural In Libya, the effect on minorities of the six- integration of minorities in Arab countries will month conflict by the Libyan rebels to unseat be a major litmus test of the success of the Arab Muammar Gaddafi has been mixed. While Spring. Libya’s Amazigh minority, also known as , liberated their lands from Gaddafi’s hold and are Egypt enjoying freer cultural and linguistic expression, The Egyptian revolution began on 25 January sub-Saharan Africans and Libyan Tawerghans 2011 when protests erupted throughout Egypt, have suffered severe discrimination and violence focusing on the symbolic Tahrir Square in Cairo, at the hands of the former rebels and many and eventually led to the resignation of President continue to be detained. Hosni Mubarak after 20 years of authoritarian The Syrian revolution, which by the end rule. And at the end of 2011, the revolution was

194 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 arguably still ongoing, as opposition strengthened in attacks against minorities, either by ignoring against the SCAF, which assumed power after cases of sectarian violence, failing to investigate Mubarak’s departure. The SCAF has continued them or actively engaging in violence alongside to use the repressive practices of the Mubarak extremists. Human Rights Watch (HRW) era, including bringing its critics before closed found that public prosecutors often encouraged military trials. In terms of women’s rights, the extra-legal settlements, thus reducing sectarian most prominent violation was the so-called attacks to personal disputes. This has fostered a ‘virginity tests’ on female protesters arrested by climate of impunity, allowing extremists to target army soldiers; the practice reportedly continued minorities without fear of punishment. into 2012, despite widespread protest. The year 2011 was a grim one for Coptic While the Egyptian revolution created an Christians, who represent between 6 and 9 per atmosphere of national solidarity as Egyptian cent of the population. Over 10 major attacks Muslims and non-Muslims united to topple the occurred against Copts, most of them involving Mubarak regime, religious and ethnic minorities disputes about whether they had permission to continued to face discrimination and sectarian build or renovate a church. Under existing laws, attacks. Muslim fundamentalists have been Copts must obtain an official endorsement and responsible for a number of sectarian attacks on permission from the local Muslim community to minorities. The SCAF has also been complicit build or renovate a church.

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 195 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa On 1 January, a bombing occurred at a allegedly also instrumental in inciting sectarian church in Alexandria during the New Year’s unrest. The SCAF was criticized, as generals prayer service, in which at least 21 people denied the use of live ammunition despite video were killed and over 70 injured. In March, a evidence, and the inquiry set up to investigate the crowd burned down a church in the town of incident was headed by a military prosecutor. Atfih, south of Cairo. Lawyers representing the In June 2011, a draft law on the construction church told HRW that they had presented the of religious buildings was issued by the names of 100 suspects alongside video evidence government to replace the previous Hamayouni of the arson attack to the local prosecutor, Decree, dating back to the Ottoman era, which but none of the suspects were prosecuted. In regulated church construction but did not apply protest, Copts held demonstrations in Cairo, to mosques. The law sought to promote religious during which at least 13 people were killed equality by applying equal regulations to mosques and nearly 150 injured in clashes. A crowd and churches, but was opposed by the Muslim attacked the demonstrators, while the Egyptian Brotherhood for not abiding by ‘measures of military apparently stood by for hours without justice that are espoused by Islamic sharia [law]’. intervening. Also in March, a group of men, Coptic Christians also expressed dissatisfaction alleged to be members of the Salafi movement, with the draft law, since they still had to receive adherents of an interpretation of Islam that permission from governors to build places of seeks to restore Islamic practice to the way it worship. existed at the time of the prophet Mohammad, In 2011, Sufi Muslims, who adhere to the set fire to a flat in Qena owned by a Coptic esoteric, mystical dimension of Islam, faced Christian. The authorities made no efforts to attacks and harassment from Salafists who arrest the perpetrators. consider them to be heretics. Salafists attacked 16 In May, Salafists attacked and badly damaged historic Sufi mosques in Alexandria where half a two churches in Cairo’s Imbaba district, acting million Sufis live and which has 40 Sufi mosques. on rumours that a female convert to Islam was Aggression against the Sufis in Egypt included being held in a church. The government later a raid on a mosque named after and containing reported that 12 people had died in the violence. the tomb of the thirteenth-century Sufi al-Mursi The Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights said Abu’l Abbas. Another target was the Qaed that security forces knew in advance that Salafists Ibrahim mosque, where mass protests were were gathered outside the churches, and failed to organized during the revolution. Sufi residents take any preventive measures. Christian houses of the Egyptian governorates of al-Minufyia and and businesses were also vandalized. Aswan have also demanded state protection of On 30 September, a group of local residents Sufi institutions and buildings. in Al-Marinab village, Edfu Province, set fire Bahá’ís in Egypt have historically suffered from to Saint George’s church as it was undergoing state-sanctioned discrimination and persecution. reconstruction, because they believed that the Most Egyptian Bahá’ís do not have official congregation did not have a permit and objected identity cards which are necessary for access to to the height of the steeple that bore a cross. education, employment, opening bank accounts, Authorities confirmed that the church did have receiving pensions and carrying out business a permit. Copts were angered by the governor of transactions. In addition, they have been barred Aswan who appeared to justify the attack. from holding government jobs. Bahá’í marriages In October, thousands of Copts demonstrated are still not recognized in Egypt. While the outside the Maspero government building Supreme Administrative Court ruled that Bahá’ís in Cairo, to protest the authorities’ failure to could obtain official identity cards back in 2008, punish attacks on Christians. They were met the implementation of this ruling has moved with armoured personnel carriers and hundreds slowly. Bahá’ís are still banned from forming of riot police who opened fire on the crowd. An spiritual assemblies in Egypt. estimated 24 people were killed, mostly Copts, The Egyptian paper Youm al Sabe’ reported and about 250 injured. The state media was that on 23 February two homes of Bahá’ís were

196 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 set on fire and burgled in Shuraniya village, 2011 by the state. Several women are currently in the Sohag governorate. According to the detained or serving prison terms for their Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights there was activities, and many have been held in solitary strong evidence that state security officers incited confinement or have limited contact with their the attack. families and lawyers. Following the 2011 revolution, ethnic In 2011, Iran did not permit Ahmed Shaheed, Nubians began to demand their right to return the UN Special Rapporteur assigned with to their homeland around Lake Nasser. Egyptian investigating its human rights record, to enter Nubians are an ethnic group with a distinct the country. Widespread discrimination against culture and language, and live mostly in the Iranian minorities in both law and practice Upper region. Developmental projects in continued during 2011, according to an Amnesty their ancestral lands have led to the loss of their International report that noted that minorities livelihoods which are dependent on farming. In face land and property confiscations, denial the 1960s, during the construction of the Aswan of employment and restrictions on cultural, High Dam, when the surrounding region was linguistic and religious rights. In February 2011, flooded to create Lake Nasser, 50,000 Nubians MRG published a briefing which noted that were relocated to less fertile government lands in the traditional lands of many Iranian minorities Upper Egypt. But Lake Nasser has receded over (namely Ahwazi , Azeris, Kurds and Baluch) the past decade, making fertile land available are rich with natural resources and provide large again. Nubians were subject to repression under sources of wealth for the Iranian government, Mubarak’s regime because of the strategic but local communities experience high rates of location of ancient Nubia on the site of the unemployment, poverty and disease because Aswan Dam and have also seen Egyptian Arab of weak infrastructure and poor government communities settled by the government on the investment. land they claim as their homeland. The Iranian government continued to In early September, about 2,000 Nubians persecute Kurdish activists in 2011, convicting protested in Aswan City against their them on vague charges such as ‘acting against marginalization and the elimination of their national security’ and ‘waging war against God’. traditional rights to the land. Protesters set fire to Fifteen imprisoned Kurdish activists are believed the Aswan governorate headquarters. to be on death row. Death sentences against Zainar and Loghman Moradi, and Habibollah Iran Latifi, were upheld in 2011 following failed Large-scale protests by government critics and appeals. Another Kurdish activist, Sherko opposition members were held in Iran in 2011, Moarefi, was also at risk of imminent execution. but were met with a heavy crackdown by security In terms of land rights, there are high levels forces. On 14 February, opposition groups of property confiscation and governmental staged a ‘Day of Rage’ protest in Tehran and neglect in the Kurdish region of north-west other cities, during which thousands gathered in Iran – , Kermanshah and Ilam solidarity with protesters in Tunisia and Egypt, provinces. The Kurdish region has abundant despite the large number of security forces. Police water resources. Dams have been built by the fired tear gas on protesters, killing two people. government to facilitate water irrigation and In April, the Iranian parliament passed for hydroelectric power generation, but Kurds regulations severely limiting the independence are generally excluded from the benefits of this of civil society organizations, and created a investment. They experience poor housing and Supreme Committee Supervising NGO Activities living conditions because of forced resettlement, chaired by ministry officials and made up of and the expropriation of rural land for large-scale members from the security forces. Activists agricultural plantations and petrochemical plants from the One Million Signatures campaign, a which pollute the surrounding environment. women’s grassroots movement aimed at ending The Bahá’í faith, with over 300,000 followers discrimination against women, were targeted in in Iran, has long been the target of persecution.

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 197 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa Hundreds of Bahá’ís have been executed, religious practices, including harassment and tortured and imprisoned, and many others have imprisonment of prominent Sufi leaders and been denied livelihoods, education and the right destruction of prayer centres. In January, three to inherit property. In January 2011, Navid lawyers who had defended Sufi members were Khanjani, who began advocating for Bahá’í rights put on trial. They were reportedly sentenced to after he was denied access to higher education, 6–7 months’ imprisonment for ‘propagating lies was sentenced to 12 years in prison. At the and creating public anxiety’. Over 60 people, beginning of 2012, the case was pending appeal. mostly dervishes (members of a Sufi religious In March, six Bahá’ís were arrested in Kerman, order), were arrested in September. In the at least four of them for providing education same crackdown, a member of the Nematollahi for young children. The high-profile case of the Gonabadi Sufi order was reportedly killed. By seven Bahá’í leaders attracted renewed attention 2012, at least 11 remained in detention. Also in and criticism during 2011. Their 20-year prison September, four lawyers who were representing sentences had been reduced to 10 years in the detainees were also arrested; they were September 2010; however, they were told in charged in December for spreading lies and March 2011 that the longer sentences had been membership in a ‘deviant group’. reinstated. They maintain that the charges against Most of Iran’s Ahwazi Arab community lives them are without foundation; their lawyers have in the south-western province of Khuzestan, had very limited access to them. In May, security which borders Iraq and contains 90 per cent of forces arrested at least 30 Bahá’ís affiliated Iran’s oil wells. Ahwazis are marginalized and with the outlawed Bahá’í Institute for Higher subject to discrimination in access to education, Education, a correspondence university. employment, adequate housing and political Several of the country’s ethnic minorities – participation. In April 2011, HRW reported Arabs, Baluchis, Kurds and Turkmen – practise that several dozen Ahwazi protesters were killed . These groups are doubly affected by by security forces during demonstrations over discriminatory policies based on both their ethnic the Ahwazi minority’s grievances over state identity and their faith. Sunni Muslim religious discrimination and denial of economic and leaders are regularly intimidated and harassed cultural rights. Authorities arrested hundreds, by security services and report widespread prosecuted them during flawed trials where official discrimination. In 2011, Sunni Muslims they had limited or no access to lawyers, and in Tehran were banned from congregating at executed several. prayers marking Eid al-Fitr, the Muslim holiday that signals the end of the month of Ramadan. Sistan-Baluchistan Christian converts regularly face state The Baluch region is rich in energy and harassment and arrest. Many belong to mineral resources, but activists claim the evangelical protestant groups, and are regularly government has deliberately pursued a policy of charged with ‘insulting Islamic sanctities’ underdevelopment. Baluchistan has the lowest and apostasy. One of the main targets is the per capita income in Iran, a high infant mortality Church of Iran, an evangelical congregation rate, and the average life expectancy is at least with members throughout the country. In eight years below the national average. As Sunni January 2011, the governor of Tehran, Morteza Muslims, Baluchis have also come under pressure Tamaddon, publicly referred to detained from the government to convert to Shi’a Islam Christians as deviant and corrupt. Pastor Yousef if they want to find employment and access Nadarkhani, who converted to Christianity, has education. been a frequent target of the Iranian authorities. Sakhi Rigi, an ethnic Baluch blogger and He was arrested in October 2009; the Supreme former member of opposition leader Mir-Hossein Court upheld his apostasy conviction and death Mousavi’s campaign staff, was sentenced in June sentence in September 2011. to a 20-year prison term on charges of ‘acting Sufi Muslims have faced growing government against national security’ and ‘propagating against repression of their communities and the regime.’ He was first arrested in 2009.

