Yanomami Community Members Killed in Clash with Miners

While details are still emerging, it appears that as many as 80 Yanomami community members in the Amazon in Venezuela have been massacred by illegal gold miners. According to a submission to prosecutors this week in Puerto Ayacucho, the massacre occurred in early July. The national prosecutor’s office has appointed two officials to lead investigations, and the Venezuelan military has conducted interviews with witnesses. 

Survival International's Director, Stephen Corry, demanded that Amazonian governments "stop the rampant illegal mining, logging and settlement in indigenous territories." 

Read more from the New York Times here and from the BBC here.

UEBT Hiring Project Officer

The Union for Ethical Biotrade (UEBT), a Natural Justice partner on work around communities, dialogue and biotrade, is seeking a Project Officer on Business and Biodiversity Policy Implementation. The Project Officer will “work closely with other UEBT staff to provide support to companies developing systems and procedures on issues such as community engagement, contribution to local development and access and benefit sharing (ABS).” 

For more information on the position and how to apply, visit UEBT’s page here.

Meghalaya to have stronger mechanism than ILP

SHILLONG, Aug 31 – Meghalaya would have a “more stringent institutionalised mechanism than the Inner Line Permit (ILP)” to thwart infiltration into the State, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma said.

Asked about the implementation of ILP, as demanded by several NGOs in the State, Sangma gave a vague reply and at one point said “ILP can be there in certain check points” and in the same vein added that the State would have a “better mechanism than the ILP”.

There has been a renewed demand from the Khasi Students’ Union, the Federation of Khasi Jaintia and Garo People and other NGOs to implement the ILP in Meghalaya to discourage influx of illegal migrants, especially after what have been witnessed in the recent violence in Assam between local indigenous people and “illegal migrants from Bangladesh”.

ILP is an official travel document issued by the government to a person willing to enter into the States of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur. Meghalaya also wants a similar travel document issued to people willing to enter the State.

Sangma while explaining the “better institutionalised mechanism” that the State is formulating to curb influx said the Directorate of Infiltration is in an “advanced stage” of being created.

He also informed that appointment of labour officers in all the 39 blocks of the State has been sanctioned. These officials would oversee the influx of migrant labourers into the State, in term of registration and cross-checking of their antecedents.

Further, the State government would take advantage of its Sixth Schedule status and empower the traditional bodies to help the government in checking influx, he added. “We are trying to find ways to blend the traditional bodies with the government departments to help check influx,” he said.

Meghalaya, which shares a 443-km-long international border with Bangladesh, remains vulnerable to influx and this long border is one of its weakest links.

Sangma said the border areas need to be stringently guarded and all along he has been asking the Border Security Force to be more vigilant in this regard.

Belo Monte Construction Allowed to Resume

Rendering of the proposed Belo Monte dam via
http://indiancountrytodaymedianetwork.com

The $13 billion Belo Monte mega dam is under construction again in the heart of the Amazon as the Brazilian Supreme Court has provisionally overturned a Regional Federal Tribunal’s ruling that construction should be stopped. According to the Supreme Court's website, the ruling of Judge President Britto may be reviewed once the court conducts a “more detailed analysis of the merit of the case.” 

The government supported the decision, stating it prevents “major and irreparable damage to the economy, to public property and to the country’s energy policy.” Amazon Watch’s Executive Director, Atossa Soltani, stated "this unfortunate decision doesn’t invalidate the Tribunal’s judgment that the project is unconstitutional.” The Federal Public Prosecutor’s Office is expected to appeal the decision and demand a review by a full bench of the Supreme Court. 

Read this earlier blog post for more context. Learn more about Amazon Watch's opposition to the dam's construction here. Read more from Indian Country Today, the BBC, the Washington Post, and Reuters.

Participate in IUCN WCC

The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) World Conservation Congress starts next week and the latest newsletter from IUCN has spotlighted the many ways that people from around the world can participate and contribute without traveling to Jeju.

Questions for prominent experts, politicians and CEOs participating in dialogues on the Congress’s five themes (climate, food, development, people and governance, and saving nature) can be asked through this link. Many of the events will be broadcast live and can be viewed here. The conversation on Twitter will be grouped around the #IUCN2012 hashtag and IUCN’s Facebook Page will also be updated frequently.

Natural Justice will be attending. Please share any thoughts on the Congress with us on Twitter (@NaturalJustice) or at our Facebook Page.

Khwe Indigenous Values Workshop in Bwabata National Park

More photos here

From 19-22 August, 2012, Natural Justice attended and helped to facilitate a Khwe Indigenous Values workshop held in Bwabwata National Park, West Caprivi, Namibia as the beginning of a bicultural community protocol (BCP) process. The workshop was hosted in partnership with the Open Society for Southern Africa's (OSISA) Indigenous Rights Programme, the Kyaramacan Association, and Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation (IRDNC). The workshop was attended by several community representatives from all 10 villages within the park, including elders, youth and Khwe conservation officers, a representative from the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism and youth of the San community from Botswana. 

For historical reasons, the Khwe community is slowly losing many of their values, some of which incorporate important knowledge around sustainable use and management of natural resources. Further, very little intergenerational transfer of traditional knowledge is taking place. This is leaving the Khwe community vulnerable on many levels. In the community's partnership to co-manage the park with the government, their knowledge and relationship with the resources in the park is essential. 

The workshop ran over three days and focused on the indigenous values of the community. Healing and respect were among some of the values the workshop emphasised. Participants were asked to bring any natural resource they hold knowledge of to share with the workshop. The women and men went in separate groups and collected plants and certain roots. They also demonstrated how they to harvest a root from a tree sustainably. On the final day, the participants selected a custodian committee comprised of elders, women and youth. 

This custodian committee will now take this values process to the 10 villages of Bwabwata National Park with an emphasis on consultation and participation. The BCP concept will be introduced at the end of each village meeting. The local partners agreed that the BCP will then be informed by the outcomes of this process. 

Find more photos from the workshop here. For more information on this process, find the OSISA report on allAfrica.com here.

Meghalaya says Karnataka, Maharashtra are normal now

Shillong, Aug 30 : The Meghalaya government Wednesday urged students and workers from the state to return to their educational institutions and works places in Maharashtra and Karnataka, saying the situation in both the states was "normal" now.

"The situation in Maharashtra and Karnataka is normal. The governments of these two states have assured that there is nothing to fear and all necessary help would be extended," state Information and Public Relation Minister Abu Taher Mondal told reporters here.

Earlier, Mondal led a three-member team, comprising Urban Affairs Minister Ampareen Lyngdoh and Water Resources Minister Alexander Hek, which met Karnataka Home Minister R. Asoka and Maharashtra Home Minister R.R. Patil during a fact-finding mission to these two states.

Thousands of students from Meghalaya and other northeastern states left Andhra Pradesh, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Maharashtra after mobile text messages warned them of attacks as a backlash for the Assam ethnic violence.

Imbak Canyon Ethno-forestry

Harry Jonas of Natural Justice presented on "ABS: From International Law to Local Realities" at a workshop hosted by Yayasan Sabah and Petronas in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. The workshop focused on how best to develop and implement an ethno-forestry study in Imbak Canyon. The study is "a long term project leading towards the positioning of Imbak Canyon as the centre of learning for indigenous communities in biodiversity conservation and sustainable use of natural resources, for gene bank conservation and the exploration of pharmaceutical and biotechnological potentials." Other presenters included Dr Agnes Lee Agama (Global Diversity Foundation) and Dr Charles Vairappan (University Malaysia Sabah).

