Interviews

10th anniversary of the murder of Mariano Abarca: the pain continues

November 27, 2019, marked the 10th anniversary of the murder of Mariano Abarca Roblero, environmental activist who defended human rights and the rights of nature in Chicomuselo municipality, Chiapas, Mexico, by denouncing the socioenvironmental effects caused by Canadian mining corporation Blackfire Exploration, involved in the crime. Since then, the relatives of Abarca and several organizations have been demanding the Mexican…

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“We are willing to give our lives if necessary to bring democracy back”

“Neither bullets nor repression will silence the indigenous peasant movement” stated the National Coordinator of the Landless Indigenous Peasant Workers Movement of Bolivia (MST-B), Silvestre Saisari. “We have gone back to the times of the Inquisition, when they colonized you with the Bible and swords”, he added. Real World Radio interviewed Silvestre on Monday, eight days after the coup d´état…

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Lula da Silva freed

Former Brazilian President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva addressed supporters on Saturday in Sao Bernardo do Campo, Sao Paulo State, after being released from the Federal Police Headquarters in Curitiba city, where he was a political prisoner for 580 days. His public address was held at the headquarters of the Metal Workers Union of Sao Bernardo do Campo, where he…

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Justice for Golfrid

Golfrid Siregar, member of the legal advocacy team of WALHI North Sumatra was found unconscious on the side of a road on October 3, at around 1 am. He had suffered major head injuries, though the rest of his body remained relatively uninjured. After three days at the hospital, his condition worsened, and he died. Although the circumstances of his…

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New report reveals scandalous fossil fuel industry lobby at European Union

Oil and gas giants BP, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell and Total, and their lobby groups, have invested 251 million euros since 2010 to influence the European Union, warns a new study by several European organizations. The research reveals that these five transnational corporations and their lobby groups currently employ 200 lobbyists in Brussels, Belgium, the EU's main administrative headquarters. In addition,…

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Historic legal action against Total in France for operations in Uganda

Four organizations from Uganda and two from France filed a lawsuit against oil giant Total in French court on Wednesday,  accusing the company of not taking the necessary measures to respect human rights and the environment in its oil megaproject in Uganda. To make way for exploratory works for oil drilling, Total evicted approximately 5000 people from their lands, before…

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A step closer to agroecology

During the 46th session of the UN Committee on World Food Security (14-18 October in Rome, Italy) discussions were held about the state of food security and nutrition across the planet. Proposals were in line with the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals agenda, notably Goal 2 for Zero Hunger. This multilateral governance space has seen an increasing presence of agribusiness corporations,…

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Ghana government sued over GMO commercialization

Food Sovereignty Ghana (FSG) is suing the government over the commercialization of GM cowpeas and GM rice for safety issues of concern for the organization, although commercial distribution has not been approved yet. Edwin Baffour, Director of Communications of FSG, explained to RWR why they are suing the government: "Right now there is no commercial granting of any GMO, but government…

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Hard blow for communities suffering human rights violations at global level

“The attempts to establish the supremacy of human rights over corporate logic are not covered in the entire text of the Draft 1”, warned Brazilian expert Manoela Roland about the new document presented by the Ecuadorian Chair in UN negotiations for a legally binding treaty on transnational corporations and human rights. “In addition, the scope of the future treaty has…

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Vale ordered to pay compensation for Brumadinho

The order was issued on July 9 by Judge Elton Pupo Nogueira, member of the Minas Gerais Justice Tribunal. While the amount to be paid by the company has not been defined yet, the court has blocked Vale´s assets for 3 billion dollars and commissioned an independent technical investigation to assess socioenvironmental impacts and technical assistance for the people affected…

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