Sincere thanks to everyone who sent urgent email messages to Panama’s president this week!
Late Tuesday afternoon, Ngöbe leaders and government officials reached an agreement that put an end to protests that left two people dead and dozens of others injured.
Four villagers were injured yesterday when security forces open-fired at a group of 200 protesters who had gathered to block bulldozers from clearing their land in the Kraite province, one of four provinces that make up the greater Prey Lang forest in Cambodia. Our campaign partners LICADHO said that the shooting took place when villagers attempted to stop security guards at a rubber plantation owned by TTY Corporation from destroying the communities’ cassava fields. According to witnesses, the security guards opened fire on the villagers using AK-47s. VOA Khmer
In a protest to defend the natural resources of Bangladesh on December 29th, more than 35 people were left injured after police confronted the activists with batons and tear gas. The demonstration aimed to pressure the Bangladesh Ministry of Power and Energy to accept a set of seven demands, including the cancellation of concessions to build the Phulbari open-pit coal mine as well the eviction of GCM Resources, the London-based mining company currently financing the Phulbari project. The confrontation began when the protesters tried to break through a barrier to approach the Ministry building.
First Peoples Worldwide announced a grant of $7,000 that will enable Samburu leaders to train community members in human rights law and prepare them to more effectively defend their rights. See their press release below summarizing the urgent human rights crisis that has developed over the last few months, and please consider how you may support the Samburu
Two community activists who have been outspoken against the illegal logging and land concessions within the Prey Lang forest in Cambodia are being targeted by local police. Roeun Sopheap and Sim Sean have reported patrols of police waiting outside their homes and have been living in hiding throughout the past month. Both activists are facing accusations of incitement and destruction of property filed by police after last month’s march through the Prey Lang forest. Local organizations believe that the police patrolling their homes also stand to benefit from the destruction of the forest.
On December 15th, GCM held its annual shareholders’ meeting in London, amidst throngs of protesters demonstrating outside the building. Protesters waved banners tagging the project as”modern day colonialism,” and carried “eviction notices” from the people of Bangladesh telling the company to abandon the Phulbari Coal project and leave the country, according to a report from the news site Morning Star.
This short documentary about threats to the Prey Lang forest and the Kuy community’s efforts to protect it was produced by Cambodian student Kim Samath as part of the Southeast Asian Student Documentary Award Competition. To make her film, "Prey Lang - Fire of Light, Light of Hope," she traveled to the Prey Lang Forest to investigate how people live within Cambodia’s largest forest, which is under constant threat of deforestation.
