FARMERS' ORGANISATIONS ACROSS INDIA, CONDEMN THE POLICE FIRING THAT
KILLED AT LEAST FIVE FARMERS IN MADHYA PRADESH [1]
STATEMENT ISSUED BY THE ALL INDIA COORDINATION COMMITTEE OF FARMERS
MOVEMENT (AICCFM)
On Tuesday, June 6, agitating farmers in Mandsaur district in the
central Indian state of Madhya Pradesh, who had been demanding loan
waivers and better support price for their produce, were shot at by the
police. According to latest available media reports, at least five of
them have been killed in the firing.
The All India Coordination Committee of Farmers Movement (AICCFM)
strongly condemns this heinous attack on our sisters and brothers and
demand urgent action against all officials who are responsible for this
murderous act. We also demand that the State Government take moral
responsibility and resign immediately.
This is an incident that is bringing back painful memories of the
Colonial era, when farmers and farm labourers were often shot at for
claiming their rights. It is a pity that people who work the land and
feed the population continues to be treated inhumanely and killed for
voicing their disappointment with the State.
Hundreds of thousands of farmers and farm workers who were forced to
commit suicide due to increasing debt over the last two decades and
several more millions across India who are facing a precarious and
unpredictable future, exacerbated by extreme climatic conditions, have
for long been demanding that attention be paid to rural distress and
steps be taken to support farming families and workers.
The demands of the protesting farmers - calling for loan-waivers, better
support price - have been the demands of all farmers' organisations
including that of AICCFM, since a very long time and we reiterate our
resolve to take to the streets if our demands are not met.
AICCFM is also calling upon our sisters and brothers of _La Via
Campesina_, the global peasant movement, to condemn and protest this
brutal killing and join us in our struggle for justice to peasants
worldwide.
-------------------------
Ch. Rakesh Tikait, National Spokesman, BKU
Ajmer Singh Lakhowal, State President, BKU Punjab
KS Puttanaiah (MLA), Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Karnataka
Yudhvir Singh, General Secretary, AICCFM
Chamarasa Patil, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Karnataka
K. Sella Mutthu, President, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association, Tamil Nadu
Ratan Singh Mann, BKU President, Haryana
Vijender Singh, BKU, Haryana
Nallagounder, Uzhavar Ulaippalar Katchi, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association
Rajvir Singh, BKU, NCR
KT Gangadhar, Karnataka Rajya Raitha Sangha, Karnataka
Ms. Rajariga, President, Women Wing, Tamil Nadu Farmers Association
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/human-rights-…
"WE FEED OUR PEOPLES AND BUILD THE MOVEMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD!":
INTERNATIONAL PEASANT MOVEMENT PREPARES TO CONVERGE FOR ITS VIITH
CONFERENCE [1]
Press release, Harare, May 25, 2017:
_"We feed our peoples and build the movement to change the world!"_ - is
the call that will carry hundreds of delegates of the international
peasant movement _La Vía Campesina_, to the Basque Country from the 16th
to the 24th of July to celebrate their VIIth Conference.
The International Conference of La Via Campesina (LVC), held every four
years, is the movement's highest decision-making forum - gathering
representatives from member organisations of peasants, small and medium
size producers, landless people, indigenous people, migrants and
agricultural workers - from all over the world. Collectively
representing over 200 million people, these delegates will decide common
strategies and host internal debates for the growing global movement.
For a week in Derio, Basque Country, representatives will discuss local
experiences as well as international processes such as the Declaration
on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas [2],
the negotiations for an international and legally binding instrument [3]
against the abuse of multinational corporations in the UN Human Rights
Council. The different regions of LVC will also present their struggles,
such as the European region's struggle for a new Common Agricultural
Policy and reform against the concentration of land; the struggle in
Africa, for seed sovereignty; of the Latin American struggle for popular
agrarian reform and against corporate interest; and the campaigns of the
Asian regions against free trade agreements (FTAs), GMOs and crises
caused by climate change.
Particular focus will be given to issues such as: the impact of FTAs
on Food Sovereignty, corporate capture and patenting of seeds,
criminalisation of the movement and even the murder of its leaders,
peasant solutions to climate change and agroecology as a way of
exercising Food Sovereignty in our territories. There will be events
open to the public scheduled for July 19 in Derio (for the opening of
the Conference) and on July 23 in a march from Dario to the Plaza Nueva
in Bilbao, where a public political event will be held.