OSISA Briefing on San Values Workshop

Via www.OSISA.org

The Open Society for Southern Africa, a partner and funder of Natural Justice, released a briefing this week on workshop held in Bwabata National Park on San Values and Biocultural Community Protocols (BCPs) run jointly by Natural Justice, Kyaramacan Association, Integrated Rural Development and Nature Conservation, and the Namibian Ministry of Environment and Tourism. The workshop sought to “exploit the synergies between on-going work on San values and on Bio-cultural protocols to help empower poor and marginalised indigenous communities.” 

The OSISA briefing describes two reasons why the workshop was important. Firstly, “it will contribute to the establishment of a Khwe custodian committee for maintaining and promoting traditional knowledge, skills and values amongst the youth and residents.” Secondly, “it will serve as a planning session for the proposed bio-cultural community protocol (BCP) in Bwabwata National Park.”  

The briefing notes that the workshop is part of a broader effort by OSISA’s Indigenous Rights Programme and Natural Justice to support the development of BCPs by Indigenous communities in southern Africa. 

The briefing can be accessed directly here. Learn more about OSISA’s Indigenous Rights Programme here and find OSISA's Facebook page here and Twitter handle here. Read about Natural Justice’s previous work in Bwabata here.

Natural Justice Joins GNHRE

Natural Justice has recently joined the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and the Environment (GNHRE). The network, which describes itself as a network for the creation of change, is an “internet-based project aim[ing] to build a dedicated portal for the exchange of scholarship, thinking and insights drawn from community-embedded experience and praxis at the interface between human rights and the environment.” 

The aim of the network is “to build a global network of researchers, policy-makers, opinion-formers and community activists whose diversity forges new conversations and relationships. We are building a network for the creation of change – and it starts with the transformation of thinking.” As part of this mission, the network produces the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment.

Read more about the GNHRE here. Information on the Journal of Human Rights and the Environment can be found here. Find Natural Justice’s profile on the GNHRE website here.

Deficit monsoon lessens malaria cases in Meghalaya

 SHILLONG: A deficit monsoon this year in otherwise rain-ravaged Meghalaya has led to a drastic fall in the cases of malaria, especially in the Garo Hills area of the state, considered one of the 'cradles of mosquitoes' in the world.

"With low rainfall, there has been lesser waterlogging, due to which there has been lesser breeding of mosquitoes," an official in the state health department pointed out.

"There have been fewer cases of malaria this year, one of the reasons being a deficit monsoon," East Garo Hills deputy commissioner Vijay Mantri told TOI. "Only three cases of deaths related to malaria have been reported so far. The cases of casualties are far lesser this year compared to last year," the DC iterated.

Mantri also attributed the lesser cases of malaria to extensive awareness campaigns launched by the district administration. "The main reason for multiple deaths due to malaria in previous years was lack of proper detection," he pointed out.

The DC informed that Rapid Test Kits to detect malaria have been supplied to 925 accredited social health activists (ASHAs), comprising community health workers as part of the National Rural Health Mission. "Medicated mosquito nets have also been distributed," he added.

"Anybody can carry out tests with the help of these kits with just a drop of blood as a sample," he said.

In fact, the deadly and usually fatal falciform malaria, which attacks the brain, has become resistant to the popular drug chloroquine in the Garo Hills, and the illness has now to be tackled with the age-old quinine besides artesunate and arteether groups of drugs.

"Plasmodium falciparum, which is a major parasite, is solely responsible for each malaria-attributable death case. The Garo Hills are categorized as a high-risk zone for drug-resistant malaria," said an official in the state health department.

According to official statistics, Meghalaya accounts for 20 per cent of the malaria cases reported from the northeastern states annually.

The problem is complex along the international borders of the northeast due to poor inter-country coordinated vector control interventions, illiteracy, difficult terrain and poor access to healthcare services.

"Most death cases that were preventable occurred due to complications arising out of late reporting and consequent delayed treatment," a report by an international agency on the malaria scenario in the northeast read.

BCP Initiative Briefing Note

Natural Justice has released a new briefing note on the Biocultural Community Protocols Initiative entitled Biocultural Community Protocols: Articulating Stewardship, Asserting Rights, Affirming Responsibilities.

The briefing note first seeks to articulate what biocultural community protocols (BCPs) are, offering a clear definition of BCPs and detailing how BCPs are developed and used. It then offers a number of examples where communities are working through the Initiative to develop BCPs. Included are the Tanchara and Daffiama communities of northern Ghana, which are developing BCPs on gold mining and shea nut conservation, respectively. The work of a community in the Ulu Papar Valley of Sabah, Malaysia, who used various forms of participatory action research to establish a Community Use Zone in a state park that overlaps with their customary lands, is also presented. Communities developing BCPs in Kenya, India and South Africa are also spotlighted. 

The note also briefly outlines Biocultural Community Protocols: A Toolkit for Community Facilitators, which was developed by Natural Justice to support community members and supporting organisations in facilitating BCPs. The new Community Protocols website, as well as the numerous key publications available on the Natural Justice website, are also presented. 

The briefing note can be downloaded here. Learn more about BCPs at the new website here and on Facebook here.

FPP Report: Indigenous Peoples and the Green Climate Fund

The Forest Peoples Programme and the Indigenous Peoples’ Network of Malaysia (JOAS) have drafted a technical briefing for Indigenous peoples, policy makers and support groups entitled Indigenous Peoples and the Green Climate Fund. The note seeks to offer background on and critically analyse the fund created to support global action on climate change at the 17th Conference of Parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, concluding that the “views and recommendations of Indigenous Peoples are not being taken fully into account.” 

The briefing includes a section on understanding the Green Climate Fund (GCF), offering basic details to those just learning about the GCF as well as summaries of the latest updates. The briefing also considers the key challenges faced by Indigenous peoples in the development of the GCF and lists three recommendations with detailed justifications: 1) ensuring effective environmental and social safeguards and a rights-based approach to climate financing; 2) ensuring Indigenous peoples’ access to a dedicated fund for financing climate change actions; and, 3) ensuring Indigenous peoples’ full and effective participation in governance. 

The full briefing can be downloaded here. Read more about the Forest Peoples Programme here, and follow them on Facebook here and on Twitter at @ForestPeoplesP.

Environmental Law Association Conference in Cape Town

Photo via www.elasa.co.za

On 25 August 2012, Laureen Manuel of Natural Justice attended the Environmental Law Association’s annual conference, which focused on the legal challenges facing South Africans in a changing world and country in the context of sustainable development. The conference was attended by environmental lawyers, specialist academics and authors, and government and NGO representatives. 

The conference included five sessions with topics including the 2012 United Nations Conference on Sustainable Development (Rio+20), water and waste law and management, biodiversity conservation, community involvement and energy efficiency, as well as the implications of the South African Maccsand court case which held that mining companies must not only seek permission from the Department of Mineral Resources but also from local authorities if the land is not zoned for mining. The final session included presentations on the challenges and possible solutions relating to planning and environmental law with a specific focus on land use and requisite multiple authorisations.

Artists add Dutch touch to Khasi culture

Art installation to be unveiled today

ANDREW W. LYNGDOH

Arno Peeters and Iris Honderdos interact with reporters at Shillong Press Club on Monday.

