Philippines: Body of slain farmer-leader laid to rest, search for justice continues

Renato Penas (Ka Rene) AFA wishes to thank all of you who sent your generous expressions of sympathy and solidarity for PAKISAMA and the family of our beloved and esteemed farmer-leader, Renato Penas, who was murdered last June 5. AFA joined the activities of PAKISAMA last June 6-12 in honor of Ka Rene when his body was brought to Metro Manila. Together with many farmers, NGOs, students, and other supporters of the agrarian reform movement in the Philippines, we joined the memorial services, masses, and marches for Ka Rene; as well as solicited financial assistance for the bereaved family. We also printed out and handed over your messages to his wife and children. His body was brought back to Mindanao and buried last June 16. The search for truth and justice continues. A multi-sectoral body aimed at conducting an independent Fact Finding Mission (FFM) to be able to gather evidence and other information that could help surface the motive behind the killing of Ka Rene Peñas was launched. PAKISAMA welcomes any donation to cover the expenses of this investigation. Read more about Ka Rene here

Philippines: Sumilao peasant leader shot dead in Bukidnon

06/06/2009 | 10:02 AM

GMANews.TV

MALAYBALAY CITY, Philippines – The peasant activist who led his fellow farmers in walking all the from Sumilao, Bukidnon in Mindanao to Manila in 2007 to seek justice was shot dead Friday midnight, police and the victim's family said on Saturday.

Rene Peñas, 51, and two others were riding a motorcycle on their way home when they were fired at by an unidentified assailant using a shotgun, said SPO4 Rey Vasquez, acting police chief of Sumilao town.

Peñas, a barangay (village) councilman in San Vicente, died of a gunshot wound on his left chest, Vasquez said.

His two other companions, Eliezer Peñas and Samson Dollete, also suffered injuries but both were sent home after being treated at the Provincial Hospital in Bukidnon.

"The assailants were on the left side of the road. Peñas tried to crawl but he was again shot," Vasquez told GMANEWS.TV.

Noland Peñas, the victim's eldest child, said the trio were shot when they were driving along the darkest stretch going to his father's farmhouse to drop off Eliezer, a relative and caretaker of the farmhouse.

Noland said that two men allegedly were seen running away after the shooting. He said the police had already conducted crime scene investigation.

When asked of the motive of the killing, Noland told GMANEWS.TV on a mobile telephone interview that his father's death was probably related to a land issue he currently handled.

"My father had recently been consulted by CLOA holder beneficiaries in another land claims here. Perhaps, this is a possible motive of his killing," Noland said without elaborating so as not to hamper the police's investigation.

A CLOA is a certificate of land ownership award given by the Department of Agrarian Reform to farmer-beneficiaries of the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Rene Peñas was one of the participants in the 1,770-kilometer “walk for land, walk for justice" of Sumilao farmers in October 2007 to prod the government to award the land long denied them due to the manipulations of a landlord.

He was also one of the pioneers of the Mapalad hunger strike in 1997, and one of the leaders of the community organizers of the 444-kilometer walk of Banassi farmers in Ula, Camarines Sur.

When the CARP Extension with Reform (Carper) bill was passed in the lower house on Wednesday his son Noland said his father was already in Sumilao.

"He came home on May 30 and was so jubilant when the Carper has been passed on Wednesday and quoted his father saying "Nidaug na ta!" (We have won!).

Last March, Peñas was elected as national vice president of peasant organization Pakisama.

Peñas' remains were brought to a funeral home in Impasug-ong town, the wake will be later held in his home in San Vicente in Sumilao town.

Balaod Mindanaw, a non-government organization helping farmers on legal matters, will send a team to investigate the death of Peñas, according to lawyer Noemi Batula, the organization's managing director.

"We condemn the death of Rene. It is so painful to lose a great farmer leader who aggressively push forward the Carper and the other land campaigns which he strongly advocated. We demand justice for his death, we are holding our own investigation to his death," Batula said.

Batula said she was surprised to hear Peñas' death since he was in Manila before he came home on May 30. "I only knew that he was back home when I heard the news that he was shot dead Friday midnight," Batula said.a

Rene left behind his wife Evangeline, 55, Noland, 27, Wopsyjenn, 26, Jerald, 24, Realynme, 16 and his two-week old grandson. - GMANews.TV

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PAKISAMA leader ambushed! (updated)

Renato Penas, Vice-President of PAKISAMA, was ambushed dead by unidentified gunmen at 11:00 PM yesterday, on the way to his farm in Sumilao, Bukidnon.

