NGO WORK
Call to Sever Ties with Tanzanian Government Over Latest Human Rights Abuses Against the Maasai
Open Letter from the Oakland Institute and Survival International to UNESCO WHC & IUCN
To: Lazare Eloundou Assomo, Director UNESCO World Heritage
CC: Audrey Azoulay, UNESCO Director General
Tim Badman, Director, IUCN World Heritage Program
Muhammad Juma, Chief of Africa Unit, UNESCO World Heritage
ICOMOS Secretariat
Subject: Call to Sever Ties with Tanzanian Government Over Latest Human Rights Abuses Against the Maasai
Dear Director Lazare Eloundou Assomo,
We are writing in light of the latest violence unleashed on the Maasai communities living in the Loliondo division of Ngorongoro district by the Tanzanian security forces. On June 8, 2022, the Tanzanian government initiated the demarcation of 1,500 km2 of land that it intends to turn into a game reserve, which would trigger mass evictions of Maasai living in legally registered villages within Loliondo. This action has led to widespread violence against the Maasai by security forces, which has left at least 31 people wounded by live ammunition and other injuries while one police officer was allegedly killed by an arrow. A total of twenty-three citizens (including 9 ward councilors) have been arraigned before the Resident Magistrate’s Court of Arusha and charged with the murder of the policeman.
Injured Maasai, including high numbers of women and children, have fled to Kenya to seek medical treatment and the government continues to crack down on those who are attempting to share information regarding the violence. Despite this resistance from local communities living on this land, Prime Minister Majaliwa announced the demarcation exercise had been completed.
This latest travesty is a continuation of past efforts to evict Maasai from their ancestral lands in Loliondo for safari tourism and trophy hunting. The United Arab Emirates (UAE)-based Otterlo Business Company (OBC) — which runs hunting excursions for the country’s royal family and their guests — will reportedly control commercial hunting in the area despite the company’s past involvement in several violent evictions of the Maasai, including in 2017, burning of homes, and the killing of thousands of rare animals in the area.
There has been extensive condemnation of this violence and forced evictions of the Maasai by numerous organizations and coalitions. On June 13, 2022, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights strongly condemned(link is external) the violence and urged the government to halt the eviction and open an independent investigation. On June 14, the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues expressed(link is external) “its profound concern” over the ongoing evictions” and called “on the government of Tanzania to comply with the provisions recognized in the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and other relevant international human rights instruments, and ensure the right of the Maasai to participate in decision-making, considering that their land in Loliondo for safari tourism, trophy hunting and “conservation” will affect their lives and territory.”
On June 15, nine United Nations Special Rapporteurs called(link is external) on the Tanzanian government to “immediately halt plans for relocation of the people living in Loliondo and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and begin consultations with the Maasai Indigenous Peoples, including direct contact with the Ngorongoro Pastoral Council, to jointly define current challenges to environmental conservation and best avenues to resolve them, while maintaining a human rights-based approach to conservation.” Finally, on June 19, IUCN issued a statement(link is external) on the human rights violations in Loliondo, sharing that it was “deeply concerned.”
Given these developments are occurring alongside the threat of eviction faced by tens of thousands of Indigenous residents of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, the government’s shocking display of violence against its own citizens and patently false denial of responsibility cannot be ignored. We have previously written to your office warning of plans to evict Maasai from the NCA and the inadequacy of relocation sites. These latest rights violations in Loliondo demonstrate that the government does not hesitate to resort to violence, in violation of its national and international obligations, towards the realization of its plans.
The government’s blatant disregard for Indigenous lives and international human rights law calls for immediate and decisive action from the UNESCO WHC and IUCN. Continued inaction on your part makes you complicit. The UNESCO WHC has failed to ensure respect for the rights of Indigenous residents. Therefore, Ngorongoro should be delisted as a World Heritage Site and all ties between the UNESCO WHC and IUCN with the government should be immediately severed.
Sincerely,
Anuradha Mittal
Executive Director
The Oakland Institute
Fiore Longo
Director, France & Spain
Survival International
Open Letter to UNESCO WHC & IUCN June 24, 2022Related posts:
URGENT ALERT – Heavy Police Presence in Loliondo as Threats of Mass Evictions of the Maasai Intensify
Justice Denied: East African Court of Justice Grants Tanzanian Government Impunity to Trample Human Rights of the Maasai
Tanzanian Government Continues Violent Repression of the Maasai in Loliondo Despite Worldwide Condemnation
Tanzanian Government’s Sustained Campaign Against the Maasai in Loliondo and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
NGO WORK
UN Experts Put Tanzanian Government on Notice – “Ensure Transparency and Respect for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Ngorongoro”
|
|
Related posts:
Sham Presidential Commissions Rubber Stamp Tanzanian Government’s Efforts to Evict Indigenous Maasai from Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Tanzanian Government’s Sustained Campaign Against the Maasai in Loliondo and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
URGENT ALERT: Tanzanian Government on a Rampage Against Indigenous People
Call to Sever Ties with Tanzanian Government Over Latest Human Rights Abuses Against the Maasai
Related posts:
Amidst Failed US Sanctions, the Indigenous Pay the Price for Nicaragua’s Gold Rush
DR Congo oil palm company bankrolled by development banks unleashes wave of violence against villagers after peaceful protests
Artisanal gold miners defy government on mercury use
Njuba’s Gold Mine victims: A violent Eviction that Opened Wounds That May Never Heal Forever
NGO WORK
Tanzania: Commissions call for mass eviction of Indigenous Maasai from world-famous tourist destinations.
