Indigenous Peoples and Human Rights

May 22, 2012

Photos Shell Oil Protest Underway at The Hague May 22, 2012

First Nation and Inupiat delegation at The Hague
NOW! At the Shell General Annual Meeting at The Hague
Inupiat Robert Thompson holds Shell accountable concerning plans
to drill in the Arctic this summer.
Shell was subjected to a 3-hour barrage of
critical questions from shareholders -
most about human rights and the environment.

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Photo by Occupy Oil
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Protests at Shell's annual general meeting at The Hague and the Shell annual general meeting site in London, Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Read new report: Shell Risking Ruin: http://www.scribd.com/doc/94306589/Shell-Risking-Ruin


See this video and more at Indymedia London
Native delegation confronts Shell at general annual meeting at The Hague, protests simultaneous in London

News from the Indigenous Environmental Network
While most news reporters in the US and Canada were sleeping today, a delegation of First Nations and Inupiat confronted Shell at their annual general meeting at The Hague, with simultaneous protests at the Shell general meeting in London (Grim Reaper protest photo on left.)
The delegation (top photo) includes Robert Thompson, chairman of REDOIL, an Inupiat from Kaktovik, a village on the edge of the Arctic Ocean in Alaska, where Shell plans to drill offshore in Arctic waters this summer.
Eriel Deranger is the spokesperson for Athabasca Chipewyan First Nation, in Alberta, Canada, an Indigenous community residing downstream from tar sands operations and who are currently suing Shell for violating past agreements.
Ron Plain is from Aamjiwnaang First Nation, in Ontario, Canada. It has been called “the most polluted place in North America,” due to its proximity to “Chemical Valley” where Shell’s and other tar sands operators’ refineries are causing serious health and reproductive impacts.
The Indigenous Environmental Network has launched a campaign to halt Shell’s destruction.
Today, Deranger addressed Shell executives and shareholders at Shell’s Annual General Meeting in The Hague, highlighting the communities grievances with Shell’s current and proposed tar sands projects in their traditional territory in northern Alberta, Canada.
“Shell has failed to address our concerns in Canada’s tar sands by not meeting environmental standards, past agreements and refusing to address their impacts to our constitutionally protected treaty rights,” Deranger said.
“Shell’s current projects are contributing to the destruction of our traditional territory including vital watersheds and eco-systems. Now they propose to expand projects further degrading our lands and impairing our ability to practice our constitutionally protected rights to hunt, fish, trap and gather in the region.”
Shell’s chairman was provided with a copy of the report “Risking Ruin: Shell’s dangerous developments in the Tar Sands, Arctic and Nigeria” launched last week by ACFN in partnership with the Indigenous Environmental Network.
The report profiles Indigenous communities impacted by Shell’s operations in Canada’s Alberta Tar Sands, Alaska’s Arctic Ocean, Ontario’s Aamjiwnaang First Nation and Africa’s Niger Delta arguing that the impacts of Shell’s destructive activities outweigh the benefits and exposes the company to both reputational damage and political risk, including litigation.
ACFN traveled with an Indigenous delegation from Canada and Alaska, coordinated by the UK Tar Sands Network and IEN, to attend Shell’s AGM. Indigenous representative presented to Shell’s Chairman and Board about the human and ecological rights violations the company’s operations have brought to their respective communities.
Read more at the Indigenous Environmental Network: http://www.ienearth.org

More news at Censored News:
Western Shoshone Carrie Dann: Civil Disobedience one way to protect Mother Earth from gold mining:
http://bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/05/western-shoshone-carrie-dann-civil.html
Winnemem Wintu statement: War Dance to be held this weekend to protect ceremony in Calif:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/05/winnemem-wintu-to-hold-war-dance-to.html
Pine Ridge, SD: Lakota Debra White Plume: Speak truth to power: The meat is spoiled and that is not OK with us:
http://www.bsnorrell.blogspot.com/2012/05/debra-white-plume-speak-truth-to-power.html

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