Public Statements

Following the one-year anniversary of the historic protest waged by Maasai communities in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area (NCA), the Oakland Institute calls on the Tanzanian government to respect their rights to land and life and end mass eviction plans. , Recognize and protect Maasai land rights, in line with international standards.Affirm the role of Indigenous knowledge in conservation, with a focus on Indigenous women and girls.Guarantee Free, Prior, and Informed Consent (FPIC) before any conservation initiatives are launched.Support sustainable livelihoods rooted in Maasai knowledge, culture, and environmental stewardship.<, Photos: Maasai communities taking a stand for their rights to land and life in the NCA, August 2024. Source: The Maasai Elders

We, the undersigned, are writing to express our horror and outrage at Israel's forced starvation and ceaseless bombings of Gaza.

Depuis des décennies, les communautés riveraines des plantations du groupe Socfin dans le monde entier dénoncent les pratiques abusives de l'entreprise, qui vont de l'accaparement des terres à la violence sexuelle. Aujourd'hui, leurs plaintes ont été validées par une source surprenante : les propres consultants rémunérés de Socfin, qui ont conclu que la plupart des plaintes sont au moins partiellement fondées et que la grande majorité des abus sont de la responsabilité de l'entreprise., Footnotes View allCloseLes rapports de la Fondation Earthworm sont dispersés sur son site web

For decades, communities neighbouring the Socfin group's plantations worldwide have railed against the company's abusive practices, which range from land grabs to sexual violence. Now their complaints have been vindicated by a surprising source: Socfin's own paid consultants, who have concluded that most of the complaints are at least partially founded, and that the vast majority of the abuses are the responsibility of the corporation., Footnotes View allCloseThe Earthworm Foundation reports are scattered around its website:

As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk prepares to visit Sri Lanka from June 23-26, 2025, the Oakland Institute calls on the United Nations to address Sri Lanka government’s past and ongoing land grabs and human rights violations targeting Tamils in the country. Sixteen years since the end of the civil war, the Tamil population – marginalized and persecuted since the country’s independence in 1948 – still awaits justice.

Les rebelles du M23 soutenus par le Rwanda ont récemment pris Goma, la capitale provinciale du Nord-Kivu en République démocratique du Congo (RDC). Il s’agit de la dernière escalade en trois décennies de conflit armé dans l’est de la RDC, qui a fait plus de 6 millions de morts depuis 1996.

Rwanda-backed M23 rebels have recently captured Goma, the provincial capital of North Kivu in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). This is the latest escalation in the three decades of armed conflict in Eastern DRC, which has caused over 6 million deaths since 1996.

We are deeply alarmed by President Trump’s recent statements that appear to endorse and plan for forced Palestinian displacement leading to the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip.

We write to express our concern regarding the Provincial Decree issued on November 13th, 2024, by the Government of South Kivu. This decree, while addressing important environmental threats, risks facilitating a resurgence of violence towards the Batwa Indigenous Peoples in and around the Kahuzi-Biega National Park (PNKB), in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. We fear that this order’s indiscriminate prohibition of all individuals including the Batwa Indigenous Peoples, will be used to legitimate violence against their communities in and around the PNKB.

Nous écrivons ce jour pour exprimer notre profonde inquiétude concernant le décret provincial publié le 13 novembre 2024, par les autorités provinciales du Sud-Kivu. Ce décret, tout en s'attaquant à d'importantes menaces environnementales, risque d’avoir aussi pour conséquence une résurgence des violences à l'encontre des peuples autochtones Batwa dans et autour du parc national du Kahuzi-Biega (PNKB), en République démocratique du Congo.