At a time when, on the one hand, the importance of food chains is
gaining ground in public opinion, and on the other the global abuses
against peasant communities intensify, the conclusions of this meeting
aim to be a significant advance in the struggle for Food Sovereignty and
to strengthen the work carried out by La Via Campesina for the
realisation of peasants' rights and, thereby bring peace and justice in
rural communities and the world.
For more information on the VII Conference of La Via Campesina, download
the press kit [4].
-------------------------
CONTACTS:
*
Alazne Intxauspe: +34 667576740 | alaznentzat(a)gmail.com (ES, EUK)
*
Viviana Rojas Flores: +34 6616 41838 |+593 9952 13177 |
viviana.rojas(a)viacampesina.org (ES, PT) * Andres Arce: +34 6616 41528 |
+32 4895 52297 | andres(a)eurovia.org (EN, FR, ES)
-------------------------
During the last 24 years La Via Campesina has held 6 international
conferences. The first in Belgium in 1993, then in Mexico in 1996, in
India in 2000, its fourth in Brazil in 2004, in Mozambique in 2008, and
the last in Indonesia in 2013. All of which have contributed to the
advancement and convergence of a project Of unity and solidarity of the
peasants of the north and the south, from all continents, with the
horizon of strengthening the peasant movement at a global level in the
search for justice and dignity for the countryside.
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/our-conferences-mainmenu-28/7-abadino…
[2]
http://www.eurovia.org/one-step-closer-towards-a-un-declaration-on-the-righ…
[3]
https://viacampesina.org/es/index.php/acciones-y-eventos-mainmenu-26/no-a-l…
[4]
https://viacampesina.org/downloads/pdf/en/VIIth%20Conf%20Press%20Kit_EN_12M…
LA VIA CAMPESINA: VIITH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE - PRESS KIT [1]
_VIITH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE, WHICH WILL BE HELD IN DERIO, BIZKAIA
(BASQUE COUNTRY), 16TH – 24TH JULY 2017. _
The international peasant's movement La Via Campesina INVITES
JOURNALISTS FROM AROUND THE WORLD to cover our VIITH INTERNATIONAL
CONFERENCE, WHICH WILL BE HELD IN DERIO, BIZKAIA (BASQUE COUNTRY), 16TH
– 24TH JULY 2017. This will be preceded by the IVth International
Assembly of LVC Youth and the Vth International Assembly of LVC Women.
In the current context of economic, environmental, and food crises,
peasant movements from around the world will discuss the alternatives
that food sovereignty and peasant farming offer in the face of
agribusiness and the neo-liberal model policies. The international
peasant movement will look for strategies against green capitalism, land
grabbing and the grabbing of other common goods which put the balance
between the earth and humanity in danger.
WHY IS THE VIITH CONFERENCE IMPORTANT FOR THE MEDIA?
La Via Campesina is among the largest social movements in the world and
is the voice of nearly 200 million peasants, rural workers, migrant
workers, indigenous people, fisherfolk communities across the planet.
Once every four years, with the support of our allies, we bring all our
grassroots members from all regions of the world, in one place and under
one roof - to exchange and learn from each other and to celebrate the
power of global solidarity and unity. It is a special occasion for any
one, including the media, to be a witness to this incredible gathering
of cultural, regional and agricultural diversity of people, who work the
land and feed the world.
ACCREDITATION FOR JOURNALISTS
_La Via Campesina's __VIIth __Conference_ is open to the media and to
journalists. However, all must be duly accredited in advance by the team
in charge of media relations. If you are interested in participating,
PLEASE COMPLETE THE FORM [2] AND WE WILL BE IN TOUCH. It is also
possible to organize interviews with the delegates through Skype,
telephone, or other means of communication in coordination with our
media team.
For clarification purposes, La Via Campesina will not cover the costs of
transport to Spain, or accommodation for journalists. However, we can
commit to giving all the logistical information necessary to guarantee
your participation in the VIIth Conference.
