Human Rights

Originally published on 3 November 2009. On Sunday, Chevron became the first oil company to come under a Yes Men Audience Attack. (See Video, Photos, and Yes Man Andy Bichlbaum's Blog of event) Read More

A French court slapped jail terms Tuesday on the main players in a network that smuggled arms to war-torn Angola and included an ex-minister and the son of the late president Francois Mitterrand. Read More

In Eastern India's Jharkand State, tensions are mounting between indigenous tribal communities and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited, or UCIL. Heavy security at a May public hearing on UCIL's planned expansion in the Jagoda region prevented many local activists and villagers from entering. But outside the hearing, activists from the Jharkhandi Organization Against Radiation (JOAR) argued their case for protecting their health and the environment from the horrific impacts of radioactive contaminated waste resulting from uranium mining. Read More

In Eastern India's Jharkand State, tensions are mounting between Indigenous tribal communities and the Uranium Corporation of India Limited, or UCIL. Heavy security at a May public hearing in Jadugoda prevented many local activists and villagers from entering. But outside the hearing, activists from the Jharkhandi Organization Against Radiation (JOAR) argued their case for protecting their health and the environment from horrific impacts of radioactive contaminated waste resulting from uranium mining. Read More

Environmental groups hailed a decision this week by four of the world's largest meat producers to ban the purchase of cattle from newly deforested areas of Brazil's Amazon rain forest. Brazil has the world's largest cattle herd and is the world's largest beef exporter. It is also the fourth largest producer of greenhouse gas emissions. Read More

On Monday Chevron said it gave Ecuadorean authorities evidence of a bribery scheme linked to a $27 billion environmental damages lawsuit against the oil company. Last week, the judge hearing the case, Juan Núñez, recused himself. The Amazon Defense Coalition said the recusal did not "change the overwhelming evidence against Chevron." Read More

This week the Project on Government Oversight released damning allegations of deviant hazing at a camp for security guards in Afghanistan. Sparking questions from the State Department, POGO warned the problems are "posing a significant threat to the security of the embassy and its personnel." Read More

Obama sips it. Paris Hilton loves it. Mary J. Blige won't sing without it. How did a plastic water bottle, imported from a military dictatorship thousands of miles away, become the epitome of cool? Read More

Originally posted on August 13, 2009 at http://dirtdiggersdigest.org/archives/746 These days just about every large corporation would have us believe that it is in the vanguard of the fight to reverse global warming. Companies mount expensive ad campaigns to brag about raising their energy efficiency and shrinking their carbon footprint. Read More

Alcoa and Cargill have bypassed laws designed to prevent destruction of the world's largest rain forest, Brazilian prosecutors say. The damage wrought by scores of companies is robbing the earth of its best shield against global warming. Read More