The current Indonesian government has a poor track record when it comes to human rights. In 2018 the so-called “Ormas Law” was passed. This law introduces a system of regulations for NGOs that threatens to seriously curtail freedom of expression and freedom of protest.
It is now possible to simply ban groups that are seen as ‘antagonistic’ to the government. This is at a time when the right to protest is especially important in Indonesia. Farmers are falling victim to land grabbing, the minimum wage has been abolished, and the cost of living is rising more and more due to the foreign debts of the state.
The Indonesian National Commission on Human Rights has spoken out against the Ormas Law, and on International Human Rights Day on December 10, students and farmers took action against the law. LINK-AR, a small grassroots organization, is setting up awareness campaigns, marches and manifestations – supported by Het Actiefonds. This way, they make their voices heard for a free and democratic Indonesia.
In Tanzania, the action group Organization for Humanity Advancement is protesting the harmful activities of a mining company: a gold mine is polluting the largest water source and causing violations of human and labor rights, sustained by a negligent government.
The North Mara Gold Mine was opened in 2002 near the Tigithe River, in the Mara region of Tanzania. The Tigithe River is the main source of water for more than 250,000 people. That water source is polluted by the gold mine. As a result, there are health problems in the community, the soil is becoming less fertile, and several households have lost livestock to polluted water. There has been sexual abuse of female mining workers by management personnel. Villagers have to walk for miles to get clean water in another river.
Ten years ago, the Tanzanian parliament already demanded that the mine be closed because polluted water had led to the death of eighteen villagers. A government investigation in 2010 showed that the water is not poisoned. But communities around the North Mara Gold Mine say that corruption is at stake.
The Organization for Humanity Advancement group is taking action, with financial support from Het Actiefonds. They demand that the mining company cease polluting the Tigithe River, respect the human rights of workers, and offer compensation for its negligence. The action group wants the government to set up a fair, objective second water quality inspection. They also want the government to start an investigation into the allegations of sexual abuse.
OHA is organizing a demonstration to the Tarime Rural Constituency office and a blockade of the North Mara Mining office in Nyamongo. Het Actiefonds supports them in this, because the pollution of nature and the exploitation of workers caused by the gold mine must stop!
The government of Colombia is planning to build a deep-water port in the Gulf of Tribugá. The government’s intention to build a major port in Tribugá has led to a lot of opposition of the local population. The residents of the department Chocó fear that the arrival of a mega port in their community will destroy their way of life – most of the people of this region are dependent on fishing for their livelihood – and they are afraid that this new port will disturb the fragile ecosystem of the region. The organization Colectivo de Comunicaciones en Puja has therefore started a protesting campaign of thirty days against the government’s plans to build a port in Tribugá.
The marginalized Afro-Colombian community mainly inhabits the department Chocó. A small percentage of the Emberá lives here too: the indigenous people of Colombia. Despite the rich biodiversity and unique history, this region is one of the least developed regions of the country, due to a lack of interest from the Colombian government.
The Golf of Tribugá is one of the few breeding places of the humpback whale.
The Colombian government claims that this megaproject will boost the economic development of this region. However, the residents of Chocó are skeptical: they fear that the arrival of this new port will intervene with their way of life and that it will destroy the unique flora and fauna of this region.
Local activist of the department Chocó started the group Colectivo de Comunicaciones en Puja to promote the interests of the people of this fragile region. They are promoting their communities and their endangered environment by using film, music, and art. Throughout the month July the group Colectivo de Comunicaciones en Puja actively will be actively campaigning to stop the construction of a mega port in Tribugá.
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