DOWNLOAD THE PRESS KIT FOR MORE INFORMATION [3]
FOR MORE INFORMATION PLEASE CONTACT:
* ANDRES ARCE: +34 6616 41528 | +32 4895 52297 | andres(a)eurovia.org
* VIVIANA ROJAS FLORES: +34 6616 41838 |+593 9952 13177 |
viviana.rojas(a)viacampesina.org
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/our-conferences-mainmenu-28/7-abadino…
[2] http://bit.ly/ViaCampesinaMedia-EN
[3]
https://viacampesina.org/downloads/pdf/en/VIIth%20Conf%20Press%20Kit_EN_12M…
APPEAL FOR SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINIAN PRISONERS AND DETAINEES ON HUNGER
STRIKE IN ISRAELI PRISONS [1]
09 May 2017, By Union of Agricultural Work Committee (UAWC), Palestine
****
_To all Human Rights and human dignity defenders, To all who oppose
Israel crimes and terrorism,_
Palestinian Prisoners and detainees are on an open hunger strike for the
23rd day respectively demanding of their basic rights, Israeli brutal
Occupation has detained their freedom as a punishment for their
legitimate struggle against occupying their homeland, it even deprived
them from their basic needs, and practices systematic repressive
policies against them, which violates the International Law principles.
Today Israeli Authorities are threatening prisoners with forced feeding;
which is a brutal procedure that inflicts severe bodily harm against
hunger striking prisoners which might result in death; and is against
international law.
Israeli prison authorities ramping up punitive procedures in an attempt
to pressure prisoners to break their strikes, hunger-striking prisoners
has continuously been transferred into solitary confinement, Israel
Prison Service has banned lawyers to visit the prisoners, in addition to
unannounced inspections and searching the prisoner's rooms, also they
ban prisoners to have salt, which resulted in a serious deterioration of
hunger-striking prisoners' health.
The continuous denial of the Israeli occupation to respond to the Hunger
Strikers demands; is a renewed episode of their arrogance, which does
not assess any weight to the International conventions and declarations.
Palestinian Prisoners and detainees persist to continue their hunger
strike, as a recognized right by all Legislations and International
conventions, as a legal mean to face the inhumane conditions practiced
by the Israeli jailer. These inhumane conditions, which contradict all
declarations and agreements undertaken by the International Community
represent as constant principles, rules and procedures governing
relations between the detainees and prisoners on the one hand, and the
military occupation on the other.
Everyone today is called upon to protest and hold activities in
solidarity with Palestinian Political Prisoners Hunger Strike;
LET OUR MESSAGE OF SOLIDARITY BE TO ALL PALESTINIAN DETAINEES
WHO ARE RESISTING WITH THEIR EMPTY STOMACHS
THE TYRANTS ARE TREMBLING IN FRONT OF YOUR STEADFASTNESS
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/news-from-the-regions-mainmenu-29/229…
THIS APRIL 17TH –WE DEFEND THE RIGHTS OF PEASANTS AND OTHER PEOPLE
WORKING IN RURAL AREAS [1]
PRESS RELEASE
(Harare, April 17, 2017) Today La Via Campesina, the international
peasant movement, commemorates the International Day of Peasants'
Struggle[1] [2] with a focus on strengthening, protecting and
recognizing the human rights of peasants. The initiative towards a
United Nations (UN) Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other
People Working in Rural Areas is one of the ways to legitimatize our
struggles to build and reinforce food sovereignty where by our social,
cultural, economic and political values are fully respected and upheld.
We believe that in championing the rights of peasants and other people
working in rural areas, humanity also wins.
Hundreds of millions of peasants are forced to live and lead undignified
lives as their basic rights are increasingly very vulnerable as a result
of capitalist and neoliberal logic of profit maximisation. Our rights to
land, water, seeds, biodiversity, decent income are continuously being
compromised, denied, violated and usurped. We, the Peasants, despite
producing the bulk of the food consumed globally, continue to face
criminalisation and discrimination.
We, the peasants, women, youth, men, and indigenous peoples, however,
continue to build our struggles globally to defend our rights against
corporate interests, persecution and violence against peasants and other
people working in rural areas. We struggle for a genuine agrarian reform
and a better protection of rights to land against land-grabbing; we
continue to conserve, use, and exchange our seeds - denouncing laws and
interests that seek to prohibit such practises; we promote agroecology,
traditional practices and knowledge to combat climate change; we
continue the struggle to end corporate control of our food and reject
free trade agreements; and we keep on building gender equality and move
forward for the rights of peasant women, youth, migrants and other
people working in rural areas.
Next month in May, the 4th session of UN Open Ended Intergovernmental
Working Group will be held to finalize the UN Declaration on the Rights
of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. Our collective
struggles will pressure governments and other parties to support and
commit to a strong UN declaration. We believe that the UN declaration
will be crucial to solve malnutrition, hunger, poverty, and climate
crisis.
