Press Releases

Contact: Anuradha Mittal510-469-5228, [email protected] an open letter to the members of the United Nations Human Rights Council, more than 60 eminent citizens from around the world are calling for an international judicial process for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Sri Lanka. The Human Rights Council meets this week to consider the report of the High Commissioner’s investigation into the war crimes, particularly those in the last few weeks of Sri Lanka’s civil war.

Obok Akway received his GED diploma this June despite all the hurdles that came his way as a refugeeAs President Obama prepares to visit Ethiopia later this month, both international civil society and the Ethiopian diaspora are holding protests, challenging that the visit will further legitimize the country’s repressive regime that has muzzled all dissent and political freedom.Ethiopia is a close ally of the United States and one of the largest recipients of US aid in Africa.

BackgroundOn June 17, 2015, The Oakland Institute, Greenpeace Africa, and Global Justice Now released the report Irresponsible Investment: Agrica’s Broken Development Model in Tanzania, documenting the devastating impacts that the British company Agrica’s industrial rice plantation in Mngeta, Tanzania has had on local communities in the past 7 years. In his response to the findings of the report, Mr. Carter Coleman, CEO of Agrica, has broadly rejected firsthand testimonies from affected communities. In an email message that was circulated to his investors, Mr.

Download PDFInternational Press ReleaseContacts: Anuradha Mittal The Oakland InstituteOakland, California Mobile: +1-510-469-5228 [email protected] Twitter: @Mittaloak Glen Tyler Greenpeace Africa Johannesburg, RSA Mobile: +27 71 645 7946 [email protected] Twitter: @glentyler Heidi Chow Global Justice Now London, UK Mobile: +44 7711 875 345 [email protected] Twitter: @hidschow Oakland/Johannesburg/London: Norfund, the UK aid department, and Capricorn are funding the British company Agrica’s industrial rice plantation in Mngeta, Tanzania, which is destroying the

Northern Province Chief Minister C V Wigneswaran, has accused the government of not “having the will” to help Tamils or minorities, The Hindu newspaper reported.Pointing out that this had been the “characteristic” of what had been taking place in the country, Mr.

Listen to the full audio from the international telepress conference held on May 28, 2015

A new independent report on the state of human rights in Sri Lanka – the first since the end of the country’s 26-year civil war in 2009 – finds that a silent war continues in which thousands of Tamils, mostly Hindus and Christians, are still internally displaced and subject to military occupation and fierce discrimination by the predominantly Buddhist Sinhalese majority.

Download PDFWhat makes this new report important?This first independent in-depth report on post-war Sri Lanka reveals how, six years after the violent conclusion of the conflict, thousands of Tamils remain displaced from their lands and homes due to the continued occupation of the Northern and Eastern Provinces by the Sri Lankan military.The change of government in January 2015 and Secretary Kerry’s visit to the country in May 2015 suggest hope for reconciliation amidst Sri Lanka’s new relationship with the international community.

As the World Bank prepares for its annual Spring Meetings, members of Our Land Our Business, a campaign of over 260 NGOs, farmer groups and trade unions from around the world, are publically posing three questions about the Bank’s role in land grabbing, climate destruction and the corporatization of agriculture.

Oakland, CA – We Say the Land is Not Yours: Breaking the Silence against Forced Displacement in Ethiopia, a landmark report from the Oakland Institute documents testimony from members of several ethnic groups from different areas of the country,1 bringing forward the voices of those most directly impacted by land grabs and villagization. The Ethiopian government’s villagization program aims to resettle up to 1.5 million Ethiopians, mainly pastoralist and indigenous communities, from areas targeted for industrial plantations. These resettlements have happened without free, prior and informed consent, and when communities resist, they have been forcibly removed by means of violence, imprisonment, intimidation, political coercion, and the denial of humanitarian assistance.