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Dear Friends: The Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues at the UN in New York is over for this year. As reported on our website, www.akha.org the statement on behalf of the Akha people was registered. The Thai Consul to Thailand's Permanent Mission to the UN was surprised at the appearance of this statement and that the Akha should have representation at such a place. The Thai consul denied that they had ever heard of any problems with the hill tribe, let alone the Akha, in Thailand. I was not amused. The Thai Consul said that he was "interested in dialogue". Whether he will come through with specifics remains to be seen, such as a policy structure that will allow the Akha in Thailand to have a dialogue without fear. Can he influence this? That is the question he must answer. However, from what was observable at the Forum, only in its third year, the protest of the indigenous, having their lands, their resources, their very genetics, oil, minerals and lumber exploited is no longer acceptable. The indigenous are increasingly coming to the UN and making their voices heard. In July the Working Group on Indigenous Issues will meet in Geneva to continue to improve the effort to pass the Draft Charter on Indigenous Rights. The main difficulty with the draft is that of its many parts, only two have gotten the agreement of the nation states regarding the protection to natural and cultural resources on indigenous lands. If everyone has the same rights, some people will have to be a little more creative about how they live the good life. Ultimately, it becomes an issue of knowing and standing up for indigenous rights. The Akha will increasingly be in the game. We will be funding Akha people to go to the UN and Geneva in order to make their case known. The work with the Akha in Thailand continues, with the establishment of numerous networks to continue the reporting of abuses of the Akha people by security forces. One of the priority items I discussed with the Thai Consul was the seizure of Hooh Yoh rice lands and of the general practice of seizing Akha rice lands by Thai forestry, army and other projects. I also asked him if he could identify under what law, I was deported, for what offense against the country or people of Thailand, apart from battling for civil society, democracy and human rights. I am waiting for the answer. We continue to build lists of Akha prisoners and numerous letters have started to come in from prisoners whom we started mailings to, telling us of life in prison, without the most basic necessities, forced to work long hours, eat bad food, and seldom if ever see anyone they love. Please check out the link for prisons on the web site and help support Akha prisoners. We can supply you with names, addresses and other assistance if you want to send letters or care packages. Basic toiletries, vitamins, and food can be sent to the prisoners. Prisoners recently released from Bangkok long term prisons such as Bangkwang and Lard Yao told me that they knew Akha prisoners in the prison and that they were treated the worst of all the prisoners there. I will be traveling to Germany and other parts of Europe at the earliest opportunity to present the Akha case to groups of people and politicians in those countries. >From contacts in New York, I have also started communicating with a group of Pygmees in the Congo, who face an extreme situation at the hands of Hutu rebels who have fled Rwanda after the genocide there and are now hiding in the forest on lands that the Pygmee live on. Estimates are that as many as 70% of the Pygmee women and girls have been raped by Hutu forces and that HIV is as high as 50% in the Pygmee population as a result. There is no current census due to the crisis, but Pygmee populations may run as high as 400,000 or much less, based on current numbers supplied by a Pygmee run NGO in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. There is a new list for this effort. [EMAIL PROTECTED] I would also like to remind people, though I am out of Thailand, the support of Akha projects is not over, but on the contrary has gotten larger, spreading the word internationally. The first priority for donors is continued support of the Akha projects that are still running in Thailand. 1. Human rights network. 2. Akha books and literacy. 3. Water systems. 4. A fish hatchery that we are still working on. 5. Vitamins and first aid. 6. Seeds. 7. Prisoner support. Thank you for your support in the past years. And we more urgently need your continued financial support at this time. If you can make a donation, no matter how small, take this opportunity to make a difference in the lives of the Akha people and help financially support this work. For many years I have had to work in Thailand with my hands tied, working on old computers, broken equipment, not enough money for fuel, but always keeping on site to be able to respond some how to the needs of the Akha. Now with freedom of movement I hope to be able to work that much more on behalf of the Akha, but on an international level, working full time to bring their plight to the world, and find resources for investment in their communities, like so many other communities in the world enjoy. Like so many other humans enjoy, a thing called freedom, a thing called choice, control of their own communities without fear of guns in the night or road side detentions. Finding investment, not investment for development, but investment to protect food security, and to protect choices. And now a happy story. Just days before I was deported I stopped by the hut of a widow in an Akha village. She had been arrested many months before, over a year, on no substantial charges other than going to get rice from a hut the army said had drugs in it. (drugs on a level that might compare to a young person being found with a joint of marijuana) She went to the Chiangrai prison where I had also gone to visit her. She was a widow, and had four children. Wondering if there was any news of her release I went to her hut. And low and behold, there she sat on the porch, with all her family gathered around, just out of prison. I was delighted to say the least. But then she told how the judge held up a copy of the Akha Journal number two and said that her case was stated there, and there was not basis for her arrest or detention and she should be released. The power of publishing. One happy story out of so many which aren't. You can see her case and picture on page 134 of the second journal. Ms. Booh Saw May Yurh. I will be getting the other sections of the journal put in pdf form in the download section soon so that you can see the whole thing there. Thank you for your continued support of the Akha projects and the great quantity of work and travel that must now be done. Matthew McDaniel Akha Nation ===== The Akha Heritage Foundation. http://www.akha.org Akha Heritage Site. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Akhaweeklyjournal Discussion http://groups.yahoo.com/group/akha Donate Via Credit Card Paypal: https://www.paypal.com/xclick/business=akha%40akha.org PO Box 6073 Salem, OR. 97304 USA. __________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? Yahoo! Domains – Claim yours for only $14.70/year http://smallbusiness.promotions.yahoo.com/offer Yahoo! Groups Links <*> To visit your group on the web, go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Nat-International/ <*> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] <*> Your use of Yahoo! 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