Join us today by organising demonstrations, public debates and
discussions, film screenings, farmers' markets, festivals, lobbying
governments, or any other solidarity actions. We are calling to all
people's movements, women, youth, indigenous, fisher folk, migrants,
workers, environmentalists, to support this movement. Share your actions
by sending to lvcweb(a)viacampesina.org so that we can capture and
circulate them on our MAP [3] of actions.
SPOKESPEOPLE
Diego Montón (ES) +54 9 261 561 5062
Elizabeth Mpofu (EN) +263 772 443 716
Geneviève (FR) +33 6 25 55 16 87
-------------------------
[1] [4] On April 17th 1996, in the Amazonian state of Pará, at Eldorado
dos Carajás, the state military police massacred peasants organized in
the Movement of Landless Rural Workers (MST), killing 19 individuals and
injuring 69. That day, 1500 women and men organized in the MST occupied
and blocked the BR-150 highway in Eldorado dos Carajás, with the aim of
bringing pressure to bear on the State and Federal governments to
implement agrarian reform. State authorities, the police, the army and
powerful local landowners were involved in the planning and executing of
the massacre.
Links:
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[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/17-apr…
[2]
file:///C:/Users/nyoni/Documents/Final%20Press%20Release%20for%20April%2017th%20-%20Peasant%20Rights.docx#_ftn1
[3] http://u.osmfr.org/m/136989/
[4]
file:///C:/Users/nyoni/Documents/Final%20Press%20Release%20for%20April%2017th%20-%20Peasant%20Rights.docx#_ftnref1
Join the movement for Peasants' Rights!
STRENGTHEN THE HUMAN RIGHTS OF PEASANTS!
SIGN THE PETITION [1]
Peasants, fishers, pastoralists and other people working in rural areas
produce most of the healthy and diverse food that we eat every day. In
Europe and all around the world, they play a leading role in ensuring
the food sovereignty of our communities and the resilience of our food
system in the face of climate change. However, small farms are rapidly
disappearing and peasant agriculture is under threat due to the
expansion of industrial agriculture, land grabbing, and the dismantling
of public support.
Peasants and other rural working people face systematic discrimination,
with rural women particularly affected. They need your support to
continue creating agroecological, resilient alternatives to industrial
agriculture and develop healthy and sustainable local food systems for
the future of our planet.
Join the movement for Peasants' Rights and ask the EU and its Member
States to actively participate in good faith in the elaboration of a "UN
Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People Working in Rural
Areas". Demand from your Ministry of Foreign Affairs to recognize
Peasants' Rights, including their rights to land, seeds, biodiversity,
decent income and livelihood and the means of production.
Demand the right of peoples to food sovereignty now by SIGNING THIS
PETITION [1]!
BACKGROUND:
The process towards the "UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and
other People Working in Rural Areas" aims to create an international
human rights instrument to improve the promotion and protection of their
rights and draw attention to the threats and discrimination suffered by
peasants and people involved in small-scale food production across the
world.
The current draft Declaration is the result of the work undertaken by La
Via Campesina (LVC) over more than 15 years, supported by FIAN
International and CETIM (Europe Third World Centre), with the support of
other social movements. This process has a unique strategy, namely to
have the Declaration recognised by the UN and the international human
rights governance system through the voices, concerns, and issues raised
by grassroots peasant movements.
With the next session of the intergovernmental working group, scheduled
for May 2017 at the UN Human Rights Council, we need to put pressure on
our governments and strengthen our position.
Links:
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[1] https://peasantsrights.eu/
Peasants' houses in Mekar Jaya - the ''hometown of agrarian reform'' in
Indonesia - razed down by a plantation firm [1]
[2]
It is cruelly ironical.
Less than 72 hours after President Joko Widodo's orders to implement the
agrarian reform through land redistribution as a step to address
economic disparity and inequality, peasant families of Mekar Jaya
Village in Langkat District of North Sumatera Province in Indonesia were
in for a rude shock.
_Langkat Nusantara Kepong Ltd (LNK)_ a Malaysian firm with interests in
palm oil plantations, did exactly the opposite by evicting these
families from their own lands and razing their houses to the ground. 554
hectares of land have been forcefully grabbed from peasants by this
Corporation, in a series of attempts made since the 18th of November
2016.
In the latest of those actions, carried out on Monday the 27th of March,
seventy houses have been razed down to the ground.
