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From: Berhane Habtemariam (Berhane.Habtemariam@gmx.de)
Date: Thu Jul 28 2011 - 15:53:02 EDT
Rights Group Criticizes Ethiopia over Farmland Leases
Joe DeCapua
July 28, 2011
A human rights group has accused the Ethiopian government of leasing some of
its most productive farmland to foreign companies. Survival International
said the Omo River region is the traditional homeland of some 90-thousand
indigenous people.
The group said Malaysian, Italian and Korean companies are buying leases;
and that large areas are being cleared for state-run plantations.
"The government announced that it was going ahead with the huge sugar cane
plantation known as the Kuraz Project. We know that there are leases given
out to other foreign companies. For example, an Italian company, which is
leasing 30,000 hectares to grow palm oil," Fiona Watson, Survival
International's field and research director.
Allegations
Survival International said the government has failed to consult the
indigenous people, who would be affected. "Leasing of their land without
their knowing about it," said Watson, "is going to create enormous problems
for them."
The government rejected the group's allegations. Spokesman Simon Bereket
said it was official policy to inform and consult with local populations.
"That is the normal practice in Ethiopia," he said, "mandated by the
constitution to be discussed by all peoples."
Bereket called the group's accusations "baseless."
He added, "As far as I know the indigenous people are very supportive of the
government. These are indigenous people who had been neglected for
centuries, never been considered to be Ethiopians. It's only now or last 20
years that their identity has been recognized and protected."
Watson said the projects threaten to destroy the way of life for the
indigenous people near the Omo River.
"By and large, the tribal peoples of the Omo Valley are self-sufficient
people, who have perfected techniques to live reasonably well in what is a
difficult environment. If the leases go ahead.they're going to lose all the
ability to be self-sufficient."
Many are nomadic cattle herders. Others rely on the seasonal flooding of the
Omo River to deposit silt on the farmland, making it more fertile.
Who owns the land
However, the government said private property is not an issue in the Omo
valley or elsewhere in Ethiopia.
"Technically, land belongs to the government. Land is not private property
in Ethiopia. So, it is basically the government who owns the land of the
country."
Watson said, "It's true that the government says that. That doesn't
necessarily make it right. And under all sorts of international conventions
and laws, it is recognized that indigenous and tribal peoples should have
the right to collectively own their land. In fact there is a clause in the
Ethiopia constitution, which says that nomadic pastoralist peoples, which
includes most of the people in the Omo Valley, have the right to use land
freely to practice their pastoralism."
Survival International said government plans for relocating the people to
villages would create more poverty and hunger. It said a similar project in
the 1980s by a former government, "had an incredibly negative impact."
Gibe III
Survival International has also been a long time critic of the Gibe III damn
under construction on the Omo River. It said the dam would end the seasonal
floods benefiting farmlands and adversely affect water access in the region.
"If you look at the land leasing in conjunction with the dam it's like a
double whammy." Watson said.
Bereket disagrees. He said, "There is no way, no way that this government
would trample upon the rights of such indigenous groups."
http://media.voanews.com/images/300*224/OMO-6_0001_cropped-0001.jpg
Photo: Courtesy International Rivers
A tribesman near the Omo River in Ethiopia. Rights and environmental groups
say traditional life in the area would change for the worse if the
controversial Gibe III dame is built.
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