Mois : juillet 2006

Linked with our publications of Nigeria’s Oil and the population, and with Environemental Rights Action ERA – Nigeria, and
SEEN – Sustainble Energy & Economic Network. Also with The World Bank’s Recipe for Climate Disaster.

He says (excerpt):  » … So we need to discuss, and in discussion, the issues we have raised must be analyzed. We have called [for] and we are demanding resource control. When we talk about resource control, we mean that we want to be in control of the air that we breathe. We don’t want to breathe polluted air. We want to be in control of the forests and the land, where the wildlife and the rain forest bring forth life. We want to protect the waters. We don’t want those waters polluted; they are our vital resources. Oil and gas are temporary resources that could evaporate, that could go away over a given period. It is not a key issue, say, over a thousand years. Because we are going to be there for many more years than that! We have been there for more than 10,000, 20,000 years, as human memory can remember, and there is a possibility that we will remain there for more thousands and thousands of years. But oil is very temporary. When it’s finished, it is finished. But the people, the land, the environment, will remain. The challenge is: what is going to be left to be integrated? An impoverished land that after 2,000 years cannot be healed, or what? These are our legitimate worries. We are calling for resource control by our people » … (Read all on this page of Berkely interview of 2001).

Oronto Douglas – Nigeria

He is a human rights attorney and environmental activist. He is Deputy Director of the Environmental Rights Action Group in Nigeria.

Read the text on ERA of May 02, 2006.

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Linked with our presentations of The Garifunda Community – Honduras, and with Garífuna Community Leader in Honduras Threatened with Death.

An Afro-descendent community leader in Honduras, Jessica Garcia, was forced at gunpoint to sign a document surrendering land and rights to a powerful real estate company. After refusing to accept a bribe to endorse the document, a representative of the company threatened to kill Ms. Garcia, the leader of the San Juan Tela Patronato, which represents the interests of the San Juan Garifuna community, and to murder her children.

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Sorry, I can not find any photo of Jessica García, Honduras (see also my comment ‘Brave women without photos‘).

This incident is only the most recent in a series of mounting threats and violent attacks faced by the Garifuna community and their leaders over the last several years. Powerful business interests, who seek to benefit from developing Garifuna territory into major tourism projects, engage in intimidation and violence, with virtual impunity. (Read more on action.humanrightsfirst.org).

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english links:

rights action.org; and Brandeis panel and HR;

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spanish links:

article on conexihon.com, and homepage of conexihon.com;

this case on UNHCR;

Prensa indigena.org;

rds.hn;

RESOLUCIÓN DE LA CORTE INTERAMERICANA DE DERECHOS HUMANOS DE 21 DE SEPTIEMBRE DE 2005; and same also on cortheidh.org.

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“Rosenthal quiere quedarse con todo Nuevo San Juan” (Marzo 2006):

Defender sus tierras hasta con sangre es la decisión de los pobladores de la aldea garífuna de San Juan, quienes argumentan que no están invadiendo nada porque los terrenos son suyos.

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Linked with our presentations of ‘ Lié aussi avec notre présdentation en français d’attac france. And also with another Communication is possible.  Added Jan. 26, 2008: He is a better world heroe.

He says: (Excerpt of an interview, 2001): …  » … Historians must not be sweet. But optimistic … well, yes, a cautious optimism. Cautious in the sense that I’m not positive that things are going to go well. The future is indeterminate. But after all, the future depends on what we do now. If we are pessimistic now, we are doomed in the future. If we give up at this point then we know nothing good is going to happen. If we act on the assumption that there’s a chance that something good may happen, then we have a possibility. Not a certainty, but a possibility. So I believe it’s useful, it’s pragmatic to be optimistic. But not only that, not simply an act of faith, but also because there is historical evidence for the fact that when people act, persist, get together, organize, they bring about changes. There haven’t been enough changes. So you can look at that and say, not enough. True. But the fact that some changes have been made. The fact that labor, by struggling, won the eight-hour day. The fact that blacks in the South did away with the signs of segregation. The fact that women changed the consciousness of this country about sexual equality. Even though those are only beginnings, that historical experience suggests reason to think it is possible that other things may change … « . (Read the whole very long interview on berkeley.edu).

Howard Zinn – USA

Kate Daniels interviews Howard Zinn, author of « Original Zinn: Conversations on History and Politics, » on « Sunday Morning Magazine », July 09, 2006, at 5:30 a.m., on (US) KRWM-FM (106.9). (See on Radio: 60s rock powerhouse KJR-AM.

Howard Zinn (born August 24, 1922) is an American historian and political scientist. His philosophy incorporates ideas from Marxism, anarchism, socialism, and social democracy. Since the 1960s, he has been an important figure in the Civil Rights and anti-war movements in the United States. Author of 20 books, including the popular A People’s History of the United States, Zinn is Professor Emeritus in the Political Science Department at Boston University. For 50 years, he has campaigned against the killing of civilians in time of war. (Read more, and the rest of his biography, on wikipedia).

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Linked with our presentations of TGWU – England, and with Migrant workers ‘boost UK growth’. See also Remembering British Unions.

He says: « I’m not sure that it [is] at the moment, given the march to mega-unions and mega-mergers », and: « I’ve watched the last two Labour Party conferences and the debate, and it seems to me that trade unions have an agenda not to promote some of the policy issues, but merely to defeat the government, defeat the platform ». (See on BBCnews, June 9, 2006).

Sir Bill Morris – England

Excerpt: … A delegation from Jamaica attended, headed by Senator Delano Franklin, Minister of State for Diaspora Affairs, along with Mr Ed Bartlett, representing the Jamaica Labour Party. The keynote address was given by Sir Bill Morris, Chancellor of UTech and a champion of the diaspora in the UK. It was an inspiring gathering of Jamaicans, eager to stand up and be counted … (see on the Jamaica Observer, June 12, 2006).

Excerpt: … Sir Bill Morris, the former union leader who headed an inquiry into professional standards in the Metropolitan Police, said it was essential that armed officers who were asked to confront suicide bombers should be confident that they had public support. Sir Bill Morris: ‘This is detracting from the fight against terrorism’ He denounced the squabbling that followed the leak of confidential witness statements gathered for the investigation being conducted by
the Independent Police Complaints Commission (IPCC) … (Read all on Google Group uk.politics.misc).

Continuer la lecture de « Sir Bill Morris – England »