Press Releases

Oakland, CA—With human rights as the special focus of the 26th Summit of the African Union that gets underway today in Ethiopia, the Oakland Institute and the Environmental Defender Law Center (EDLC) released a new report, Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Law: A Tool to Stifle Dissent. This timely report, authored by lawyers from leading international law firms, provides an in-depth and damning analysis of Ethiopia’s Anti-Terrorism Proclamation. Building on the substantial number of earlier legal analyses prepared by a wide range of critics of the law, the report examines how the law, enacted in 2009, is a tool of repression, designed and used by the Ethiopian Government to silence its critics.

Oakland, CA—On the eve of the first anniversary of President Sirisena’s election in Sri Lanka, a new report by the International Truth and Justice Project (ITJP), Silenced, brings forward horrific new evidence of torture and sexual violence, perpetrated by Sri Lankan security forces in 2015.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE WASHINGTON DC, December 17, 2015 — A petition denouncing the unjust imprisonment of three Ethiopian human rights defenders and calling on the Ethiopian government to drop all charges against them immediately, is being presented this week to the Ethiopian government as well as its financial backers—governments of the US, Canada, UK, Germany, Switzerland, and the World Bank, which provide a significant amount of international aid to Ethiopia. The petition is signed by 1,229 people from 70 countries.

As the count down starts for the climate negotiations to begin in Paris, Sweden has just announced it will freeze payment to Green Resources, one of the largest plantation forestry carbon offset companies operating on the African continent. This move follows the publication of The Darker Shade of Green: Plantation Forestry and Carbon Violence by the Oakland Institute just over a year ago

Oakland, CA — The Oakland Institute today released 33 case studies that shed light on the tremendous success of agroecological agriculture across the African continent in the face of climate change, hunger, and poverty.

Oakland, CA—Cameroonian authorities must stop the harassment of Nasako Besingi, environmental human rights defender, according to an international coalition of civil society organizations including the Oakland Institute, Forest Peoples Programme, Grain, Save Wildlife Foundation, Cultural Survival, Greenpeace Africa, and the Environmental Investigation Agency.

Dr. Jim Yong Kim President World Bank Group 1818 H Street NW Washington, DC 20433 USA Cc: Mr. Makhtar Diop, Vice President for Africa Mr. Guang Z. Chen, Country Director for Ethiopia Mr. Gonzalo Castro De La Mata, Inspection Panel Chairman Re: Inspection Panel Translator Charged With Terrorism Dear President Kim, We are writing to express our deep concern regarding the arbitrary arrest, detention without prompt charge or legal representation, and eventual spurious terrorism charges brought against Pastor Omot Agwa Okwoy by Ethiopian authorities.

-- EMBARGOED UNTIL 9am EST, Tuesday, October 6, 2015 --Civil society organizations, Indigenous communities, and social movements come together to challenge the World Bank’s neoliberal agenda, which has caused massive environmental destruction and social distress on the Latin American continent.www.ourlandourbusiness.orgContacts:Anuradha Mittal, [email protected], + 1 510 469-5228Alnoor Ladha, [email protected], +27 60 853 9810César Gamboa, [email protected], +511 263-2063Lima, Peru — The International Monetary Fund–World Bank Annual Meetings will take place in Lima, Peru this yea

-- COMUNICADO EMBARGADO HASTA 9.00 a.m.

For Immediate ReleaseActivists Heading for Food Workshop Charged with Terrorism Nairobi – Ethiopian authorities should immediately drop all charges and release a former World Bank translator and two other local activists charged under Ethiopia’s repressive anti-terrorism law after trying to attend a workshop on food security in Nairobi, six international development and human rights groups said today. On September 7, 2015, the authorities charged Pastor Omot Agwa, Ashinie Astin, and Jamal Oumar Hojele under the anti-terrorism law after detaining them for nearly six months.