Shillong, Aug. 28 : An art installation designed by a couple from the Netherlands, depicting Khasi identity, heritage and the challenges of development in red, gold and green will be unveiled at Don Bosco Hall here tomorrow evening.

Arno Peeters and Iris Honderdos have been in the city for the past month. The couple had closely interacted with local people, musicians, poets, academics, cultural icons, students, traditional healers and others from different walks of life to understand the essence and character of Khasi society.

Through the prism of their perspectives, Peeters and Honderdos created a multi-dimensional portrayal of Khasi culture, its precious heritage and fragile existence. Apart from depicting the Khasi culture, language and music, the installation also portrays the dangers stalking the indigenous community.

The dangers surrounding the Khasi community have been represented in the form of “snakes”.

The couple have used the seven huts (Hynniewtrep), a mythological bridge connecting heaven and earth and the traditional rain shield (knup) as illustrations of Khasi culture.

The art project is part of the global initiative Visualising Development with Identity of the Royal Tropical Institute, the Netherlands. The couple were hosted and assisted by the Martin Luther Christian University here during the course of the project.

On the eve of unveiling the art installation, Peeters said the Khasi culture was “vivid”, although there were problems surrounding the community in the form of largescale illegal migration.

“The problems, like the presence of illegal migrants, are quite serious. But we feel that they can be solved by the community itself. At the same time, many young people have narrated that aping western culture is another danger. They feel that by aping others, even traditional folk music has been suffocated,” he observed.

He said the art installation was a work to represent the information that had been gathered during the course of the project.

Asked about the colours, Peeters said red signifies blood and danger, gold depicts local resources and green represents the sylvan vistas of the state.

“But gold is the most sensitive part. Take, for instance, coal mining. The mineral is abundantly present here, but can also be a cause of trouble as you have the coming of illegal migrants,” he pointed out.

On the art installation, MLCU vice-chancellor Glen Kharkongor said it could either be placed at the museum of the Don Bosco Centre of Indigenous Culture (DBCIC) located at Mawlai here or exhibited in different parts of the world.

Peeters and Honderdos have worked in tandem in several countries on a unique method of direct contact with communities using participatory observation and communication techniques to learn about the emotional currents and relations that shape the community they are working with.

Lateral gene flow and arthropods

I’ve long been a fan of A Thousand Plateaus, the epic second volume of Capitalism and Schizophrenia by Gilles Deleuze and Félix Guttari, in good measure because it is a philosophical work that makes a number of statements directly relevant to evolutionary biology. In particular, Deleuze and Guttari spend some time criticizing the idea that the gene flow from parent to offspring (vertical gene flow) is far more important than any other form of gene flow. Instead, they argue that we should be paying more attention to lateral gene flow, the flow between organisms not involved in a parent-offspring relationship. 

While evidence of lateral gene transfer in micro-organisms is well accepted (think, for example, of plasmid transfer among bacteria by conjugation), there seems to remain some skepticism about the importance of this phenomenon in more complicated organisms. Despite this skepticism, Deleuze and Guttari’s suggestion that lateral gene flow is generally important was recently reinforced by a paper out of Yale describing the first evidence of de novo carotenoid synthesis in animals, effected by genes incorporated into the aphid genome from a probable fungal origin (Moran and Jarvik 2010). 

Fast forward to 2012 when two papers make this story a little longer, and a little more remarkable. First, the April issue of Biology Letters contained a paper by Altincicek et al. describing genes for carotenoid synthesis present in spider mites. These genes cluster phylogenetically close to the aphid carotenoid synthesis genes (and therefore are also likely to be of fungal origin). Second, an August 16th paper in Scientific Reports by Valmalette et al. suggests that the carotenoids in aphids may actually form a sort of photosynthetic system capable of reducing NAD+, and therefore fueling ATP synthesis. 

While the results are new, and therefore are sure to come with a number of unanswered questions, there is no denying that these papers are going to shake up our understanding of both ecology and evolution. First, the previously accepted wisdom that animals have to obtain carotenoids from their diet has been challenged in two disparate arthropod groups, which suggests that the power to synthesize these physiologically important pigments may actually be widespread. Second, we may have to abandon the notion that animals are not necessarily pure heterotrophs if they can perform some  photosynthesis-like process, which adds a whole new level of complexity to food webs. Finally, it may be time to begin accepting that lateral gene flow has relevance to metazoans, and at least sometimes in functionally important ways. 

Thirteen NCP legislators follow Sangma to join NPP

Shillong, Aug 25 : Thirteen legislators of the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) on Friday joined PA Sangma in the National People's Party (NPP) in Manipur. The NPP is a 23-year-old state party in Manipur and has book as its symbol. The legislators also include Sangma's two sons, Conrad (leader of the Opposition in Meghalaya assembly) and James.

However, Sangma's daughter and Union minister of state for rural development Agatha Sangma and the only Rajya Sabha member from Meghalaya, Thomas Sangma, will continue with the NCP for the time being.

Sangma, who was earlier a founding-member of the NCP, left the party prior to the presidential election last month in which he contested against Pranab Mukherjee but lost. The veteran leader, who was in the Congress in the past and also became the Speaker of the Lok Sabha, said he did not want to set up a new party at this moment for the Meghalaya assembly election is just a few months away.

"We do not have time for registering a new party's name and symbol and hence decided to join our like-minded friends in the NPP," Sangma said.

The former NCP leader is also set to become the president of the 'tribal-centric' NPP and the party is set to get a national outlook for its headquarters were to be shifted from Imphal to New Delhi. Sangma said gradually they would bring NCP members from the entire north-eastern region as well as Gujarat into the NPP.

When criticised about his frequent change of parties, Sangma said he did that owing to his strong principles and not for bigger posts.

Sangma, who claimed he was once the most powerful man in the Congress, was expelled from the party with Sharad Pawar and Tariq Anwar in 1999 for opposing Sonia Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate because of her foreign origin. The trio formed the NCP but merged the Meghalaya NCP with Mamata Banerjee's Trinamool Congress (TMC) in 2006 following differences with others. He returned to the Pawar-led NCP soon after. This year, Sangma again had a tussle with the NCP leadership over the presidential election.

The party, which is an ally of the Congress in the UPA, did not approve of Sangma's aspirations to become the president by contesting UPA's own candidate but Sangma was desperate to go ahead with his plan. He claimed to have carrying aspirations for the millions of tribals. Sangma quit the party and contested the polls with the support of the BJP and few other parties.

Sangma said he would now try for the welfare of the tribal population, which he felt was deprived of socio-political advancement. He said the NPP would try to give them their dues. According to Sangma, the decision to join the NPP was a tough but bold decision. He said there was no legal problem for two-third of the NCP legislators merged with the NPP.

Conrad Sangma, the opposition leader said all the 13 NCP MLAs met speaker Charles Pyngrope and officially handed over the letter of the legislators joining the NPP. Manipur unit president of the NPP, V Hangkhalian said Sangma's arrival would boost the party, which had won no seats in the 2012 Manipur assembly election.

New SANBio Guidelines

The Southern Africa Network for Biosciences (SANBio), which is under the New African Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) of the African Union, has released new Traditional Knowledge and Plant Genetic Resources Guidelines. Natural Justice’s Kabir Bavikatte served as an external reviewer of the guidelines. 

