The Republic of the Philippines has created an administrative unit labeled Bangsmoro, within exists competing sovereign governments, with whom the Republic of the Philippines is negotiating for incorporation.
* Mindanao National Liberation Front (MNLF) [mnlf.net].
* Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF). Central Committee on Information [www.luwaran.com]
* Bangsmoro Islamic Freedom Fighters (BIFF).
2012-10-11 "On the Bangsmoro negotiations: No revolution, no peace in the Philippines"
[http://llco.org/on-the-bangsmoro-negotiations-no-revolution-no-peace-in-the-philippines/]:
It has been reported that a preliminary peace deal has been worked out between the Moro Islamic Liberation Front and the Aquino regime in the Philippines. Several groups, including the Islamic Front, have been fighting against national oppression in the predominantly Catholic Philippines. There is a long history of violence by imperialists against Filipino masses as a whole, but Muslim communities have been specifically targeted at times. Muslim communities have not only suffered from imperialism, but also as minorities in the Philippines. President Benigno Aquino III, who represents the interests of imperialism, stated that “This framework agreement paves the way for final and enduring peace in Mindanao.”
The framework is a set of general principles for the creation of “Bangsamoro,” a new autonomous region in the Muslim region of the south Mindanao. The agreement discusses topics such as the power of the new autonomous region, revenues, borders, etc. Bangsamoro is suppose to replace the old Muslim autonomous region that was created in 1989. The previous autonomous region was only created after negotiations in Libya between Moro National Liberation Front, which the Islamic Front split from, and the regime. The old region did not solve the problems of national oppression and poverty there. Even Aquino described it as a “failed experiment.” It is uncertain that a new region will actually be created. The current agreement could end up as the last attempt, especially since imperialists and their comprador agents have an interest in denying the self-determination of oppressed peoples.
According to the framework, the Filipino state will continue to have exclusive power over defense and security, foreign and monetary policy in the new autonomous region. Aquino stated that the Muslims will receive an “equitable share of taxation, revenues, and the fruits of national patrimony … and equal protection of laws and access to impartial justice.” In exchange, the Islamic Front is to decommission its forces. Thus, according to the framework, key power retains in the hands of the imperialist-backed state. With this agreement, the Islamic Front assures that they no longer aim to secede from the country.
It is being reported that the Islamic Front has now “renounced terrorism” in the media. The United States welcomed the agreement. US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton stated that, “This agreement is a testament to the commitment of all sides for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in the southern Philippines.”
The reality is that there is no peace between capitalism and the masses. South Mindanao is one of the most impoverished regions. The Philippines as a whole is dominated by imperialism, especially US imperialism. Poverty and underdevelopment of the Muslim regions will continue whether they have limited autonomy or not. National oppression will also continue. Even if the Muslims gain some concessions from the Aquino regime, they will still be under the jackboot of the imperialists as the rest of the Filipino masses are. “Without a people’s army, the people have nothing.” The Muslim masses should not lay down their weapons for a few empty promises or concessions from the imperialists and their puppets. Rather, the key to real self-determination lies in unity with the broader struggle of the Filipino masses against the imperialists and their agents. The imperialists have long used the tactic of divide and conquer. The key to victory of poor and oppressed peoples is unity in their common struggle against their principal enemy, imperialism. The masses of the Third World and their allies must unite under the leadership of the most advanced revolutionary science of Leading Light Communism to wage global people’s war.
Source
1. Philippines, Muslim rebels agree on peace pact By EILEEN NG and JIM GOMEZ | Associated Press news.yahoo.com
2012-06-18 "Ethiopia: Pastoralists Forced Off Their Land For Sugar Plantations"
[http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=15402%3Aethiopia-pastoralists-forced-off-their-land-for-sugar-plantations&catid=25&Itemid=58]:
The Ethiopian government is forcibly displacing indigenous pastoral communities in Ethiopia’s Lower Omo valley without adequate consultation or compensation to make way for state-run sugar plantations, Human Rights Watch said in a report released today. The report contains previously unpublished government maps that show the extensive developments planned for the Omo valley, including irrigation canals, sugar processing factories, and 100,000 hectares of other commercial agriculture.
The 73-page report, “‘What Will Happen if Hunger Comes?’: Abuses against the Indigenous Peoples of Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley, [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2012/06/18/what-will-happen-if-hunger-comes-0]” documents how government security forces are forcing communities to relocate from their traditional lands through violence and intimidation, threatening their entire way of life with no compensation or choice of alternative livelihoods. Government officials have carried out arbitrary arrests and detentions, beatings, and other violence against residents of the Lower Omo valley who questioned or resisted the development plans.