He was 51.

His 2 companions are in the hospital nursing gunshot wounds.

It was a high price to pay for selflessly dedicating himself to the agrarian reform movement.

He is one of the most respected, trusted farmer-leaders, and whose creative, dynamic ideas have fired the spirits of many farmers to make the agrarian reform program truly work in the country.

Ka Rene, a recognized leader of the Sumilao farmers and presently Vice-President of PAKISAMA, recently led various campaigns in Congress to help enact CARPER (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform with Extension and Reform).

He led to victory the 1,700-kilometer Sumilao and the 444-kilometer Banasi farmers’ marches in 2007-2008.

His last text message about CARPER was “Panalo na tayo!” (We won!).

Ka Rene is the third PAKISAMA leader gunned down in the last 7 months, in what are apparently agrarian-related and politically motivated killings. They were all from Mindanao.

He has attended AFA events before, such as the 3rd General Assembly in Korea in March 2008, and the IFAD final negotiations for the medium term cooperation program in May this year.

Ka Rene is survived by his wife Evangeline (55), and 4 children, Noland (27), Wopsyjenn (26), Jerald (24) and Realynme (16).

Please pray for them and his soul that they may have justice and peace.

We ask you to also pray for our country as well.

Justice for Ka Rene! These brazen, senseless killings must stop!

Related stories published in newspapers today:

Sumilao farmer slain

Sumilao farmer leader gunned down

Afghan farmers complain 'Canadians' shooting at them while they work

posted on Yahoo News Canada

Wed Jun 3, 9:47 AM

By The Canadian Press

PANJWAII DISTRICT, Afghanistan - Some Afghan farmers are complaining Canadians soldiers are shooting at them while they work their fields after dark.

They say unless the shooting stops, they will be forced to leave their village homes nestled in the heart of the insurgent badlands of southern Afghanistan. But the Canadians are adamant the firing isn't coming from them.

They believe soldiers from Afghanistan's army may be firing at people suspected of planting roadside bombs.

In one recent case, Canadian solders did kill a man relaying their movements to insurgents.

The incidents highlight the difficulty Canadian forces face dealing with an enemy that blends with the local population, and villages caught in the middle.

Mexico: Rural leader murdered in Sinaloa

Translated from La Jornada

Pedro Lugo used to walk in the mornings; wife and children found his corpse shot.

The PRD condemns the crime; requires the state and federal governments to take measures against violence and impunity

Javier Valdez Cardenas, Correspondent

Culiacán, Sinaloa, 16 of May. Unknown gunmen shot to death the rural leader Pedro Lugo Rivera when he was near his house, in the community of Ocoroni, municipality of Sinaloa, reported the ministerial police of the state.

The leader used to go for walking in the mornings but this Saturday he got unusually late. His children and wife they went to seek for him and they found him a few kilometers from the house, with bullet wounds in thorax and abdomen.

Lugo Rivera was a leader of the Peasant National Confederation of the PRI. Then he entered at the front of Defense of the Agricultural Producers, next to various leaders perredistas, and recently he worked in the region along with Juan Figueroa Sources, local representative of the PRD.

Ramón Lucas Lizárraga, perredista state leader, condemned the murder and he demand the state and federal governments to adopt measures to fight the violence and to put an end to the impunity. "Every act of this nature is reprehensible", maintained.

Also he deplored that the violence reign in Sinaloa and recalled that besides Lugo Rivera, they were murdered Rogelio Zamora and another militant in the municipality of Narrowness on November 14, 2008. "The government should apply the necessary measures so that these cowardly murders don't remain unpunished", demanded.

The rural leader of Ocorini also collaborated with the National Union of Autonomous Rural Organizations in the movement against the farm chapter of the NAFTA, and he fought for changes in the social politics of the government.

In October of 2004, along with other leaders and rural organizations of Sonora, Michoacán, Puebla, Guerrero and Sinaloa, he participated in a protest in front of the Office of the secretary of Agriculture, Stockbreeding, Rural Development, Fishing and Alimentation (Sagarpa) in the Federal District, to demand endorsement to their farm projects.

