Tok opp maasaienes situasjon på møte i EMRIP

Sametingspresident Silje Karine Muotka, president i Sametinget i Finland Tuomas Aslak Juuso og rådsmedlem i Sametinget i Sverige Marie Persson Njajta er på møte i FNs ekpertmekanisme for urfolks rettigheter (EMRIP) i Genéve. Der har de tatt opp den meget alvorlige situasjonen som maasaiene opplever i Loliondo-distriktet i Tanzania.

Maasaiene opplever både vold og trusler, og det foregår hyppige brudd på menneskerettigheter.

Tanzanianske myndigheter truer med å tvangsflytte nærmere 70 000 maasaier fra sine tradsjonelle områder, til fordel for utenlandske kapitalister som vil satse på turisme og jakt i Ngorongoro-fistriktet.

I går overleverte sametingene i Norge, Sverige og Finland et brev fra Samisk parlamentarisk råd til Impact Trust Kenya ved Elizabeth Silakan, som arbeider med å fremme og beskytte urfolk i Kenya og Tanzania.

Letter to Embassy of the United Republic of Tanzania, Sweden: Stop the ongoing human rights violations of the Indigenous Maasai community in Loliondo

I refer to previous correspondence, the letter dated 11th of March 2022, from the President of the Sámi Parliamentary Council, a co-operation body between the Sámi Parliament in Finland, in Norway, and in Sweden,

The Sami Parliaments Council urges the Government of Tanzania to immediately stop the ongoing human rights violations and attempts of forced evictions. We support the protection of the rights of the Maasai people to their ancestral and legally registered village lands in Loliondo, including their right to live in peace and to practice their distinct cultures. We stand in solidarity with the Maasai people and provide urgently needed global pressure to the Government of Tanzania to avert the planned land dispossession and eviction of the Maasai pastoralists.

We urge the Government of Tanzania to implement all of the recommendations from IWGIA:

  • To immediately halt the violent evictions of the Maasai people in Loliondo and withdraw all paramilitary and armed forces from their legally registered village land.
  • To immediately stop the intimidation, brutal mistreatment and human rights violations and bring to justice the perpetrators of the violence.
  • To ensure that the affected community members have access to emergency support, health care and psychosocial support.
  • To allow journalists, human rights observers, lawyers and civil society organizations to access Loliondo, speak with affected Maasai pastoralists and report on the situation freely and without intimidation and harrassment.
  • To ensure that the land tenure security of the eight villages in Loliondo is protected as per their status as legally registered villages, and guarantee that there will be no further attempts of land grabbing and forced evictions. The Government of Tanzania should recognize and respect that the 1,500km2 of land in question is legall registered village land and should be managed by the villages according to the Village Land Act No.5 of 1999 and the Local Government (District Authority) Act No.7 of 1982.
  • To refrain from interfering with the case at the East African Court of Justice.
ArtikkelPublisertDatoFront 06.07.2022 12.52
SistEndret 06.07.2022 13.42