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Chevron Human Rights Resolution Supported by Oblates June 18th, 2009
Using a proxy from the Missionary Oblates, Michael Eisenscher of U.S. Labor Against the War addressed the Annual General Meeting of the Chevron Corporation on May about the company’s efforts to profit from Iraqi oil. The company profited, in particular, from a widely-opposed oil law that would give foreign corporations like Chevron almost complete control of Iraq’s oil industry, to the detriment of the rights of ordinary Iraqis.
Members of the True Cost of Chevron coalition presented their alternative annual report directly to Chevron management and CEO David O’Reilly (who disparagingly responded during the meeting that it “deserves the trash can”). Edited and painstakingly researched by Antonia Juhasz, with help from a coalition of over a dozen groups, “The True Cost of Chevron” highlights the tragic human consequences that are the flip side of the record profits Chevron collected in 2008. It can be downloaded for free at http://truecostofchevron.com/report.html
Chevron is finding itself increasingly in the spotlight over the harmful consequences of its operations, and shareholders are deeply concerned, as evidenced by the 28% support yet again this year for the resolution calling for a clear human rights policy. 28% is considered extremely good performance for a shareholder resolution of this type. Investors representing billions of dollars in Chevron stock have spoken up in support of greater social responsibility, and although the True Cost of Chevron’s coalition’s speakers inside the meeting were treated dismissively by CEO O’Reilly, Chevron is taking notice.
Oblate JPIC Action Alert: Protest Killing of Indigenous People in the Amazon June 10th, 2009
URGENT ACTION NEEDED!
Police Massacre of Indigenous Protesters in the Peruvian Amazon is linked to the US-Peru Free Trade Agreement
Over the past weekend, confrontations in the Peruvian Amazon between nonviolent indigenous protesters and police have left more than 60 people dead. As many as 30,000 Indigenous people have been protesting for nearly two months, a series of Presidential Decrees issued last year under the US-Peru FTA implementation law. Several of these decrees directly threaten Indigenous territories and rights.
Last April, 41 Oblate parish priests from the region issued a statement titled, “Protecting and Respecting the Amazon, we protect the indigenous”. The priests spoke directly of “the increase of social injustice and ecological destruction which threatens the very existence of indigenous and peasant communities that are being despoiled of their lands.”
Full Statement available on this website.
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Oblate Parish Pastors Support Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon June 8th, 2009
Oblate pastors of Latin America, meeting in Lima, Peru on April 20-25, 2009, published the following declaration: Protecting and Respecting the Amazon, we protect the indigenous. The declaration was signed by 41 Oblates and 2 diocesan priests.
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Peruvian Bishops Support Strike by Indigenous Peoples in the Amazon May 21st, 2009
Nine Peruvian Bishops issued a statement supporting the demands of indigenous peoples of the Amazon for an end to the natural resource exploitation that is destroying the region. The indigenous peoples are calling for the Peruvian Government to respect their human rights over those of big business.
Read their statement (Download PDF)
Oblates welcome First Nations Representatives in Rome May 21st, 2009
On April 29, Pope Benedict XVI held a special audience with Canada’s Assembly of First Nations National Chief Phil Fontaine and a delegation of First Nations Elders and former alumni of residential schools. The Canadian Catholic Church was also represented by Archbishop James Weisgerber of Winnipeg, President of the Episcopal Conference, and a delegation of missionary congregations involved in the residential schools. Fr. Timothy COONEN, the bursar of OMI Lacombe Province, represented the communities of men religious.
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