The affected peasant families, who are members of the Indonesian
Peasants' Union (SPI), have so far been putting up a brave fight. But
with nowhere to stay and their houses gone, the distress and despair is
strikingly evident.
[3]General Secretary of the Central Board (DPP) of SPI, Agus Ruli
Ardiansyah said that over a thousand personnel from the police and fire
department, descended with heavy machineries to carry out the eviction
on Monday.
Visibly agitated, he spoke at a press conference in Jakarta on the
morning of the 28th,
"We denounce LNK. It's actions certainly violate the orders of President
Jokowi to immediately implement agrarian reform and land redistribution
to address the economic disparity, because Mekar Jaya has previously
been listed as a hometown of agrarian reform. 70 houses were destroyed.
360 families have nowhere to stay any longer,"
"What PT-LNK did will increase rural poverty. With its latest actions,
the firm has curtailed peasants' access to livelihood. It is a direct
violation of the instructions of President Jokowi to accelerate the
agrarian reform. He had re-emphasized it at Mandailing Natal, on March
25, 2017, " Agus Ruli added.
Zubaidah, Chairperson of SPI North Sumatra Region gives a brief history
of the region and recalls 1952, when people of Paya Redas and Paya Kasih
earmarked nearly 1,000 hectares of land for paddy cultivation.
"It resulted in the creation of a settlement called Paya Redas, with TK
Abdul Hamit as their village head from 1954 till 1964. In the 1970's
trouble started when the company PTP II/PTPN II forcefully evicted
peasants from nearly 500 hectares of land. Since then, up till now
families in the region have been facing these threats periodically.",
says Zubaidah.
LNK, the firm that carried out Monday's eviction attack, is a joint
venture of PTPN II and Kuala Lumpur Kepong Plantation Holdings Ltd. The
Malaysian partner holds 60% of the stake in LNK. Its efforts to evict
peasants from the lands which were occupied and managed over the years
and over several generations, have been gathering steam lately.
"PT LNK claimed that these peasants who have been living on this land
are tenants who come from outside the area. On the contrary, we are the
true owners of this land and these houses. We are the descendants and
direct heirs of those who have lived here for generations, "said
Zubaidah.
At a meeting of all-affected-parties held on the 30th of March, Zubaidah
made a presentation explaining the context and the current situation to
the House of Representatives of North Sumatra (DPRD). Chairman of DPRD
North Sumatra, F.L. Fernando Simanjuntak has ordered LNK and PTPN II to
treat the community respectfully and rightfully.
"We are from SPI of North Sumatra, with representatives of SPI from
Mekar Jaya village here to meet the_ Commission A_ DPRD North Sumatra."
"_Commission A_, represented by Fernando Simanjuntak and Sarma Hutajulu
as Chairman and Secretary acknowledged that the municipal police could
not evict land and peasants' houses. This means that LNK has arbitrarily
carried out this action ", Zubaidah said in a press statement.
EMERGENCY IN MEKAR JAYA!
[4]
Chairman of the Executive Branch (BPC) of SPI, Langkat Suriono asserted
that the land and houses that have been bulldozed are still legally
valid.
"Based on the conflict settlement process and the RDP report to the
Presidential Staff Office (KSP), the Ministry of Agricultural, and
others, there has been no decision on the status of land and houses
owned by peasants. This means that no one can carry out any activities
on the land, including eviction and destruction of the homes " said
Suriono.
Suriono also urged LNK to respect the laws and instructions of the
President Jokowi about the implementation of agrarian reform rather than
straddling the law and obstructing the agrarian reform by destroying the
lives and livelihoods of small peasants.
"National Land Agency (BPN) or Agricultural Ministry itself has not
decide on the conflict, why LNK boldly straddles the law in this
country? Are they not satisfied with eliminating our source of
livelihood, that they are now bulldozing our homes and evicting us from
our land? "he asked
-------------------------
FOR QUERIES:
Zainal Arifin Faud - +6281311155365 - zainal(a)spi.or.id
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/human-rights-…
[2]
https://www.spi.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/penggusuran-mekarjaya.jpg
[3]
http://www.spi.or.id/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/penggusuran_mekar_jaya_3.jpg
[4] https://viacampesina.org/en/images/2017-03-31%20Mekar%20Jaya.jpg
CALL TO MOBILISE ON #17APRIL, _INT'L DAY OF PEASANT STRUGGLES_! [1]
PEASANTS RIGHTS, HUMAN RIGHTS!