On that occasion, Lugo Rivera said that the coop members of Ocorini continued expecting the lands of irrigation that they were promised 26 years ago in exchange for donating 5 thousand 400 hectares for a dam. "They despoiled us and 350 families lost their plots", denounced at that time.

He exposed that beside that the coop members carried a five-year period requesting to the federal government works of irrigation and a project of farm development for the region, but the Sagarpa asked them 50 million pesos –the half of the cost– to get to work. And he asked: "¿From where are we going to raise that money?"

Venezuelan Rural Activists and National Land Institute Workers Arrested for Occupying Estate

Published on April 21st 2009, by James Suggett – http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4381

Farmers in Portuguesa state (MINCI).

Mérida, April 21^st 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) - Police in Portuguesa state, Venezuela, forcibly evicted more than sixty landless farmers and three National Institute of Land (INTI) workers on Friday from a section of a privately owned estate that the INTI had marked for re-distribution.   
The eviction is emblematic of the clash between powerful landed elites and the government of President Hugo Chávez, whose 2001 land reform law permits the state to forcibly purchase idle sections of large private estates for re-distribution as a means to spur agricultural production.
Last week, officials from the INTI and the Socialist Agrarian Fund (FONDAS) announced they would gradually parcel out 926 hectares (2,290 acres) of underused lands on the privately owned El Rodeo Estate to a group of 86 landless families in Portuguesa state.
While INTI personnel were assisting a group of sixty farmers to demarcate a section of the territory last Friday, state police known locally as the Jungle Police staged an "ambush" and ordered the entire group to lie face down on the ground, according to alternative media reporters who have accompanied the farmers in their struggle for land.
The police briefly detained and then released the INTI functionaries and most of the farmers, but arrested and transferred Carlos Ortega and six other farmer rights leaders to the state capital Guanare to be tried for trespassing. Police and National Guard (GN) forces now occupy the disputed lands.
GN Lieutenant Colonel Gustavo Saluzzo, who commands the Portuguesa State Police, told the local press, "Our idea is to respect the law... while the land reform law says landed estates are not permitted, the law also establishes sanctions for those who invade private property."
According to independent media reports, Saluzzo has repeatedly threatened to jail Ortega, and United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) Governor Wilmar Castro has publicly denounced the confrontational land "invasions" promoted by Ortega as a tactic to speed up the process of land re-distribution.  
Also, former Portuguesa Governor Antonia Muñoz, who is currently the regional coordinator of the PSUV, created the Jungle Police to be a special force to fight ecological crimes, but the squad has fallen under control of elite regional estate owners and has mainly been used to repress rural activists, according to independent news reports.  
On Saturday, a group of eighty allies of Ortega marched to the Portuguesa state police headquarters and demanded the release of the seven arrested organizers, who they alleged had been politically persecuted. The seven activists remain in police custody.
Since the 2001 land reform law was passed, 1,507 small or landless farmers in Venezuela have been arrested as a result of their struggle to gain legal title to lands, according to a growing network of farmers' rights groups nation-wide.
The rights groups, which advocate the reform of Articles 471 and 471 of Venezuela's Penal Code in order to de-criminalize small farmers who occupy private lands, also report that 214 rural activists have been murdered since 2001, most recently Nelson Lopez in Yaracuy state and Mauricio Sánchez in Zulia state in March.
Following the killings in March, several Venezuelan farmer rights groups held a joint conference in Caracas to form a united front against the politically motivated assassinations and arrests of rural activists, and to call for an end to impunity for "the landed oligarchy that is killing our brothers in the rural communities."
Agriculture and Lands Minister Elías Jaua attended the conference and promised to appeal to the Attorney General and president of the Supreme Court to accelerate the investigations of crimes against farmer rights organizers.
In an interview on the state television channel VTV Monday, Jaua said that 90% of the private lands re-distributed by the Ministry, which amounts to almost one million hectares (2.47 million acres), are now producing food, including meat, grains, fruits, and vegetables.
Recuperated lands are distributed either to state-owned Social Production Enterprises or to cooperatively run projects such as the Zamoran Farms, named after Venezuela's legendary farmer rights fighter Ezequiel Zamora, said Jaua. Zamoran Farms are now producing food on 155,000 hectares (383,000 acres) of formerly idle private land, the minister added.
After announcing the launch of the Ministry's "Operation Free Land and Men" aimed at recuperating more land in the states of Barinas, Amazonas, Miranda, and Aragua, Jaua said, "we are making a reality of the dream for which generations of humble farmers struggled: That the best lands of our country... be at the service of food production."

