Dear KWIC members and friends, please find 2 urgent actions items
following for your consideration (sorry for cross-postings):
1. Amazon & Peruvian Massacre of Indigenous Peoples
2. Project Fly Home: Abousfian Abdelrazik (from TASC)
---
1. From Robert Lovelace:
Hello Friends,
The pictures on this web
site,http://elsitioded.blogspot.com/2009/06/nos-solidarizamos-con-los-caid...
are disturbing.
More disturbing is that Canadian News Media is blacking out this story.
Please read the statement below. The death toll is now over 60 and
although the Peruvian Army has stopped killing protestors
indiscriminately the real terror is about to begin. If the interviews
which I recently conducted in Ecuador are true then the Army and Police
will now go from door to door, intimidating, arresting and sometimes
killing those who cannot say they were not involved. The tactic is to
frighten the children so they will never speak up for their indigenous
rights as their parents have.
I have made inquiries of my contacts in Ecuador and Peru as to where
direct donations can best be made. As you might guess, things on the
ground are still volatile and confusing. By tomorrow morning I hope to
have the contact information for two or three organizations where your
support will go directly into the field.
It is essential for the preservation of life that you contact the
Peruvian embassy and tell them that the killings must stop, that the
Army must withdraw and negotiations with Indigenous political leaders
must resume. You also need to contact the Prime Minister’s office and
other politicians and ask them if they intend to permit Canadian
extractive industries to do business in the Amazon until the lives and
rights of indigenous people are protected.
Robert Lovelace
---
Please disseminate this information as widely as possible
A bloody World Environment Day in the Peruvian AmazonIndigenous
organizations call for support from the international community On April
9, local communities began what they call an "indefinite
strike"throughout the Peruvian Amazon region to protest the Peruvian
Congress' failure to review six government decrees that endanger the
rights of indigenous peoples. These decrees were issued by the
Presidency in the framework of the implementation of the Free Trade
Agreement signed with the United States, and pave the way to opening up
the Amazon region to socially and environmentally destructive industries
such as mining and oil exploitation. In the early morning hours today
(June 5) the Alan García government unleashed a violent wave of
repression in the Peruvian Amazon. Reports from the area are conflicting
and there are no official figures available, but it appears that there
have been between 10 and 20 deaths so far in Bagua, in the area around
Corral Quemado and Curva del Diablo. The Andean Coordinating Body for
Indigenous Organizations (CAOI), which includes indigenous organizations
from Bolivia, Ecuador, Peru, Colombia, Chile and Argentina, describes
the situation as follows: "Once again they are trying to impose death
over life, massacre over dialogue. This is the dictatorial response
after 56 days of peaceful indigenous struggle and supposed dialogue and
negotiation, which ended with bullets as always, the same bullets of
more than 500 years of oppression." The violent crackdown began only
hours after the Peruvian Congress decided once again to postpone debate
on the repeal of the decrees which would permit the invasion of
indigenous territories. This close timing clearly suggests collusion
between the Congress and the Presidency. The CAOI is calling on
"indigenous organizations, social movements and human rights
organizations around the world to take concrete action, by writing
letters to the Peruvian government, the United Nations Special
Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples, Amnesty International, Survival
International, the Nobel Peace Prize Foundation,the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights, and the International Labour Organisation
(Convention 169), urging them to send missions to Peru immediately to
stop the violence and demand respect for indigenous rights." The CAOI is
also calling for "sit-ins infront of Peruvian embassies in every country
of the world until the bloodbath is stopped and the legislative decrees
for the Free Trade Agreement with the United States are repealed." The
CAOI adds that "UN agencies should speak out firmly and join in the
demands made by the chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous
Issues, Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, to lift the state of emergency,cease the
use of repression, and fulfil international commitments that guarantee
the exercise of indigenous rights." Please send letters to the Peruvian
embassy in your country, demanding an immediate end to the current wave
of repression and full respect for the rights of indigenous peoples.
