India: Nyamgiri ruling "a great victory for indigenous rights"
Published by MAC on 2013-04-22Source: Statement, NDTV, Times of India
But fears of police and company intimidation remain
In one of the longest-running - and certainly the most widely-publicised - of Indian struggles to halt a threatened mining venture, the community seems to have won.
For earlier report, see: Is Vedanta poised on the brink of failure?
Last Thursday, 18 April 2013, the country's Supreme Court (SC) ruled that the future of the Nyamgiri bauxite mining lease in Orissa should be decided by the local village government (Gram Sabha).
The verdict was greeted with joy, especially among the Dongria Khond tribal villagers who have campaigned for almost a decade to oust UK-listed Vedanta Resources from their sacred hills.
However, the battle is not yet over. A spokesperson for the community has warned that the company (and Orissa state government) may still win the day, should the pattern of police and company violence, directed against Dongria Khond protestors on many occasions, be allowed to continue.
According to another commentator: "As no public hearing has ever been 'free and fair' with Vedanta's presence in the [project's] vicinity, the locals are rather more apprehensive than being hopeful.
"Since the morning of the day of the court ruling, Vedanta officials and staff were busy performing a Yagna (fire ritual) at a Hanuman temple near the refinery. And, as the news of the ruling reached them, they started celebrating with firecrackers. So, whether the SC ruling has provided a lease of life to the locals and their sacred hills or to Vedanta is something time will tell". See: http://youtu.be/yBbaal3PJy4
While welcoming the Supreme Court's decision, Amnesty International India also urged that:
''Authorities in India must now establish a clear and transparent process to ascertain the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous communities in Niyamgiri and all other contexts where their traditional lands and habitats may be affected by state or corporate projects".
See also: India: The Bastar Land Grab
India: Landmark Supreme Court ruling a great victory for indigenous rights
Amnesty International statement
18 April 2013
Today's ruling by India's Supreme Court that the Indigenous (Adivasi) communities will have the final decision on plans for a bauxite mine by a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Resources in the Niyamgiri hills of Orissa is a landmark victory in recognizing indigenous rights in India, Amnesty International said today.
A 670-hectare bauxite mine was due to have been developed on the Dongria Kondh Indigenous community's traditional lands and habitats which they consider sacred.
"The Dongria Kondh community, whose identity is fully dependent on these hills, has been fighting for the survival of their way of life for a decade. The mine would have resulted in violation of their rights as Indigenous peoples, as well as their rights to water, food, health, work amongst others. This ruling is hugely important for the Dongria Kondh," said G. Ananthapadmanabhan, Chief Executive of Amnesty International India.
"This ruling is a clear vindication of the protests by local communities, the findings of the extensive research carried out since 2009 by Amnesty International and the sustained campaign carried out by many organisations which exposed how the communities'' views had long been ignored,'' said Ananthapadmanabhan.
''Authorities in India must now establish a clear and transparent process to ascertain the free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) of Indigenous communities in Niyamgiri and all other contexts where their traditional lands and habitats may be affected by state or corporate projects.
"The participation of women and other marginal members in these communities should be ensured in such decision-making. Also, the authorities should ensure that all information about the potential negative impact of such plans is available to them in a language accessible to them prior to decision-making. The communities' decisions must be respected, and projects must not be allowed without agreement by the communities in their favour.''
Lado Sikaka, a Dongria Kondh leader in Niyamgiri, told Amnesty International: ''After a decade of protesting against the mine plans, we now have an official channel to voice our concerns that the mine plans will disrupt our sacred lands and also seriously impact our lives and livelihoods. We will now use this channel to press our decision.''
Kumiti Majhi, a leader of the Majhi Kondh Indigenous community in the foothills of Niyamgiri, said: ''We urge the authorities to conduct this process in a free and genuine way, without intimidation by the companies concerned or the paramilitary forces stationed in Niyamgiri, and in the presence of international human rights organizations" apart from the presence of a judicial officer as stipulated by the Supreme Court ruling.''
The Court ruled that the gram sabhas (assemblies consisting of all adult voters) of two villages located near the proposed mine would need to decide if the mine plans, in any way, affected their religious and cultural rights, including their right to worship, and on all individual and community claims, including fresh ones, to the areas proposed to be mined. The councils should share their decision with India''s Ministry of Environment and Forests within three months.