“Ethiopia’s ambitious plans for the Omo valley appear to ignore the rights of the people who live there,” said Ben Rawlence, senior Africa researcher at Human Rights Watch. “There is no shortcut to development; the people who have long relied on that land for their livelihood need to have their property rights respected, including on consultation and compensation.”
The Lower Omo valley, one of the most remote and culturally diverse areas on the planet, is home to around 200,000 people from eight unique agro-pastoral communities who have lived there for as long as anyone can remember. Their way of life and their identity is linked to the land and access to the Omo River. The Omo valley is in Ethiopia’s Southern Peoples, Nations, and Nationalities Region (SNNPR), near the border with Kenya, and was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1980.
The significant changes planned for the Omo valley are linked to the construction of Africa’s highest dam, the controversial Gibe III hydropower project, along the Omo River. Downstream, the sugar plantations will depend on irrigation canals. Although there have been some independent assessments of the Gibe dam project, to date, the Ethiopian government has not published any environmental or social impact assessments for the sugar plantations and other commercial agricultural developments in the Omo valley.
Human Rights Watch interviewed more than 35 residents in June 2011, along with 10 donor officials and at least 30 other witnesses since that time. At the time of Human Rights Watch’s visit, military units regularly visited villages to intimidate residents and suppress dissent related to the sugar plantation development. Soldiers regularly stole or killed cattle.
“What am I going to eat?” a man of the Mursi ethnic group told Human Rights Watch. “They said to take all my cattle and to sell them and to only tie one up at my house. What can I do with only one? I am a Mursi. If hunger comes I shoot a cow’s neck and drink blood. If we sell them all for money how will we eat?”
The evidence gathered by Human Rights Watch since its visit demonstrates that in the past year regional officials and security forces have forcibly seized land from indigenous communities living and farming within the areas slated for sugar production. Reports of forced displacement and the clearing of agricultural land have gathered pace.
Access to the Omo River is critical for the food security and way of life of the pastoralists who live in the valley. Several community representatives said that state officials had told them, without any other discussion, that the communities would need to reduce the number of their cattle and resettle in one place, and that they would lose access to the Omo River.
As of June 2012, irrigation canals have been dug, land has been cleared, and sugar production has begun along the east bank of the river. Government maps photographed by Human Rights Watch indicate that the area where sugar cultivation is under way is a fraction of what is labeled as “Sugar Block One.” Two additional “blocks” of land that will be taken for sugar cultivation are to follow. Ethiopia’s existing assessments of the impact of the Gibe dam do not include the impact of sugar cultivation and irrigation on the flow of the Omo River, or the downstream impact on Lake Turkana. The massive network of irrigation canals indicated on the maps suggests that the previous assessments are insufficient.
The full implementation of the plan could affect at least 200,000 people in the Omo valley and another 300,000 Kenyans living across the border around Lake Turkana, which derives up to 90 percent of its water from the Omo River. Human Rights Watch said Kenya should press for new environmental and social impact assessments that examine the cumulative impact of the Gibe III dam and the irrigated commercial agriculture scheme.
These developments – which threaten the economic, social, and cultural rights of the Omo valley’s indigenous inhabitants – are being carried out in contravention of domestic and international human rights standards, which call for the recognition of property rights, with meaningful consultation, consent, and compensation for loss of land, livelihoods, and food security, and which state that displacement, especially of indigenous peoples from their historic homelands, must be treated as an absolute last resort.
The rights of indigenous peoples are addressed by Ethiopia’s own laws and constitution, as well as the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and regional human rights treaties and mechanisms such as the African human rights charter as interpreted by the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. Under these laws and agreements, indigenous peoples have property rights over the land they have historically occupied that must be recognized by the state, and they can only be displaced with their free, prior, and informed consent. Even when such consent is given, they must also be fully compensated for any loss of land, property, or livelihood.
In fact, Ethiopia has not recognized any rights over the land of the indigenous communities of the area, including tenure security, Human Rights Watch found. Neither has it taken steps to adequately consult with, let alone seek the consent of, the indigenous peoples of the Omo valley, in particular taking into account the scant formal education of most of the population.
The Ethiopian government has responded to concerns raised by Human Rights Watch by noting that the plantations will bring benefits to the indigenous populations in the form of employment. Employment may be a welcome benefit for affected communities. But the prospect of some jobs does not remove the urgent need for the government to suspend plantation development until rigorous assessments have been carried out, the rights of the indigenous communities over their land has been recognized and consent sought, and any displacement or acquisition of land is shown to be strictly necessary, proportionate, and compensation provided, Human Rights Watch said.
