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Finally! Right to water confirmed! |  |
- Children of the First People of the Kalahari
The First People of the Kalahari (Botswana, RLA 2005) won! Botswana’s Court of Appeal confirmed the Bushmen's right to access to their borehole. They depend on the well for water supply in their ancestral lands in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve.
The five judges declared the Botswana Government's conduct towards the Bushmen as ‘degrading treatment’.
A First People's spokesperson stated: "We are very happy that our rights have finally been recognized. We have been waiting a long time for this. Like any human beings, we need water to live. We also need our land. We pray that the government will now treat us with the respect we deserve." These were the first good news in a long time after a long battle with the Government, which started with the First People's eviction from their land in 2002.
Survival International (UK, RLA 1989) suspected that the Bushmen were evicted in the first place to make way for diamond mining. On January 18, the Botswana Government approved a diamond mine in the Central Kalahari Game Reserve, on the land of the First People.
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Shell oil spill hearing in Dutch Parliament | |
Friends of the Earth International and Amnesty International have filed a complaint against Royal Dutch Shell with the OECD, alleging that Shell has published misleading data about oil spills in Nigeria.
In a parliamentary hearing in The Hague on January 26, they accused Shell of abusing human rights, failing to clean up the disastrous oil spills and continuing the hazardous practice of flaring gas. Shell is the largest foreign oil operator in Nigeria’s Delta region.
Chair of Friends of the Earth International, Nnimmo Bassey (Nigeria, RLA 2010), stated: "Shell (...) should take full responsibility for the pollution of the Niger Delta and embark on thorough clean up of the environment. It must also stop gas flaring which not only fouls our air with a toxic cocktail but is also an economic drain."
Read more in the New York Times
In US diplomatic cables released by Wikileaks last November, it was stated that Shell’s Nigeria head, Ann Pickard, claimed to have infiltrated the country’s government.
Ken Saro-Wiwa, (Nigeria, RLA 1994) was killed for his fight against Shell's oil pollution in the Ogoni area of Nigeria.
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Belo Monte dam construction comes closer | |
The construction start of the world's third biggest dam project, Belo Monte in the Amazonas region in Brazil, is coming closer. The dam is South America's largest and most controversial energy project.
On January 26, the Brazilian Environment Institute gave permission to the cleareance of 238 hectare forest and the construction of accomodation roads and storage areas in preparation of the dam construction.
You can help stopping this project! Sign a petition here: Avaaz.org
Erwin Kräutler (Brazil, RLA 2010) received the Award "for his tireless efforts to save the Amazon forest from destruction" and lives with death threats for his fight to stop the Belo Monte dam construction. He calls the dam project sheer lunacy, as the social and environmental impact is incalculable.
Read more (Article in German)
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Prize winning Laureates | |
The world is on its way to discover that the Right Livelihood Award Laureates are not "alternative" Laureates, they are about to be the new mainstream!
Three of our Laureates received this January renowned prizes: Amory Lovins (USA, RLA 1983) won the runner-up Zayed Future Energy Prize; Monika Hauser (Germany, RLA 2008) is European of the Year 2011; and Frances Moore Lappé (USA, RLA 1987) was awarded the Nonino Rist D'Aur Prize.
Congratulations!
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Right Livelihood College launches PhD Fellowships | |
The Right Livelihood College in Penang, Malaysia, has launched five PhD fellowships for "exceptionally talented students who want to base their doctoral theses on one of the laureates’ areas of work, or on the laureates themselves."
Find out how to apply here