From the Executive Summary, “These Guidelines were developed as a result of growing concerns of a lack of policies and laws in several SADC countries that govern the use of TK, biological resources and benefit sharing, despite the fact that these countries have signed the CBD. As a result of these concerns, the African Ministerial Conference on Science and Technology in 2003 adopted an outline of a “plan of action” now known as Africa’s Science and Technology Consolidated Plan of Action (CPA). The CPA, as well as decisions by the SADC leaders, emphasized the need to develop a framework for strengthening the capacity to harness and protect biological resources, as well as those associated with traditional knowledge, by encouraging co-operation in science and technology through harmonized policies and regulatory frameworks.” 

The guidelines include sections on Traditional Knowledge, Access and Benefit Sharing, Recognition and Protection of Farmers’ Rights, Intellectual Property Rights, Stakeholders, and Cross-Cutting Issues. The guidelines can be accessed here.

NGO seeks solution for hate drive

Shillong, Aug 24 : The North East Support Centre and Helpline, a Delhi-based NGO, has asked the Centre and the law-enforcing agencies to bring a long-term solution to the recurring problem of the hate campaign against the Northeast people in various states.

The spokesperson for the organisation, Mandhu Chandra, in a statement released here today said the issue of Northeast Indians fleeing from the mega cities of India are not taken that seriously by the parliamentarians, compared to the discussion of CAG report on coal issue.

“The nation is yet to establish the trust among the Northeast communities,” Chandra said.

The NGO, a combined initiative of various human rights activists, social workers, students and lawyers, seeking to prevent women harassment and abuse, and protect the Northeast people and indigenous communities of different states.

Chandra said, “The sympathy shown by all the political parties in this regard, particularly by BJP leaders Sushma Swaraj and Arun Jaitley, has turned out to be absolutely fake.”

“The rumour and the subsequent fleeing of the Northeast communities in fear of being attacked, is yet to be sorted out,” Chandra added.

According to him, the Centre still needs to reveal the invisible forces operating within India and take action against them. “Some sections of society in Delhi and other cities have been discriminating and attacking the Northeast communities for the past few years,” he said.

The NGO strongly believes the racial hatred against the Northeast people in Delhi and other states will increase, if hate messages against them continues.

They also asked the Centre to take steps to stop racial profiling of the Northeast people.

Meghalaya to test humidity resistance of VVPAT with EVMs

Meghalaya is all set to test the humidity resistance of the new improved Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail (VVPAT) along with EVMs in a mock poll scheduled for Saturday at Sohra, official sources said today.

The Election Commission is conducting the mock poll at Sohra in East Khasi Hills district and its surrounding areas on that day to check the efficacy of the new system in extreme weather conditions, the sources said.

Sohra, famously known as Cherrapunji, receives an average rainfall of 12,000 mm in a year and is about 56 km south of here.

The simulated election was necessitated again after several political parties had requested the Commission that the possibility of introducing Voter Verifiable Paper Audit Trail along with EVMs may be examined properly.

Training for all poll officials have completed today and they would be leaving for their respective polling station tomorrow, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal told PTI.

A three-member team from the EC will oversee the performance of the system of which a member of the Technical Expert Committee of the EC would also be part of the exercise.

Voting begins at 7 AM to 4 PM on Saturday in 28 polling stations spread over two constituencies – Shella and Sohra. The votes will be counted on August 27.

VVPAT is a system attached to an EVM that allows a voter to verify that his/her vote was cast correctly. This mechanism would detect possible election fraud or mal-functioning of an EVM.

Mining policy on anvil: Meghalaya CM

 SHILLONG: After facing flak for not having a mining policy in place in spite of ecological imbalances triggered by unscientific mining in the state, chief minister Mukul Sangma has asserted that his government is taking on board all stakeholders, including small-time miners, to make the mining policy "effective and acceptable" to all.

Coal, limestone and other minerals are mined by private operators and the absence of a regulatory policy for mining has affected the environment to a large extent. Ill equipped labourers, including children, are also engaged in these "rat-hole" mines.

"The government is committed to regulating mining activities through the new policy which would be notified," the CM said. Sangma refuted allegations that he was sitting idle with the file for months without taking a decision.

"Officials from the mining and geology department are working on the policy," he said. The cabinet had a thorough discussion on the matter and referred the matter back to the department for finalization.

Recently, the mining and geology officials had given a presentation to the CM and a group of ministers on the draft mining policy. The state government had reported to the Centre that sources of drinking water supply schemes in the state have had to be shifted due to contamination caused by coal and limestone mining and some major rivers in the Jaintia Hills area have been found to be unfit for human use.

"The acid discharge and rat holes of coal mines pose hazard to the surroundings, including land and water bodies, besides humans," a report of the State Pollution Control Board said. Unscientific coal and limestone mining in Meghalaya, especially in the Jaintia Hills, has already altered the ecological balance of vast tracts of land.

At least 15 miners were trapped to death in a rat-hole coal pit in South Garo Hills district in the first week of July, prompting the National Disaster and Rescue Force personnel to rush to the site in a late rescue mission which did not yield any result.

As per Geological Survey of India estimates, Meghalaya has around 460 million tonnes of high grade sub-bituminous coal with less ash content compared to the coal found in other parts of the country.

Social organisations demands introduction of ILP in Meghalaya

Shillong, Aug 23 : Several social organisations in Meghalaya have demanded the extension of Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, which is commonly known as Inner Line Permit, to restrict the entry of illegal immigrants entering the state.

In a memorandum submitted to Chief Minister Dr Mukul Sangma yesterday, seven prominent social organisations, including the influential Khasi Student's Union, demanded the Meghalaya government to come up with an anti-influx mechanism in the form of ILP under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation Act of 1873 which will restrict the entry of 'outsiders' in the state.

"The problem of influx has been plaguing the state for the last 30 years and the menace has grown up by leaps and bounds due to lack of sincerity and political will," KSU president Daniel Khyriem said. "The government has failed to act on this burning issue (influx).

It is clear that unless something tangible is put into place, Meghalaya might go the Tripura way (where the indigenous identity is now completely lost due to mass influx of illegal immigrants) in the not too distant future."

The NGOs pointed out that the threat posed by influx has reached alarming levels in some parts of the state like East Jaintia Hills, International border belt of Garo Hills and in the inter-state border areas of Ri-Bhoi district.

Pointing out that the present government had in September 2011 announced implementation of Work Permit system in the state, the NGOs said it is sad that the process of actual implementation has not yet taken place.

Meghalaya rules out ban on rat-hole mining

Shillong: Meghalaya's draft mining policy does not propose to ban rat-hole coal mining despite widespread opposition to it, a minister said Wednesday.
Rat-hole mining is a primitive method that entails clearing ground vegetation and digging pits ranging from five to 100 square metres to reach the coal seams.
"The draft policy does not propose a blanket ban on rat-hole mining in the state, but the policy insists on having safeguards during such mining practices, for protection of the environment and also the miners themselves," Deputy Chief Minister Bindo Lanong, who holds mining and geology portfolio, told reporters Wednesday.
He said the draft mining policy awaiting approval from the cabinet would allow rat-hole mining, provided safeguards were undertaken.
Meghalaya has a total coal reserve of 640 million tonnes. The coal is high in sulphur content.
Most of this coal reserve is mined unscientifically by individuals and local communities. Due to unscientific coal mining, the water sources of many rivers, especially in Jaintia Hills district, have turned acidic.
Mining activities in Meghalaya are controlled by the indigenous people of the state who own the land.
Workers and children go deep into these rat-holes and extract the coal using traditional tools. Makeshift bamboo ladders take miners down into the pits to chip away through two-feet-high tunnels.
Once the coal has been extracted, these mines are abandoned and left exposed in several case. In Cherrapunjee region, once famous for its heaviest rainfall, environmental abuse has almost reduced the region to a barren landscape.
The region is now pockmarked by abandoned rat-hole coal mines and barren hills. Similar is the case in other districts of Meghalaya.

