Peru Declares State of Emergency, Deploys Special Forces to Break Up Indigenous Protests

/PRNewswire / -- In Peru, indigenous protests against recent government decrees affecting their land and resource rights continue to spread throughout the country. Amazon Watch has received several alarming reports of violent crackdowns against peaceful demonstrators by Special Forces after President Alan Garcia declared a state of emergency in the Cusco, Ucayali, Loreto and Amazonas regions over the weekend.

For the past month, indigenous peoples have blockaded roads and rivers throughout the Amazon to protest new decrees which make it easier to transfer indigenous peoples' land and resource rights to oil, mining, logging and agricultural companies to the detriment of local inhabitants. The decrees have also set the stage for the privatization of water resources.

In the town of Bagua in the Amazonas region near the border with Ecuador, there have been reports that on Sunday armed forces cracked down on peaceful Awajun and Huambis demonstrators on the Corral Quemado Bridge resulting in several serious injuries. Two people are reported missing.

Elsewhere, several thousand Shawi and Cocama Cocamillas have blockaded the road between Yurimaguas and Tarapoto, a major transport route.

Yesterday in Lima, Peru's Prime Minister, Yehude Simon met with leaders of AIDESEP, Peru's leading indigenous rights organization.

Last Friday 42 indigenous leaders staged a hunger strike in the Peruvian Congress to demand that the full legislature debate the repeal of the decrees and eight Peruvian Catholic bishops issued a statement saying the decrees were a "twisted concept of development" that "threaten to increase regional poverty" in the Amazon.

The Peruvian government has auctioned off huge swaths of indigenous lands to mining and energy concessions. During the month-long protest, the Garcia administration has signed contracts for another 15 oil concessions - the majority of them in the Amazon.

"The government has not defended us against the oil, mining and logging companies that continue to pollute our communities after they illegally entered our lands," said Alberto Pizango, the president of AIDESEP. "The government is not abiding by international treaties signed by Peru as well as our own Constitution."

"We urge the Garcia administration to refrain from using force and instead enter into meaningful talks with indigenous peoples to resolve their legitimate concerns," said Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch.

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Department of Justice Withdraws 'Enemy Combatant' Definition for Guantanamo Detainees

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- In a filing today with the federal District Court for the District of Columbia, the Department of Justice submitted a new standard for the government's authority to hold detainees at the Guantanamo Bay Detention Facility. The definition does not rely on the President's authority as Commander-in-Chief independent of Congress's specific authorization. It draws on the international laws of war to inform the statutory authority conferred by Congress. It provides that individuals who supported al Qaeda or the Taliban are detainable only if the support was substantial. And it does not employ the phrase "enemy combatant."

The Department also submitted a declaration by Attorney General Eric Holder stating that, under executive orders issued by President Obama, the government is undertaking an interagency review of detention policy for individuals captured in armed conflicts or counterterrorism operations as well as a review of the status of each detainee held at Guantanamo. The outcome of those reviews may lead to further refinements of the government's position as it develops a comprehensive policy.

"As we work towards developing a new policy to govern detainees, it is essential that we operate in a manner that strengthens our national security, is consistent with our values, and is governed by law," said Attorney General Holder. "The change we've made today meets each of those standards and will make our nation stronger."

In its filing today, the government bases its authority to hold detainees at Guantanamo on the Authorization for the Use of Military Force, which Congress passed in September 2001, and which authorized the use of force against nations, organizations, or persons the president determines planned, authorized, committed, or aided the September 11 attacks, or harbored such organizations or persons. The government's new standard relies on the international laws of war to inform the scope of the President's authority under this statute, and makes clear that the government does not claim authority to hold persons based on insignificant or insubstantial support of al Qaeda or the Taliban.

The brief was filed in habeas litigation brought by numerous detainees at Guantanamo who are challenging their detention under the Supreme Court's decision last summer in Boumediene v. Bush.

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World Jewish Congress President Ronald Lauder Welcomes U.S. Pullout of 'Shameful' UN Anti-Racism Conference

/PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- The president of the World Jewish Congress (WJC), Ronald S. Lauder, warmly welcomed the decision by the U.S. Government to withdraw from the upcoming United Nations conference on anti-racism ("Durban II") in Geneva over concerns that it would become a repeat of the failed event held in Durban in September 2001. "Every day it becomes clearer that the Durban Review Conference is not about combating racism, but about promoting anti-Israel and anti-Semitic propaganda within the framework of the United Nations. The Obama administration and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton deserve praise for sending a strong warning signal to the UN. Unfortunately, the efforts by the U.S. administration to ameliorate this process have not succeeded," Lauder said.

He added: "This conference should not be attended by the governments of democratic countries because it undermines the very purpose of the UN and does great damage to this important institution." The WJC president expressed hope that other governments would also stay away from the Geneva conference. "We hope that EU and other countries will follow the lead of Canada, Israel, and the United States. It would be a travesty if the UN's anti-racism conference were to become a platform for propagating hatred and intolerance. No government should take part in such a shameful event," the WJC president said.

Lauder also pointed out that countries with abysmal human rights records were in the forefront of activities leading up to the Durban Review Conference. "Surely no good can result from a conference where countries such as Libya, Iran, Pakistan and Syria are dictating the agenda. The plights of the victims of true racism and discrimination are being ignored. Sudan is not condemned for the mass killings in Darfur, Iran has been given a pass for its cruel treatment of Bahais and other minorities, as well as its mass executions of students and dissidents. Pakistan is not being held accountable for introducing Sharia law in order to appease the Taliban. These and other countries are attempting to protect their extremist ideologies under the disguise of banning the 'defamation of religion' while at the same time refusing to condemn Holocaust denial," Ronald Lauder said, adding that "the World Jewish Congress will urge world leaders to not participate in the Durban Review Conference."

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