NEWSLETTER MAY 2013 Hello FIANistas, Below you’ll find the latest news updates regarding cases and issues relevant to FIAN’s work.   Happy reading and please do not hesitate to   contact us with your questions or feedback. (Photo: Mubende, Uganda)   New Complaint Mechanism on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Enters into Force   Annual Report   Land for Food, Not for Profit – FIAN and Civil Society Call for Mobilization   Ugandan Court Orders Compensation be Paid to Evictees of the Kaweri-Coffee-Plantation   Food Banks in Germany: Right to Food Must Not be Privatized   FIAN Condemns Human Rights Violations of Indigenous Sawhoyamaxa   FIAN Demands Filipino Government Take Action to Fight Hunger   International Organizations Issue Declaration in Support of the Struggle of Indigenous Amazonian Peoples Facing Threats Due to Development Projects New Complaint Mechanism on Violations of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Enters into Force FIAN International celebrates the entry into force of the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (OP-ICESCR) which will took place on 5 May 2013. Under the Protocol, victims of violations of economic, social and cultural rights, such as the right to food, health, and housing, who are unable to seek relief within their own country, can seek redress at the international level by filing a complaint with the United Nations Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.   Read more. Annual Report FIAN International’s 2012 Annual Report is now available for electronic download.  Click here to download the report and read our year in review. Land for Food, Not for Profit – FIAN and Civil Society Call for Mobilization The Transnational Institute (TNI) together with the European Coordination Via Campesina (ECVC) and the Hands-off the Land Alliance (HotL), including FIAN International and others, released a report on thee International Day of Peasant Struggles, entitled “Land concentration, land grabbing and people’s struggles in Europe,” which reveals the hidden truth about land concentration in Europe: that half of all European farmland is controlled by just 3% of landowners. FIAN International, together with social movements and other civil society organizations call for mobilization to reclaim our food system.   Read more and download the full report here.   Read a related statement by FIAN Philippines. Ugandan Court Orders Compensation be Paid to Evictees of the Kaweri-Coffee-Plantation The High Court in Kampala, Uganda ordered that compensation in the amount of approximately eleven million Euros be paid to the evictees of land now occupied by the Kaweri-Coffee-Plantation, which is owned by the German Neumann Kaffee Gruppe. In the judgment, the compensation is not demanded directly from the defendants themselves, but rather from the lawyers of the German investors. However, in his final remarks the judge harshly criticizes the German investors for neglecting their human rights duty to perform due diligence.   Read more. Food Banks in Germany: Right to Food Must Not be Privatized On the occasion of the Universal Periodic Review of Germany during the UN Human Rights Council on April 25, FIAN calls for a public debate on the growing presence of food banks in Germany. Food poverty must be recognized as a human rights issue and the German government must ensure the adequacy of income from employment and social protection schemes, so that no one need become dependent on food banks.   Read more. FIAN Condemns Human Rights Violations of Indigenous Sawhoyamaxa