Many international nongovernmental organizations have raised concerns about potential social and environmental impacts of the Gibe III hydropower project and have criticized the Ethiopian government for a lack of transparency and independent assessment. The Ethiopian government withdrew its request of the World Bank and African Development Bank for financing of the Gibe dam project but has not publicized its reasons for doing so. UNESCO’s World Heritage Committee has recommended suspending the project pending further independent evaluation of the effect on Lake Turkana.
The Ethiopian government relies on international aid for a significant percentage of its budget. Security forces and officials from the regional and district administrations are implementing the plans for the sugar plantations and telling local residents they must move, without any consultation or recognition of their rights. A multi-donor funded program called Protection of Basic Services (PBS) provides hundreds of millions of dollars to support health, education, and other sectors and funds the salaries of district government officials across Ethiopia, including SNNPR region. The main donors to PBS are the World Bank, the United Kingdom, the European Union, the Netherlands, and Germany.
Human Rights Watch called on the Ethiopian government to suspend the construction of Gibe III and the associated sugar plantations until these developments can be carried out in a manner consistent with national laws and international human rights standards. The Ethiopian government should recognize the rights of the Omo valley’s indigenous communities over their historic homelands and engage in meaningful discussion with them over the future use of their land and compensation on that basis, prior to further industrial development in South Omo. Donors should ensure their funding is not supporting forced displacement or unlawful expropriation of indigenous lands, Human Rights Watch said.
“Ethiopia’s desire to accelerate economic development is laudable, but recent events in the Omo valley are taking an unacceptable toll on the rights and livelihoods of indigenous communities,” Rawlence said. “The government should suspend the process until it meets basic standards, and donors should make sure their aid is not facilitating abuses.”
To read the report, “‘What Will Happen if Hunger Comes?’: Abuses against the Indigenous Peoples of Ethiopia’s Lower Omo Valley [http://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/reports/ethiopia0612webwcover_0.pdf]”. For more Human Rights Watch reporting on Ethiopia, please visit: “‘Waiting Here for Death’: Forced Displacement and Villagization in Ethiopia’s Gambella Region, [http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=13656:ethiopia-waiting-here-for-death-forced-displacement-and-villagization-in-ethiopias-gambella-region&catid=25:africa-indigenous-peoples&Itemid=58]” and “Development without Freedom: How Aid Underwrites Repression in Ethiopia [http://www.hrw.org/reports/2010/10/19/development-without-freedom-0].”
Selected Accounts from “What Will Happen if Hunger Comes” -
“People disagree with the government on the sugar, but are afraid of the possible use of force to resettle people and so do not say much. [We have a] big fear of government here. If you express concern, you go to jail.” – Bodi man, June 2011.
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“There will be a problem during the dry season. Now there is water, but when there isn’t if we do not go back to Omo we will need government to bring water. If they do not, [we] and our cattle will die. We will go to Omo anyway, if not, we will die, they can kill us there if they want.” – Mursi villager, June 2011.
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“What am I going to eat? They said to take all my cattle and to sell them and to only tie one up at my house. What can I do with only one? I am a Mursi. If hunger comes I shoot a cow’s neck and drink blood. If we sell them all for money how will we eat? When we get married we marry with cattle. What will we marry with? What will we eat? When hunger comes what will we feed our children with? If we just keep chickens will we eat soup or milk them…? ‘This land is my land,’ say the highland Ethiopians. ‘Run to the forest like a baboon.’” – Mursi man describing the importance of cattle, December 2011.
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“They [the government officials] cleared out their [Kwegu and Bodi] gardens. They cleared far and dug up their sorghum. The sorghum was near ripening; a truck plowed it and cast it away. The Kwegu gardens were plowed and some Kwegu are now without anything. If their sorghum is plowed what are they going to eat? What will they give to their kids?” – Man describing what happened to Bodi and Kwegu farmland that was cleared in December 2011.
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“There will be big problems in the areas if all the cattle are given to the government. What will these people eat, now the drought is really badly affecting the Horn of Africa? Now the dam has been built, no water in the river, land has been taken away, the cattle given to the government, what will happen to the poor people in time of the famine? Those people who want to wipe out the pastoralists eat three times a day. What will happen if hunger comes?” – Mursi man, May 2011.
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This map was developed with data from government of Ethiopia maps supplied to Human Rights Watch. It illustrates plans for more than 200 kilometers of irrigation canals running along the Lower Omo River cutting through the hearts of both the Omo and Mago National Parks and running almost all the way to Lake Turkana. The maps also show land that has been awarded to private investors for commercial agriculture or is being marketed for lease to private investors. It also shows the location of three very large parcels of land earmarked for sugar plantations (Blocks 1, 2, and 3) that are situated on both sides of the Omo River. This land is traditionally used and occupied by the Mursi, Bodi and Kwegu people.
