Press Releases

In a report submitted to the UN Human Rights Council’s Universal Periodic Review (UPR) on September 15, 2013, the Oakland Institute and the Housing and Land Rights Network outlined the human rights and international law violations perpetrated by the government of Ethiopia in the name of country’s development strategy.

For Immediate Release Contact: Anuradha Mittal, +1 510 469 5228, [email protected] The embattled Herakles Farms palm oil plantation project in Cameroon appears to have now gone off the rails. Recent news of CEO Bruce Wrobel’s early retirement from parent company Sithe Global, plus charges of corruption filed in the US by Cameroonian NGOs and the virtual disappearance of All for Africa, an NGO (chaired by Bruce Wrobel) that granted a faux “green” legitimacy, combine to indicate that failure is at hand for the maligned project.

Footage from our work in Papua New Guinea to support the indigenous peoples’ struggle for their customary land amid serious land grabs. Recently, we have received calls for action from groups in Papua New Guinea. In the last few years, 5.5 million hectares of customary land have been leased, primarily to foreign corporations, of which Australian and Malaysian logging companies are some of the biggest beneficiaries.

Embargoed through July 17, 2013, 8:00 AM PST Contacts: Anuradha Mittal (510) 469-5228; [email protected] Mousseau (510) 512-5458; [email protected] OAKLAND, CA—Two new reports from the Oakland Institute, Development Aid to Ethiopia: Overlooking Violence, Marginalization, and Political Repression and Ignoring Abuse in Ethiopia: DFID and USAID in the Lower Omo Valley, show how Western development assistance is supporting forced evictions and massive violations of human rights in Ethiopia.The Ethiopian government’s controversial “villagization

For Immediate ReleaseAction for Large Scale Land Acquisition Transparency (ALLAT)31 John Street, P.O.

Yaoundé - 13 juin 2013: Le Centre pour l’Environnement et le Développement (CED) et le Réseau de Lutte Contre la Faim (RELUFA), deux ONG Camerounaises, ont saisi ce jour le Gouvernement américain d’un recours afin qu’une enquête urgente soit ouverte, dans le cadre des Principes directeurs de l’OCDE relatifs aux entreprises multinationales, sur les allégations de corruption autour des opérations de la société SGSOC, filiale de la firme américaine Herakles Farms, qui envisage de mettre en place une plantation de palmiers à huile d’environ 73 000 hectares dans le sud-ouest du Cameroun.De nombreux

Yaoundé - June 13, 2013: Today the Center for Environment and Development (CED) and The Network to Fight Against Hunger (RELUFA), two Cameroonian NGOs, filed a complaint with the American Government via its OECD National Contact Point concerning allegations of corruption in SGSOC’s—an affiliate of the American company Herakles Farms—proposed 73,000 Ha palm oil plantation in South West Cameroon. The organizations are calling for an investigation to be opened urgently.Numerous acts of corruption directly involving SGSOC employees have come to light in the past few months.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASECONTACT:Anuradha Mittal, Executive Director, Oakland Institute, [email protected], +1 510.469.5228Irene Wabiwa, Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace Africa: [email protected], +27 795128565Filip Verbelen, Forest Campaigner, Greenpeace International, [email protected], + 32 496 16 15 86Alexa Phillips, Greenpeace Africa Communications, +27 (0)7989 45277 Oakland Institute, Greenpeace Denounce Cameroon Government's Decision to Lift Suspension on New York Corporation's Palm Oil ProjectRecent Report Proves Herakles Farms' Purported Sustainable Venture i

Télécharger en Francais Groups around the world accuse European business magnates Vincent Bolloré and Hubert Fabri of using intimidation to silence local opposition to African land grab SOCFIN Agricultural Company Sierra Leone Ltd.

The Oakland Institute is a policy think tank that has been studying land investment deals in Africa over the last 5 years to assess the development potential of agricultural investments.