Contact information forPeruvian embassies worldwide is available at:
www.embassiesabroad.com/embassies-of/Peru For more information:Norma
Aguilar AlvaradoCommunications officeCoordinadora Andina de
Organizaciones Indígenas/Andean Coordinating Body for Indigenous
Organizations (CAOI)Fax: 0051-1-2651061 Website: www.minkandina.org If
you are unsure of how deeply Canada is involved checkout these sites:
http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/peru-perou/highlights-faits/PERC...
http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/a...
http://www.acdi-cida.gc.ca/cidaweb/cpo.nsf/vWebProjByNumEn/F5D7A96E64...
http://www.infomine.com/countries/peru.asp
http://www.mineweb.com/mineweb/view/mineweb/en/page67?oid=45300&sn=De...
http://www.embassyofperu.ca/peru_canada_ing.html
It is essential to understand that this is not solely an “indigenous
issue” or a “Peruvian” issue; this is a global issue; this is
“our” issue in the north. Since the 1980s and 1990s, the
governments of the USA and Canada -- along with our “development”
institutions (from the World Bank, International Monetary Fund and
Inter-American Development Bank, to our “aid” agencies [US-AID,
CIDA]) -- have been pushing for and insisting on the “free trade”
trade model of development / exploitation, on the signing of “free
trade” agreements. Canada signed a “free trade” agreement with
Peru on May 29 2008, and on June 3 2009, Bill C-24 was passed in the
House of Commons to implement this agreement. The Peruvian government
has also signed “free trade” agreements with the United States, the
European Union, Chile, and China, all of which endanger indigenous
territorial rights and Amazonian biodiversity.
Sample Letter from James Wilkes:
Peruvian President Garcia : Stop the indigenous genocide or immediately
resign from office
**********
Dear President Alan García,
Like millions worldwide, I am gravely concerned by recent decrees
passed in violation of the constitutionally
guaranteed rights of Peru's indigenous peoples. In addition, I am
horrified to learn of your government's
slaughter of peaceful protesters. I urge you to show immediate
restraint and refrain from further using force on indigenous protesters
on their own land. If you can not restrain your police and defuse the
genocide, you should resign immediately from office.
Your government has brought the situation upon yourself by using the
Free Trade Agreement with the US (and CANADA) as a pretext to
aggressively roll back legal protections for indigenous peoples in order
to open the Amazon rainforest to permit oil, mineral and timber by
multinational corporations. Your government's actions violate
international laws and conventions, including those ratified by Peru,
that guarantee the rights of indigenous peoples.
First and foremost, your government must end its violence and withdraw
from indigenous lands. I then respectfully urge your administration and
the Peruvian Congress to:
1. Uphold the constitutionally guaranteed rights of indigenous peoples
to self-determination, to their
ancestral territories, and to prior consultation and consent over any
policies and activities that affect them.
2. Repeal the series of contested Decrees associated with the Free
Trade Agreement with the United States (and CANADA).
3. Suspend the State of Emergency, permanently withdraw your Special
Forces and decriminalize peaceful protests.
4. Enter into good faith meaningful process of dialogue with indigenous
leaders to resolve this conflict.
And in general, please pursue ecologically sustainable development in
the Amazon based upon the benefits of standing trees and intact
ecosystems, rather than industrial activities which destroy species,
local livelihoods, and regional and global climate.
The violence against Peru's indigenous Amazonians must end immediately.
The world is watching and expecting self restraint and wisdom on your
part.
Respectfully,
James Wilkes
Canada
visualvoi...@hotmail.com
cc:
Yehude Simon Munaro, President of the Council of Ministers;
Rafael Vásquez Rodríguez, President of Congress; Public
Ombudsman Office of Peru; UN Special Rapporteur on the
Rights of Indigenous Peoples; UN Working Group on Enforced
or Involuntary Disappearances; UN Special Rapporteur on the
promotion and protection of the right to freedom expression
; United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues;
IACHR Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples; IACHR
Rapporteur on the Right to Freedom of Expression; Peruvian
Embassies worldwide; Peru UN Mission; Peruvian Congress
**************
2. CALL FOR URGENT ACTION: ENSURE THE GOVERNMENT COMPLIES WITH COURT
ORDER
TO BRING ABOUSFIAN ABDELRAZIK HOME: ACT NOW:
Family members, lawyers and supporters of Abousfian Abdelrazik are
delighted with today's Federal Court order directing the Federal
government to issue Mr. Abdelrazik an emergency passport and to arrange
transportation for his return to Montreal within thirty days.