ADVANCE TOWARD UN DECLARATION ON RIGHTS OF PEASANTS AND OTHER PEOPLE
WORKING IN RURAL AREAS!
HARARE, 23 MARCH 2017:
The international farmers' movement La Via Campesina calls all its
members and allies to MOBILISE ON APRIL 17, the International Day of
Peasant's struggles.[1] [2] This year, we want the world to know that
peasants and other people working in rural areas have been working very
hard for their rights. The rights of peasants initiative, which La Via
Campesina started 17 years ago, now is in advanced process within the
United Nations towards a Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and Other
People Working in Rural Areas. This declaration, if approved, will
create an international legal instrument to protect the rights of and
draw attention to the threats and discrimination suffered by peasants
and other people working in rural areas.
The need for a UN Declaration on the Rights of Peasants and other People
Working Rural Areas is more urgent and evident in the 21st century.
Peasants, who produce the bulk of the food consumed globally, continue
to face criminalisation, discrimination, displacements and persecution
despite existence of numerous international legal instruments for
recognition and protection of such rights.
Peasants' basic rights are increasingly very vulnerable as the economic
and ecological crisis worsens. This situation is closely linked to human
rights violations: expropriation of land, forced eviction, gender
discrimination, the absence of right to land and lack of rural
development, low income and lack access to means of production,
insufficient social protection, and criminalization of movements
defending the rights of peasants and people working in rural areas.
For instance, in Africa, over 70% of the agricultural production and
care-giving is done by women but there is little recognition of their
rights in relation to asset ownership, access to credit, information and
participation in policy making etc. In Brazil, despite many years of
peasants struggling for comprehensive agrarian reform, fair
redistribution of land remains unfulfilled. In Europe, the Common
Agricultural Policy and market deregulation of the milk sector affect
hundreds of thousands of family farmers. In Asia, much as in rest of the
world, free trade agreements and bilateral treaties have destroyed local
markets and continue to threaten local and traditional ways of farming
and farmers' exchange. Land concentration is increasing as some of the
affected farmers are forced to sell their land; youth participation in
farming is at its lowest.
We call upon the people around the world to celebrate International Day
of Peasants' Struggle by continuing to work to reinforce food
sovereignty, the fight against climate change and the conservation of
biodiversity; to fight for a genuine agrarian reform and a better
protection against land-grabbing; continue to conserve, use, and
exchange our seeds; and strengthen the solidarity among ourselves. These
give strength for us to defend our land against corporate interest,
persecution and violence against peasants and other people working in
rural areas.
This year in July 2017 in the Basque Country, La Via Campesina will hold
its VIIthInternational Conference to deepen our analysis of the current
crisis and agree on strategic lines for action to strengthen our
movement.
We also call upon countries to support the UN Declaration on the Rights
of Peasants and Other People Working in Rural Areas. We will mobilise
our members and allies to pressure our governments to make the next
negotiation in the 4th session of Open Ended Intergovernmental Working
Group on rights of peasants and other people working in rural area at UN
HR Council Geneva successful. We believe in championing the rights of
peasants and other people working in rural areas, humanity also wins.
JOIN US ON APRIL 17TH BY ORGANISING DEMONSTRATIONS, PRESSURE TO
GOVERNMENTS, PUBLIC DEBATES AND DISCUSSIONS, FILM SCREENINGS, FARMERS
MARKETS, FESTIVALS, OR SOLIDARITY ACTIONS - ALL OF YOUR IDEAS AND PLANS
ARE WELCOME! SHARE BY SENDING TO LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG SO THAT WE CAN
CAPTURE AND CIRCULATE THEM ON OUR MAP OF ACTIONS AHEAD OF TIME. PLEASE
SEND US YOUR PICTURES, AUDIOS AND VIDEOS SO THAT WE CAN UPLOAD THEM ON
OUR WEBSITE [3] AND OUR OUR TV [4]".
-------------------------
* It is vital that our rights as peasantry are guaranteed. Access to
land is essential for a decent life in the countryside and to realise
Food Sovereignty for all the peoples of the world. Watch and share our
new video, available here [5]!
* Download high resolution poster for web and A3 printing for Poster.
Click here [6]
* Follow us on Social media: @via_campesina [7] and
https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL
* For more information about process within the UN click here [8]
WE FEED OUR PEOPLES AND BUILD THE MOVEMENT TO CHANGE THE WORLD!