One Papua farmer killed, 4 farmers injured among other civilians by Indonesian Police

posted on koteka.net

Photos & News of Shot Papuans in Nabire

Written by Administrator

Tuesday, 07 April 2009

Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB)/WPNC (West Papuan National Committe) Camp in Nabire Destroyed, 15 Papuans Arrested, 7 Civilans Shot, One Policeman Shot with Arrow Indonesian Police in Nabire destroyed and burnt peaceful camp belonging to the Nabire branch of Komite Nasional Papua Barat (KNPB) which had been set-up to celebrate the launching of ILWP (International Lawyers for West Papua). Indonesian Police arrested 15 Papuans who were preparing banners and posters in preparation for a peaceful demonstration scheduled for 6/4/2008, having duly informed the Indonesian Police previously in writing. "The Police came into where the masses where gathered and blindly opened fire into the crowd," stated a witness who for safety reasons prefered to remain anonymous. 15 Papuans including students were arrested. Jerry Nawipa (18) was shot. The 15 arrested include Agus Pigome (30), Yohanes Agapa (42), Samuale Pekey, Frans Kotouky, Mafras Adii, Amoye Pakage, Yohanes Gobay (25). The identity of the remaining 9 Papuans currently unknown. The masses scattered from the area to escape the pokice shooting. The following morning, the masses arrived at the camp to discover it had been destroyed and burnt by the Indonesian Police. The heavy-handed Indonesian Police then fired wildly into the crow, resulting in 7 Papuans currently receiving emergency treatment for bullet wounds in Nabire General Hospital. A 10 year-old primary school student on his way home from school, Albertus Tagi, shot in hip (see photo); Yonandi Pigome (30), bullet entered back of head and exited front (see photo - condition critical); Ipoo Boga (28), shot left thigh, bullet entered and exited thigh; Roy Singgamui (30), shot left side of chest, bullet entered and exited body (see photo). An Indonesian Police member, Bribda Jejen (24) still hospitalized due to arrow wound. No media allowed to photograph the wounded police member. Three other Papuans have returned home, namely Yan Yeimo (24) bullet grazed head; Franky Boma (20), shot in right thigh; Hengky Tebay (20), head wound. *** Albertus Tagi (10 - primary school student, an orphan), shot in hip, bullet still lodged in. condition critical. Ipoo Boga (28), shot left thigh, bullet entered and exited thigh. Roy Singgamui (30), shot left side of chest, bullet entered and exited body. Yonandi Pigome (30), bullet entered back of head and exited front, condition critical. Update: Yonandi Pigome died 9/4/2008 after 4 days in critical condition in hospital. Human Rights in West Papua deteriorates with shootings, arrests and orchestrated violence reported in Nabire April 9, 2009 by ipahr Human Rights Report 8 April 2009 Human Rights in West Papua deteriorates with shootings, arrests and orchestrated violence reported in Nabire The human rights situation in West Papua continues to deteriorate before Indonesia? General Election tomorrow. Local people have been shot and critically injured in a operation reportedly organised by Indonesian security forces against West Papuan demonstrators in Nabire on the 6 April 2009. This report provides details of nine people who are confirmed shot by security forces. A policeman was also wounded by a traditional arrow in Nabire on the 6th April and many other protesters and police are reported to have also suffered injuries. Paula Makabory from Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights said today, ?Reports received from Nabire indicate that the violent confrontation that occurred on Monday the 6 April between the security forces and Pro-independence protesters was actually promoted by a Pro-Indonesian militia member and other Papuans working with the Indonesian security forces.? ?The fact that there are reports that the Indonesian security personnel were positioned in the buildings & armed clearly suggests that this confrontation and the subsequent shooting and wounding of civilians was planned & staged by the Indonesian security forces.? ?This incident occurred following two other Pro-Independence rallies by about 15,000 local people in the town of Nabire, and another of 10,000 people in the Wamena district on Friday-the 3 April which the police had attempted to prohibit. Rally organizers ignored the attempted ban claiming their right to peaceful assembly and freedom of expression.? The protesters at both these rallies said they were supporting the launch of the group ?International Lawyers for West Papua? [ILWP] and said they would boycott Indonesia?s general elections this year. Protesters also called for a referendum on self-determination. A report containing information about the incidents in Nabire on 6 April 2009 is detailed below. For further information, including video footage of the protesters contact: Paula Makabory Institute for Papuan Advocacy & human Rights (+61) 402 547 517; or Matthew Jamieson (+61) 418291998; ? 