SAP and IIM-S to extend village e-enablement to Meghalaya

SAP India, as part of its CSR activities, has announced an initiative to improve citizen services and village administration in the Shillong region by deploying a Cloud-based e-governance solution. This is an extension of a similar model that SAP pioneered with the SODA village in Rajasthan. In this instance, SAP has collaborated with the Rajiv Gandhi Indian Institute of Management-Shillong (RGIIM-S) for this project.
"Contributing to the development of rural India is a major focus of SAP's CSR initiatives," said Peter Gartenberg, Managing Director, SAP India. "By collaborating with RGIIM-S, we are striving to make village administration more effective, transparent and accountable in delivering citizen services. We intend to effectively use our expertise in the North East region and create a scalable model for villages across India."
As a part of the project, SAP will automate several operational areas including, tracking & control of funds; budget and expense management, accounting; management of local assets; project & scheme implementation and citizen services. SAP will also facilitate trained resources to operate the solution, and provide its expertise during the course of the project. RGIIM-S will provide SAP with the necessary advisory support to gain understanding of the local environment, help identify project sites and liaison with local administration bodies where required.
Configured on SAP Business ByDesign, a fully integrated business management solution delivered on demand, this project will result in improved transparency, control and governance. It will be initiated at the semi-urban localities of Mawlai Nonglum and Mawdatbaki, and will subsequently be rolled out to a village Dorbar jointly identified by SAP and RGIIM-S.
"SAP's project for the Mawlai area will provide the local headman and citizens reliable access to records and services, better insight into budgeting and spending, and support quicker decision making," said Professor Keya Sengupta, Director, RGIIM-S.
"We are pleased to collaborate with SAP on this initiative, and will support this by way of advising SAP on the local aspects through RGIIM-S Center for Development for the North East Region (CEDNER)," she added.
RGIIM-S is an autonomous management school set up by the Government of India, with a vision of expansion and mobilization of facilities for offering good quality management education, research and dissemination of information in the North Eastern region of India.

Meghalaya groups want check on illegal immigrants

Shillong, Aug 22 : Entry permits should be introduced in Meghalaya to restrict the influx of illegal Bangladeshi immigrants, social organisations demanded Wednesday.

The Khasi Students' Union (KSU), along with eight other organisations, submitted a joint memorandum to Chief Minister Mukul Sangma on the issue.

"The problem of influx has been plaguing the state for 30 years and has grown due to lack of sincerity and political will," KSU supremo Daniel Khyriem told IANS Wednesday.

The chief minister earlier admitted that the entry of illegal immigrants into the state was alarming.

"When I visited certain parts of the state, I could see that the local indigenous people have been outnumbered by the people from outside the state," Sangma said.

The KSU sought restrictions like the inner line permit - required by Indian citizens to enter Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram - saying that the influx situation in Meghalaya might go out of control given its proximity to Bangladesh and Assam.

The inner line permit is issued under the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873, by the state governments.

The KSU supremo said that in the last decade the state's population grew by 27.82 percent, as per the census 2011, raising apprehensions of illegal immigration.

"The influx of illegal immigrants in the state is not only alarming in areas bordering Bangladesh and inter-state border with Assam but the immigrants have outnumbered the indigenous tribals in certain areas in Shillong as well," Khyriem said.

The implementation of the inner line permit would help protect the tribal population from being "annihilated" in their own land, he said.

On July 13, the state assembly in neighbouring Manipur adopted a resolution urging the central government to extend the Bengal Eastern Frontier Regulation, 1873 to the state to check the influx of suspected Bangladeshi and Myanmarese nationals.

Mining contaminated drinking water sources in Meghalaya

New Delhi, Aug 22 : The Meghalaya government has reported that sources of some drinking water supply schemes had to be shifted due to contamination caused by mining, said Union Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh on Tuesday.

Some major rivers in the area have been found to be unfit for human use, said Ramesh in the Rajya Sabha.

Jaintia Hills in particular is facing an acute drinking water crisis, he said.

He said the state government has reported taking up steps to curb mining in the area and its effect on water pollution.

In order to address the issue of mining in Jaintia Hills district of Meghalaya and its effect on water pollution, the state has framed a State Mineral Policy.

The government has also entered into special arrangements with Village Durbars to protect the source in order to ensure longevity of drinking water sources.

Awareness programmes have been conducted to educate mine owners/miners and mine dependent families on ill effects of unscientific mining and storage of coal.

Rain wreaks havoc in Meghalaya

SHILLONG: Heavy monsoon showers over the last few days have wreaked havoc in Meghalaya with reports of landslides, waterlogging and disruption of electricity coming in from several areas.

"The Polo Grounds area of the city, which is low lying, was waterlogged. However, the water has been going down since Tuesday afternoon as the rain has stopped," said a local.

All hill streams in the city, including Umkhrah and Umshyrpi, are in full spate and normal life is severely affected.

"A thunderstorm on Sunday disrupted communication in several parts of the city as telephone lines were hit," said an engineer of the Bharat Sanchar Nigam Limited (BSNL) office. "We are working overtime to restore the snapped connection," he added.

"My landline and internet have gone dead since the thunderstorm on Sunday and BSNL has been unable to restore connection despite repeated complaints and requests," said a denizen.

Supply of electricity was disrupted in several parts of the city on Tuesday as branches of trees fell on high tension cables causing electric sparks.

Meanwhile, there were reports of landslides on the Guwahati-Shillong Road. "We are maintaining constant vigil to ensure that there is smooth flow of traffic," said an officer in the traffic department of the state police.

The North Eastern Hill University (NEHU) here has been under severe power crisis as lightning hit its main power station damaging the transformer, officials said. "Lightning struck the main power station of the university on Sunday afternoon and a report of the Tinsukia-based General Electric Corporation officials said the damage was severe as the diaphragm was blown out,"

NEHU vice chancellor AN Rai said. Peak demand at the university campus, which houses over 2,000 students and over 300 faculty members is 1.7 kw. The NEHU vice chancellor also said the university had decided to use power shedding for "optimum" use of power to the different units.

Sacred Natural Sites Interview

Sacred Natural Sites "IN Perspective": Indigenous Community Lawyer from South Africa from Sacred Natural Sites on Vimeo.

Natural Justice's Lesle Jansen has been featured in a new Sacred Natural Sites series of interviews with custodians, indigenous peoples, scientists, conservationists, protected area managers and others on "What is a Sacred Natural Site and why is it important to you?" Her interview discusses the sacred sites of the Khoi and San communities of South Africa and can be accessed above or directly here. More interviews from the interview series can be accessed here.

