U'wa of Colombia also threatened by Shell id QAA29545; Mon, 13 Oct 1997 16:54:00 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit source:jepeck%students.wisc.edu@geology.wisc.edu (John E. Peck) Shell/Nigeria activists- I'm forwarding on this fact sheet on the current situation with the U'wa of Colombia. As you will see, the situation is similar to one we all know well, and Shell is once again involved. Although they are not the operator of this project (LA based Occidental Petroleum is), they have a 37.5% investment share - equal to Oxy's. Profits once again measured in barrels of blood. One matter of urgent concern is the current level of violence in the region, and the very real possibility that violence may be used to "persuade" the U'wa to reconsider their stand. In 1993, following the first Ogoni Day when MOSOP first stated their non-violent opposition to Shell's operations, that was when all the killing began in the Delta. As we know, over 2,000 people, including Saro-Wiwa have died since then. Quick action now for the U'wa may help a repeat of the ongoing Ogoni tragedy. I believe that it will also help the Ogoni to bring pressure on Shell from a new angle. The fact sheet fits comfortably onto 2 pages, and could be useful for the upcoming 100th anniversary of Shell (October 18th - although as Nick Jukes from the UK pointed out, Shell will be celebrating on October 20th). Please use this material and circulate it far and wide. Peace, Steve ******** 10/97 OCCIDENTAL & SHELL THREATEN U'WA OF COLOMBIA TRIBE CONTEMPLATES MASS SUICIDE "I sing the traditional songs to my children. I teach them that everything is sacred and linked. How can I tell Shell and Oxy that to take the petrol is for us worse than killing your own mother? If you kill the Earth, then no one will live." -U'wa woman, August, 1997 The U'wa people have lived peacefully in the cloud forests of the Colombian Andes for as long as anyone can remember. The last great tragedy to befall these 5,000 people happened 400 years ago, when according to oral histories, a portion of the tribe committed mass ritual suicide rather than submit themselves to Spanish rule. Today, the U'wa are once again talking about death as new invaders -Occidental Petroleum ("Oxy") and Shell - move onto their land. As the project moves forward one thing becomes very clear: Whether it is through the pollution of the land they consider sacred, the increased violence that the project will inevitably bring, or by their own hand, oil exploration means the death of the U'wa. Oil Project Overview In April of 1992, Los-Angeles based Occidental Petroleum was granted exploration rights to much of traditional U'wa territory-known to the oil companies as the "Samori block." Shell and Oxy each have a 37.5% investment share in the project, and Ecopetrol, the Columbian national oil company, has 25%. Oxy, the operator of the joint venture, believes the field to hold approximately 1.5 billion barrels of oil, slightly less than three months worth of oil for the United States. Since the beginning, Samore project has been plagued by guerrilla violence and the steadfast opposition of the U'wa. If it can be brought to production, Oxy and Shell stand to make millions in profits from what could be one of the largest oil fields in this hemisphere. Colombia & Oil Colombia is the fourth-largest and fastest-growing major exporter of oil in South America, increasing its output by nearly 30 percent in 1995, and expecting to double its production by 1998. Under pressure from the United States and international financial institutions, the Colombian government has turned to increased oil production as a way to pay off its debts. For the peoples of Colombia living in oil regions though, multinational oil exploitation has brought pollution and conflict. As Occidental knows, the growing oil infrastructure has served as a magnet for violence. Oxy's Cano Limon pump station and pipeline in Arauca which controls almost one third of Colombia's oil export has been attacked by guerrillas 473 times in its 11 years of existence. Like in Nigeria and Burma, multinational oil companies are turning to the military to protect their investments. With the strong presence of guerrillas in the area, the Colombian military-recognized as having one of the worst human rights records in the world and armed with the latest equipment and weapons by the U.S. government-has moved in to protect Oxy's and Shell's oil interests. Human rights observers contend and Occidental officials privately concede that oil industry activity in the region will only serve to heighten and focus the violence. In the last decade, some 1.4 million barrels of crude oil have spilled because of pipeline sabotage in Colombia (the Exxon Valdez spill was only 36,000 barrels). As the Samori block is located in one of the highest conflict areas of the country, it is impossible to imagine that the project will not result in significant environmental damage to the U'wa homeland. This is situated at the headwaters of the Orinoco river basin, which flows through sensitive rainforest ecosystems and other indigenous homelands on its way to the sea. All of this is threatened for three months of oil. Current Situation "Now they say that the government wants to know our thoughts about the oil project, but if they don't like what we think, they will simply proceed with their own decisions." - Roberto Cobaria, President of the Traditional U'wa Authority In their search for justice the U'wa have turned to both national and international legal fora, neither of which has yet to fully recognize the U'wa's right to protect their land and culture. In early 1997, two contradictory rulings on the U'wa case were handed down by Colombian courts, with the Council of State's decision taking precedent. This ruling found that