1.0 Events in Nabire from 30 March to 6 April 2009 The KNPB (National Committee for West Papua) set up their tents on 30 March 2009 as a base camp for KNPB in Nabire, under the leadership of Zeth Giay. On Friday 3 April 2009, the KNPB held a large rally with more than 15,000 people involved. This peaceful rally was in support of the launch of International Lawyer for West Papua (ILWP). The rally also called for a referendum in West Papua and a boycott of the Indonesia Election and a demand for Independence for West Papua. One of the organisers of the rally and the chair of the West Papua National Committee (KNPB) for Nabire, Zet Giay, said the rally had been the biggest ever in Nabire. ?We support the launch of ILWP in America and we know that we are not Indonesian, we are Papuan, Melanesian, so we will not vote in the Indonesian Public election 2009,? Mr Giay said. He added that the protesters would continue to rally against these attacks by the security forces and in support of the ILWP. The protesters were also calling for investigations into the widespread human rights violations that have occurred in West Papua, and for a review of the 1969 so-called ?Act of Free Choice?, which saw West Papua?s formal incorporation into Indonesia. On Saturday the 4 April 2009, KNPB sent an information letter to the police precinct to let them know about the second rally that was to be held on Monday 6 April. There was no response from the police. 2.0 Raid on KNPB Protest camp On Monday the 6 April 2009, at around 3am (Papua local time) there was a raid on the KNPB camp in Taman Bunga Bangsa, Oyehe, Nabire. Two tents that had been set up since the 30 March 2009 were burned by the police . The police also searched for Morning Star flags and other political articles. The Nabire Police Precinct under the command of Police Chief AKBP. Rinto Jadmoko, SIK, then arrested 15 people from the KNPB group. One man Jerry Nawipa (Male/ 18 Years old) was shot with a bullet during this police raid on the KNPB camp. The Taman Bunga Bangsa grounds is the location that was used by the West Papua people to raise the Morning Star in a series of flag raising in 1999 and 2000. According to a local KNPB organizer, after the raid the KNPB and their supporters decided to continue the rally and focus their next rally at Taman Bunga Bangsa Oyehe. They decided that the people who were living in each of the regions of Oyehe, Siriwo and Karang Tumaritis would gather and travel together to meet at Taman Bunga Bangsa . The KNPB planned not do a long march to DPRD (Local Provincial Assembly) and to focus their next demonstration at Oyehe. There was some concern reported at that time that their protest was infiltrated by Papuans working as informers for an Indonesian security forces intelligence group (TBO). 3.0 Indonesian militia in Karang Tumartis protest Later in the morning of the 6 April at about 8am, one of KNPB organizers passed the Karang Tumaritis area and saw that people were blockading the road. A local man, Alipin Pigay, who is recognized as being from a militia group from the Nabire Military District Command (KODIM), was seen clearly encouraging the other demonstrators. Another 6 Papuans who work as TBO (Tenaga Bantuan Operational/ Operational Field Helper) for the Indonesian security forces intelligence organisation, were also seen among the people who were blocking the road. This KNPB organizer told the protesters that he wanted them to clear the road and wait beside the market or in the taxi terminal or by the road at Karang Tumaritis. He told the people that they had to choose to follow the instructions of KNBP or this other party. He asked them to wait for the other KNPB organizers to join the rally from Karang Tumaritis to Oyehe. A local community member who also recognized Alipin Pigay reported that it was Alipin Pigay who encouraged the protesters to block the road and to attack the traffic policemen and the police car. According to this source Alipin Pigay was the first to throw stones at the traffic police and their car. It was reported that Alipin Pigay and the others from TBO encouraged the other people to violently resist the Police and throw stones and then to fire arrows against the traffic policemen. Bribda Jejen (Male/ 24 Years old) a policeman, was shot with an arrow. He was shot during the incident when the police attacked the protesters at Karang Tumaritis. The traffic police had tried to clear the road to allow an army truck from TNI Battalion 753 to pass through. Some people were also arrested by the Nabire police precinct at that time in Karang Tumaritis. An eye witness said that there were casualties on both sides, the Indonesian police and the protesters who were fighting. The police troops were using machine guns and stones against the protesters and the protesters were using arrows and stones against the police. Metro TV has shown footage of this conflict between protestors and police. 