Two presidential commissions have recommended the mass eviction of Maasai people from some of East Africa’s most iconic conservation areas and tourist destinations.
The commissions were established by Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan following previous evictions of Maasai pastoralists from parts of the world-famous Serengeti ecosystem, and large-scale protests in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in 2024.
Now, despite a global outcry at the earlier evictions, the two Commissions have:
- Backed the previous evictions and called for them to continue, including in the UNESCO World Heritage Sites of Ngorongoro and neighboring Lake Natron.
- Described the long-standing Maasai presence in the area as an “environmental pressure” that needs to be reduced.
- Threatened local NGOs that support the Maasai, accusing them of “spreading misinformation or propaganda” because they “conflict with government interests.”
- Called for the “relocation” of all “non-conservation activities” [in other words, Maasai occupancy of the land] outside the conservation areas.
- Called for existing recognition of the Maasai people’s right to live in the Ngorongoro area to be removed.
An anonymous Maasai spokesperson said today: “We are blamed for environmental degradation while the unchecked expansion of tourism is ignored. Forced relocation, disguised as policy, has deprived our people of basic rights and dignity. We reject any continuation of these measures and condemn the Commission’s failure to reflect the voices, realities, and rights of our people.”
The authorities maintain that these are “voluntary relocations.” However, the Maasai have overwhelmingly rejected being moved.
The Ngorongoro Conservation Area is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. When it was established, the ancestral right of the Maasai to live there with their cattle was explicitly acknowledged. But UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has backed the so-called “voluntary relocations”, and UNESCO endorses the “fortress conservation” model that underpins Tanzania’s approach.
Survival International Director Caroline Pearce said today, “These commissions were a sham, a gimmick designed to give Tanzania’s violent persecution of the Maasai a veneer of respectability. It was widely predicted that they’d back further evictions: the whole saga just confirms that colonial-style fortress conservation is alive and well in Tanzania today, and enthusiastically endorsed by UNESCO.
“These recommendations give the green light to more evictions, in Ngorongoro and beyond. And while the Maasai are robbed of their lands and livelihood, the government, tour operators and so-called conservationists will enrich themselves from a landscape emptied of its original owners.”
Source: survivalinternational.org
Related posts:
The Oakland Institute Calls on the Tanzanian Presidential Land Commissions to Respect & Ensure Rights of Maasai Living in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area
Call to Sever Ties with Tanzanian Government Over Latest Human Rights Abuses Against the Maasai
Worldwide Condemnation Over Violence against the Maasai by Tanzania Security Forces
US Luxury Safari Operator Tightens Stranglehold Over Maasai Land in Tanzania
More than 500 Masindi residents live in fear as a tycoon targets their land.
Kiryandongo farmer accuses minister of grabbing 100-acre land
“We are facing increased violent land dispossessions and climate injustices” – African women.
Kassanda businessmen accused of a second attempt to grab an 86-year-old farmer’s land despite court orders.
Breaking: Ugandan Court jails eight Anti-EACOP activists as crackdown on dissent deepens.
African women are rising for climate justice and reparations on the inaugural continental day of action.
Ugandan Farmers Sue EACOP in London in Last Minute Effort to Stop Crude Oil Pipeline
Agroecological farming: EAC Bill moves to Parliament to establish a regional legal framework to protect and promote sustainable farming and food systems.
Innovative Finance from Canada projects positive impact on local communities.
Over 5000 Indigenous Communities evicted in Kiryandongo District
Petition To Land Inquiry Commission Over Human Rights In Kiryandongo District
Invisible victims of Uganda Land Grabs
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK2 weeks agoAfrican women push for reparations and environmental accountability after landmark Climate Justice Day.
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK1 week agoEast African women unite and meet in Nairobi to develop strategies to protect communal tenure systems and collectively resist false climate solutions.
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK2 weeks agoNigerian Banks under fire over ESG failures as a new report exposes Weak Climate and Human Rights Compliance.
-
NGO WORK2 weeks agoUN Experts Put Tanzanian Government on Notice – “Ensure Transparency and Respect for Indigenous Peoples’ Rights in Ngorongoro”
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK2 weeks agoMaasai protest evictions from Ngorongoro as UN experts warn conservation must respect rights
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK23 hours ago“We are facing increased violent land dispossessions and climate injustices” – African women.
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK2 weeks agoEnvironmentalists Call for Stronger Enforcement as Wetland and Forest Destruction Accelerates
-
MEDIA FOR CHANGE NETWORK1 day agoKassanda businessmen accused of a second attempt to grab an 86-year-old farmer’s land despite court orders.