Award for activist lawyer Anne Kajir

http://www.goldmanprize.org/node/440

Activist lawyer Anne Kajir gets the Goldman Environmental Prize forIslands and Island Nations, 2006Papua New GuineaForestsIndigenous Lawyer vs. International Logging InterestsAttorney Anne Kajir, 32, uncovered evidence that widespread corruptionand complicity in the Papua New Guinea government has allowed rampant,illegal logging, which is destroying the largest remaining intactblock of tropical forest in the Asia Pacific region.In 1997, her first year of practice, Kajir successfully defended aprecedent-setting appeal in the Supreme Court of Papua New Guinea,which forced the logging industry to pay damages to indigenous landowners. Today, Kajir is the chief executive officer of theEnvironmental Law Centre in Port Moresby and is the lead attorney in aSupreme Court case aimed at stopping foreign timber companies'large-scale, illegal deforestation practices, often accompanied bythreats of harm to local landholders who dare to challenge them.Timber historically is a corrupting force in the politics of Papua NewGuinea, whose government has long-standing, lucrative relationshipswith timber interests. Although the country's constitution guaranteesthe land rights of traditional communities living in the forest, thereality is far different. Kajir has found evidence of widespreadgovernment corruption that has allowed these companies to act as a lawunto themselves, ignoring the terms of the government-issued timberpermits, and terrorizing the local communities – at gunpoint in somecases – into signing over their land rights.Facing Great Personal RisksKajir has faced considerable personal risks in her nine years ofposing legal challenges. She has been physically attacked more than
computer, which had files on all her legal cases.She continues to fight, building on her early legal success inrepresenting communities and landholder groups against the timbercompanies. A current case alleges that the PNG Forest Authority, thestate, and the lead logging company, Rimbunan Hijau, repeatedlyviolated federal law by issuing and using illegal logging permits inthe forests of PNG\'s western Province. The case includes evidence oflogging company representatives refusing to get informed consent andtimber rights from landowners, and villagers\' personal accounts ofextreme intimidation, including having to sign documents at gunpointand physical abuse and humiliation.Industrial Logging Decimating Forests of Papua New GuineaSince the 1980s, industrial logging has severely depleted and damagedPNG\'s tropical forests. Malaysian companies dominate the business, ledby Rimbunan Hijau, a multinational timber conglomerate with loggingoperations in China, Brazil, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Australia,New Zealand, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.Forestry experts consider Rimbunan Hijau one of the most damaging andirresponsible global logging companies. Besides controlling 80 percentof logging in PNG, Rimbunan Hijau also owns one of the country\'s twonational newspapers. The current executive and legislative branches ofthe government fully support the logging industry, and particularlyRimbunan Hijau.The government\'s support has weakened landholder rights. In 2005, anew forestry bill stripped language that had guaranteed consent oflandowners as a requirement for timber permits; it also removed the"NGO seat" on the National Forest Board and replaced it with a seatfor the timber industry.Many NGOs and legal experts in PNG believe that the revised billviolates protections and rights embedded in the country\'sconstitution. In fact, PNG is known for its pro-ecologicalconstitution and sound environmental laws.",1]
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once, and robbers forced their way into her home to steal hercomputer, which had files on all her legal cases.She continues to fight, building on her early legal success inrepresenting communities and landholder groups against the timbercompanies. A current case alleges that the PNG Forest Authority, thestate, and the lead logging company, Rimbunan Hijau, repeatedlyviolated federal law by issuing and using illegal logging permits inthe forests of PNG's western Province. The case includes evidence oflogging company representatives refusing to get informed consent andtimber rights from landowners, and villagers' personal accounts ofextreme intimidation, including having to sign documents at gunpointand physical abuse and humiliation.Industrial Logging Decimating Forests of Papua New GuineaSince the 1980s, industrial logging has severely depleted and damagedPNG's tropical forests. Malaysian companies dominate the business, ledby Rimbunan Hijau, a multinational timber conglomerate with loggingoperations in China, Brazil, Cameroon, Equatorial Guinea, Australia,New Zealand, Vanuatu and Papua New Guinea.Forestry experts consider Rimbunan Hijau one of the most damaging andirresponsible global logging companies. Besides controlling 80 percentof logging in PNG, Rimbunan Hijau also owns one of the country's twonational newspapers. The current executive and legislative branches ofthe government fully support the logging industry, and particularlyRimbunan Hijau.The government's support has weakened landholder rights. In 2005, anew forestry bill stripped language that had guaranteed consent oflandowners as a requirement for timber permits; it also removed the"NGO seat" on the National Forest Board and replaced it with a seatfor the timber industry.Many NGOs and legal experts in PNG believe that the revised billviolates protections and rights embedded in the country'sconstitution. In fact, PNG is known for its pro-ecologicalconstitution and sound environmental laws.


COURTESY------JIVIKA