4.0 Hidden Security forces and shooting around Karang Tumaritis According to another local witnesses Indonesian security force intelligence officers with long and short guns were seen hiding in a second floor house in front of the Effata church in Karang Tumaritis and other houses that belonging to non-Papuans around the Karang Tumaritis area before the incident/protest on the road occurred. Those security forces reportedly shot at civilians who were not involved in the conflict & demonstration on the road around Karang Tumaritis. These local people were passing the location of the protest to reach their houses and were shot at by the security forces. Local Human Rights sources reported that while the Police troops were attacking groups protesting on the road and the concealed security forces were shooting as people went past the protest to reach their homes. The shooting in Karang Tumaritis resulted in many civilians suffering server bullet wounds. Reports from Nabire said eight shot with seven of the injured being treated at Emergency Unit (UGD) in the Nabire public hospital. The News Service from Reuters confirms 11 hospitalised in Nabire with serious bullet wounds. It is not clear who the police shot amongst the protesters on the road. Reports provided to IPAHR suggest that 7 people who were shot and injured but were not part of the protest. These people were said to be shot in the vicinity of the protest, amongst this group was an orphaned 4 grade elementary student Albertus Tagi. The shooting of Fritz Singamui and Albertus Tagi had clearly no link to the protest. Details of victims shot at Karang Tumaritis District, Nabire 6 April 2009: 1. Fritz Samuel Singamui / Roy (Male 30 Years old) is dying in hospital in a very critical condition. He was shot with a real bullet in the left side of the chest, the bullet passed through to his left shoulder blade. He is in a coma in Nabire Public hospital. He was shot when he was trying to take a short cut with his motorcycle to his house. The Indonesian Police members attacked him and pushed him off his motorcycle into the gutter and shot him on the ground. He was not involved in the demonstration. Fritz has been working for an NGO called VCI, which focuses on community service providing clean water, natural disaster relief, promoting health for women and children, and raising awareness of HIV/AIDS. Fritz was reported to be evacuated to Makassar, Sulawesi, for further medical treatment. 2. Albertus Tagi (Male/10 Years old) is an orphan, a 4th grader student at the local elementary school. He is in a very critical condition in Nabire hospital. He was shot with a real bullet in his right ribs as he approached his house after school. He was not in the demonstration. He was sent home early in the morning before the visiting of the Papua Regional Police Chief to the hospital that was planned for the 7 April 2009. According to the medical workers who told activists that as an orphan, Albertus, has no one to look after him in the hospital was sent home. 3. Yunandi Pigome (Male/28 Years old), is a farmer. He is reported to be dying in Nabire hospital. He was shot with a real bullet, the bullet entered his left back skull bone, passed through the front skull and went out above his left eye brow. He was shot on his way to his house. He was not involved in the demonstration. 4. Ipo Boga (Male /28 Years old), a farmer, he was shot with a real bullet in the buttocks and the bullet passed through near his genitals. He went to the local market and bought some rice and was returning home when shot. He was not involved in the demonstration. 5. Hengky Boma (Male/ 25years old), a farmer, was shot in his right thigh. He is supposed to have an operation at Nabire hospital today (April 7, 2009). He was not involved in the demonstration. 6. Alfonse Yeimo (Male/ 22 Years old), a student was shot in the forehead, lost lots of blood. 7. Yafeth Keiya (Male/26 Years old) a farmer, he was shot in the right wrist, he was not involved at the demonstration, he was on his way to market. w 8. Hengky Tenouye (Male/ 20 Years old), a farmer, he was shot on the left side of his chest. He was not involved in the demonstrations. For further information, including video footage of the protest rally, contact: Paula Makabory (+61) 402 547 517; or Matthew Jamieson (+61) 418291998; Institute for Papuan Advocacy & Human Rights PO Box 1805 Byron Bay NSW 2481 Australia

