Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka

February 7, 2012

Open letter to Shri Naveen Patnaik, Honourable Chief Minister, Odisha, India

Copied to:

Mr. Manmohan Singh, Honourable Prime Minister, India

Ms. Sonia Gandhi, Honourable President, Indian National Congress

Honourable Chairperson, Human Rights Commission, India

Shri. V. Kishore Chandra Deo, Honourable Minister of Tribal Affairs, India

Smt. Jayanthi Natarajan, Honourable Minister of Environment and Forests, India

Superintendent of Police, Jagatsingpur, Odisha, India

Appeal to stop barbaric police action

Dear Sir

We are concerned at the barbaric actions of your police and paramilitary forces in the proposed POSCO project area in Jagatsingpur district. We have come to know that men paramilitary forces are mercilessly beating up even women villagers and children. Several women are badly injured. The police have also started smashing betel vines and cutting the trees on village lands forcefully.

This brutal action to forcefully evict the villagers and give the land on a platter to South Korean TNC POSCO is clearly a violation of the laws of India and international legal standards. So far we know the National Green Tribunal of India has already suspended the environment clearance to the proposed POSCO project.

We appeal to you to urgently stop the police brutality, withdraw the police force, initiate an inquiry into the human rights violations by the police and put an end to this illegal land grabbing by the State for a private foreign company.

In Solidarity with the struggling villagers,

Signed

1. Friends of the Earth International (with 74 member groups)
2. S.M. Mohamed Idris, Sahabat Alam Malaysia/Friends of the Earth Malaysia
3. Hemantha Withanage, Centre for Environmental Justice (CEJ) / FoE Sri Lanka
4. Issac Rojas, COECOCEIBA — Friends of the Earth Costa Rica
5. Hyunji Kim, KFEM / Friends of the Earth South Korea
6. Olivier Berland, Les Amis de la Terre-France
7. Prakash Mani Sharma, Pro Public / Friends of the Earth Nepal
8. Anabela Lemos, Justiça Ambiental / Friends of the Earth Mozambique
9. Hans Berkhuizen, Milieudefensie / Friends of the Earth Netherlands
10. Lucia Otriz, Amigos da Terra Brazil
11. Elías Díaz Peña, SOBREVIVENCIA / Friends of the Earth Paraguay
12. Ricardo Navarro, CESTA / Friends of the Earth El Salvador
13. John Whyte, Friends of the Earth New Zealand
14. Dr. Richard Dixon, Friends of the Earth Scotland
15. Tatiana Roa Avendano, CENSAT / Friends of the Earth Colombia
16. Virgilio da Silva Guterre, Haburas Foundation / Friends of the Earth Timor-Leste
17. Grace Villanueva, Legal Rights Center / Ksama sa Kalikasan / FOE Philippines
18. Beatrice Olivastri, Friends of the Earth Canada
19. Junichi Mishiba, Friends of the Earth Japan
20. Abetnego Tarigan, WALHI — Friends of the Earth Indonesia
21. Elaine Gilligan, Friends of the Earth England, Wales and Northern Ireland
22. Darius Assem, Les Amis de la Terre Togo / Friends of the Earth Togo
23. Karin Nansen, REDES / Friends of the Earth Uruguay
24. Karen Orenstein, Friends of the Earth United States
25. Bente Andersen, NOAH — Friends of the Earth Denmark