Survival names 'Terrible Ten' - Key Abusers Of Tribal Peoples' Rights
To mark UN Human Rights Day (10 December) Survival has named the 'terrible ten': the key abusers of tribal peoples'
rights in 2007. Indonesia, Australia, Canada, the USA, New Zealand, Botswana, Brazil, Peru, Paraguay and Malaysia are
all highlighted.
Tribal peoples in West Papua face appalling violence at the hands of the Indonesian military, experiencing killings,
arbitrary arrests, rape and torture while their lands are exploited by the Indonesian government and foreign companies.
In Botswana, the government evicted the Bushmen from their land in the Central Kalahari in 2002, and continues to
prevent them from returning home, despite a landmark court ruling in 2006 that declared the evictions 'unlawful and
unconstitutional'.
Cattle ranchers occupying Guarani Indian land in Brazil are hiring gunmen to target the Indians. This year two Guarani
leaders have been murdered and two Guarani women raped in land conflicts, while at least 26 Guarani have committed
suicide.
Peru is home to an estimated 15 of the world's last uncontacted tribes and all of them are facing extinction as the
government opens up their territories to oil companies and illegal loggers flood in. The Peruvian president recently
suggested the tribes didn't exist.
The Ayoreo-Totobiegosode in Paraguay are the last uncontacted Indians south of the Amazon basin. But powerful logging
companies are destroying their forest at breakneck speed, and the government is failing to protect them.
In Malaysia, the tribes of Sarawak have had their land taken to make way for logging, dam construction and oil palm
plantations. The government has told the nomadic, hunter-gatherer Penan that they have no land rights until they 'settle
down' and start farming.
Despite supposedly being liberal democracies, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and the USA were the only countries to vote
against the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, which was approved by the General Assembly in September
this year. 143 countries voted in favour.
ENDS