NEWSLETTER - NOVEMBER 2013 A Nãndesy blesses each of the indigenous lining up. Courtesy of CIMI Guarani Ñandeva Indigenous Peoples in Brazil demonstrate peacefully to claim their human right to territory In a peaceful resistance, nearly 5000 Guarani Ñandeva in Brazil are seeking approval of demarcation of their Indigenous Land of Ivy Katu, while resisting the forced and illegal restitution of farm owners to this territory.   Read more... In response to the systematic violations of human rights to territory,  food and other connected rights that Guarani have been suffering throughout several decades in Brazil, FIAN has written a petition to President Dilma Rousseff requiring not to approve proposed legislations that further undermine basic human rights for Indigenous Peoples. The petition will be handed to the Brazilian Government by December 10 on the occasion of the International Human Rights Day.    Sign the petition now   Participants of Peoples' Forum request binding instrument to regulate TNCs including ETOs   Austria, Belgium and Norway presented their parallel reports to UN Committee   European Tour discusses mining in Kimsacocha, Ecuador   Hearing on the situation of human rights defenders in Brazil before the Inter-American Commission   Demanding protection for rights of rural workers Participants of Peoples' Forum request binding instrument to regulate TNCs including ETOs Debbie Stothard, Coordinator of Alt-SEAN Burma and SG of FIDH November 22, 2013: A joint statement was drafted by participants of the first annual People's Forum on Human Rights and Businesses calling for an international legally binding instrument on human rights, transnational corporations and other business enterprises.   Read more... Austria, Belgium and Norway presented their parallel reports to UN Committee Hearing of Austria Delegation at CESCR November 20, 2013: In the frame of the 51st Session of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (CESCR) taking place in Geneva in November, diverse human rights organizations from Belgium, Austria and Norway presented their parallel reports on the human rights situation in their respective countries, both on the domestic and extraterritorial dimensions.   Read more... European Tour discusses mining in Kimsacocha, Ecuador Criminalization of HR Defenders in Ecuador November 12, 2013: Federico Guzmán, human rights defender and peasant leader from Kimsakocha in Ecuador, carried out a two week tour of Europe to meet with high-level authorities in Sweden, Italy and Belgium.. These meetings addressed the criminalization of Guzmán and others by the Ecuadorian State because of their involvement in the resistance movement against mining in the Kimsakocha highlands.   Read more... Hearing on the situation of human rights defenders in Brazil before the Inter-American Commission Protests in Matto Grosso do Sul October 29, 2013: Victims of human rights violations, representing the Guarani-Kaiowá indigenous people and the quilombo Brejo dos Crioulos, and supported by human rights organizations, testified on the situation of human rights defenders in Brazil before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.   Read more... Demanding protection for rights of rural workers Fishermen in India October 18, 2013: FIAN International has written an open letter to the Chair of the Committee on Foreign Affairs of the European Parliament (EP) to draw their attention to the ongoing negotiation process of a UN Declaration on the Rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas at the United Nations Human Rights Council.   Read more...