The ruling found that Mr. Abdelrazik’s Charter right to enter Canada
had been breached. The full decision can be found here:
www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php
However, Project Fly Home strongly agrees with the judge's remark that
the breach "was done in bad faith".
To prepare against the possibility of more of the same bad faith,
Project Fly Home is calling on all organizations and individual
supporters to TAKE ACTION NOW to hold the government to the court order
- before they have time to come up with more excuses.
As you know, the ticket that over 100 people from across Canada bought
for Abousfian has been re-scheduled for 12 June. We suggest that this
might be the easiest means for the government to bring Abousfian home
promptly, in compliance with the court order. (However, if the
government choses to bring Abousfian home more quickly than that, it is
certainly welcome to do so!) At the same time, the civil society
delegation slated to leave Montreal for Khartoum on Monday, June 8th to
escort Abousfian home on June 12th has been postponed, but remains on
standby.
PLEASE IMMEDIATELY:
1) Write to Minister Lawrence Cannon, copying Stephen Harper and your
MP, asking him to comply with the court order to bring Abousfian
Abdelrazik back to Montreal and suggesting that the government make use
of the ticket that Abousfian already has for 12 June.
Lawrence Cannon
Telephone: (613) 992-5516
Fax: (613) 992-6802
Email: Can...@parl.gc.ca
Stephen Harper
Telephone: (613) 992-4211
Fax: (613) 941-6900
Email: Har...@parl.gc.ca
Contact details of MPs via www.parl.gc.ca (click on "Members of
Parliament (Current)").
2) If you are an organization, make this letter/statement available to
your media contacts and post it on your website.
3) If you are in Montreal, please come out to the Kite Rally on 10 June
at noon, Peel and Ste-Catherine's, to call on Lawrence Cannon to
bow to popular opinion, the will of Parliament, the Federal Court of
Canada, and basic justice and humanity and let Abousfian come home on
12 June. (Outside Montreal: check the events section of our website for
events in other cities or get in touch with the local contact in your
area, www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php.)
4) Please circulate this appeal in your networks. You can refer people
to www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php for background information
and updates.
-----------------
SIGNIFICANT FINDINGS OF THE DECISION:
[156] I have found that Canada has engaged in a course of conduct and
specific acts that constitute a breach of Mr. Abdelrazik's right to
enter Canada. Specifically, I find:
(i) That CSIS was complicit in the detention of Mr. Abdelrazik by the
Sudanese authorities in 2003;
(ii) That by mid 2004 Canadian authorities had determined that they
would not take any active steps to assist Mr. Abdelrazik to return to
Canada and, in spite of its numerous assurances to the contrary, would
consider refusing him an emergency passport if that was required in
order to ensure that he could not return to Canada;
(iii) That there is no impediment from the UN Resolution to Mr.
Abdelrazik being repatriated to Canada - no permission of a foreign
government is required to transit through its airspace - and the
respondents' assertion to the contrary is a part of the conduct engaged
in to ensure that Mr. Abdelrazik could not return to Canada; and
(iv) That Canada's denial of an emergency passport on April 3, 2009,
after all of the preconditions for the issuance of an emergency
passport previously set by Canada had been met, is a breach of his
Charter right to enter Canada, and it has not been shown to be saved
under section 1 of the Charter.