198 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 be covered by layers of salt, eventually displacing Case study up to 1.3 million people. The lake also plays an important role regulating regional weather systems, and its disappearance will lead to damaging shifts Between a lake and to seasonal weather patterns Thousands of Azeris in the cities of Tabriz and a river: government depend on the lake for their livelihoods, especially for ecotourism, irrigation and salt pro- neglect in Iran duction. The shrinking of the lake has already affected tourism and regional investment has dropped significantly. Proposals made by the Irani- Azeris, Lake Urmia an government to save the lake have been dismissed Azeris in Iran have joined together to protest by activists and experts as short-term measures. For against dam construction on Lake Urmia’s example, rather than launching a cloud-seeding tributaries that is destroying the region’s programme to increase rainfall and supply the lake ecological and economic resources. with remote sources of water as the government Lake Urmia, a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve, proposes, activists argue that releasing the water is situated between the East and West Azerbai- held behind dams would be far more effective in jan provinces and is one of the largest salt lakes the long run. But for years, the Iranian government in the world. But over the past 15 years it has has chosen to ignore the problem and shirk respon- shrunk by 60 per cent due to the construction sibility, instead blaming global warming. of 36 dams on the lake’s tributaries, prolonged drought, and the construction of a major and the Karoun River highway bisecting the lake to connect the cities In 2011, the World Health Organization declared of Urmia and Tabriz. The region now faces a that Ahwaz City, the capital of the Khuzestan growing ecological disaster, with serious nega- governorate, was the most polluted city in the tive consequences on Azeri communities whose world, with high asthma levels among children and livelihoods depend upon the lake. teenagers due to industrial waste and emissions. In April 2011, Azeris gathered to protest in Industrial pollution has damaged the natural Urmia and Tabriz, calling on the government environment, and marshland biodiversity is so to save the lake. According to Amnesty seriously threatened that migratory have International, 70 people were arrested in Tabriz and 20 in Urmia for protesting illegally. During the summer, Azeri activists escalated their protests after the Iranian government dropped plans aimed at reviving the lake. On 24 August, 30 Azeris were arrested at a private gathering, and on 27 August, thousands of protesters in Urmia clashed with riot police, resulting in 300 arrests, according to HRW. Police shot tear gas at protesters and beat them with batons. At another environmental rally in early September, security forces resorted yet again to violence and arrested 60 people. As the lake recedes, its salt content is gradually dispersed into the local environment, causing increased soil salinity in surrounding farmland. Experts estimate that if the lake Above: An Azeri man in Kandovan, Iran, near dries up completely, the surrounding cities will Lake Urmia. Piotr Bystranowski.

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 199 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa Case study continued Iranian security forces were reported to have arrested or killed several members of the left the area. The Bandar Iman petrochemical pro-Baluch armed group People’s Resistance complex is a major pollutant, and has created Movement of Iran (PRMI), also known as environmental devastation and low fish stocks, Jundallah, which was created in 2003 and is directly impacting the livelihoods of the Ahwazis. considered by both the United States and Iran Despite or more likely because of their region’s to be a terrorist organization. In May 2011, strategic importance – most of Iran’s oil wells are nine members of Jundallah were arrested and there – many Ahwazi Arabs have been forced to in July two Jundallah commanders were killed migrate. The Iranian government has pursued in Baluchistan by security forces. In late August a policy of encouraging ethnic Persians to move 2011, four members were arrested on suspicion in from other provinces. The confiscation of planning an armed attack in Baluchistan. of Ahwazi land has been so widespread that it has amounted to a government policy of Iraq dispossession. The creation of the Arvan Free Chris Chapman Zone in 2005 involved the mass expulsion of In the run-up to the pull-out of US combat Ahwazis and the destruction of their villages. troops at the end of 2011, many observers Iranian authorities have also followed a policy of predicted a significant worsening in the security ethnic segregation in Khuzestan, by constructing situation. Certainly the US had played a role walls that separate Ahwazis from non-Arab in patrolling areas such as the districts and neighbourhoods. In urban areas, and the city of Kirkuk, which have significant many Ahwazis live in shanty towns which lack minority populations. In fact, while January 2012 plumbing, sewerage and safe drinking water. saw the highest monthly death toll since August In recent years, the Iranian government’s deci- 2010, the number of civilians killed then fell sion to divert the Karoun River in Khuzestan to back to levels comparable with the previous year. other drier regions has had further serious impli- Kirkuk city was a centre of much violence cations on the livelihood of Ahwazis. In May throughout 2011, particularly targeting the Turk- 2011, the director of the Ahwaz Human Rights men community, notably through killings of Organization claimed that the diversion of waters prominent individuals such as police officers and from the Karoon and Karkhe rivers from Arab business leaders. This prompted the setting up of lands to ethnically Persian provinces of Isfahan, a parliamentary committee of enquiry, which at Yazd and Kerman represented a further erosion the time of writing has still not reported. No-one of Ahwazi farmers’ economic security. The river has claimed responsibility for the deaths but they is essential for agriculture and fishing, and is the are likely to be linked to tensions between Kurds, largest source of income for them. The disruption Turkmen and Arabs over political control, access of water sources will lead to a lack of safe drink- to resources and jobs, and the long overdue refer- ing water, diseased fish and a decline in fish stock. endum over the future status of Kirkuk. Christian River diversion erodes farmer’s economic security. churches have also been targeted in the city. The United Nations Environmental Programme Dohuk governorate, in the Kurdistan region, (UNEP) has repeatedly warned the Iranian gov- normally a relative haven of peace, was struck ernment of the disastrous environmental impact by a series of arson attacks on 37 Christian and of diverting the Karoun River, but the Iranian Yezidi businesses in December 2011. government has rejected concerns. The governors According to a survey conducted among 11 of Khuzestan, Chahar Mahaal va Bakhtiari and minority communities for a 2011 MRG report, Lorestan provinces have also reportedly expressed minorities in Iraq face considerable problems their opposition to the diversion project. The in gaining proper access to employment, health project was due to start in 2011, but as a result of care or education. Only 47 per cent of members the protests the project was postponed. p of religious minorities felt safe visiting places of worship. Those surveyed described how they fear wearing religious symbols publicly, especially

200 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 minority women, who often need to protect Arab citizens in , comprising 20 per cent of themselves from harassment by hiding their the total population. Of these, 82 per cent are religious affiliation. Muslim, while the remainder are roughly split The Kurdistan Regional Government (KRG) between Christians and Druze. There is deep has signed an exploration and production deal institutional discrimination against Palestinian with the international oil giant Exxon Mobil for Arabs in employment, education and property six blocks, including three in disputed territories ownership. Palestinian women face further bordering the official KRG region. Although the discrimination, both as women and as members KRG controls these regions de facto through the of a minority. Though Israel’s Knesset has passed presence of its security forces, its sovereignty over highly progressive laws on anti-discrimination them is not recognized in the Constitution; the and legal protection for women and disabled federal government has protested against the deal. persons, such legislation does not cover The blocks include areas of Nineveh and Kirkuk discrimination against the Arab minority on the provinces of significant ethnic and religious basis of ethnicity. According to various UN and diversity, in particular a block to the north-east of local statistics, over half of Palestinian families are Mosul, in Nineveh Province, which is inhabited poor. by a patchwork of Shabak, Christian, Yezidi and Palestinian citizens of Israel are deprived of Kaka’i communities, as well as Kurds and Arabs. access to and use of their land under laws aimed The deal is also controversial because Iraq at confirming state ownership of land confiscated has still not passed a law on hydrocarbons, from Palestinians. In 2011 Adalah, an NGO and defining procedures for awarding oil concessions, legal centre for Arab minority rights in Israel, the respective rights of the KRG and federal published a report that points to the lack of governments to sign deals, the role of foreign development and investment in Arab towns and companies and export modalities, a draft of villages. Palestinian Arab towns and villages in which was presented to parliament in 2007. Israel suffer from severe overcrowding, with Arab However, the federal government has itself signed municipalities representing only 2.5 per cent of exploration deals with multinationals covering the total area of the country. Since 1948, 600 fields in the south of Iraq. new Jewish municipalities have been established, Both the federal and Kurdish governments whereas no new Arab village, town or city has accuse each other of smuggling oil out of the ever been authorized. country to bypass revenue-sharing agreements. In March 2011, HRW reported that the The KRG has since closed down oil production in Knesset passed a law authorizing ‘admissions protest at the federal government’s alleged failure committees’ in small rural communities to to pay sums owing from a revenue-sharing deal. filter out applicants on the basis of vague In February 2012, an Iraqi court of appeal ‘social suitability’ criteria. HRW estimated confirmed death sentences for three people who that approximately 300 Jewish-majority were convicted of the attack on the Our Lady of communities will fall within the law’s definition, Salvation Church in Baghdad in October 2010, although the practice is already common in in which 44 worshippers, 2 priests and 7 security many others. While the law’s sponsors added force personnel were killed. An accomplice was a non-discrimination clause, statements made sentenced to 20 years in prison. While the use at the time indicated their intention to target of the death penalty is deplorable, it should be Arab Israeli citizens. HRW foresaw that other noted that the sentences break with a tradition of marginalized groups, such as Jews of non- almost complete impunity for large-scale attacks European origin, will be affected. on Iraqi minority communities. About 200,000 Bedouin live in the Negev Desert, where they are an indigenous people Israel and the Occupied Palestinian – a fact which is not recognized by the Israeli Territory government. Since 1948, Israel has built dozens Israel of Jewish towns, villages and farms, confiscated There are approximately 1.2 million Palestinian Bedouin lands and attempted to move them into

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 201 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa specific planned townships. Israeli governments has been drawn up without any consultation have recognized only a few Arab villages in the with Bedouin communities and will in effect Negev, even though many were established extinguish Bedouin land claims without adequate before the state of Israel. Israel does not recognize compensation. An MRG report published in Bedouin ownership rights. On 11 September December condemned the government’s policy 2011, the Israeli cabinet decided to go ahead towards Bedouin not only as discriminatory but with the controversial ‘Prawer Plan’ which will also as a violation of international human rights result in the demolition of thousands of houses law. At year’s end, the Knesset was expected to in the Negev and force 30,000 Bedouin from consider the enabling legislation soon. their ancestral lands and into townships. The During 2011, the Knesset passed other Israeli government sees the plan as an attempt legislation adversely affecting Palestinian citizens to end the long-standing dispute between the of Israel. One law will lead to fines being state and its Bedouin population. But the plan imposed on any government-funded institution,

202 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Left: Sabah Ismail, a Bedouin woman, speaks (UNRWA) reported that as a result of escalated to MRG in 2011 of the horror her family went demolitions by the Israeli authorities in the West through when the Israeli government demolished Bank, over 4,000 people were either displaced her entire village, Al Arakib, the previous year. or otherwise severely affected by demolitions Her family now live in a tent in the cemetery in Al during 2011. The vast majority of demolitions Arakib. Farah Mihlar/MRG. were carried out in Area C. In February 2011, for example, Israeli forces destroyed 6 homes including municipalities, that commemorates and 21 animal pens in Khirbet Tana near the ‘Naqba’, the term for the destruction Nablus, displacing about 6 families and affecting of Palestinian villages and the expulsion of their over 100 people who rely on agriculture for residents following Israel’s independence, and their livelihoods. It was the third time since any expression deemed to ‘negate the existence January 2010 and the fourth since 2005 that of Israel as a Jewish and democratic state’. While the community had experienced large-scale the law will most clearly affect municipalities, demolitions. it could also harm attempts by arts groups and The Israeli authorities continued to revoke other cultural organizations to build bridges residency permits of Palestinians living in East between communities through educational Jerusalem, and in August 2011 the Israeli programmes. government approved the construction of 1,600 During January 2012, the Israeli Supreme new Israeli settler homes there. The decision Court upheld the country’s controversial should be viewed against a diplomatic backdrop; Citizenship Law. According to the legislation, it came just weeks before the Palestinian which began as a temporary order in 2002, Authority moved to have the Palestinian state Palestinians who live in the Occupied Palestinian recognized at the UN. Territory (OPT) or citizens of Arab countries In recent years, opposition to the eviction of that are considered ‘enemy states’ are not eligible Palestinians from East Jerusalem has coalesced for Israeli residency or citizenship if they marry around the Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood, located Israeli citizens. Thousands of Palestinian families to the north of the Old City. Approximately are thus forced to live apart, move abroad or live 60 people have so far been evicted, often with illegally in Israel. minimal notice, and 500 others remain at risk of displacement. In May, the NGO Avocats sans The West Bank Frontières issued a report in which it highlighted Following the 1993 Oslo Accords, the West a key issue, namely the expansion of Jerusalem’s Bank was divided into three administrative municipal boundaries into areas considered by divisions. Area C, comprising 60 per cent of Palestinians as well as the UN to be occupied the West Bank, is the Israeli-controlled and territory. Thus, the evictions violate the Fourth administered area. Around 150,000 Palestinians Geneva Convention which prohibits occupying live in this area, alongside approximately 500,000 powers from displacing civilians or transferring Israeli settlers. Minority groups include Bedouin groups belonging to its own population into who number around 25,000 people in Area C occupied territory. and 40,000 in the whole of the West Bank. The The Israeli authorities are developing plans Israeli government has put aside 70 per cent of to forcibly relocate Bedouin from Area C in the land in Area C for settlements, firing zones, 2012. Initially, 2,300 people will be relocated the separation barrier, checkpoints and nature to a site bordering Jerusalem’s biggest rubbish reserves, and this land is therefore ‘off-limits’ to dump. It should be noted that attacks by Israeli Palestinians. settlers can also cause displacement. UNRWA In 2011, the Israeli authorities continued noted for example that 19 Bedouin families its practice of house demolitions and forced – 127 people – decided in July 2011 to move evictions in Area C and East Jerusalem, violating from their Area C homes under fear of further its obligation to respect the right to adequate settler attacks, citing lack of adequate protection. housing. The UN Relief and Works Agency The forced displacement undermines Bedouin

