IRRI Found Guilty of Its Crimes Against Farmers and Peoples in Asia

The First Asian Peoples’ Tribunal against International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI) held on April 4, 2006 in Quezon City, Philippines found the IRRI GUILTY of its crimes against the farmers and peoples of Asia in its 46 years of existence in Southeast Asia.

The Tribunal was sponsored by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and the Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP) and was organized by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and RESIST Agrochem TNCs. It was attended by more than 400 people, mostly from peasants, scientists, academes and professionals coming from Malaysia, Pakistan and Philippines.

The IRRI through the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations since its beginning on April 4, 1960 at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna has restructured Asian farmers’ sound traditional agricultural practices to become dependent and subjugated to chemical inputs that are products of TNC-controlled agri-business. IRRI’s chemical dependent seeds and intensive capital input high yielding varieties (HYVs) have eroded continuously the traditional rice varieties (TRVs) of rice farmers, destroyed systematically the ecological system of agricultural lands, and put to great danger the life and health of farmers and peoples here and throughout Asia and the whole world.

Verdict of the First Asian Peoples’ Tribunal against International Rice Research Institute

People's Inquiry on Aerial Pesticide Spraying

A People’s Inquiry was held in Waitakere City March 21st - 28th 2006 into the impacts and effects of aerial spraying pesticide over urban areas of Auckland.

It was heard in front of four commissioners of national and international standing with expertise in the areas of pesticide and chemical effects on human health, on human rights and the social, community and ecological impacts.

PAN AP report on the People's Inquiry ("The Poisoning of Clean, Green New Zealand)

International Conference on Chemicals Management
in Dubai, February 4-6 2006

IPEN Calls for Immediate SAICM Actions: Agreement Survives US Attacks

The SAICM negotiations teetered on the brink of disaster as the Bush Administration demanded sweeping concessions, rebuffed nearly all efforts to find common ground, and stood alone against over 140 countries to resist the agreement.

International Pact on Managing Chemicals Called Reasonable for Developing Countries

"It's a very sad day being an American engaged in this process," said Jack Weinberg with the Environmental Health Fund. The U.S. actions illustrated "a complete contempt for the needs, concerns, and realities of developing countries," he said."

Address by Dr. Suwit Wibulpolprasert, President of the Intergovernmental Forum on Chemical Safety (IFCS) at the ICCM

"If we are going to be successful, those that are affected by chemicals have to actively involve. They are the farmers, the workers, the children, the citizens. They must be invited to tell their real stories."

Opening Statement at the ICCM by Romeo F. Quijano, M.D., IPEN Co-chair

"This story illustrates why SAICM aims to achieve, by 2020, that chemicals are used and produced in ways that minimize their harmful effects on human health and the environment... It shows that rules of procedure can in fact obstruct rather than facilitate because it gives undue advantage to the most powerful, suppressing the truth, obstructing progress and showing no sensitivity to the cries of the poor and the powerless."

Pesticide Action Network at the People's Action Week vs. the World Trade Organization's 6th Ministerial Conference

Sarojeni Rengam, executive director of PAN Asia and the Pacific leads farmers from around the world in protest "die-ins" in the streets of Hong Kong.

WTO blamed for “toxic hotspot”
Rice Farmers Want WTO Out Of Agriculture
Asian Farmers Condemn TRIPS as One of the Worst Agreements this Century
Coalition of Agricultural Workers International Vow to Fight for Those Most Oppressed by the WTO
WTO Indicted for Crimes Against Humanity at Rural Peoples Tribunal

Asian Farmers Declaration of Unity against Patents on Life

The Declaration of Unity of farmers who attended the Asian Workshop on TRIPs:Defending Farmer's Right against Patents on Life in held on December 17, 2005 at the Victoria Park, Hong Kong during the Peoples' Camp in protest of the 6th WTO Ministerial Meeting.

The Stockholm Convention:

IPEN KEEP THE PROMISE CAMPAIGN

The International POPs Elimination Network (IPEN) has successfully held the 1st Conference of Parties of the Stockholm Convention on POPs that took place in Uruguay on 2-6 May 2005. The “Keep the Promise” campaign, as it is aptly called, aims to remind the governments to honor the integrity of the Convention text and to keep the promise of protecting the public health and the environment from the harms caused by POPs.

Earth Negotiations Bulletin Summary of the First Conference of the Parties to the Stockholm Convention
IPEN Congratulates Parties to the Stockholm Convention on POPs
IPEN Statement To The COP 1 of the Stockholm Convention
IPEN Keep the Promise Position Paper
IPEN Preliminary Results of Global Egg Sampling for Unintentional POPs

 

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