South African BABS Guidelines Drafted with Natural Justice Support

To ensure the effective implementation of South Africa’s regulations on the conservation of biodiversity and implementation of Access and Benefit Sharing, South Africa’s Department of Environmental Affairs has promulgated new guidelines for providers, users and regulators of South Africa’s biodiversity. Natural Justice provided technical support to the Department in drafting the guidelines, and Kabir Bavikatte, Johanna von Braun and Laureen Manuel of Natural Justice drafted the second chapter for providers. 

Holding 10% of the world’s plants, 7% of its reptiles and 15% of its coastal marine species, South Africa is the world’s third most mega-diverse nation after Indonesia and Brazil. Out of this richness, the nation’s biodiversity has faced severe threats to species and ecosystems from human activities. To address these challenges, the National Environmental Management Biodiversity Act (the Biodiversity Act) was promulgated in 2004 and the Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit Sharing (BABS) Regulations were passed in 2008. To support actors using South Africa’s biodiversity understand and adhere to these new requirements, South Africa’s “Bioprospecting, Access and Benefit-Sharing Framework: Guidelines for Providers, Users and Regulators” has been promulgated. 

The first section of the guidelines, drafted by Natural Justice, offers guidance to those who would provide indigenous biological resources and traditional knowledge on their uses, including discussions demarcating the discovery and commercialisation phases, elaborating upon community ownership of resources and knowledge, details on the kinds of benefits that can be expected, and guidelines on concluding agreements with users. The second section elaborates upon the requirements for users of biological resources and knowledge. It discusses permits, dialogues with communities around prior informed consent, and agreements with providers of resources and knowledge. The final section provides guidelines for regulators of bioprospecting. 

The full guidelines can be accessed here. The guidelines for providers, drafted by Natural Justice, can be accessed directly here. Learn more about Natural Justice’s work around bioprospecting in South Africa here.

Third Regional Preparatory Meeting for IPLCs for CBD COP 11 in Asunción, Paraguay

Photo credit: http://www.cbd.int/abs/ 

From 13-16 August 2012, Johanna von Braun of Natural Justice attended the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity’s (CBD) third regional consultation for indigenous peoples and local communities (IPLCs) in Asunción, Paraguay. Previous consultations were organised by the Secretariat and attended by Natural Justice team members in Bujumbura, Burundi and Chiang Mai, Thailand. The workshop brought together approximately 55 regional representatives from Latin America and the Caribbean in order to prepare recommendations for the 11th CBD Conference of the Parties (COP), to take place in Hyderabad, India in October 2012. 

During the first three days of the workshop participants familiarized themselves with the CBD in general as well as the history and nature of the participation of IPLCs in the work around the Convention. Particular attention was placed on articles 10c and 8j of the Convention, the 2011-2020 Strategy for Biodiversity and the Aichi Biodiversity Targets as well as the Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit Sharing. 

Significant time was spent discussing the crucial role community protocols, featured in article 12 of the Nagoya Protocol, could play in implementing the Protocol at the local level while asserting and affirming IPLC’s rights over traditional knowledge and genetic resources. Several case studies of community protocols, presented by a representative of the Kuna Yala community and Dr von Braun, supplemented this session. 

The final day of the workshop included an internal meeting in which IPLC representatives finalised the forum’s recommendations for COP11. After the end of the workshop, some participants stayed for an additional two days to participate in a more in depth training for facilitators on issues around the CBD and the Nagoya Protocol.

Two students from Meghalaya threatened

PUNE: Two students from Meghalaya were threatened by an unidentified man near Dandekar bridge on Thursday afternoon.

The students filed a complaint application with the Dattawadi police on Friday. While police have prepared an 'occurrence report' on the incident, no official complaint has been registered so far.

Complainant Rahul Khongsar, a class XI student of Pusha Devi Dugad junior College on Pune-Satara road, said he and his friend Synsharlang Lymba were returning to their room in Karvenagar after college. "When we reached Dandekar bridge area, one person stopped us and asked about our identity," he said.

Khongsar said though he told the man that both of them were from east Khasi hills district of Meghalaya, he refused to believe them. "The person also forced my friend Lymba to smoke a cigarette," he said.

Khongsar said the man warned them not to come out of their room for the next two days. "The person also threatened us that if 'we' continued the riots in Assam, we will have to face grievous consequences."

The students then contacted Mayur Karjatkar who works for a social organization. Karjatkar helped them report the incident to the Dattawadi police.

Khongsar and Lymba also submitted a complaint application at the Pune police commissioner's office on Friday.

Major Court Victory over Belo Monte Dam

Photo credit: Cristina Mittermeier/
International League of Conservation Photographers

In a major victory for indigenous peoples’ rights, Brazil’s Regional Federal Tribunal has held that construction must be suspended immediately on the massive Belo Monte dam until indigenous communities have been consulted. The Tribunal’s judgment cited UN International Labour Organisation’s Convention Number 169 and the Brazilian Constitution in the ruling. The dam, if constructed, will displace 16,000 people by government estimates but may displace thousands more. The decision will be appealed. 

Judge Souza Prudente, who authored the ruling, said "A study on the environmental impact of the project was required before, not after, work on the dam started. The legislation is flawed…The Brazilian Congress must take into account the decisions taken by the indigenous communities. Legislators can only give the go-ahead if the indigenous communities agree with the project." 

Read more about the ruling through the BBC here, National Geographic here, and the Guardian here. For more information in Portuguese, read here.

Meghalaya CM demands probe into exodus

SHILLONG: Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma today said an official probe into the “rumored racial discrimination” which led to the exodus of NE youths, including those from Meghalaya, from southern states and Maharashtra is needed to end the crisis.

“Rumors of this magnitude need a thorough investigation,” Mukul said, adding there are possibilities of involvement of vested groups so as to see that their “evil designs” do not succeed.

“Except for an incident at Pune, no incident was reported from other states,” he said, quoting “inputs” from the MHA.

Stating that the issue does not confine to only students from Meghalaya but other NE states, the Chief Minister called upon other state governments in North East to response “appropriately” on the matter.

Meanwhile, Meghalaya is sending an official delegation to the southern states and Maharashtra to “verify” the rumored discrimination and to “reassure” its youths of necessary steps taken by the respective states to prevent any attempt to discriminate (if any).

“We are sending a delegation from Meghalaya to the affected states to verify the reported discrimination against our youths studying and working in these states and to reassure them that necessary steps are being taken,” Mukul said.

The Chief Minister said, “The government is in constant engagement with its counterparts in the South of the country and have alerted them on the situation to ensure steps are being taken to ensure their safety.”

Meghalaya plans digital literacy for citizens

The state government has inked a deal with leading social enterprise outfit—Basix Academy—to impart basic computer lessons to the people

Guwahati:  Meghalaya government has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with BASIX Academy for Building Lifelong Employability Limited (B-ABLE) in order to provide digital literacy to the public, particularly in the rural areas.

The MOU was signed in Shillong between Meghalaya Information Technology Society (MITS), an agency under the state Department of IT.

As per understanding B-ABLE will provide and deliver through Instructor-Led-Training (ILT) for up-to 800 participants the Microsoft Digital Literacy Standard Curriculum for people of the state through the existing Common Service Centres (CSC).

“The state government is reviving the CSC’s in the rural areas and many citizen services will be available online. Therefore, it is very important that the citizens of the state have working knowledge of computer applications.

This course will enable people break the digital gap and help them make full use of the government services that is available online,” a statement said.

The courses to be offered with contain computer basics, Internet and the digital lifestyles and others.

Meghalaya government is investing Rs 2,780 per citizen in this program.