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 203 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa livelihoods as well as their tribal identity. EU Palestinian farmers access to their olive groves country ambassadors noted in a joint report that in the Seam Zone either due to security reasons settler attacks have increased dramatically from or an inability to prove ownership of land. The 266 reported incidents in 2010 to 411 assaults in Israeli authorities have also reportedly been 2011. destroying Palestinian crops. The situation has Under a planning system condemned as increased food insecurity and impoverished discriminatory by the UN, Israeli authorities herder communities who have lost access to have allocated only 1 per cent of Area C for water, according to the UN Special Rapporteur Palestinian development. It is virtually impossible on the right to food, Olivier de Shuetter. for Palestinians to obtain construction permits, while Israeli settlements receive preferential Lebanon treatment in the allocation of water and land, Lebanon has enjoyed greater freedom of speech and approval of development plans. Settlements than many other Arab countries, and largely built on privately owned Palestinian land and avoided the Arab uprisings. But the country which do not have building permits rarely face continued to be gripped by political paralysis. demolition. The national unity government led by Saad Several human rights agencies have highlighted Hariri collapsed in January 2011, because of the lack of access to safe drinking water. In a disagreement over the Special Tribunal for report published in December, the UN’s Com- Lebanon on the assassination of Rafik Hariri. mittee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Competing regional affiliations also played a (CESCR) noted the continuing destruction of big part in the government’s demise. It took local civilians’ wells, roof water tanks, and other Hariri’s successor, billionaire Najib Mikati who water and irrigation facilities, which forces many was named prime minister in January 2011, six civilian to leave their home areas. months to form a government. Despite being The CESCR also reported on Israel’s a coalition of supposedly like-minded parties, continued gross violations of housing and land including Hezbollah and the Christian Free rights, in particular noting that the Israeli- Patriotic Movement, the new government has controlled separation barrier along and within also struggled to reach consensus on many local the West Bank has prevented Palestinian farmers and regional issues. The situation of minorities, from accessing their land and natural resources, both ethnic minority groups and those who affecting their right to work. In 2011, the UN do not have citizenship in Lebanon, remained Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian relatively unchanged in Lebanon, except for the Affairs (OCHA) produced a report on the impact influx of Syrian refugees across the border, fleeing of the barrier on Palestinian communities which the violence there. has cut off land and natural resources required There are approximately 455,000 Palestinian for agriculture, negatively impacting rural refugees in Lebanon registered with UNRWA livelihoods. Of particular note is the so-called (comprising 10 per cent of the country’s Seam Zone or area between the Green Line population), around half of whom live in 12 (the pre-1967 boundary between Israel and recognized refugee camps. Palestinian refugees are the West Bank) and the barrier. Access to the denied citizenship and so have few basic rights, or Seam Zone by Palestinian farmers is through access to state services. Most Palestinian refugees designated gates and depends on a cumbersome can only find low-paid temporary employment ‘prior coordination’ system. In the Biddu area, and cannot work in over 30 professions, such for example, some Palestinian communities as medicine, law and engineering; women are have been cut off from almost 50 per cent of significantly more likely to be unemployed than their agricultural land in the Seam Zone near men and some families rely on child labour for the Giv’at Ze’ev settlement. One essential income. As UNRWA only provides them with agricultural activity that has suffered is the olive basic health services, many cannot access long-term harvest. In October, OCHA reported that the health care. They also face restrictions on their Israeli authorities were denying thousands of movement, requiring permits to leave their camps.

204 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 In February 2011, UK-based Palestinian 42-year rule had transformed into an armed NGOs the Palestinian Refugee Centre and the struggle that spread across the country. The Council for European Palestinian Refugees opposition formed the National Transitional reported on the desperate situation in the refugee Council (NTC) in Benghazi. On 17 March, camps that are prohibited from expanding and the UN Security Council passed resolution therefore suffering from increasingly overcrowded 1973, which paved the way for the imposition living space. Prime Minister Mikati promised of a no-fly-zone against Gaddafi’s forces, led by to grant Palestinian refugees work permits and NATO. The Libyan capital, Tripoli, eventually to grant civil and human rights, but ongoing fell to rebel forces in late August 2011, and Lebanese political dysfunction makes it virtually Gaddafi was captured and killed on 20 October impossible to imagine this happening in the 2011 in the city of Sirte. On 16 September, the foreseeable future. UN General Assembly recognized the NTC as By the end of 2011, 4,840 Syrian refugees the legitimate representative of Libya. were registered with the UNHCR and the In November 2011, a report by UN Secretary- Lebanese High Relief Committee, the majority General Ban Ki-Moon expressed concerns of whom had fled from Syria’s Homs province. over alleged war crimes committed by rebels, Many are residing with host families in north particularly against black Libyans and Sub- Lebanon, waiting for the situation at home to Saharan Africans. The report said many of the stabilize before they return. Their legal status 7,000 African detainees, including women, had is ambiguous, and they also face the threat of been beaten and tortured. Syrian troop incursions and kidnappings by According to rights groups, rebel fighters Syrian agents in Lebanon. Syrian refugees have killed and detained black Libyans and sub- complained that their movements are restricted Saharan African migrant workers, claiming by the Lebanese army, since they do not have they were pro-Gaddafi mercenaries. However, exit stamps on their passports or identity cards, allegations that Gaddafi employed many and that little has been done to ensure their Africans from neighbouring countries such security. as Chad, Nigeria and Sudan as mercenaries There are about 150,000 Arab Bedouin in appeared to be heavily exaggerated. Many Lebanon, who lived in what is now Lebanon Africans worked in civilian jobs. There have before the country was created. Originally self- been reports of harassment and violence towards sufficient, years of urbanization and drought have sub-Saharan African migrant workers from impoverished them, weakening their customs rebel fighters and civilians alike, and security and traditional pastoral livelihoods. Bedouin in missions have allegedly turned into persecution Lebanon have fought for years to be recognized of Africans based on their skin colour. During as Lebanese citizens. During Lebanon’s only a field mission in September, HRW reported population census in 1932, many Bedouins who that Africans held in Libyan prisons were failed to register did not get citizenship and thus in overcrowded cells with appalling hygiene became stateless. Those without citizenship are standards and no access to clean drinking water. given laissez-passer papers, which protect them In addition, many sub-Saharan Africans have from arrest and deportation, but does not grant been displaced by the fighting and for fear of them any civil rights. Because some of their reprisals; the largest group of displaced Africans settlements are not recognized, their access to was in the port of Janzur between Tripoli and water and electricity is also limited. Zawya, housed in camps with poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. Residents of the Libya camp complained to HRW that armed Libyans The Libyan revolution began with protests in the frequently entered the camp to harass them and eastern city of Benghazi on 15 February 2011 rape women. and, like the other Arab Spring uprisings, caught During the Libyan revolution, government most observers by surprise. By late February, forces attacking Misrata were partly based in the opposition to Colonel Muammar Gaddafi’s town of Tawergha, east of Tripoli. Following

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 205 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa Right: A child carries water at a camp for refugees from Tawergha in Benghazi, Libya. REUTERS/Esam Al-Fetori.

Gaddafi’s fall, Misrata rebels have been accused of serious abuses against unarmed Tawerghans, including arbitrary arrests, beatings and torture. This forced many Tawerghans to abandon Tawergha, which is now described as a ghost town. The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said that Tawerghans fled mostly to the Jufra region, south of Misrata. An estimated 15,000 people were displaced, and 4,000 Tawerghans sought refuge in three refugee camps. Others have moved to Benghazi, Tripoli, or to southern Libya. Forcing all residents of Tawergha to resettle permanently as a form of collective punishment would constitute a crime against humanity for deportation or forced transfer, HRW said in March 2011. Libyan Amazigh, also known as Berbers, are the country’s largest indigenous minority and faced discrimination and harassment under Gaddafi’s rule. The Amazigh language, Tamazight, was outlawed, and Gaddafi passed laws which banned the use of non-Arab Amazigh names on official documentation. Amazigh New Year celebrations were considered un-Arab by Gaddafi, and Amazighs who expressed their culture and heritage were often persecuted by the state. Amazigh living in the Nafusa Mountains in north-west Libya were among the first to regions, there has been what observers have protest against Gaddafi on 18 February 2011. called a cultural and linguistic renaissance. Protesters in the main Nafusa towns of Naluf Schools have begun to teach Tamazight, and and Yefren called for Gaddafi’s downfall, and an a weekly Tamazight newspaper was launched. end to the marginalization of Amazigh people, But the draft constitution outlined by the demanding improved infrastructure and political NTC only vaguely alluded to Amazigh culture representation. Fighting in the Nafusa Mountains and rights – Tamazight was not recognized between rebel forces and Gaddafi forces blocked as an official language for example – and the access to food, medical supplies and fuel. As cabinet of Prime Minister Abdurrahim al Keib fighting intensified by May, thousands of people appointed in November 2011 did not include fled across the nearby border into Tunisia – Amazigh ministers. This angered Amazigh who nearly 55,000 according to the UN OCHA. fought against Gaddafi forces. Amazigh demands Following Gaddafi’s fall, Amazigh activists extend beyond cultural and linguistic rights to demanded that Amazigh identity be recognized full political participation. The overthrow of in Libya’s new constitution and for Tamazight Gaddafi has allowed the formation of indigenous to become an official language. Following the advocacy groups like the National Amazigh expulsion of Gaddafi forces from Amazigh Libyan Congress.

206 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Saudi Arabia where most of the oil fields are located. Since The Saudi Arabian authorities were deeply Sunni Islam is the dominant religion of Saudi disturbed by the Arab uprisings of 2011, Arabia, and the strict Wahhabi interpretation is particularly the eruption of popular protests in the official Islamic school of the state, practice of neighbouring Bahrain and Yemen. The ongoing any other faith is not permitted, even in private. protests and activism by the majority Shi’a in The 2011 Arab uprisings encouraged a growing Bahrain, who are calling for full political rights civil rights movement among Saudi Shi’a, and and integration, have created fear among the there were several protests in Shi’a towns. In Saudi royal family that the Shi’a minority in the February, there were peaceful marches in the country will increase their demands for equality. Shi’a towns of Safwa and Qatif in the Eastern This deep sense of threat was reflected in new Province. In early March, around 24 Shi’a were anti-terrorism legislation passed in July 2011 that detained following protests in the city of al-Qatif, criminalized political dissent and allowed the denouncing the prolonged detention without government to jail anyone who questioned the trial of Shi’a prisoners. They were released shortly integrity of the King for a minimum of 10 years. after without charge, reportedly only after they Saudi Arabia’s 2 million Shi’a are mostly signed a pledge not to protest again. Clashes concentrated in the kingdom’s , broke out in ‘Awwamiyya, a Shi’a town, in