Venezuelan Farmer Rights Organizations Unite to Oppose Assassinations by Landed Elite

Published on March 13th 2009, by James Suggett - http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4293

Farmer rights organizations marched in front of the Venezuela's main chamber of commerce, FEDECAMARAS Monday, in support of government food security policies. (ABN)

Mérida, March 13th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- Several Venezuelan small farmer rights organizations united forces this week to prevent further assassinations of rural community organizers. The groups also marched to demand that the national government end impunity for those responsible for these crimes, and to support the government’s land reform and food security measures.

“This popular front must struggle against impunity, against hired killings, and against paramilitarism,” declared coalition leader Inder Herrera during the founding congress in Caracas on Tuesday.

The new front plans to team up with student activists, community councils, artisanal fisher organizations, and some state security forces to prevent any further assaults on rural community organizers.

Since Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez passed a land reform law in 2001, 214 rural activists have been murdered during their campaigns to carry out the law, according to the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers Front.

Braulio Álvarez, a National Assembly legislator and the coordinator of the Simón Bolívar Farmers Front, said further investigations could reveal that that the actual number of politically motivated murders of rural organizers is more than 400.

The formation of the new front follows the assassination last Monday of Mauricio Sánchez, who had been leading the struggle for land reform in southern Zulia state, and farmer rights organizer Nelson López, who was shot 15 times in the back two weeks ago in Yaracuy state.

The government has arrested those suspected of having carried out the murders, but the farmers are calling for a national investigation of what they say is a network of large estate owners and private cattle ranchers associations who gave the orders for the crimes.

“We consider it important and transcendental that we investigate to the fullest and without hesitation the landed oligarchy that is killing our brothers in the rural communities,” said Herrera Tuesday.

Venezuelan Agriculture and Land Minister Elías Jaua attended Tuesday’s conference and promised to solicit a national investigation.

“We have come to listen to the proposals of this popular farmers’ movement and to express the government’s commitment not to allow this situation to continue,” said Jaua.

“One of the most atrocious crimes is that somebody dies while struggling for a piece of land, that’s why we are going to ask for an appointment with the Attorney General and the president of the Supreme Court to speed up these investigations,” said the minister.

Over the past two weeks, the Agriculture and Land Ministry and other government entities have taken under public ownership two privately owned rice processing plants that were caught hoarding food and evading price controls, and thousands of hectares of underused or idle land, in accordance with the 2001 Land Law and 2008 Law on Food Security and Sovereignty.

The measures come shortly after a national referendum in which Venezuelan voters approved a constitutional amendment to abolish term limits on elected offices. Following the referendum, President Chávez said his administration will correct its past mistakes by deepening its policies aimed toward the construction of “21st Century Socialism.”

The farmer rights organizations marched through Caracas Monday to support the government’s expropriation of socially irresponsible businesses and private estates, and to demand an end to impunity for those who ordered the murder of farmers. 

“We completely support the measures that our Commander Hugo Chávez has taken to occupy rice plants,” said Herrera to the press. “We must deepen the revolution,” he said as the marchers gathered in front of Venezuela’s most powerful private business association and symbol of anti-government activity, FEDECAMARAS.

Minister Jaua recognized the need for the government to work with social movement organizations such as the farmer rights fronts in order for the hired assassinations to cease and the national food security policies to be effective.

“We receive this support from the farmers and we are filled with strength to continue the battle we are waging to guarantee the right to food security to the Venezuelan people,” said the minister.

Murder of Small Farmer Rights Organizer Sparks Protests in Yaracuy, Venezuela

Published on February 20th 2009, by James Suggett - http://www.venezuelanalysis.com/news/4235

Mérida, February 20th 2009 (Venezuelanalysis.com) -- Small farmer rights groups plan to march across the city of San Felipe in Venezuela’s Yaracuy state this Saturday to demand that the hired assassins of Nelson López, a small farmer rights organizer, be brought to justice.

López, who was shot fifteen times in the back last Thursday, is the 213th small farmer (campesino) to be murdered since 2001, the year the government of President Hugo Chávez passed a sweeping land reform law which set the conditions for re-distribution of idle sections of large estates to small farmers, according to the Ezequiel Zamora National Farmers’ Front (FNCEZ), one of the groups convoking Saturday’s marches.

According to Braulio Álvarez, a National Assembly deputy and farmer rights organizer from Yaracuy state, the directors of the National Cattle Ranchers Association and the National Federation of Cattle Ranchers (FEDENAGAS), along with two powerful landowners, were responsible for planning López’s murder.

