Conclusion: "The Thilawa SEZ project is not clearly described and important information is missing
throughout the EIA document. The public consultation process did not involve all relevant
stakeholders, including affected communities, and did not provide sufficient information
in any case. Consequently, the consultation process did not meet international standards
and did not meet relevant JICA Guidelines. Had JICA provided adequate and appropriate
support for the EIA according to its Guidelines, it could have assured that the project

Conclusions: "Amnesty International’s latest research shows that hundreds of people close to the giant Letpadaung mine continue to face the risk of forced eviction from their farmland, and in the case of four villages, from their homes as well. In addition, thousands of people living in the area are at risk from Myanmar Wanbao’s inadequate management of environmental risk at the Letpadaung mine, which is situated in a flood and earthquake-prone area. The ESIA for the mine contains fundamental gaps and weaknesses, which Myanmar Wanbao has still not addressed.

Synopsis of the Paper:
"It is most fundamental to be able to hear voices of farmers as they are in resolving farm land
problems which pose the greatest challenge to Myanmar. Therefore, it is expected that the
"Voice From The Farm" paper will be supportive to a certain extent. This paper was compiled
based on cases that reached the office of 88 Generation Peace and Open Society from
respective region and reinforced with discussions resulting from the VOICE OF
FARMERprogramme which collects and organizes farmers' voices as well as with observations

Analysis of KHRG's field information gathered between January 2011 and November 2012 in seven geographic research areas in eastern Myanmar indicates that natural resource extraction and development projects undertaken or facilitated by civil and military State authorities, armed ethnic groups and private investors resulted in land confiscation and forced displacement, and were implemented without consulting, compensating or notifying project-affected communities.

Land confiscation is one of the leading causes of protest
and unrest in Burma, having led to the forced
displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in
recent years. It also undermines Burma’s fragile peace
processes...
•The 2008 constitution and subsequent laws are used
to
legitimize arbitrary land confiscation, deny access
to
justice, and perpetuate an environment of impunity...
•
Land confiscation for profitable large-scale development
and commercial projects enrich the military, state-
owned

Contains introduction, 3 farms – the beginnings of land expropriation in Namibia; the Agricultural (Commercial) Land Reform Act 6 of 1995; the process of land reform in Namibia; the resettlement programme revisited; farm workers and resettlement; conclusions and recommendations. Argues that Namibia has to reconceptualise its agrarian model because the present land reform programme is setting impoverished black farmers up to fail.

Looks at land tax, land expropriation, foreign ownership, the National Resettlement Programme and the Affirmative Action Loan Scheme, case studies, and donor support in the land-reform process. Concludes with recommendations on expropriation, farm workers, sustainability of resettlement projects, gender issues, skills sharing and training.

Examines the impact of the recent farm invasions in Zimbabwe. The independence compromises forced on Zimbabwe (and Namibia and South Africa) implied the legitimation of a century and more of past white land grabbing which could only be changed with the consent of the beneficiaries of this past expropriation. But Mugabe has now torn up the old rules of the game and let the genie of redistribution out of the bottle, earning himself much popular support elsewhere in Africa and causing alarm to many governments and a hasty revision of existing plans for land reform.

Includes the legal process of land reform in Namibia; the framing of the Kessl case; Article 16 and land expropriation; Article 18 on administrative justice; a new jurisprudence of land reform in Namibia? The case repeatedly upholds the legality of the principle of land expropriation, but finds that the Ministry’s administration of it has violated Namibian law on several grounds. The judgement undermines the Government’s credibility in terms of its ability to plan and manage its own land reform programme.

Looks at the institutional framework, at current key land policy and agrarian issues, and at the impact of land and agrarian reform. Makes a series of recommendations. Argues that the resettlement programme has failed with not a single project sustainable after 5 years. Argues the need for clear criteria for expropriation of commercial farmland and for farm workers to be a priority target in land reform projects.

The Secretariat has the honour to present to the Human Rights Council the report of the Special Rapporteur on the rights of indigenous peoples, prepared pursuant to Council resolution 33/12. In the report the Special Rapporteur briefly refers to the activities undertaken since the submission of her last report, provides a thematic study on attacks against and the criminalization of indigenous human rights defenders and reflects on available prevention and protection measures. She concludes with recommendations on how various stakeholders can prevent violations and improve protection.

As human rights defenders around the world put their lives on the line to challenge dictators, destructive multi-national corporations, religious conservatives, and oppressive regimes, there pervades a well-resourced and coordinated strategy of defamation, criminalisation and violence deployed to intimidate, marginalise and silence peaceful, powerful activists. The human cost has been high. More than 300 human rights defenders were murdered in 2017. Yet, in spite of this violence, there are more HRDs, working on more issues, in more countries, than ever before.