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 207 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa October; 11 security personnel were injured who make up between 7 and 9 per cent of the and three citizens, two of them women. On 25 population, MRG did not receive any reports of November, four Shi’a men were killed in protests attacks directed against that community during in the most serious outbreak of violence in the the year. Kingdom in 2011 in the Qatif region. Kurds are the largest non-Arab ethnic Shi’a cleric Shaikh Tawfiq al-‘Amir has minority in Syria, estimated at 1.7 million or been a frequent target of the Saudi authorities. about 10 per cent of the country’s population. In February, he was arrested for apparently Since independence, the Syrian government has calling for a constitutional monarchy and equal sought to eliminate Kurdish identity in Syria rights for Shi’a in his Friday sermon, but was by institutionalizing discrimination and racism subsequently released. In August, he was arrested against them. The 1962 census stripped around again for statements made in sermons during 120,000 Kurds of citizenship, amid accusations Friday prayers, although Amnesty International they were foreigners and thus registered illegally. said no formal charges were made. HRW and other NGOs estimate that there are As with all Arab Gulf countries, Saudi Arabia around 300,000 stateless Kurds living in Syria has for years mistreated domestic migrant workers today. from countries such as Ethiopia, Bangladesh and When the Syrian uprising began, the Assad Indonesia. Migrant Care and HRW have both government sought to placate minorities in Syria documented how domestic migrant workers are and in April issued a decree granting Kurds often deceived during the recruitment process citizenship. As the citizenship process includes an and made to pay large fees, leaving them heavily interview with the state security apparatus, which in debt. They often work up to 18 hours a day, entails interrogation and intimidation, few Kurds and some are beaten or raped by their employers. are willing to go through with it. Young Kurdish They are excluded from labour laws, and there men who did apply for citizenship were asked to is poor government oversight on both recruiters do military service, which might entail joining and employers. The consent of employers is the army against the protesters. needed before any worker can leave the country. Since the 1960s, the Syrian government has confiscated many Kurdish lands on the borders Syria with Turkey and Iraq to create the so-called By the end of 2011, the Syrian revolution Arab Belt. Bedouin Arabs were brought in and had entered its ninth month with no sign of resettled in Kurdish areas. Although Kurdish the Assad government backing down on its farmers were dispossessed of their lands, they excessive use of violence against protesters and refused to move and give up their houses. opposition activists. The UN estimated that Years of drought have now exacerbated the more than 5,000 people had been killed in the situation of Kurds in the northern Hasakeh government’s crackdown on protests by the end governate, where the majority of stateless Kurds of the year. The increased militarization of the live. The region has vast arable lands and is the conflict, and Syria’s sectarian composition have principal producer of cotton, oil, lentils, wheat raised fears that civil war will erupt between and barley. But reduced rainfall has decreased the the minority Alawites, the sect that President arable land available for cultivation and caused Bashar al-Assad’s family belong to and whose desertification. The result has been reduced members arguably dominate positions of power, agricultural production and a decline in the and the majority Sunnis. Previous MRG reports regional and national economy. The Ministry have not considered Alawites as a threatened of Agriculture says that 40,000–60,000 families minority, given their elevated position in the have migrated from Hasakeh, but Kurdish regime apparatus, but their close identification analysts say that the number is much higher; with the Assad regime puts them in danger of 30,000 families have left Kamishli city alone. The revenge attacks should the government fall. Syrian government has been slow to respond to While there have been worries concerning the the agricultural and economic situation of possible vulnerable situation of Syria’s Christians, the region.

208 Middle East and State of the World’s Minorities North Africa and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Kurdish areas initially did not witness many camp was described as alarming. According protests for two reasons; at the beginning of to UNRWA, more than 486,000 Palestinian the year, the Assad government was quick to refugees live in nine official and three unofficial reach a rapprochement with the Democratic camps across Syria. Although Palestinian refugees Union Party, the Syrian branch of the Kurdish enjoy many of the rights of Syrian citizens, Worker’s Party (PKK), allowing them to set up UNRWA reported that they lag behind in cultural centres and schools in Kurdish regions. key areas, such as infant mortality and school However, the Kurdistan National Assembly of enrolment. p Syria, composed of 11 parties, is aligned with the Syrian opposition. Secondly, Kurdish parties have been wary of the opposition Syrian National Council (SNC), since its leader, Bourhan Ghalyoun, had stressed the ‘Arab’ nature of Syria, and Kurds have distrusted the SNC’s relations with Turkey, fearing they will quash their demands for full civil and political rights. But some Kurds did participate in the uprising. Since March 2011, Kurdish activists have been arrested due to their participation in the opposition local coordination committees. Leading Kurdish activist Mashaal Tammu was killed on 7 October, when armed men forced him out of a house during a meeting with activists and shot him dead. His funeral, which turned into the biggest demonstration in the Kurdish areas since the uprising began, was attended by 50,000 people. State security forces fired on protesters, killing six and wounding several others. Amid the violence, many Iraqi refugees in Syria no longer felt safe, fearing the very sectarian violence they had escaped from at home; but many were also uncertain about returning to Iraq where instability and violence continues. There are approximately 1 million Iraqi refugees in Syria – over 100,000 of them are registered with the UNHCR. In June 2011, clashes broke out in the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp near Damascus between residents and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, backed by the Assad regime. Approximately 20 people died, according to Palestinian sources. In August 2011, UNRWA reported that over 5,000 Palestinian refugees had fled a camp in Lattakia after the Syrian army attacked the area. At least 4 people died with 20 injured. UNRWA said that some refugees had been told by the Syrian authorities to leave. The situation at the

State of the World’s Minorities Middle East and 209 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 North Africa Reference dramatically in other states in the region. This is Peoples under not to negate the very real democratic advances that have already been achieved by the Arab Threat 2012 uprisings, but it does underscore the fact that, for civilian populations in general and minorities in Mark Lattimer particular, the transition to democracy is bloody and its outcome uncertain. Introduction The association between autocracy and political Rising threats in the Arab world violence is so strong it can blind us to the and beyond dangers of democratization. As democratic This is the seventh successive year that the advances are made, we assume that populations Peoples under Threat index has been published to will be safer. In fact, transitions to democracy highlight those countries around the world where are rarely smooth. In addition to the general the risk of mass killing is greatest. Peoples under risk of increased violence that comes from Threat is created by compiling authoritative periods of political instability, there is the data on the known antecedents to genocide obvious fact that autocratic forces rarely or mass political killing. While the individual relinquish their hold on power without a fight. indicators describe the current situation – what But the dangers can come from democratic is happening – the index as a whole seeks to forces too: as political space opens up, popular predict what may happen. As an early warning prejudices draw oxygen and populist politicians tool, it has been widely used by UN officials or militia leaders often seek to exacerbate ethnic and other human rights and conflict prevention or sectarian grievances for their own gain. practitioners. Almost all the significant episodes Minorities can find themselves scapegoated or a of civilian killing that occurred over the last year target for the anger felt towards the old regime. took place in countries which were near the top This conjunction of factors was tragically of, or major risers in, last year’s Peoples under apparent during the demise of Communist rule Threat table. in Europe (as it was at its birth). Today, it is This year, states in the Middle East and North increasingly evident in the events unfolding in Africa feature prominently in the major risers (see the Middle East and North Africa. below). Among the Arab countries, Syria, Libya, If 2011 will be remembered as the year of the Yemen and Egypt have all risen significantly in Arab Spring, then 2012 may well become the the table (the first three following rises last year year the revolutions soured. In Syria, a military as well). backlash has cost over 9,000 lives so far. The In Syria, the government accepted a joint great majority have been civilian victims of UN-Arab League proposal in March 2012 to government forces, but there are also reports of end the violence, but killings have continued and opposition militias attacking Shi’a families. In in April the UN Security Council authorized a Libya, where some 15,000–20,000 people were UN military observer mission. The fact that the reportedly killed in the war to overthrow the government is dominated by Alawites, an off- Gaddafi government, the country has seen the shoot of Shi’ism, places Alawite and other Shi’a mass forced displacement of black Libyans and communities at risk if the conflict intensifies or if sub-Saharan migrant workers, and a widespread the government falls. Assyrian Christians are also pattern of arbitrary detention, torture and extra- deeply concerned about the possibility of attacks judicial execution targeted at individuals or whole from Sunni militants. communities because of their colour. In Egypt, In Libya, former rebels still hold up to 6,000 the rise of Salafist parties since the fall of President people arrested during or after the armed conflict. Mubarak and attacks on churches have prompted Detained without charge or trial, up to half are thousands of Copts to leave the country. believed to be sub-Saharan migrants or black The 2012 release of the Peoples under Threat Libyans. Human rights groups report that over index shows that the risk level has also increased a dozen have been tortured to death. Systematic

State of the World’s Minorities Refererence 211 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 repression continues against the former mutual respect. In Iraq – whose recent history inhabitants of Tawergha, a town with a mainly stands as a terrible warning to other states facing black Libyan population of 30,000 who were change in the region – each of those differences accused of being Gaddafi loyalists and forcibly became fault-lines for mass killing. displaced in their entirety by the Misrata brigade. Three states on the borders of the Arab The resignation of President Saleh in Yemen world are also major risers in the table this year. was greeted by human rights campaigners but has International attention on Iran has focused in not improved the country’s risk profile. Fighting recent months on the issue of nuclear facilities, between al-Houthis and Sunni tribes in the north but the systematic campaign of repression of has compounded the security challenges faced opposition activists continues, and reached a by a state in a worsening humanitarian crisis, to new level in the country’s north-west, where say nothing of the continuing threat posed by Al the conflict with Kurdish militias intensified. Qaeda in the . Shelling by Iranian tanks and artillery in June In Egypt, activists’ euphoria at the downfall displaced thousands. Baluchis, Ahwazi Arabs of the Mubarak government has been replaced and Azerbaijanis also accuse the government of by increasing anger at the arbitrary detention long-standing oppression and denial of political and torture practiced by the Supreme Council of participation. the Armed Forces. Egypt’s Copts total 7 million The highest riser in the Peoples under Threat or more, but the number leaving the country is table this year is South Sudan, a country which reported to have increased following attacks and acquired its independence from Sudan in July intimidation. The political success of the Muslim and which comes straight in at number eight. Brotherhood and of Salafist parties is also viewed A history of cattle raiding between the Lou with concern by other religious minorities, Nuer and the Murle, as well as other groups, including the Shi’a and the Baha’i. has developed into inter-communal violence Repressive governments throughout the region on a highly organized scale in Jonglei state, have for decades sought to deny political space affecting some 120,000 people. But the greatest to Islamist parties. But competition between current risk for the peoples of both Sudan and Islamists and secularists is only one potential axis South Sudan comes from the series of conflicts of political division as those governments weaken escalating along the border areas between the and begin to fall. Differences between Sunni and two countries, constituting ‘a serious threat to Shi’a, Muslims and non-Muslims, Arabs and non- international peace and security’ in the words of a Arabs are all expressions of an internal diversity UN Security Council resolution adopted in May in the Arab world that is often underestimated 2012. The Council had previously denounced and which depends on traditions of tolerance and repeated clashes between armies of the two

Major risers since 2011

Rank Rise in rank Country Group Total since 2011

8 NEW South Sudan Murle, Nuer, Dinka, Anuak, , Kachipo 19.50 10 4 Iran Arabs, Azeris, Bahá’ís, Baluchis, Kurds, Turkomen 18.43 13 2 Yemen Zaydi Shi’a, ‘Akhdam’ 16.82 14 16 Syria Political targets, Shi’a, Assyrians, Kurds, Palestinians 16.59 27 9 Kyrgyzstan Uzbeks, Russians 13.18 30 5 Thailand Chinese, Malay-Muslims, Northern Hill Tribes 12.70 36 28 Libya Black Libyans, Sub-Saharan migrants, Tebu, Berbers 12.51 43 7 Kosovo Serbs, Roma/Ashkali/Egyptians, Bosniaks, Turks, Gorani 11.99 61 NEW Mali Tuareg, Arabs, Maure and others in the north 10.71 64 NEW Egypt Copts, Shi’a, Bahá’ís 10.38

212 Refererence State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 countries, cross-border incursions and support and Côte d’Ivoire, have slid down the table this to proxy militias. South Sudan now hosts more year, it is remarkable how those at the very top than 105,000 refugees from the Sudanese states have clung stubbornly to their place. It is also a of Blue Nile and Southern Kordofan, including rebuke to a fickle media agenda. those fleeing months of shelling by Sudanese In Somalia, a severe drought brought famine government forces in the Nuba Mountains. to the southern part of the country, including In Mali, ongoing fighting between government areas inhabited by the vulnerable Bantu minority. forces and rebel Tuareg fighters has left 150,000 The military situation delayed the delivery of internally displaced and forced more than emergency aid. Although the militia group 160,000 to flee to neighbouring states, according al-Shabaab withdrew from central Mogadishu in to the UNHCR. A senior UN official drew August, roadside bombs and other attacks are still attention to alarming reports of sexual violence in a regular occurrence and the UN Independent the north. The crisis developed after the return to Expert for described Mali of Tuareg who had settled in Libya during a ‘total collapse of the institutions for law Gaddafi’s rule, and is just one example of how enforcement and the administration of justice’ the fall-out from the Arab uprisings is being after his visit in April 2012. experienced across borders in ways that are both In the Democratic Republic of Congo, armed unforeseen and uncontrolled. conflict returned a number of times to the The huge changes taking place across the east over the last year, most recently in clashes Middle East and North Africa, while increasing between the Congolese armed forces and the hopes for democratisation, represent for both dissident troops of a Congolese general under religious and ethnic minorities perhaps the most indictment by the International Criminal Court. dangerous episode since the violent break-up of The population throughout much of the Kivus the Soviet Union and the former Yugoslavia. and in parts of Province Orientale remains in a state of permanent insecurity. Those at greatest risk Since the withdrawal of US combat troops Although a number of states, including Indonesia from the streets of Iraq in December, the country