The agreement comes months after the centre announced that it was giving special focus on improving information and communication technology in the Northeast and was eyeing to provide digital literacy to the people living in remote areas of the region.

National Consultation on Protected Areas & Forest Rights

Sankar Pani of Natural Justice participated in a National Consultation on the Protected Areas and Forest Rights Act (FRA) on 12-13 August, 2012, in New Delhi. The consultation was organised by the Future of Conservation Network (FoC), a network of ecological and social organizations and individuals committed to the effective and equitable conservation of biodiversity. FoC's objective is to foster dialogue and engagement in complex conservation issues, and to help tackle increasing threats to both biodiversity and livelihoods. 

The basic objective of the consultation was to discuss the issues relating to poor, improper, and/or non-implementation of the FRA in protected areas such as Sanctuaries, National Parks and Tiger Reserves. Many participants suggested that the Nodal Ministry should appoint an independent committee to review the implementation of the FRA in protected areas. They also emphasised that until the recognition process is completed no person should be evicted or relocated from their existing occupation and residence. 

Other issues which surfaced during the consultation included: 

• Limited recognition of community rights under the FRA in protected areas, BRT sanctuary in Karnataka is an isolated case where the community rights of Soliga tribes have been recognised; 

• While the claims are pending before appropriate authorities, the relocation process for Tiger Reserves are also continuing which is a violation of the FRA’s guarantees of people’s rights over forest land to be protected until a rights recognition process is completed; 

• The Critical Tiger Habitat guideline needs to be compliant to FRA; 

• The Critical Wildlife Habitat Protocol which was put in place in 2007 and its replacement draft protocol put in place in 2011 ignore many vital objectives of the FRA under which the protocol is in place; 

• In states like Gujurat, the implementation of the FRA in Scheduled Areas and not in Non-Scheduled Areas is a matter of great concern; 

• Communities other than Scheduled Tribes and pastoralist communities have not had their rights respected under the FRA; 

• Alternative land has not been made available for relocation despite the official policy to do so; 

• Government agencies have not raised awareness on the FRA amongst communities in Pas and activists and NGOs have been prevented from working in the area; 

• The habitat rights of Preemptive Tribal Groups (PTGs) have not been recognized to date nor has there been any clarification in this regard from the Nodal Ministry; 

• In Maharashtra, communities’s ability to transit through and produce non-timber forest products has been restricted in the buffer zone of the Tadoba Tiger Reserve. Some people have been blocked from their own villages through new gates and regulations.

Meghalaya wants commission to solve border dispute with Assam

To settle the long border dispute with Assam, Meghalaya Chief Minister Mukul Sangma has now sought the constitution of a boundary commission.

Earlier, he and Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi had favoured a mutual agreement.

Mukul met Union Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde at the national capital yesterday and urged him to expedite the constitution of a Boundary Commission to "re-examine and re-define the inter-state boundary between Meghalaya and Assam" in line with the all party committee recommendation last year.

Mukul also handed over a letter to Shinde where he sought a feedback from the ministry on a resolution which was adopted for the purpose last year.

The chief minister said various efforts have been made to find an amicable solution to this vexed issue but was left without any tangible outcome.

"This has caused immense hardship to the people living along the border and has also led to violent incidents at times," Mukul said.

Assam legislators had voted against the constitution of such a commission in the last budget session citing that a previous commission's report was rejected by Meghalaya since it was "not" in their favour.

Clash at village in Assam-Meghalaya border

SHILLONG: Fresh tension erupted at a disputed village at the Assam-Meghalaya border when Karbi and Khasi villagers clashed with each other injuring several youths, officials said today.

The incident took place at around 7 pm last evening at Moosakhia - Lumpyrdi locality of Khanduli area falling under West Jaintia Hills district when Khasi villagers opposed a move made by the Karbi settlers to erect electricity posts in the village without the knowledge of the local authorities, they said.

Several youths were injured in the clash and were administered first aid at a local health centre even as police and magistrate from Assam and Meghalaya had to rush to the area to diffuse tension.

Reportedly, several farm huts belonging to the Khasi villagers were burned down during the clash, they said.

District authorities from Hamren district in Assam and West Jaintia Hills district in Meghalaya have decided to maintain status quo on the erection of power posts.

Assam and Meghalaya have agreed, during the last chief secretary level talks held at Dispur to continue developmental works at the disputed areas along the inter-state border.

However, such developmental works should be undertaken only after due information was shared between respective district authorities.

Assam and Meghalaya have 12 areas of difference which are often described as "disputed" along the interstate border.

Solar panels stolen from Meghalaya Raj Bhavan

Shillong, Aug 13 : A number of solar panels installed in the Meghalaya Raj Bhavan were stolen Saturday, police said.

The 43 solar panels, installed in the kitchen garden, were meant to provide additional electricity to the sprawling Raj Bhavan here.

"The solar plates must have been stolen in the early hours of Saturday," East Khasi Hills police chief Mariahom Kharkrang told IANS.

"The thieves surely came with a big vehicle to carry out the heavy solar panel worth Rs.6.19 lakh."

The solar plates had been installed by Hyderabad Batteries Limited to generate 30 kilowatt power.

Meghalaya Governor R.S. Mooshahary had said the solar panels will cater to 50 percent of the Raj Bhavan requirements during peak season and about 80 pe cent during the lean season.

Meanwhile, police have questioned a number of people around the Raj Bhavan area and a manhunt is on nab the thieves.

Meghalaya to take action against those violating MV Act

Shillong, Aug 13 : Meghalaya government is contemplating stringent legal action against travel agencies and night bus operators found violating provisions of the Motor Vehicles Act like drunk driving, overloading, officials said today.

The decision was taken in the wake an overloaded bus plummeting down a deep gorge in East Jaintia Hills district killing 30 people and injuring 27.

I have directed the police to conduct checking on all buses plying along the NH-44 for any violation of the Motor Vehicle Act like drunk driving and overloading,” East Jaintia Hills district deputy commissioner A Bhagotia told PTI.

He said, the district administration would also be writing to all tour operators/travel agencies to furnish the names and contact numbers of all passengers in their vehicles at least in two locations in the district.

Night buses will be checked at the entry point at Ratacherra for those approaching from Silchar towards Guwahati and at Khliehriat for Mizoram and Tripura-bound vehicles plying towards Silchar, Bhagotia said. Besides, the NHAI would also be asked to put signboards all along the national highway having the helpline number and the contact number of the nearest police stations.

The district administration has also asked for more alcohol testing kits for the purpose of checking drunk drivers, the official said. Meanwhile, 25 bodies have been identified and despatched to their respective homes in Bihar, Haryana.

An FIR was lodged against the driver of the bus and the travel agency which owns a fleet of night buses plying to all states in the north east, Bhagotia said. Thirty people died when a Tripura-bound overloaded bus rolled down the steep gorge in Tamseng village along the NH 44 in East Jaintia Hills district on August 8.

Meghalaya cop trainer suspended for ‘urine therapy’

Guwahati, Aug 13 : After a hostel warden in a West Bengal school forced a 10-year-old to lick her urine as punishment for bedwetting last month, a police trainer in Meghalaya allegedly prescribed the same punishment to two of his trainees after a drunken brawl.

The Meghalaya police suspended the instructor for asking two constables to drink urine instead of alcohol during their training. The incident happened on August 5 at the 2nd Meghalaya Police Battalion in West Garo Hills district’s Tura town.

