indigenous die from polluted water: Straightgoods.com
 
Date: Wed, 26 Mar 2008 09:20:30 -0500 (CDT)


from: http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature8.cfm?REF=178
Troubled waters

Water pollution has become an accidental weapon against tribal peoples.

Dateline: Monday, March 24, 2008

from Survival International

"The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human 
dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights." 
Comment from the UN International covenant on economic, social and cultural 
rights

All tribal peoples rely upon the water in their land to sustain them. It is 
crucial to their health, to their independence, to their very existence. 
And it is disappearing.

142922.jpgThe traditional water sources of tribal peoples are being 
polluted, diverted, or sometimes simply removed, by industry and 
governments in pursuit of their own interests. Water, which once brought 
communities to life, has been hijacked by self-interested organisations 
whilst tribal peoples are left to sicken, and die, on the sidelines.

March 22 was World Water day, bringing us three years into the United 
Nations Decade for action on water. But for tribal peoples, as these 
stories show, water is becoming harder and harder to rely upon.

Around the world, the tale is depressingly predictable. Routinely, tribal 
peoples are not properly consulted about activities affecting their land 
and lives. Their rights to water are overshadowed by the demands of 
industry, and in return the Indians suffer disease, dependency, and death....

whole article at: http://www.straightgoods.ca/ViewFeature8.cfm?REF=178

Penney Kome, author and journalist
http://penneykome.ca
Editor, Straight Goods, http://straightgoods.com 

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