Peoples most under threat – highest rated countries 2012

Rank Country Group Total

1 Somalia Minorities incl. Bantu, Benadiri and ‘caste’ groups (Gabooye etc.); clan members at risk in fighting incl. , , etc. 23.28 2 Sudan Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit and others in Darfur; Dinka, Nuba, Beja 22.00 3 Afghanistan Hazara, Pashtun, Tajiks, Uzbeks, Turkmen, Baluchis 21.49 4 Iraq Shi’a, Sunnis, Kurds, Turkmen, Christians, Mandaeans, Yezidis, Shabak, Faili Kurds, Bahá’ís, Palestinians 20.92 5 Burma/ Myanmar Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Mons, Rakhine, Rohingyas, Shan, Chin (Zomis), Wa 20.43 6 Pakistan Ahmadiyya, Baluchis, Hindus, Mohhajirs, Pashtun, Sindhis, other religious minorities 20.28 7 Dem. Rep. of the Congo Hema and Lendu, Hutu, Luba, Lunda, Tutsi/, Batwa/Bambuti, other groups 19.56 8 South Sudan Murle, Nuer, Dinka, Anuak, Jie, Kachipo 19.50 9 Ethiopia Anuak, Afars, Oromo, Somalis, smaller minorities 19.42 10 Iran Arabs, Azeris, Bahá’ís, Baluchis, Kurds, Turkomen 18.43 newly-settled groups

State of the World’s Minorities Refererence 213 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 receives only a fraction of the international of unrest and violent conflict is higher where media coverage it once did, but the killing there are significant horizontal inequalities in continues, with sectarian violence and extra- political or economic status between different judicial executions accounting for over 300 deaths ethnic or culturally-defined groups. The role of a month. Chaldo-Assyrians, Turkmen, Yezidis natural resources can be pivotal but complicates and other minorities face ongoing violence and the analysis further: researchers have drawn intimidation in the disputed provinces of Nineveh attention to the existence of a ‘resource curse’, and Kirkuk in the north, as well as in Baghdad. whereby countries rich in natural resources The war continues too in Afghanistan and in the have nonetheless experienced poor development tribal areas of Pakistan. A series of recent deadly outcomes, due to a number of factors including attacks on civilians and international missions in economic distortion, conflict over resource Kabul highlight the failure of the new Afghan revenues, and corruption. army to ensure security even in the capital and The specific risk of mass killing is distinct bode ill for future prospects of peace in a country from conflict risk, not least because episodes where ethnic divisions are still profound. The of mass killing have occurred where there is no return of refugees to Afghanistan has slowed and situation of armed conflict prevailing (for more up to three million Afghan refugees remain in on the link between the two, see box below: Pakistan and Iran. ‘How is Peoples under Threat calculated?’). To In Burma, the first real steps towards explore the potential relationship between level democratisation for many years have seen of development and the risk of mass killing, the Aung San Suu Kyi and other candidates from most recent Human Development Index (HDI) the National League for Democracy elected to was plotted against the Peoples under Threat index parliament, but the country remains at fifth (PUT) for every country in the table for which place in the table. A conflict with a long history HDI values are available. (Published annually by of atrocities against ethnic Kachin civilians the UN Development Programme, the Human continues against rebels in Kachin state, and the Development Index is a summary statistic position of Rohingyas as well as other minorities combining the three dimensions of health, remains of grave concern. education and living standards to serve as a single frame of reference for both social and economic Does development lower the threat? development). If the relationship between democratization and The most striking impression on viewing the safety of minorities and other peoples is a the resulting graph (see below) is that it is complex one, how is the level of risk influenced difficult to see a clear relationship between the by human development? two indices. A negative correlation does exist, A growing body of academic literature has but it is very weak, with values fairly evenly explored the links between violent conflict and scattered over the graph. Some states in the top poverty. There is a firm consensus that conflict 20 places in Peoples under Threat, such as Iran impoverishes nations, setting back human and Russia, have a high HDI of over 0.7. There development many years and stunting health and are countries at the bottom of the table with low education prospects across a range of indicators. HDI values, and many states with very low HDI But on the existence of a causal relationship the do not appear on the table at all (including, other way – i.e. whether low development is a for example, Burkina Faso and Mozambique). cause of conflict – the conclusions are mixed. The only safe conclusion for policy-making Certainly, in a number of studies, Paul Collier that can be drawn from this initial data is that and Anke Hoeffler have sought to demonstrate higher rates of human development (at least for that low growth rates are associated with the developing countries) do not remove the threat outbreak of conflict in developing countries, and of mass killing. that higher rates of educational attainment are To investigate the relationship further, PUT associated with a lower risk of internal conflict. values were calculated for a total of 175 countries. Frances Stewart has posited that the likelihood (Although it should be noted that as Peoples

214 Refererence State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Human development of peoples under threat Human development of peoples under threat 25.00

20.00

15.00 PUT PUT 10.00

5.00

0.00 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 HDI HDI

PUT vs HDI (175 countries)

PUT vs HDI (175 countries) 25.00

20.00

15.00

10.00 PUT PUT 5.00

0.00 0 0.1 0.2 0.3 0.4 0.5 0.6 0.7 0.8 0.9 1

-5.00-5.00

-10.00 PUT = Peoples under Threat index 2012 HDI = Human Development Index 2011, UNDP -10.00 HDI HDI under Threat is specifically designed to gauge the of the graph; i.e. in relation to those countries risk of egregious events, its explanatory power at with very high rates of human development. The the lower end of the spectrum is limited.) Where correlation between high human development PUT is plotted against HDI for this much larger and a low risk on the PUT table only becomes group of countries, a clearer negative correlation really pronounced in the upper HDI quartile. If does emerge, with the level of risk falling as the guarantee of safety from arbitrary killing is, in human development increases. It is notable, legal and moral terms, a human right, in today’s however, that the strength of the relationship is world it is also a luxury. heavily influenced by what happens at the right Additional research by Daniel Openshaw

How is Peoples under Threat calculated? killing had been undertaken since the 1970s, including by Helen Fein and Ted Robert Gurr, Since the genocide in Rwanda in 1994, our but it was not until the 1990s that researchers ability to identify those situations most likely to such as Rudolf Rummel and Matthew Krain lead to genocide or mass killing has improved. pioneered quantitative longtitudinal analysis A number of comparative studies of the factors of a wide range of such factors, enabling the preceding historic episodes of political mass testing of different causal hypotheses. Rummel,

State of the World’s Minorities Refererence 215 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 for example, showed the very strong relationship may occur for years before the onset of armed between concentration of government power conflict provides the catalyst for larger-scale and state mass murder; Krain demonstrated the killing. correlation between existing armed conflict or The statistical indicators used all relate to political instability and the onset and severity of the state. The state is the basic unit of enquiry, mass killing. rather than particular ethnic or religious groups Following the early work of the Clinton at risk, as governments or militias connected to administration’s policy initiative on genocide the government are responsible for most cases early warning and prevention, Professor Barbara of genocidal violence. Formally, the state will Harff, a senior consultant with the US State reserve to itself the monopoly over the means Failure Task Force, constructed and tested of violence, so that where non-state actors are models of the antecedents of genocide and responsible for widespread or continued killing, political mass murder and her results were it usually occurs with either the complicity of the published in 2003 (‘Assessing Risks of Genocide state or in a ‘failed state’ situation where the rule and Political Mass Murder since 1955’, American of law has disintegrated. Certain characteristics Political Science Review 97, February 2003). at the level of the state will greatly increase the Her optimal model identifies six preconditions likelihood of atrocity, including habituation to that make it possible to distinguish, with 74 per illegal violence among the armed forces or police, cent accuracy, between internal wars and regime prevailing impunity for human rights violations, collapses in the period 1955–1997 that did, and official tolerance or encouragement of hate those that did not, lead to genocide and political speech against particular groups, and in extreme mass murder (politicide). The six preconditions cases, prior experience of mass killing. Egregious are: political upheaval; previous genocides or episodes of mass killing targeted principally politicides; exclusionary ideology of the ruling at one group have also seen other groups elite; autocratic nature of the regime; minority deliberately decimated or destroyed. character of the ruling elite; and low trade However, some groups may experience openness. higher levels of discrimination and be at greater MRG has drawn on these research findings to risk than others in any given state. MRG has construct the Peoples under Threat table, although identified those groups in each state which we responsibility for the final table is exclusively our believe to be under most threat. (This does not own. Peoples under Threat is specifically designed mean that other groups or indeed the general to identify the risk of genocide, mass killing or population may not also be at some risk.) It other systematic violent repression, unlike most should be noted that although these groups are other early warning tools, which focus on violent most often minorities, in some cases ethnic or conflict as such. Its primary application is civilian religious majorities will also be at risk and in protection. relevant cases are therefore also listed in the table. Indicators of conflict are included in the table’s In some cases, all the groups in the country are at construction, however, as most, although not risk of ethnic or sectarian killing. all, episodes of mass ethnic or religious killing One indicator that has been tested and occur during armed conflicts. War provides discarded by a number of studies is the general the state of emergency, domestic mobilization level of ethnic or cultural diversity in a society. and justification, international cover, and in Krain did not find any correlation between some cases the military and logistic capacity, ‘ethnic fractionalization’ and the onset of that enable massacres to be carried out. Some genocide or political mass killing. Similarly, massacres, however, occur in peacetime, or may neither of the patterns of ethnic diversity tested accompany armed conflict from its inception, by Harff had any effect on the likelihood of presenting a problem to risk models that focus mass killing (although she did find the minority exclusively on current conflicts. In addition, character of the ruling elite to be significant). severe and even violent repression of minorities These findings are supported by research on the

216 Refererence State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 relationship between diversity and conflict. The overall measure is based on a basket of ten indicators. These include indicators of democracy or good governance from the World Bank, conflict indicators from the Center for Systemic Peace and other leading global conflict research institutes, indicators of group division or elite factionalization from the Fund for Peace and the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, the State Failure Task Force data on prior genocides and politicides, and the country credit risk classification published by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (as a proxy for trade openness). For citations and further information, see the notes to the table. For a fuller discussion of the methodology, see State of the World’s Minorities 2006. Based on current indicators from authoritative sources, Peoples under Threat seeks to identify those groups or peoples most under threat in 2012. p

State of the World’s Minorities Refererence 217 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Country Group Conflict indicators

A. Self- B. Major C. Prior genocide/politicide Table 1 determination armed conflict conflicts Peoples under Threat 2012

Somalia Minorities incl. Bantu, Benadiri and 4 2 1 ‘caste’ groups (Gabooye etc.); clan members at risk in fighting incl. Hawiye, Darod, etc.

Sudan Fur, Zaghawa, Massalit and others 5 2 1 in Darfur; Ngok Dinka, Nuba, Beja

Afghanistan Hazara, Pashtun, Tajiks, Uzbeks, 4 2 1 Turkmen, Baluchis

Iraq Shi’a, Sunnis, Kurds, Turkmen, 5 2 1 Christians, Mandaeans, Yezidis, Shabak, Faili Kurds, Bahá’ís, Palestinians

Burma/Myanmar Kachin, Karenni, Karen, Mons, 5 2 1 Rakhine, Rohingyas, Shan, Chin (Zomis), Wa

Pakistan Ahmadiyya, Baluchis, Hindus, 5 2 1 Mohhajirs, Pashtun, Sindhis, other religious minorities

Dem. Rep. of the Congo Hema and Lendu, Hutu, Luba, 2 2 1 Lunda, Tutsi/Banyamulenge, Batwa/Bambuti, other groups

South Sudan Murle, Nuer, Dinka, Anuak, Jie, 0 2 0 Kachipo

Ethiopia Anuak, Afars, Oromo, Somalis, 5 2 1 smaller minorities

Iran Arabs, Azeris, Bahá’ís, Baluchis, 5 1 1 Kurds, Turkomen

Nigeria Ibo, Ijaw, Ogoni, Yoruba, Hausa 5 2 1 (Muslims) and Christians in the North

Israel/OPT Palestinians in Gaza/West Bank, 5 2 0 Israeli Palestinians

Yemen Zaydi Shi’a, ‘Akhdam’ 2 2 0

Syria Political targets, Shi’a, Assyrians, 1 2 1 Kurds, Palestinians

Zimbabwe Ndebele, Europeans, political/ 2 0 1 social targets

Chad Black African’ groups, Arabs, 3 1 0 Southerners

Cote d’Ivoire Northern Mande (Dioula), 4 1 0 Senoufo, Bete, newly-settled groups

Philippines Indigenous peoples, Moros 5 2 1 (Muslims), Chinese

Sri Lanka Tamils, Muslims 4 1 1

Russian Federation Chechens, Ingush and others 5 2 1 in North Caucasus; indigenous northern peoples, Roma, Jews

Central African Republic Kaba (Sara), Mboum, Mbororo, 0 1 0 Aka

Burundi Hutu, Tutsi, Batwa 0 0 1

Nepal Madheshis (Terai), Dalits, linguistic 2 1 0 minorities

218 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Indicators of group division Democracy/governance indicators Total

D. Massive E. Legacy of F. Rise of G. Voice and H. Political I. Rule of law J. OECD movement – vengeance factionalized accountability stability country risk refugees and – group elites classification IDPs grievance