_______________
THE COURT'S ORDER:
THIS COURT ORDERS AND ADJUDGES that:
1. This application is allowed;
2. The applicant’s right to enter Canada has been breached contrary
to
subsection 6(1) of the Charter;
3. The respondents are directed to issue the applicant an emergency
passport in order that he may return to and enter Canada;
4. The respondents, after consultation with the applicant, are to
arrange transportation for the applicant from Khartoum to Montreal,
Canada such that he arrives in Canada no later than 30 days from the
date hereof;
5. Should such travel arrangements not be in place within 15 days of
the date hereof, the parties shall advise the Court and an immediate
hearing shall be held at which time the Court reserves the right to
issue such further Orders as are deemed necessary in order to ensure
the transportation to and safe arrival of the applicant in Canada
within 30 days of this Judgment, or such longer period as this Court
then finds to be necessary in the circumstances;
6. In fulfilment of this judicial process, the applicant is ordered to
appear before me at 2:00 o’clock in the afternoon on Tuesday, July 7,
2009 at the Federal Court at 30 McGill Street, Montreal, Quebec, Canada
or, at the option of the applicant on five days advance notice to
the Court and respondents, at 90 Sparks Street Ottawa, Ontario, or at
such other location as is subsequently fixed by the Court, subject to
an extension of that date on application by either party and upon the
Court being satisfied that through no fault of the respondents it is
not possible or practicable for the applicant to appear at the date and
time set.
Project Fly Home
projectflyh...@gmail.com
www.peoplescommission.org/abdelrazik.php
The following organizations support the public campaign to bring
Abousfian
Abdelrazik home:
Canadian Labour Congress
No one is illegal Ottawa
International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group
PeaceWorks, Sarnia, Ontario
Peaceworks, Midland, Ontario
People for Peace, London
Council of Canadians | London
Educators for Justice - Waterloo Region Catholic School Board
Camp Micah: Leadership for Peace and Justice
Polaris Institute
Hamilton Coalition to Stop the War
Boundary Peace Initiative
Peace Alliance Winnipeg
Canadian Peace Alliance
Bengali Students Association of the University of Waterloo
Fredericton Peace Coalition
Advocacy Collective, Fredericton
Rassemblement Outaouais contre la guerre (ROCG)
Tikkun Toronto
Canadian Union of Postal Workers
Nowar-Paix
Bathurst United Church, Toronto
The Justice for Mohamed Harkat Committee
Toronto Action for Social Change
People's Commission Network
Rights Action
Ontario Committee for Human Rights in the Philippines (OCHRP)
Apatrides Anonymes
No One Is Illegal Toronto
OPIRG-Carleton
Windsor Peace Coalition
Paradigm Shift Environmental Alliance
Exile Infoshop
The Voice of Women (Ontario), Letter Writing Group
Student Coalition Against War, Ottawa U
Solidarity Across Borders
No One Is Illegal-Montreal
Ottawa Raging Grannies
Canadian Council on American Islamic Relations (CAIR-CAN)
Group for Research and Initiative for the Liberation of Africa
Ligue des droits et libertés
Tadamon! Montreal
Anti-War@Laurier (AW@L)
Unitarian Universalists Windsor Region
Muslim Students Association of the University of Victoria
Canadian Council of Muslim Women (CCMW)
Canadian Islamic Congress
South Asian Women's Community Centre (SAWCC)
Immigrant Workers Center
Hamilton Monthly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers)
Montreal Chapter of the Council of Canadians
Le DIRA
Ici la Otra campaña - Montreal
La Pointe Libertaire
No one is illegal Vancouver
Windsor District Labour Council
OPIRG-Ottawa
Council of Canadians - Peterborough and Kawarthas chapter
Muslim Council of Montreal
Conseil Central de Montréal Métropolitain - CSN
Palestinian and Jewish Unity (PAJU)
Comité Justice sociale des Soeurs Auxiliatrices
PINAY
Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT)
Collectif Échec à la guerre
Présence Musulmane Montréal
Nonviolent Resource Centre
Council of Canadians - Grand River chapter
Canadian Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends
Green Party of Canada
QPIRG Concordia
Astrolabe
2110 Centre for Gender Advocacy
Student Christian Movement of Canada
Canadian Arab Federation
Council of Canadians
Les Artistes pour la paix
Christian Peacemaker Teams Canada
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