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An Ecuadoran court has order Chevron to pay almost $10 billion to Indigenous plaintiffs who, the court found, have been damaged by decades of contamination from oil operations there. The oil operations, originally conducted by Texaco, which merged with Chevon in 2001, included some egregious behavior, leaving oil sludge in open pits and rivers, conducting almost no remediation, and contaminating huge areas of rainforest. The plaintiffs--30,000 Indigenous people and farmers--claim very high rates of cancer and other diseases related to exposure to toxins.

More than 400 grant recipients from tribal government programs and educational nonprofit organizations from across the U.S., Alaska, Hawai’i, Guam, and the Northern Mariana Islands attended last month’s Administration for Native Americans (ANA) three-day grantees conference in Washington, D.C.

February 7 was the opening day of a trial that will determine whether a Chinese mining company can dump waste from its Ramu nickel mine and refinery into the Bismarck Sea. Plaintiffs in the case are Indigenous residents of coastal communities whose lives and livelihoods depend on the sea. They base their case on laws that guarantee their rights as landowners and provide protections for Papua New Guinea’s marine resources.  The proposed dumping would occur within the Coral Triangle, which has the highest diversity of marine life on the planet.
 

More than 1,000 Ngöbe people – men, women, and children – took to the streets in different parts of Panama this week to protest a proposed change in the country’s mining law.  Nine Ngöbe people were reported wounded and 22 jailed, including three children.  Environmental and human rights organizations and students carried out parallel protests against the mining law reform at the National Assembly.
 

Chilean forces continue to target peaceful Rapa Nui individuals, including unarmed women and children occupying their ancestral land. Over the past five months, Rapa Nui clan members have been peacefully reclaiming their ancestral territories. There is now overwhelming military force on the island.  

We, indigenous peoples Juruna, Xipaya, Arara of the Volta Grande, Kuruaia and Xicrin of the region of Altamira, Guajajara, Gavião, Krikati, Awa Guajá, Kayapo of Mato Grosso and Pará, Tembé, Aikeora, Suruí, Xavante, Karintiana, Puruborá, Kassupá, Wajãpi, Karajá, Apurinã, Makuxi, Nawa of Acre, Mura from Amazonas, Tupaiu, Borari, Tapuia, Arapiuns, Pataxó, Tupiniquim, Javaé, Kaingang, Xucuru, Marubu, Maiuruna and Mundukuru from the states of Amazonas and Pará and from the other states of the Amazon region and Brazil, farmers and riverine peoples

* Brazil agency OKs start-up of huge dam in Amazon

* Consortium has go-ahead to clear forest, start site

SAO PAULO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's environment agency approved on Wednesday the start-up of the Belo Monte power dam, a controversial $17 billion project in the Amazon that has drawn criticism from native Indians and conservationists.

The agency, Ibama, issued licenses to the consortium in charge of Belo Monte to start the construction site and to clear 238.1 hectares (588 acres) of forest land, about the size of Monaco.

The following letter from Christopher Louie Ocampo, of the Commission on Human Rights, Philippines, was sent to Cultural Survival's campaign partner Jeff Nettleton, of the organization PIPlinks. The letter announces the Commission's resolution that Australian OceanaGold Philippines Inc (OGPI) has violated human rights in Dipidio.

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