10 9.5 9.8 -2.002 -3.092 -2.427 7 23.28

9.6 9.9 9.9 -1.705 -2.701 -1.320 7 22.00

9.3 9.3 9.4 -1.455 -2.599 -1.898 7 21.49

9 9 9.6 -1.053 -2.272 -1.618 7 20.92

8 8.7 8.3 -2.094 -1.290 -1.501 7 20.43

9.2 9.3 9.1 -0.816 -2.705 -0.785 7 20.28

9.6 8.3 8.8 -1.417 -2.204 -1.612 7 19.56

9.6 9.9 9.9 -1.705 -2.701 -1.320 7 19.50

8.2 8.4 9.0 -1.314 -1.706 -0.756 7 19.42

7.9 8.5 9.2 -1.574 -1.565 -0.901 7 18.43

6 9.6 9.5 -0.823 -2.047 -1.206 5 18.38

7.6 9.6 8.1 -0.853 -1.938 -0.205 8 17.21

8.4 8.6 9.3 -1.282 -2.223 -1.052 7 16.82

8.5 8.7 7.9 -1.676 -0.815 -0.541 7 16.59

8.2 9 9.6 -1.488 -1.209 -1.801 7 16.34

9.5 9.4 9.8 -1.383 -1.532 -1.501 7 16.32

8.5 8.7 9.1 -1.117 -1.554 -1.218 7 15.90

6.5 7.2 8.5 -0.092 -1.559 -0.542 4 15.39

8.6 9.4 9.5 -0.508 -0.825 -0.088 6 15.00

5.1 7.6 7.8 -0.945 -0.887 -0.784 3 14.91

9.6 8.6 9.1 -1.124 -2.145 -1.302 7 14.75

8.7 8.2 8.2 -0.921 -1.541 -1.211 7 14.23

7.4 9 8 -0.533 -1.684 -1.021 7 13.93

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 219 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Country Group Conflict indicators

A. Self- B. Major C. Prior genocide/politicide Table 1 determination armed conflict conflicts Peoples under Threat 2012

Angola Bakongo, Cabindans, Ovimbundu, 4 0 1 Pastoralists, San and Kwisi

Uganda Acholi, Karamojong, Basongora, 1 1 1 Batwa

Lebanon Druze, Maronite Christians, 2 1 0 Palestinians, Shi’a, Sunnis

Kyrgyzstan Uzbeks, Russians 1 1 0

Bosnia and Herzegovina Croats, Bosniac Muslims, Serbs, 3 0 1 Roma

Guinea Fulani (Peul), Malinke 0 0 0

Thailand Chinese, Malay-Muslims, Northern 5 2 0 Hill Tribes

Equatorial Guinea Bubi, Annobon Islanders 1 0 1

Georgia Adzhars, Abkhazians, South 5 1 0 Ossetians

Laos Hmong, other highland peoples 4 0 0

Algeria Berbers, Saharawi 2 1 1

Colombia Political/social targets, Afro- 3 2 0 descendants, indigenous peoples

Libya Black Libyans, Sub-Saharan 2 1 0 migrants, Tebu, Berbers

Niger Djerema-songhai, Hausa, Tuaregs 4 0 0

Eritrea Afars, Saho, Tigre, religious 0 0 0 minorities

Turkey Kurds, Alevis, Roma, Armenians 5 2 0 and other Christians

Rwanda Hutu, Tutsi, Batwa 0 0 1

Uzbekistan Tajiks, Islamic political groups, 1 0 0 religious minorities, Karakalpaks, Russians

China Tibetans, , Mongols, Hui, 5 0 1 religious minorities

Kosovo Serbs, Roma/Ashkali/Egyptians, 4 0 0 Bosniaks, Turks, Gorani

Bangladesh Ahmadiyya, Hindus, other religious 3 0 0 minorities; Chittagong Hill Tribes

Cambodia Cham, Vietnamese, indigenous hill 0 0 1 tribes (Khmer Leou)

Kenya Borana, Kalenjin, Kikuyu, Luyha, 0 1 0 Luo, Muslims, Turkana, Endorois, Masai, Ogiek, other indigenous groups

North Korea Political/social targets, religious 0 0 0 minorities

Haiti Political/social targets 0 0 0

Djibouti Afars 3 0 0

Venezuela Indigenous peoples, Afro-descendants 0 0 0

Azerbaijan Armenians 4 0 0

220 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Indicators of group division Democracy/governance indicators Total

D. Massive E. Legacy of F. Rise of G. Voice and H. Political I. Rule of law J. OECD movement – vengeance factionalized accountability stability country risk refugees and – group elites classification IDPs grievance

6.6 6.2 7 -1.139 -0.215 -1.244 6 13.65

8 8 8.6 -0.477 -1.120 -0.403 6 13.60

8.5 8.7 8.8 -0.330 -1.528 -0.663 7 13.48

6.5 8.3 8.3 -0.957 -0.956 -1.292 7 13.18

6.8 8.4 9.2 -0.116 -0.665 -0.364 7 13.09

7.7 7.9 9.2 -0.901 -1.812 -1.506 7 12.73

6.6 8 8.5 -0.558 -1.221 -0.196 3 12.70

2.7 6.6 8.2 -1.887 0.240 -1.259 7 12.70

7.5 8 9 -0.173 -0.681 -0.209 6 12.65

5.8 6.5 8.6 -1.634 -0.226 -0.897 7 12.62

6.1 7.8 6.8 -1.009 -1.251 -0.759 3 12.59

8.7 7.5 8.0 -0.186 -1.494 -0.333 4 12.55

4.6 6 7 -1.919 -0.058 -0.976 7 12.51

6.6 7.8 8.6 -0.564 -1.136 -0.568 7 12.48

6.8 6.1 8.1 -2.175 -0.871 -1.292 7 12.21

6 8.3 7.5 -0.159 -0.997 0.104 4 12.19

7.3 8.2 8.4 -1.335 -0.108 -0.312 7 12.11

5.7 7.4 8.7 -2.017 -0.777 -1.373 6 12.05

6.2 7.9 6.9 -1.650 -0.766 -0.347 2 12.01

6.4 7.5 8.0 -0.173 -1.156 -0.639 7 11.99

6.5 9.2 8.9 -0.276 -1.425 -0.768 6 11.82

5.6 7.2 8 -0.873 -0.617 -1.088 6 11.79

8.5 8.7 8.8 -0.231 -1.201 -1.011 6 11.78

5.3 6.9 7.4 -2.208 -0.451 -1.297 7 11.60

9.2 7.3 8.8 -0.716 -0.924 -1.353 7 11.58

7.2 6.2 7.5 -1.140 0.297 -0.715 8 11.54

4.8 7 7.3 -0.905 -1.370 -1.643 7 11.48

7.9 7.5 7.9 -1.272 -0.308 -0.883 5 11.47

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 221 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Country Group Conflict indicators

A. Self- B. Major C. Prior genocide/politicide Table 1 determination armed conflict conflicts Peoples under Threat 2012

Tajikistan Uzbeks, Russians 0 0 0

Cameroon ‘Westerners’ 2 0 0

Indonesia Acehnese, Chinese, Dayaks, 5 0 1 Madurese, Papuans

India Assamese, Bodos, Nagas, Tripuras, 5 2 0 other Adivasis; Kashmiris, Sikhs, Muslims, Dalits

Mauritania (‘Black Moors’), Kewri 0 0 0

Guinea Bissau Balanta, Fula (Fulani), Manjaco 0 0 0 (Manjack or Mandyako), Mandinga (Mandinka), Papel (Pepel), Ejamat (Felupe), Jola (Diola), Susu , Cape Verdeans

Serbia Bosniaks, Ethnic Albanians, Croats, 2 0 1 Roma

Vietnam Montagnards (Degar), other 2 0 1 highland peoples, religious minorities

Nicaragua Indigenous peoples, Creoles 3 0 0

Mali Tuareg, Arabs, Maure and others 5 1 0 in the north

Timor Leste ‘Westerners’, ‘Easterners’, Muslims, 0 0 0 Chinese”

Guatemala Indigenous peoples, Garifuna 0 0 1

Egypt Copts, Shi’a, Baha’is 0 1 0

Belarus Poles 0 0 0

Madagascar Côtier, Merina, Indians/Pakistanis 0 0 0

Turkmenistan Uzbeks, Russians, Kazakhs, religious 0 0 0 minorities

Congo (Rep.) Lari, M’Boshi, Aka 1 0 0

Ecuador Afro-descendants, Indigenous 2 0 0 peoples

Liberia Dan, Krahn, Ma, other groups 0 0 0

Notes to Table Self-determinations conflicts in 2012 were ranked Sources of the indicators are as follows: on a scale of 0 – 5 as follows: 5=ongoing armed con- flict; 4=contained armed conflict; 3=settled armed p Conflict indicators: The base data used was Monty conflict; 2=militant politics; 1=conventional politics. G Marshall, ‘Major Episodes of Political Violence Major armed conflicts were classified as 2=ongoing 1946 – 2012’ (Center for Systemic Peace, 2012) in late 2011; 1=emerging from conflict since 2006 or and, for self-determination conflicts, Monty G ongoing conflict with deaths under 1,000. Marshall and Ted R Gurr, ‘Peace and Conflict 2005’ (CIDCM, University of Maryland, 2005) p Prior genocide or politicide: Harff, US Political updated for 2011 using figures from Center Instability Task Force (formerly State Failure Task for Systemic Peace, MRG and the Heidelberg Force). 1=one or more episodes since 1945 Institute for International Conflict Research p Indicators of Group Division: Failed States (Conflict Barometer 2011, HIIK 2012). Index, Fund for Peace and the Carnegie

222 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Indicators of group division Democracy/governance indicators Total

D. Massive E. Legacy of F. Rise of G. Voice and H. Political I. Rule of law J. OECD movement – vengeance factionalized accountability stability country risk refugees and – group elites classification IDPs grievance

5.9 7.2 8.6 -1.356 -0.911 -1.196 7 11.45

7.3 7.8 8.5 -1.062 -0.576 -1.044 6 11.37

6.6 6.6 7 -0.055 -0.887 -0.630 3 11.31

5 8.2 6.8 0.424 -1.315 -0.058 3 11.16

6.8 7.8 7.9 -0.892 -1.250 -0.876 7 11.14

7.2 5.4 9.2 -0.891 -0.767 -1.351 7 11.02

6.4 7.5 8.0 0.291 -0.406 -0.389 6 10.90

5 5.7 6.9 -1.430 0.129 -0.483 5 10.84

4.9 6 6.8 -0.479 -0.606 -0.828 7 10.74

5.3 6 4.5 0.153 -0.253 -0.481 6 10.71

8 7.1 8.3 0.022 -0.485 -1.209 8 10.57

5.6 6.9 6 -0.355 -0.796 -1.037 5 10.40

6.4 8.3 8 -1.204 -0.907 -0.109 5 10.38

3.6 6.8 8 -1.554 -0.111 -1.046 7 10.15

4.6 5.2 8 -0.798 -1.134 -0.843 7 10.12

4.2 6.6 7.7 -2.029 0.242 -1.455 6 10.08

7.7 6 6.7 -1.031 -0.246 -1.133 6 10.06

6.4 6.9 8.2 -0.279 -0.630 -0.166 7 10.03

8.6 6.8 8.1 -0.226 -0.455 -1.010 7 9.98

Endowment for International Peace, 2011. Indicators were rebased as necessary to give an equal p Democracy/Governance Indicators: Annual weighting to the five categories above, with the Governance Indicators, World Bank, 2011. exception of the prior geno-/politicide indicator. p OECD country risk classification: Organization As a dichotomous variable this received a lesser for Economic Cooperation and Development, weighting to avoid too great a distortion to the final ‘Country Risk Classifications of the Participants ranking. Resulting values were then summed. to the Arrangement on Officially Supported Export Credits’, January 2012. Where no The full formula is: classification is given, a value of 8 was accorded. (A/2) + (Bx1.25) + (Cx2) + (D+E+F)/6 + (G+H+I) /-1 + (Jx0.625) Data for South Sudan and for Kosovo include some indicators relating to Sudan and Serbia respectively.