India's Ministry of Environment and Forests, in August 2010, had rejected the plans put forward by Sterlite India, a subsidiary of Vedanta Resources, and the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation (OMC), to mine bauxite at the top of Niyamgiri hills in Orissa, after finding that the plans would extensively violate forest and environmental laws, as well as the rights of the Dongria Kondh Indigenous and other communities in the hills. Today's court ruling came on a challenge mounted by OMC to that decision.
The Court ruling stipulates that the gram sabha proceedings in Niyamgiri take place independently and completely uninfluenced, either by the project proponents or the state or central governments.
The Court''s ruling also upholds the provisions of India''s Forest Rights Act, 2006, which state that authorities must settle community claims over their traditional forest lands and habitats, and ensure they have the consent of the communities, before attempting to use their land for mining and other industrial purposes. The principle of free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is recognized by the United Nations Declaration on Rights of Indigenous People, 2007, as central to the protection and realisation of the rights of Indigenous communities.
Amnesty International is urging the authorities to incorporate the FPIC principle into the proposed amendments to existing mining and land acquisition laws, which are now pending before India''s parliament.
''Authorities should heed the December 2012 recommendation of India''s National Advisory Council to adopt FPIC in relevant legislation,'' said G. Ananthapadmanabhan.
''This decision will go a long way to empowering Indigenous communities facing similar threats to their way of life from mine plans in other parts of eastern and central India. It should also act as a wake up call for Vedanta ''the company has consistently failed to respect human rights in its operations at Niyamgiri, and at the associated Lanjigarh refinery, which has also blighted the lives of thousands of people.''
''Systemic changes are needed to ensure state and corporate accountability to implement FPIC. Every affected community cannot be expected to take on the powerful corporate interests and take its struggle right up to the doors of the Supreme Court,'' said Ananthapadmanabhan.
Amnesty International is also calling for India''s Ministry of Environment and Forests to order an independent audit of the Lanjigarh refinery operated by Vedanta Aluminium, another Vedanta subsidiary, to clean up pollution, and address all outstanding human rights concerns, including the impact of pollution on the local Majhi Kondh Indigenous and Dalit communities.
Today''s decision follows a forced suspension of refining operations at Lanjigarh by Vedanta in December 2012. Vedanta''s plans for a six-fold expansion of the refinery were also stalled by India''s Ministry of Environment and Forests in May 2012.
Setback for Vedanta: Ban on mining in Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha to continue says Supreme Court
Edited by Janaki Fernandes
NDTV
18 April 2013
New Delhi - The Supreme Court has said that its up to the local gram sabha that governs the Niyamgiri Hills in Odisha to decide whether to allow mining by the Vedanta Group.
The court ordered the Odisha government to share details of the mining proposal with the Gram Sabha wjich has three months to make up its mind and share its decision with the union Environment Ministry.
Last year, the union government had refused environmental clearances to Vedanta's massive bauxite mining project in the Niyamgiri Hills.
The Odisha government had challenged the centre's decision in the Supreme Court
In the first week of this month the Orissa government had approached the Supreme Court challenging the Centre's decision to reject environmental clearance to Vedanta bauxite mining project in Niyamgiri Hills.
Govt's bid to water down tribal rights takes a hit
Nitin Sethi
Times of India
19 April 2013
NEW DELHI: The governent's plan to detach tribal rights from clearances to projects requiring forestlands partially boomeranged after the Supreme Court on Thursday ordered that the gram sabha should decide if their customary and religious rights would be impacted by Vedanta's proposed bauxite mining in Niyamgiri hills in Odisha.
The decision will dampen the pressure within the UPA to further dilute the norms that empower tribal gram sabhas under the Forest Rights Act to give consent to projects requiring forestlands.
A report prepared by the PMO in December 2012 had recommended that the rights of gram sabhas under the Forest Rights Act to give prior consent to projects should be watered down to operate only in cases of exception.
The tribal affairs ministry gave in to the pressure and agreed to the report and the environment ministry followed up by agreeing to do away with the need for consent from gram sabhas for linear projects. But the pressure building up within the government to stand down on tribal rights made it carefully avoid referring to the regulations requiring gram sabha consent in the Vedanta case.
While government remained steadfast on its position against Vedanta mining, there was great unease about a generic ruling on Forest Rights Act in the case impacting other clearances.
But the apex court order on Thursday has reverted the case back to the gram sabha, permitting the tribals and not the ministry or any other authority to decide whether their religious rights exist in the contentious hill and would they be harmed by the project.
The court said, "Gram sabha has an obligation to safeguard and preserve the traditions and customs of STs and other forest dwellers, their cultural identity , community resources etc, which they have to discharge following the guidelines issued by the ministry of tribal affairs."