“How much longer will the murder of small farmers at the hands of Colombian paramilitaries and hired assassins, financed by large estate owners and FEDENAGAS, remain in impunity?” Álvarez asked during a town hall meeting organized by the Unified Regional Agrarian Command (CRAU) in Yaracuy on Thursday.

FEDENAGAS and the other implicated cattle ranchers associations have not issued a response to the accusations.

The FNCEZ, Venezuela’s Culture Ministry, the regional director of the Agriculture and Lands Ministry, three leaders of the small farmer rights movement, and several members of the National Association of Free, Alternative, Community Media (ANMCLA) were also present at the town hall meeting.

These organizations demanded that the Venezuelan Attorney General dismiss Yaracuy District Attorney Alejandro Márquez for having accused Nelson López of being an “invader” of private property, and District Judge Linda Lugo for having served the interests of large estate owners and FEDENAGAS against small farmers in Yaracuy.

The organizations also spoke of the “historical debt” owed to small farmers, based on the oppression experienced by small farmers at the hands of the Spanish oligarchy for several centuries.

Till when the assassination of Venezuelan peasants at the hands of Colombian paramilitaries?

Office of Culture paraYaracuy Friday, Feb. 20, 2009 at 1:57 PM

Demanding the cessation of killing of peasants in the hands of paid assassins, Fedenaga and landowners.

Until when will be continued the impunity and the killing of peasants in Venezuela, in the hands of paid assassins and paramilitaries in Colombia, funded by landowners and Fedenagas? Aren't enough the deaths of 213 agricultural leaders since 2001, after it was enacted the Land and development Act , and Nelson Lopez being the last victim of this permanent terrorism, when he was shot fourteen times in the back on February 12 in the Bartola in Bruzual Municipality Yaracuy state?

That is what he said the peasant leader and member of the National Assembly at the state of Yaracuy, Braulio Alvarez referring to the deaths on demand, of farmers in this region and across Venezuela during an act of repudiation against impunity and killing on demand, indicating as intellectual responsible the president of the National Association of Cattlemen, Genaro Mendez, Fhandor Quiroga, president of Fedenagas Yaracuy, the landowner Luis Gallo and members of the family of Lecuna Di Battista for the death of the yaracuyano farmer Nelson Lopez.

Death to impunity

During this event organized by the Regional Agrarian Unified Command, this Thursday at the Cinemateca in San Felipe, attended as support for this voice of protest the Legislative Council deputy in the state of Yaracuy, Ivan Aparicio, the leader of the Peasant Movement Jirajara, Joel Pineda, Kamal Hassan representing the Ministry Cabinet of Culture, the regional director of the Ministry of Agriculture and lands, Gabriel Gil, the peasant leader Laura Lawrence and Henry Fernandez of the National Association of Free and alternative Community Media (ANMCLA).

On April 10 -assured Congressman Alvarez - Genaro Mendez was in Yaracuy to meet with local leaders of Fedenagas and proselytizing in favor of NO, and he took the opportunity to launch the following warning "Mr President Chavez, if you do not take measures against criminals and land invaders, then we will take the law into our hands and we will do justice", then two days later they killed Nelson Lopez when he was entering his home.

Historical Debt

Similarly we demand the inhibition of the prosecutor II of the Public Ministry, Alejandro Marquez responsible for the investigation of this crime, for having managed earlier a record against Lopez which still remains open, as of the judge for the National Agricultural Circuit Yaracuy, mrs Linda Lugo, for having promoted on countless opportunities with her flawed decisions the interests of yaracuyanos landowners.

These 213 farmers killed in collusion with Colombian paramilitary forces and Fedenagas only were asking to be the producers in land which in the past was snatched from their indigenous ancestors, for our African ancestors later to be slaves and afterwards to become pawns of the same land, assured at the end of the meeting Braulio Alvarez that also has been once victim of an attack against him.

www.aporrea.org

Bangladesh: Farmer shot by BSF in Chuadanga

Financial Express

CHUADANGA, Feb 17 (UNB): A Bangladeshi farmer received bullet wound as Indian Border Security Force (BSF) opened fire on him along the Jagannathpur border in Damurhuda Upazila Monday.

The injured was identified as Engrej Ali, son of Bokhs Ali of Jaypur village of Mujibnagar Upazila of neighbouring Meherpur district.