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 223 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 International International International International Convention Convention Covenant Covenant on on the on the on Civil and Economic, Prevention and Elimination Political Rights Social and Punishment of All Forms 1966 Cultural of the Crime of Racial Rights 1966 of Genocide Discrimination 1948 1965

Status of Africa Algeria p pu p1 p ratification Angola p1 p of major Benin p p1 p international Botswana p p and regional Burkina Faso p p p1 p Burundi p p p p instruments Cameroon p p1 p relevant to Cape Verde p p1 p minority and Central African Republic p p1 p indigenous Chad p p1 p Comoros p p P P rights Congo p p1 p as of 1 February 2012 Côte d’Ivoire p p p1 p p Ratification, accession Democratic Republic of the Congo p p p1 p or succession. Djibouti p p1 p P Signature not yet Egypt p p p p followed by ratification. p p1 p

Eritrea p p p pu Ratification of Ethiopia p p p p ICERD and Declaration p p p p on Article 14. Gabon p p p1 p pU Ratification of Gambia ICERD and Signature of Ghana p p p1 p Declaration on Article 14. Guinea p p p1 p p1 Ratification of Guinea Bissau p p! p ICCPR and Optional Kenya p p p Protocol. Lesotho p p p1 p p! Ratification of p p p! p ICCPR and Signature of Liberia Optional Protocol. Libyan Arab Jamahiriya p p p1 p P! Signature of ICCPR Madagascar p p1 p and Optional Protocol. Malawi p p1 p

Mali p p p1 p

Mauritania p p p

Mauritius p p1 p

Morocco p pu p p

Mozambique p p p

Namibia p p p1 p

Niger p p1 p

224 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Convention Convention ILO 111 ILO 169 International ICC Rome African African on the on the Rights Discrimination Convention Convention on Statute of the Charter on Charter on Elimination of of the Child (Employment Concerning the Protection International Human and the Rights and All Forms of 1989 and Indigenous of the Rights Criminal Peoples’ Rights Welfare of the Discrimination Occupation) and Tribal of All Migrant Court 1998 2003 Child 1990 against Convention Peoples in Workers and Women 1979 1958 Independent Members of Countries Their Families 1989 1990

p p p p P p p

p p p P p p

p p p P p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p P P p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p P

p p p p p p

p p p P p p p

p p p P p p p

p p p P p p

p p p p p P

p p p p p P

p p p p P p p

p p p p p

p p p P p p

p p p p p

p p p P p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p P P p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p P p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p P

p p p P p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 225 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 International International International International Convention Convention Covenant Covenant on on the on the on Civil and Economic, Prevention and Elimination Political Rights Social and Punishment of All Forms 1966 Cultural of the Crime of Racial Rights 1966 of Genocide Discrimination 1948 1965

Status of Nigeria p p p p Rwanda p p p p ratification Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic of major São Tomé and Príncipe P P! P international Senegal p pu p1 p and regional p p p1 p p p p instruments Somalia p p1 p relevant to South Africa p pu p1 P minority and Sudan p p p p indigenous Swaziland p p p Togo p p p1 p rights Tunisia p p p1 p as of 1 February 2012 Uganda p p p1 p p Ratification, accession United Republic of Tanzania p p p p or succession. Zambia p p1 p P Signature not yet Zimbabwe p p p p followed by ratification.

pu Ratification of ICERD and Declaration on Article 14. pU Ratification of ICERD and Signature of Americas Declaration on Article 14. Antigua and Barbuda p p p1 Ratification of p pu p1 p ICCPR and Optional Argentina Protocol. Bahamas p p p p p! Ratification of Barbados p p p1 p ICCPR and Signature of Belize p p p P Optional Protocol. Bolivia p pu p1 p P! Signature of ICCPR Brazil p pu p1 p and Optional Protocol. Canada p p p1 p

Chile p pu p1 p

Colombia p p p1 p

Costa Rica p pu p1 p

Cuba p p P P

Dominica p p

226 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Convention Convention ILO 111 ILO 169 International ICC Rome African African on the on the Rights Discrimination Convention Convention on Statute of the Charter on Charter on Elimination of of the Child (Employment Concerning the Protection International Human and the Rights and All Forms of 1989 and Indigenous of the Rights Criminal Peoples’ Rights Welfare of the Discrimination Occupation) and Tribal of All Migrant Court 1998 2003 Child 1990 against Convention Peoples in Workers and Women 1979 1958 Independent Members of Countries Their Families 1989 1990

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p P

p p p P P p P

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p P p p p

P p p P

p p p p p p

p p P p p

p p p p P

p p p P p p

p p p p p P

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p P p p

American Additional Convention on Protocol to Human Rights the American 1969 Convention on Human Rights in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 1988

p p p p

p p p p p p p p

p p p P

p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p

p p p p p p p P

p p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p

p p p p p p

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 227 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 International International International International Convention Convention Covenant Covenant on on the on the on Civil and Economic, Prevention and Elimination Political Rights Social and Punishment of All Forms 1966 Cultural of the Crime of Racial Rights 1966 of Genocide Discrimination 1948 1965

Status of Dominican Republic P p p1 p Ecuador p pu p1 p ratification El Salvador p p p1 p of major Grenada P p p international Guatemala p p p1 p and regional Guyana p p1 p Haiti p p p instruments Honduras p p p1 p relevant to Jamaica p p p1 p minority and Mexico p pu p1 p indigenous Nicaragua p p p1 p Panama p p p1 p rights Paraguay p p p1 p as of 1 February 2012 Peru p pu p1 p p Ratification, accession Saint Kitts and Nevis p or succession. Saint Lucia p P Signature not yet Saint Vincent and the Grenadines p p p1 p followed by ratification. Suriname p p1 p

Trinidad and Tobago p p p1 p pu Ratification of United States of America p p p P ICERD and Declaration p pu p1 p on Article 14. Uruguay p pu p1 p pU Ratification of Venezuela ICERD and Signature of Declaration on Article 14. p1 Ratification of Asia ICCPR and Optional Afghanistan p p p p Protocol. Bangladesh p p p p p! Ratification of Bhutan P ICCPR and Signature of Brunei Darussalam Optional Protocol. Cambodia p p p! p P! Signature of ICCPR p p P p and Optional Protocol. China Democratic People’s Republic of Korea p p p

India p p p p

Indonesia p p p

Japan p p p

Kazakhstan p pu p1 p

Kyrgyzstan p p p1 p

Lao People’s Democratic Republic p p p p

228 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Convention Convention ILO 111 ILO 169 International ICC Rome American Additional on the on the Rights Discrimination Convention Convention on Statute of the Convention on Protocol to Elimination of of the Child (Employment Concerning the Protection International Human Rights the American All Forms of 1989 and Indigenous of the Rights Criminal 1969 Convention on Discrimination Occupation) and Tribal of All Migrant Court 1998 Human Rights against Convention Peoples in Workers and in the area of Women 1979 1958 Independent Members of Economic, Social Countries Their Families and Cultural 1989 1990 Rights 1988

p p p p p P

p p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p P p P

p p p p p p p p

p p p p P p

p p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p p

p p p p

p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p

P P P P

p p p p p p p

p p p p P p p P

p p p p

p p p p p

p p

p p

p p p P p

p p p

p p

p p p

p p p P

p p p

p p p

p p p p P

p p p

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 229 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 International International International International Convention Convention Covenant Covenant on on the on the on Civil and Economic, Prevention and Elimination Political Rights Social and Punishment of All Forms 1966 Cultural of the Crime of Racial Rights 1966 of Genocide Discrimination 1948 1965

Status of Malaysia p Maldives p p p1 p ratification Mongolia p p p1 p of major Myanmar p international Nepal p p p1 p and regional Pakistan p p p p Philippines p p p1 p instruments Republic of Korea p pu p1 p relevant to Singapore p minority and Sri Lanka p p p1 p indigenous Tajikistan p p1 p Thailand p p p rights Timor Leste p p p as of 1 February 2012 Turkmenistan p p1 p p Ratification, accession Uzbekistan p p p1 p or succession. Vietnam p p p p P Signature not yet followed by ratification.

pu Ratification of

ICERD and Declaration Europe on Article 14. Albania p p p1 p pU Ratification of p pu p1 ICERD and Signature of Andorra Declaration on Article 14. Armenia p p p1 p p1 Ratification of Austria p pu p1 p ICCPR and Optional Azerbaijan p pu p1 p Protocol. Belarus p p p1 p p! Ratification of Belgium p pu p1 p ICCPR and Signature of p p p1 p Optional Protocol. Bosnia and Herzegovina p pu p1 p P! Signature of ICCPR Bulgaria and Optional Protocol. Croatia p p p1 p Cyprus p pu p1 p

Czech Republic p pu p1 p

Denmark p pu p1 p

Estonia p pu p1 p

Finland p pu p1 p

France p pu p1 p

Georgia p pu p1 p

230 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Convention Convention ILO 111 ILO 169 International ICC Rome on the on the Rights Discrimination Convention Convention on Statute of the Elimination of of the Child (Employment Concerning the Protection International All Forms of 1989 and Indigenous of the Rights Criminal Discrimination Occupation) and Tribal of All Migrant Court 1998 against Convention Peoples in Workers and Women 1979 1958 Independent Members of Countries Their Families 1989 1990

p p

p p p

p p p p

p p

p p p p

p p p

p p p p p

p p p p

p p

p p p p

p p p p p

p p P

p p p p

p p p

p p p P

p p p

European Framework Charter for Convention for Regional or the Protection Minority of National Languages Minorities 1992 1995

p p p p p p

p p p

p p p P p p

p p p p p p

p p p p P p

p p p

p p p p P

p p p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p P

p p p p p

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 231 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 International International International International Convention Convention Covenant Covenant on on the on the on Civil and Economic, Prevention and Elimination Political Rights Social and Punishment of All Forms 1966 Cultural of the Crime of Racial Rights 1966 of Genocide Discrimination 1948 1965

Status of Germany p pu p1 p Greece p p p1 p ratification Holy See p of major Hungary p pu p1 p international Iceland p pu p1 p and regional Ireland p pu p1 p Italy p pu p1 p instruments Latvia p p p1 p relevant to Liechtenstein p pu p p minority and Lithuania p p p1 p indigenous Luxembourg p pu p1 p Malta pu p1 p rights Monaco p pu p p as of 1 February 2012 Montenegro p p p1 p p Ratification, accession Netherlands p pu p1 p or succession. Norway p pu p1 p P Signature not yet Poland p pu p1 p followed by ratification. Portugal p pu p1 p

Republic of Moldova p p p1 p pu Ratification of Romania p pu p1 p ICERD and Declaration p pu p1 p on Article 14. Russian Federation p p1 p pU Ratification of San Marino ICERD and Signature of Serbia p p p1 p Declaration on Article 14. Slovakia p p p1 p p1 Ratification of Slovenia p p p1 p ICCPR and Optional Spain p pu p1 p Protocol. Sweden p pu p1 p p! Ratification of p pu p p ICCPR and Signature of Switzerland Optional Protocol. The former Yugoslav Republic p p p1 p of Macedonia P! Signature of ICCPR p p p! p and Optional Protocol. Turkey Ukraine p pu p1 p

United Kingdom of Great Britain p p p p and

Middle East

Bahrain p p p p

Iran (Islamic Republic of) p p p p

232 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Convention Convention ILO 111 ILO 169 International ICC Rome European Framework on the on the Rights Discrimination Convention Convention on Statute of the Charter for Convention for Elimination of of the Child (Employment Concerning the Protection International Regional or the Protection All Forms of 1989 and Indigenous of the Rights Criminal Minority of National Discrimination Occupation) and Tribal of All Migrant Court 1998 Languages Minorities against Convention Peoples in Workers and 1992 1995 Women 1979 1958 Independent Members of Countries Their Families 1989 1990

p p p p p p

p p p p P

p

p p p p p p

p p p p P P

p p p p p

p p p p P p

p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p p P

p p p p P p

p p P

p p p P p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p

p p p p P p

p p p p p p

p p p P P p

p p p p p

p p p P p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p p p

p p p p P p

p p p p

p p p P p p

p p p p p p

p p p P

p p P

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 233 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 International International International International Convention Convention Covenant Covenant on on the on the on Civil and Economic, Prevention and Elimination Political Rights Social and Punishment of All Forms 1966 Cultural of the Crime of Racial Rights 1966 of Genocide Discrimination 1948 1965

Status of Iraq p p p p Israel p p p p ratification Jordan p p p p of major Kuwait p p p p international Lebanon p p p p and regional Oman p Qatar p instruments Saudi Arabia p p relevant to Syrian Arab Republic p p p p minority and United Arab Emirates p p indigenous Yemen p p p p rights as of 1 February 2012 Oceania p Ratification, accession Australia p pu p1 p or succession. Cook Islands P Signature not yet Fiji p p followed by ratification. Kiribati

Marshall Islands pu Ratification of Micronesia (Federated States of) ICERD and Declaration on Article 14. Nauru P P! pU Ratification of New Zealand p p p1 p ICERD and Signature of Niue

Declaration on Article 14. Palau P P p1 Ratification of Papua New Guinea p p p p ICCPR and Optional p Protocol. Samoa Solomon Islands p p p! Ratification of ICCPR and Signature of Tonga p p Optional Protocol. Tuvalu

P! Signature of ICCPR Vanuatu p and Optional Protocol.

