To:
- The Republic of India
- The President of India
- The Government of India / the Prime Minister, Minister of Tribal Affairs, Minister of
Environment, Forests and Climate Change and Minister of Law and Justice
- The Supreme Court of India
- The United Nations organs which monitor and follow the implementation of
the UN obligations on human rights and biodiversity
- India's National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) and National Commission
for Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
- The States of India / State Governments and Governors of the States of India
- The Party Leaders of India
APPEAL TO INDIA, TO ITS SUPREME COURT, STATES, PARTY LEADERS, TO THE NHRC,
NCST AND TO THE UN ORGANS TO PROTECT MILLIONS FOREST DWELLERS' HUMAN RIGHTS
AND BIOCULTURAL DIVERSITY FROM FORCED EVICTIONS*
We appeal to India's Government and States, its Supreme Court, party
leaders and Commissions on Human Rights (NHRC) and Scheduled Tribes (NCST)
and to the United Nations organs monitoring the implementation of India's
obligations, to ensure that:
- India complies with its obligations to fully protect from forced
evictions millions of people of forest communities whose human rights and
biodiversity are now threatened by eviction orders and ensure that all
their forest rights under India's Forest Rights Act (FRA) shall be recorded
respecting their human rights, India's obligations and their biocultural
diversity
- Supreme Court order 13/2/-19 and rejections of forest rights claims it
concerned must be reviewed to fully comply with the FRA, affected
communities' constitutional rights, the Gram Sabha's authority and India's
UN obligations on human rights and biodiversity. India shall not strengthen
forest officials' powers provided by colonial laws like Indian Forest Act
as these have led to decades of forced evictions and commercial capture,
degradation, pollution and over-consumption of biodiverse forests.
CLICK HERE to open in a more detailed form our full INTERNATIONAL APPEAL to India and to the UN by our various environmental organisations and signatories. As the forced evictions of millions of vulnerable forest dwellers would constitute massive human rights violations and would further degrade India's biodiverse forests, we appeal you to do everything you can to prevent these evictions and ensure that India will duly respect and fulfil its obligations on human rights and biodiversity.
Find here also a press release 22 April 2019 made by the Friends of the Earth Finland.
Thank you.
Signatories by 21 April 2019:
- Friends of the Earth International (international organisation/ network)
- World Rainforest Movement (international organisation/ network)
- Global Forest Coalition (international organisation/ network)
- GAIA Foundation (international organisation/ network)
- Forest Peoples Programme (international organisation/ network)
- Global Justice Ecology Project (international network)
- Mangrove Action Project (international network)
- Econexus (international)
- Manushya Foundation (Asian régional NGO)
- CORD /National Adivasi Alliance, India
- REDES, Friends of the Earth Uruguay
- Integrated Program for the Development of the Pygmy People, PIDP, Congo
- Abibiman Foundation, Ghana
- COECOCEIBA , Friends of the Earth Costa Rica
- The Oakland Institute, USA
- Budakattu Krishikara Sangha (B.K.S.), India
- Acción por la Biodiversidad, Argentina
- Friends of the Earth Ghana
- Biofuelwatch, UK/US
- Adivasi Jan Van Adhikar Manch, India
- BUND – Friends of the Earth Germany
- New Wind Association, Finland
- FECOFUN, Nepal
- Seba Jagat, India
- Ole Siosiomaga Society Incorporated, Samoa (Pacific)
- Emmaus Aurinkotehdas ry, Finland
- Raja Moola Adivasi Vedike, India
- Forum Ökologie & Papier, Germany
- S. Faizi, Ecologist, Trivandrum, India
- Maan ystävät, Friends of the Earth Finland
Contacts: maanystavat.appeal@gmail.com
Maan ystävät, (Friends of the Earth Finland) Hämeentie 48, 00500 Helsinki,
Finland