-------------------------
[1] [9] On April 17th, 1996, 19 peasants were killed when military
police in the Amazonian State of Pará in Brazil attacked a large number
of members of the Landless Workers Movement (MST) who were blockading a
highway in order to demand agrarian reform. Two more people died from
their injuries several days later, and hundreds of others were so
seriously injured that they could not go on working in agriculture. La
Via Campesina, which was then in the midst of holding its second
international conference at Tlaxcala in Mexico, declared April 17th to
be the International Day of Farmers' and Peasants' Struggle.
Links:
------
[1]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/17-apr…
[2] cid:part3.4AEF4BF1.8263D3D2@viacampesina.org
[3] http://www.viacampesina.org/
[4] https://tv.viacampesina.org/
[5] https://tv.viacampesina.org/International-Conference-of-1065?lang=en
[6] https://cloud.viacampesina.org/s/JYu0yttChXunacM
[7] https://twitter.com/via_campesina
[8]
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RuralAreas/Pages/4thSession.aspx
[9] cid:part12.34CA902E.8BF775B3@viacampesina.org
La Via Campesina | e-Newsletter | February, 2017
Donate [1]
This edition of the newsletter is the result of a collective effort of
organisations, which are part of_ La Via Campesina_ movement worldwide.
To subscribe click here [2]
MARCH OF THE WOMEN
-------------------------
For the women of La Via Campesina from all over the world, 8th of March
is a day of struggle, resistance and denunciation of the capitalist
system, transnational corporations (TNCs), patriarchy and masochism.
These oppress, exploit and violate women. It's also a day of solidarity
with women's struggles. Here is a glimpse of our actions worldwide. For
more visit our Facebook Album [3]
NEWS FROM AROUND THE WORLD
INDONESIA BARGAINING POSITION IN EU CEPA IS QUESTIONABLE
-------------------------
Zainal Arifin Fuad, from Serikat Petani Indonesia / Indonesian Peasant
Union, argued that the flow of free trade and agricultural products from
EU will marginalize the agricultural products from Indonesian farmers.
Read More [4]
UAWC APPEAL AGAINST LAW TO LEGALIZE WEST BANK SETTLEMENT SPOTS
-------------------------
This law would allow the Israeli occupation to authorize thousands of
Israeli settlements units, and 53 Israeli spots, as well as, to
confiscate 8,000 dunums from privately owned Palestinian lands. Read
More [5]
FOOD SOVEREIGNTY WITHIN A NEW AGRICULTURAL POLICY!
-------------------------
CAP hasn't addressed the near extinction of small farmers in many
regions of Europe (90% of farms have been lost in the last 30 years in
certain regions), or the abusive use of antibiotics in high
concentration animal farms. Read More [6]
"CETA IS A FALSE SOLUTION TO ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL WOES" - NATIONAL
FARMERS UNION
-------------------------
Farmers in Europe understand that CETA is another threat to their
livelihood. In Canada, some farmers will see immediate income pressures
as CETA comes into effect. Read More [7]
CROFTERS GATHER TO DISCUSS BREXIT IMPLICATIONS
-------------------------
The event aimed at setting a 'crofting agenda' for the upcoming Brexit
negotiations and a post-Brexit agricultural policy that is fit for
crofting. Read More [8]
CONDEMNATION OF THE MURDER OF SULEIMAN HAMMAD, PALESTINIAN FARMER
-------------------------
La Vía Campesina strongly condemns the brutal and intentional murder of
our comrade Suleiman Hammad, an 85-year-old Palestinian farmer who on
February 8th, 2017 was run over by an Israeli settler, while walking to
work on his land near Al-Khader Village, south of Bethlehem. Read More
[9]
INDIAN FARMERS' GROUPS WRITE AN OPEN LETTER TO ROBERTO AZEVEDO, DIRECTOR
GENERAL, WTO
-------------------------
Director General of World Trade Organisation (WTO), Roberto Azevedo, is
in Delhi, on 8-9th of February 2017. Indian farmers's groups have
written an open letter citing numerous instances of violations of their
rights brought about by ujnust policies of the trade body. Here is the
full text: Read More [10]
DEFEAT DIVSEEK: FAO REFUSES TO COLLABORATE IN BIOPIRACY
DivSeek was set up with money from the World Bank to carry out the
genetic sequencing of all the seeds held in the genebanks of the various
countries of the planet. It then publishes these sequences accompanied
by information on the characters of interest of the plants concerned.