Number of states parties 141 (1 sig) 175 (45 Art 14) 167 (115 op) 160 (6 sig)

Compiled by Natasha Horsfield and Electra Barbouri Sources: http://treaties.un.org/Pages/Treaties. aspx?id=4&subid=A&lang=en (http://www2.ohchr.org/english/bodies/docs/ RatificationStatus.pdf this has been fully updated as of 2006 so above link more relevant) http://www.unhchr.ch/tbs/doc.nsf/ Statusfrset?OpenFrameSet http://www.iccnow.org/?mod=romesignatures

234 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Convention Convention ILO 111 ILO 169 International ICC Rome on the on the Rights Discrimination Convention Convention on Statute of the Elimination of of the Child (Employment Concerning the Protection International All Forms of 1989 and Indigenous of the Rights Criminal Discrimination Occupation) and Tribal of All Migrant Court 1998 against Convention Peoples in Workers and Women 1979 1958 Independent Members of Countries Their Families 1989 1990

p p p

p p p P

p p p p

p p p P

p p p

p p P

p p p

p p p

p p p p P

p p p P

p p p P

p p p p

p p p

p p p p p

p p p

p p p

p p

p p

p p p p

p

p P

p p p

p p p p

p p P

p

p p

p p p p

187 (2 sig) 193 (2 sig) 169 22 45 (16 sig) 120

http://www.achpr.org/ http://www.acerwc.org/ratifications/ http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/Sigs/b32.html http://www.iccnow.org/documents/signatory_chart_ http://www.cidh.oas.org/ Nov_2011_EN.pdf http://conventions.coe.int/ http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/b-32.html http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/convdisp1.htm http://www.oas.org/juridico/english/sigs/a-52.html http://www.ilo.org/ilolex/english/convdisp1.htm http://conventions.coe.int/Treaty/Commun/ChercheSig. asp?NT=148&CM=8&DF=&CL=ENG http://www.iccnow.org/documents/ RATIFICATIONSbyRegion_December2011_eng.pdf

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 235 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination Who are ICESCR – International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights minorities? IDP – internally displaced person ILO – International Labour Organization Minorities of concern to MRG are disadvantaged IOM – International Organization for Migration ethnic, national, religious, linguistic or cultural LGBT – lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender groups who are smaller in number than the rest MDGs – Millennium Development Goals of the population and who may wish to maintain NGO – non-governmental organization and develop their identity. MRG also works with OAS – Organization of American States indigenous peoples. OCHA – UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Other groups who may suffer discrimination are of OECD – Organisation for Economic Co-operation concern to MRG, which condemns discrimination and Development on any ground. However, the specific mission OHCHR – Office of the High Commissioner on of MRG is to secure the rights of minorities and Human Rights indigenous peoples around the world and to improve OSCE – Organization for Security and cooperation between communities. Cooperation in Europe UDHR – Universal Declaration on Human Rights UN – United Nations UNDM – UN Declaration on the Rights of Persons Selected Belonging to National or Ethnic, Religious and Linguistic Minorities abbreviations UNDP – UN Development Programme UNDRIP – UN Declaration on the Rights of ACHPR – African Commission on Human and Indigenous Peoples Peoples’ Rights UNIFEM – UN Development Fund for Women AHRC – Asian Human Rights Commission UNRWA – UN Relief and Works Agency AU – African Union UNHCR – UN High Commissioner for Refugees CEDAW – Committee on the Elimination of All UPR – Universal Periodic Review forms of Discrimination Against Women USCIRF – US Commission on International CERD – UN Committee on the Elimination of Religious Freedom Racial Discrimination CRC – UN Convention on the Rights of the Child ECHR – European Convention on Human Rights ECtHR – European Court of Human Rights EHRC – European Human Rights Commission EU – European Union FCNM – Council of Europe Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities FGM – female genital mutilation FRA – European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights HRW – Human Rights Watch IACtHR – Inter-American Court of Human Rights ICC – International Criminal Court ICCPR – International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights ICERD – International Convention on the

236 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Nicole Girard (South East Asia) is the Programme Contributors Coordinator for the Asian component of MRG’s Global Advocacy Programme. She has been Electra Babouri (Turkey) is the Coordinator of researching and writing on issues facing minority the Equality and Diversity Forum, the network of communities in Asia for nearly a decade. national NGOs working across the equality and human rights spectrum in Britain. Previously, Katalin Halász (Europe) is a researcher, writer she worked for a number of NGOs including and activist with expertise in anti-discrimination Action for Children. She is a member of the legislation, minority rights, Roma rights and Steering Group of the English Regions Equality racism as a crime. Over the last decade she has and Human Rights Network. She holds an MA worked for national and international human from University College London focusing on rights organizations in Hungary, Germany, Human Rights and Indigenous Cultural Rights. India, Belgium and the UK, and at the European In addition, she has carried out research on the Court of Justice in Luxembourg. She is currently effectiveness of international law with regard to undertaking a PhD in Visual Sociology at safeguarding indigenous rights and has conducted Goldsmiths College, University of London, fieldwork in New Zealand and Australia. on the representation of race and ethnicity in contemporary visual arts. Maurice Bryan (Americas) is a Caribbean- born writer and communications consultant Rahnuma Hassan (Southern Africa) is an aspiring with a special focus on the use of information writer with a background in international technology in a rights-based approach to development. She is interested in issues of social and economic development and cultural identity and can be found on the internet writing processes. He has worked in over 25 countries in about the intersections of race and gender in the Latin America, the Caribbean, Asia and Africa, context of development interventions. and currently spends most of his time in Central America. Paige Wilhite Jennings (Central Africa) has worked with inter-governmental organizations Chris Chapman (Contributor – Iraq and South and NGOs in Central Africa, Central and South Sudan) is Head of Conflict Prevention at MRG. America and the Caribbean. He has written a number of reports on minority rights, conflict prevention and transitional Doreen Khoury (Middle East and North Africa) justice. From 1995 to 2000 Chris worked in is Programme Manager at the Heinrich Böll conflict resolution, human rights monitoring Stiftung’s office in Beirut. Prior to that, she and journalism in Haiti and Guatemala. He worked as researcher and elections specialist at has a Master’s degree in Armed Conflict and the Lebanese Centre for Policy Studies (LCPS) Crisis Management from the Open University of and served as executive director of the Lebanese Catalonia. Association for Democratic Elections. She specializes in elections, social media and Carla Clarke (Strategies of resistance: testing minority rights issues. the limits of the law) is MRG’s Head of Law (maternity cover). She is a qualified lawyer who Gabriel Lafitte (China case study) is author of has worked both in the government and NGO Despoiling Tibet: China’s resource nationalism sectors. She holds an MA in human rights from on the world’s Roof (Zed Books, forthcoming). Essex University. Mark Lattimer (Peoples under Threat) is the Executive Director of MRG. Formerly he worked with Amnesty International. Recent publications include (as editor) Genocide and Human Rights (Ashgate 2007).

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 237 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Corinne Lennox (Natural resource development Marusca Perazzi (East Asia) is Programmes and the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples) Coordinator at MRG. Her areas of specialization is a Lecturer in Human Rights at the Institute of are and culture, international Commonwealth Studies, University of London. relations and global governance. She works in Her research focuses on minority and indigenous Africa and Asia, and has lived and worked with rights protection and on human rights and ethnic minority communities in north-west development. She has worked as a human rights China. practitioner and consultant, including for MRG, the UNDP and the OHCHR. Satbir Singh (Contributor – case study, South Asia) is a researcher and campaigner working on Corinne Lewis (Corporate responsibility to respect issues of development and human rights in India. the rights of minorities and indigenous peoples) He has degrees from the University of Oxford is a partner in the law firm Lex Justi, which and School of Oriental and African Studies, provides legal and consulting advice on business London. and human rights. She has served both as a corporate attorney and as a human rights lawyer, Elisa Scalise (Indigenous women’s land rights: case with nearly a decade of human rights work for studies from Africa) is Director of the Landesa the UNHCR. She is the author of UNHCR Center for Women’s Land Rights. She specializes and International Refugee Law: From Treaties to in strengthening land tenure for women within Innovation (2012). both customary and statutory systems, and has worked in Africa and Asia. Irwin Loy (South Asia) is a multimedia journalist and editor based in Phnom Penh, Oliver Scanlan (Contributor – case study, South Cambodia, where he focuses on human rights Asia) spent two years in Bangladesh with VSO and development issues. He has filed news and and Oxfam managing a national advocacy feature reports from around the South East Asia campaign on indigenous peoples’ land rights. He region for international media. has a Master’s degree in Contemporary Asian Studies from the University of Amsterdam. Mohamed Matovu (East and Horn of Africa) is the Africa Regional Information Officer at MRG. Beth Walker (SWM Editor) is Commissioning His areas of specialization include development Editor at MRG. She is also a freelance writer communication in the context of good and editor for chinadialogue.net, a bilingual governance and rural development in Africa. environmental website in English and Chinese. He is a media trainer and works with regional Prior to this Beth worked in south-west media networks in Africa and Europe on behalf China for a health NGO. She has an MSc in of underprivileged communities, specifically Development Management from the London minorities and indigenous peoples. School of Economics.

Matthew Naumann (Central Asia) is a freelance researcher and writer with seven years of experience on human rights, social development and humanitarian issues in Central Asia, including periods with the UN and International Crisis Group. He holds degrees in Development Studies (BA), International Human Rights Law (LLM), and Politics and Security in Central Asia (MA).

238 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Dr. Ukoha Ukiwo (West Africa) is a senior lecturer at the Department of Political and Acknowledgements Administrative Studies, University of . He earned his doctorate from the With thanks to Carl Soderbergh for considerable University of Oxford. Previously, he was visiting editorial input, Jasmin Qureshi for production scholar at the University of , Berkeley coordination, publications interns Electra Babouri, and research fellow at the Center for Advanced Natasha Horsfield, Answer Styannes and Daniel Social Science, Port Harcourt. Openshaw for all their wonderful research support, Sophie Richmond for copy editing and Tom Jacqui Zalcberg (Oceania) is a human Carpenter for design. rights lawyer who has worked on a range of In addition to the MRG staff who provided their international indigenous rights cases in a variety feedback on earlier drafts, we would like to thank of international and domestic forums. This has and acknowledge the following individuals who included working for the UN Indigenous Peoples have contributed their thoughts, comments, advice and Minorities Unit, and the US-based NGO and expertise to this edition of State of the World’s EarthRights International. She has also been Minorities and Indigenous Peoples: engaged as a legal adviser to the UN Special Marcella Ballara, Alan Barnard, Alonso Barros, Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, Sandra Brunegger, Julian Burger, Ray Bush, and founded and coordinated the Human Rights Dawn Chatty, Neil Clarke, Bhavna Davé, David Law Clinic at the Law Faculty of the Humboldt Deng, June Teufel Dreyer, Jess Duggan-Larkin, University, Berlin. EarthRights International, Nicholas Farrelly, Laura Hammond, Christina Hartman, Jérémie Gilbert, Christina Jones-Pauly, Galina Kostadinova, John Macleod, Fiona McCallum, Roberta Medda, Amol Mehra, Nick Menzies, Hafiz Mohamed, Eureka Mokibelo, Peter Moszynski, Fred Nelson, Lutz Oette, Francisco Panizza, Scott Radnitz, Claudia Seymour, Charlotte Skeet, Abid Qayum Soleri, Irina L Stoyanova, Alexandra Tomaselli and Alexandra Xanthaki.

State of the World’s Minorities Reference 239 and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Minority Rights Group International

Minority Rights Group International (MRG) is a non- governmental organization (NGO) working to secure the rights of ethnic, religious and linguistic minorities and indigenous peoples worldwide, and to promote cooperation and understanding between communities. Our activities are focused on international advocacy, training, publishing and outreach. We are guided by the needs expressed by our worldwide partner network of organizations which represent minority and indigenous peoples. MRG works with over 150 organizations in nearly 50 countries. Our governing Council, which meets twice a year, has members from nine different countries. MRG has consultative status with the United Nations Economic and Social Council (ECOSOC), observer status with the African Commission on Human and People’s Rights, and is registered with the Organization of American States. MRG is registered as a charity and a company limited by guarantee under English law. Registered charity no. 282305, limited company no. 1544957.

Discover us online:

MRG website Visit our website for news, publications and more information about MRG’s work: http://www.minorityrights.org

Minority Voices Newsroom An online news portal that allows minority and indigenous communities to upload multimedia content and share their stories: http://www.minorityvoices.org/

World Directory of Minorities and Indigenous Peoples The internet’s leading information resource on minorities around the globe: www.minorityrights.org/Directory

240 Reference State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples 2012

minority State of the rights group World’s Minorities international and Indigenous Peoples 2012 Events of 2011 Minorities and indigenous peoples are under increasing threat from governments and private companies wanting to benefit from the resources found on or under their lands. Despite the growing recognition of their rights in international law, once their land is targeted for development – for mining, oil and gas extraction, dams, agribusiness, tourism or conservation – they are often violently evicted with little or no compensation. This year’s edition of State of the World’s Minorities and Indigenous Peoples provides a comprehensive and much-needed overview of how marginalized groups are affected by natural resource exploitation and how they are ISBN 978 1 907919 27 5 campaigning for their rights.