the States right to develop its natural resources, in this case oil, superseded the U'wa's constitutional right to consultation and defense of its cultural identity. Looking internationally, the U'wa have recently petitioned the Inter-american Human Rights of the OAS to call for the project's cancellation in defense of the U'wa's human rights. Meanwhile, in response to a request from the Colombian government, the OAS in conjunction with Harvard University, has issued a series of recommendations in regards to the Samori block, intended to serves as a guide to resolve the conflict between the U'wa and oil interests. This report advocates several positives steps to be taken in favor of the U'wa, including an immediate and unconditional suspension of all oil activities in the Samori block, and the legal recognition of the U'wa's full traditional territory. However, it also recommends a process of consultation with the U'wa which is based on recognizing the Colombian's States right to exploit oil over the U'wa's right to halt it. The OAS/Harvard path to conflict resolution, therefore, depends on the U'wa giving up both their position of resistance as well as their vow to collective suicide if the project goes ahead. These assumptions not only disregard the U'wa's rights, but in the end could prove horribly tragic. WHAT YOU CAN DO Write Oxy and Shell asking them in your own words to cancel their plans for the Samori block. Let them know that you hold them responsible for the U'wa's welfare. Dr. Ray R. Irani, CEO Occidental Petroleum Corp., 10889 Wilshire Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90024 fax (310) 443-6922 Philip J. Carroll, CEO Shell Oil, P.O. Box 2463, Houston, TX 77252 fax:(713) 241-4044 U'wa Project International (818) 505-8353 phone/fax uwaproject@aol.com http://www.solcommunications.com/uwa.html Project Underground Rainforest Action Network (510) 705-8981 (415) 398-4404 project_underground@moles.org rainforest@ran.org http://www.moles.org http://www.ran.org U'wa Project International is working to publicize the U'wa struggle and mobilize international support by organizing institutions and people in defense of the U'wa. Formed in July of 1997, the U'wa Project International is supported by a coalition of environmental and human rights groups including: Amazon Watch, Center for Justice and International Law, Coalition for Amazonian Peoples and their Environment, Colombian Human Rights Watch, Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, FIAN - Germany, Project Underground, Rainforest Action Network, and SOL Communications. ******************************** and a recent Reuter's story... Colombian Indians fight to stop oil drilling By Anthony Boadle WASHINGTON (Reuter) - Colombian Indians who have threatend mass suicide if Occidental Petroleum Corp. drills oil wells on their ancestral lands have asked the Organization of American States for help. "Oil is blood in the veins of Mother Earth. It does not belong to us, to the Colombian government or Occidental," Roberto Cobaria, chief of the 5,000 U'wa of northeastern Colombia, said Wednesday. The Inter-American Human Rights Commission held a hearing on Tuesday on the plight of the U'wa people at which Colombian officials pledged not to allow drilling without giving advance notice to the tribe. The U'wa asked the commission to recommend that Colombia suspend Occidental's drilling rights in the potentially oil-rich Samore block which overlaps with U'wa lands. Occidental has completed seismic exploration of the oil field and in March the Colombian government allowed exploratory drilling to proceed, but the company has delayed starting until the dispute is resolved. Cobaria said the advent of the oil industry would destroy his tribe's culture and introduce the political violence that is endemic in the Colombian countryside. "We don't want our culture to die," Cobaria told a news conference. "We are looking for help abroad because the Colombian government has sold out on us to the oil companies." He said the government was breaking Colombian laws that have recognized native communities and protect their lands. At a news conference in Bogota in January, tribal leaders threatened to commit mass suicide if Los Angeles-based Occidental won the rights to go ahead with the Samore project. They said many U'wa would throw themselves off a high cliff in an act of mass ritual suicide. Occidental's oil and gas subsidiary is the second largest oil producer in Colombia. But its output has been falling and the company is interested in new exploration. In May, the Colombian government asked the OAS to help solve the dispute. The OAS got Harvard University's Center for International Affairs to look into the matter. The OAS/Harvard study, which was funded by Occidental, recommended that the oil company suspend all exploration and development plans to allow for talks. "We have voluntarily refrained from moving ahead, even though the government has given us permission to do so," said Larry Meriage, a spokesman for Occidental Oil and Gas. He said the U'was wanted to enlarge their reservation to include their migratory paths and it was up to the Colombian government to decide. John Peck, c/o UW Greens, 731 State St., Madison WI 53703 #608-262-9036 "The business of politics consists of a series of unsentimental transactions between those who need votes and those who have money...a world where every quid has its quo." - Don Tyson, Board Chair of Tyson Foods Inc., 1995 ================================================================= NY Transfer News Collective * A Service of Blythe Systems Since 1985 - Information for the Rest of Us 339 Lafayette St., New York, NY 10012 http://www.blythe.org e-mail: nyt@blythe.org ================================================================= nytaf-10.13.97-16:54:29-30331