Please consider helping by joining CALL TO ACTION: CAMPAIGN TO STOP HERAKLES FARMS PALM OIL DESTRUCTION IN AFRICA! This is a joint action by Palm Oil Consumer Action, Palm Oil Investigations, and H.A.N.D.S. Nasako Besingi and his community need your help! Mr. Besingi and his fellow villagers in Cameroon have opposed Herakles Farms, a U.S. palm oil company. Mr. Besingi has been BEATEN, ARRESTED, and now faces TRIAL AND JAIL for simply speaking out. Herakles Farms is trying to silence him and take his land. Mr. Besingi’s court case begins March 13 and he stands to lose everything. The Herakles Farms palm oil project is the wrong project in the wrong place. If it is not stopped, it will cause widespread social and environmental damage in an area of great biodiversity sandwiched between protected areas and national parks. It will destroy natural forests and take away the livelihoods of communities reliant on those forests. CALL TO ACTION: On March 21 and 22, we ask you to do the following. 1. Please send a message to the US embassy in Cameroon on their facebook page. An example of a good message is “Please stop Herakles Farms palm oil plantation in Cameroon from threatening local people and endangering special wildlife.” This is the link: https://facebook/yaounde.usembassy 2. Call Herakles Farms office in New York on Friday, March 21 and demand that Herakles Farms stop their plantation and drop their lawsuits against Mr. Besingi. Here are the numbers: 212-351-0000 and 212-351-0176. 3. Make a small donation to the Oakland Institute to pay for the legal expenses from this unjust lawsuit: oaklandinstitute.org/cameroon-activists-trial-peaceful-protest-against-wall-street-land-grabber FOR THOSE WHO WOULD LIKE MORE INFO: ATTACK ON NASAKO AND TRIAL: Mr. Besingi and the members of SEFE, a NGO founded by Besingi, have been subjected to intimidation, lawsuits, arrests, and violent attacks. On December 31, 2013 Nasako was summoned, at the request of Herakles Farms, for “publication of false news via the internet.” Nasakos first court case begins on February 25, 2014 and he could face up to 6 months imprisonment and $4,000 in fines. Herakles lawsuit is based on an email that Nasako sent in August 2012 in which he explained how he was attacked by a group of men that he identified as junior managers of Herakles Farms. Luckily, a team of French journalists from France24 happened to be trailing Nasako that day. When their truck appeared, the men let Nasako go and fled. Herakles Farms admits that the men who attacked Nasako were “local service providers.” Nasako and four colleagues are also facing other charges for organising “an undeclared public meeting” while distributing anti-Herakles T-shirts to locals. Nasako’s second case is scheduled March 13, 2014 and is the subject this campaign. Details of Arrests: fidh.org/en/africa/cameroon/Cameroon-Arbitrary-arrest-of-and-12517 Statement from SEFE: farmlandgrab.org/post/view/22937-sefe-calls-president-of-cameroon-s-land-deal-with-us-company-herakles-farms-a-grave-injustice-and-hindrance-to-conventional-values Environmental Oppostion to Herakles: greenpeace.org/usa/Global/usa/planet3/PDFs/Forests/HeraklesCrimeFile.pdf In-Depth Information: (Links at bottom of article): oaklandinstitute.org/land-deals-africa-cameroon
Posted on: Tue, 18 Mar 2014 00:47:04 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015