Battalion officials said instructor P Borah had asked trainees A Shiangshai and T Lyttan to drink urine following an allegedly drunken brawl with three other trainees. The ‘punishment’ followed a complaint by the mess commander.

“Preliminary probe has revealed the instructor asked them to drink urine but there is no evidence that they actually did so. The instructor’s justification was that if trainees could get high on alcohol in the camp they could very well drink urine,” Meghalaya DGP N Ramachandran told HT.

“The act of delinquency on the part of the trainees is serious, but that did not give the instructor the right to try to make them drink urine. He has been placed under suspension ... what he has done is not acceptable,” he added.

A departmental inquiry was ordered after the five trainee constables gave their statements.

Collective Statement of Khoe Tribal Groupings

On the occasion of the International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples, representatives of the Griqua National Forum, the Khoi Heritage and Development Council, the Indigenous Peoples of Africa Coordinating Committee (IPACC) and Natural Justice released a collective statement. The statement recognises the historic denial of rights and degradation of Khoe and San culture experienced under colonialism and Apartheid. It notes the continued lack of formal recognition of Khoe and San customary communities and leadership post-Apartheid. 

The declaration closes by embracing the recommendations of Professor Rodolfo Stavenhagen, the former UN Special Rapporteur on Indigenous Peoples’ Rights, which include: 

• Indigenous communities should be recognized as such constitutionally in parity with the speakers of the 11 official languages; 
•  National framework legislation, as recommended in the Status Quo reports should be promptly enacted with the full participation of the indigenous communities; 
• In the case of indigenous communities that were dispossessed of their lands during colonial era and discriminatory legislation or practice before the Native Land Act of 1913 positive legal and judicial action should be undertaken to enable these communities and legitimate claims for restitution within a wider perspective of human rights and transitional justice. Likewise the government is urged to provide the necessary resources and technical cooperation to these indigenous communities, enabling them to file claims; 
• Official socio- economic statistics should be disaggregated to specify indigenous communities and special poverty relief and social services delivery programs should be designed to target indigenous communities within South Africa’s efforts to meet their Millennium Development Goals.  

The full declaration can be downloaded here. Other community declarations can be found here.

Meghalaya chief minister focus on north-east influx

ITANAGAR: Meghalaya chief minister Mukul Sangma expressed concern over the unabated influx of illegal migrants into the northeast region and asked New Delhi to take corrective measures before the situation goes out of hand.

"The northeastern states, which share international borders with many countries, are vulnerable to influx due to lack of proper monitoring and need to be guarded as much as Jammu & Kashmir in north India," Sangma said, while participating in the fourth edition of North East Cultural Festival, which kickstarted at Naharlagun near here on Wednesday.

Terming the influx problem as one of the core issues confronting all the northeastern states, the chief minister stressed on the need to address it through involvement of all stakeholders, including various indigenous institutions of the region.

He said often citizens of neighbouring countries make desperate infiltration attempts from the other side of the border because the northeast is a better place for income generation with a peaceful environment to live in compared to their own countries.

"Today, Tripura and Assam are the worst sufferers and the problem may crop up in other states of the region in the near future if corrective measures are not taken immediately," Sangma pointed out.

The northeastern state governments should evolve a common strategy with a regional approach in order to start official border trade with neighbouring countries at the earliest for the mutual economic benefit of the entire region and other neighbouring countries, Sangma suggested.

"Such a step will help minimise foreign nationals' tendency of migrate to the northeast from other sides of the border," he said and added that there was a need to get the complete support of non-indigenous communities to discourage influx into the region.

"We must integrate ourselves for our socio-economic development and must workout for a NE-specific policy on illegal migrants so that the rights of the indigenous population are protected," he added.

Natural Justice is Seeking Volunteer Interns in New York

Natural Justice: Lawyers for Communities and the Environment is an international team of lawyers and legal experts. We engage with environmental, human rights and cultural heritage law to support Indigenous peoples and local communities, and provide technical advice to governments and intergovernmental organisations to secure environmental and social justice. Natural Justice currently works in Africa, Asia and Latin America, and has offices in South Africa, Malaysia, and India. In order to facilitate its work in North, Central and South America and the Caribbean, Natural Justice is setting up a new office in New York City.

In the medium term, the New York office will have three core functions. First, it will aim to feed the experiences of Natural Justice's community work in Africa, Asia and Latin America into relevant UN and other North America-based intergovernmental and other processes. Second, it will function as the regional hub for our emerging work in the Americas. Third, it aims to become engaged in fundraising and outreach for the broader Natural Justice network.

Natural Justice is currently looking for volunteer interns to support the functions of the newly emerging New York office. Specific tasks will include: supporting Natural Justice in assisting Indigenous peoples and local communities, community-based organizations and NGOs in the Americas; supporting the development, adaptation and translation of legal empowerment materials; researching and following up with fundraising opportunities; participating in and providing technical input into New York-based processes such as the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues; and supporting the administrative and logistical aspects of setting up a Natural Justice office in New York.

The following attributes and skills are considered beneficial: 

• A desire to be part of setting up something new in New York and to face the challenges that come with it;
• A keen interest in advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples and tribal and traditional communities to govern their territories, waters and natural resources;
• A law degree, being currently enrolled in law school or having significant qualifications or expertise in human rights, environment and/or land law and related institutional arrangements; 
• Experience working with communities and/or civil society organizations on related issues; 
• Analytical skills coupled with an ability to, on the one hand, engage with government agencies and, on the other, organize local meetings and present otherwise complex issues in a simplified yet comprehensive manner; 
• Fluency in Spanish with the ability to engage in research, draft reports and legal documents; and
• A willingness to meet regularly and work from home. 

Natural Justice is a close knit and nurturing collective that places a high premium in facilitating opportunities for the professional and personal growth of its staff and volunteers. We will offer the individual a chance to work with a passionate and highly professional global team and gain valuable international experience. 

If this is of interest to you, please send an email to Johanna(at)naturaljustice.org, including a CV and letter of interest. 

Joint Submission on Programme of Work on Article 8(j)

The Forest Peoples Programme, Natural Justice and 24 other Indigenous peoples’ and community-based organisations and supporting NGOs made a joint submission to the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) concerning the further development of the Plan of Action for customary sustainable use as a new major component of the revised Programme of Work on Article 8(j) and Related Provisions. The submission suggests that the new component addresses secure land, resource and tenure rights as a fundamental condition for effective customary sustainable use of biological resources.

Overall, the submission states that the draft Plan of Action should encourage Parties to the CBD to: 

• Take necessary measures to secure indigenous peoples’ and local communities’ territories and land, resource and tenure rights; 
• Promote and support stewardship, governance and management by indigenous peoples and local communities; 
• Ensure that laws, policies, and decision-making processes at all levels appropriately recognize and respect customary laws, institutions, worldviews, resource management practices, and traditional knowledge, languages, educational systems, and occupations; 
• Review, revise, enact, and implement laws and policies at all levels in accordance with the ecosystem approach and with the full and effective participation and free, prior and informed consent of indigenous peoples and local communities; and
• Respect and apply the right of free, prior informed consent of indigenous peoples and local communities in all actions that may affect their territories, lands and waters (including and inland, coastal and marine).

The joint submission is available for download here. Other legal submissions compiled by Natural Justice and its partners can be found here.