Read More [11]
RESOLUTION: CALL TO ACTION IN SUPPORT OF STANDING ROCK SIOUX TRIBE
-------------------------
The North American Region of La Via Campesina sends its most sincere
solidarity to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the water defenders in
their heroic struggle to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and in
defense of Mother Nature and their sacred land. Read More [12]
"WE WANT TO COME OUT STRONGER AND HAVE OUR RIGHTS RESPECTED"
Andalusian Inmaculada Ibáñez, member of the women's articulation group
and leader of the women's faction of the Coordinadora Agricultores
Ganaderos (a major farmer organisation in Spain), spoke with Radio Mundo
Real. Read More [13]
STATEMENT OF SOLIDARITY WITH PALESTINE ACTIVIST WHO WAS PREVENTED FROM
TRAVELING
-------------------------
The International Women's Articulation of La Via Campesina, issued a
statement following the unfair decision of the Israeli forces to prevent
comrade Meriam Ismael from leaving Palestine. Read More [14]
TAKING AGROECOLOGY TO SCALE
_ZERO BUDGET NATURAL FARMING PEASANT MOVEMENT IN KARNATAKA, INDIA_
This paper, produced as part of the self-study process, specifically
examines Zero Budget Natural Farming (ZBNF), a grassroots peasant
agroecology movement in Karnataka, India. ZBNF ends reliance on
purchased inputs and loans for farming, positioning itself as a solution
to extreme indebtedness and suicides among Indian farmers. A [15]CCESS
THE FULL VERSION OF THE PAPER [15]
[16]
We are the women's strike. Solidarity is our weapon. Watch Now [17]
[18]
Marco Aurelio, from MST (Brazilian Landless Workers Movement), spoke to
Newsclick on current developments in Brazil. Since the constitutional
coup in September 2016, that deposed President Dilma Rousseff, Brazil's
rightwing politicians have been busy cutting allocations in social
sectors, revising labour laws and undermining the progressive
Constitution. Social movements such as MST have been in the forefront in
creating broad based progressive platforms to oppose the Temer
Government. With the rightwing increasingly losing legitimacy, Former
President Lula of the Workers Party is widely expected to win the 2018
elections. Watch Now [19]
[18]
PODCAST: _ZoominKorea_'s Julian Cho and Hyun Lee explore these questions
in our pilot podcast, which includes an exclusive interview with women
farmers in Seongju and Gimcheon-Lee Hae-kyoung, Kim Jong, Yoon Geum-soon
and Ham Soo-yeon-who have been on the front lines of the fight against
the THAAD deployment. Listen in [20]
YOU ARE AN IMPORTANT PART OF THE AUTONOMY OF OUR MOVEMENT
-------------------------
As a supporter who has contributed financial resources to La Via
Campesina, and as an activist who joins us on the streets and in the
fields, your support is always welcome and put to good use.
You can renew your contribution to La Via Campesina by clicking [1]here.
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For questions or comments, email LVCWEB(a)VIACAMPESINA.ORG
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Links:
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[1] https://viacampesina.org/en/donations/
[2] https://mail.viacampesina.org/lists/listinfo/Via-info-en
[3]
https://www.facebook.com/pg/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/photos/?tab=album&albu…
[4]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/stop-f…
[5]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/news-from-the-regions-mainmenu-29/223…
[6]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/food-sovereig…
[7]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/stop-f…
[8]
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[9]
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[10]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/10-yea…
[11]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/biodiversity-…
[12]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/actions-and-events-mainmenu-26/stop-t…
[13]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/women-mainmen…
[14]
https://viacampesina.org/en/index.php/main-issues-mainmenu-27/women-mainmen…
[15] http://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/03066150.2016.1276450
[16] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VOdRtcJxQeo
[17] https://tv.viacampesina.org/SolidarityIsOurWeapon?lang=en
[18] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BZ7bqKtHMek
[19] https://tv.viacampesina.org/Brazil-Right-Wing-Government?lang=en
[20]
https://tv.viacampesina.org/PODCAST-South-Korean-Women-Farmers?lang=en
[21] http://www.twitter.com/via_campesina
[22] https://www.facebook.com/viacampesinaOFFICIAL/
[23] https://vimeo.com/viacampesina
[24] http://www.viacampesina.org
[25] http://www.tv.viacampesina.org