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Don’t Weaken Protections for Indigenous People and the Environment

Originally published on August 12, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Jim Yong Kim, President of the World Bank

Goal: Reverse the World Bank’s decision to provide less protection to indigenous people and our ecosystems

The World Bank is weakening regulations that protect the environment and indigenous people in developing countries. By deregulating mining and logging corporations, the World Bank is endangering the lives of the residents and the ecosystems in which they inhabit. Do not allow corporate greed to trample the lives of innocent people.

A leaked draft of the World Bank’s new policies revealed that mining and logging corporations no longer have to consult with the indigenous people before taking over their land. The residents who are not violently removed will be subject to high levels of pollution in their air, water, and food. By stepping away and allowing the governments and corporations to make up their own rules, the World Bank has opened the door to historical human rights and environmental abuse.

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Release Peaceful Activists from Wrongful Imprisonment

Originally published on August 9, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

Goal: Free peaceful activists who were trying to protect forest from coal mining

Two Greenpeace activists have been arrested in India while protecting the Mahan forest from coal mining. Government officials detained two of the peaceful activists while confiscating several pieces of communication and power equipment. The activists have not been charged with an official crime, yet remain in detention.

In collusion with the coal mining industry, local government sent police officers into the forest of Mahan to arrest two Greenpeace activists working with local communities. Without a search warrant, the police entered their house at midnight and arrested the activists. The arresting officers accused them of being a general nuisance and disrupting the Mahan villagers.

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Stop Cruel Primate Testing and Experiments

Originally published on August 6, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Goal: Ban the horrific methods used to test chimpanzees and other primates

Because chimpanzees are 99% genetically compatible to humans, scientists in the United States use them as experiments in traumatic and extremely invasive tests. Many of the chimps are mistreated physically and psychologically in order to compare their reactions to ours, but the majority of tested primates end up traumatized, debilitated, or dead. Do not allow brutal lab tests to continue against innocent chimps in America.

Since scientists are not allowed to perform experiments on living human brains, they capture primates in the wild and conduct invasive procedures on their brains. By cutting open the skull and applying electric currents to different parts of the brain, scientists have induced various physical reactions and emotional responses from primates. Unnecessary brain surgery on chimps is equivalent to animal cruelty and must be stopped immediately.

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Stop the Poaching of Critically Endangered Pangolins

Originally published on August 4, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Xi Jinping, President of China, and Truong Tan Sang, President of Vietnam

Goal: End the illegal poaching of critically endangered pangolins for their scales and meat

Poachers continue to illegally hunt pangolins even though they have been listed as a critically endangered species. As the world’s only mammal with scales, the pangolin’s meat and scales can be found on the black market. In Vietnam and China, pangolin meat is sold as an expensive delicacy in restaurants and as an ingredient in Asian medicine.

Placed on the International Union of Conservation of Nature’s Red List of Threatened Species, pangolins could face extinction if this rampant poaching continues. As pangolin populations steadily decrease throughout Southeast Asia, illegal poaching has spread to Africa to meet China and Vietnam’s demand for the rare animal.

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Protect Children from Escalating Sexual Abuse

Originally published on August 4, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Narendra Modi, Prime Minister of India

Goal: Stop the rampant child sexual abuse and rape that is taking place in India

In the midst of India’s horrendous rape crisis, sexual abuse against children is rapidly spreading throughout the country. Although India’s government wrote into law the 2012 Protection of Children from Sexual Offences Act, local authorities have been extremely lax in enforcing its provisions. Preferring to ignore the issue, the authorities have exposed these children to increasing acts of rape, torture, and murder.

Recently, an Indian teacher was arrested for raping a 6-year-old student. The school had failed to verify a background check on the accused teacher, who had been fired from another school for inappropriately touching his female students. The school’s chairman was arrested for attempting to destroy evidence, while two of the police officers who mocked the victim’s parents were transferred to another district.

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Repair Failing Water Infrastructure

Originally published on August 2, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: United States Senate

Goal: Repair the U.S. water infrastructure before the rapidly deteriorating pipes cause a catastrophe

According to the Environmental Protection Agency, approximately 240,000 water main breaks occur each year across the United States. With our pipes growing too old and not being replaced, broken water mains have been responsible for numerous mudslides, floods, and droughts. Engineers believe the number of broken water mains will only increase with each year until we improve our rapidly deteriorating system.

With most of California’s reservoirs less than half full, the state cannot afford to lose any more water. The increasing risk of broken water mains places states like California on the precarious edge of a drought. Failing pipes have caused mudslides in California, sinkholes in Florida, and multiple floods across the U.S.

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Stop Sexual Assault in the Military

Originally published on August 1, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid

Goal: Reform the military’s broken system of punishing sexual assault victims for reporting heinous crimes

Sexual assault victims within the military are speaking out against the abusive treatment they have received immediately after reporting their rape. Many of their attackers receive light sentences or honorable discharges without a criminal record of the offense. Victims also accuse superior officers of interfering with investigations in order to lower their sexual assault statistics.

The military’s chain of command has failed to implement congressional and statutory mandates designed to reduce sexual assault. After reporting the assault, many victims receive verbal abuse and further unwanted sexual advances. Their attackers are often convicted for adultery instead of rape.

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Save Critically Endangered Amur Leopards

Originally published on July 28, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Vladimir Putin, President of Russia; Xi Jinping, President of China

Goal: Stop the poaching and logging practices that are driving Amur leopards into extinction

Only a couple dozen Amur leopards survive in the wildernesses of China and Russia. Illegal poaching and forest logging are threatening to kill the last remaining Amur leopards. Without help from the Chinese and Russian governments, these rare and beautiful creatures will rapidly become extinct.

Poachers primarily hunt Amur leopards for their spotted pelts. They also poach animals that the leopards need to hunt as prey. By killing off their food supply, the Amur leopards will eventually starve to death.

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Demand Samsung Stop Worker Abuse and Child Labor

Originally published on July 25, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Boo-Keun Yoon, CEO of Samsung Group

Goal: Provide Samsung employees in China and Korea with safe work environments and put an end to illegal child labor practices

To keep costs down, Samsung regularly commits worker abuse in its cell phone factories. Exposed to harmful chemicals without the required safety equipment, hundreds of employees have developed serious medical conditions. Children illegally working in the plants are forced to work 11 hours a day, six days a week while earning less than their older counterparts.

Workers often do not receive protective gear, such as masks or gloves, when operating unsafe equipment or coming into contact with toxic chemicals. Samsung does not even provide safety training for their employees in Korea, China, and around the world.

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Save the Last Captive Polar Bear in Argentina

Originally published on July 25, 2014, at ForceChange.com

Target: Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner, President of Argentina

Goal: Convince the people of Argentina to liberate their last captive polar bear from extreme heat and poor living conditions

Arturo, Argentina’s last captive polar bear, suffers each day in Mendoza Zoo exposed to the excruciating heat of the sun. But zoo officials refuse to transfer Arturo to a colder climate or even provide Arturo with proper medical treatment. The government of Argentina needs to put an end to this animal cruelty and move Arturo from Mendoza Zoo before his health deteriorates any further.

Forced to live in a concrete cell in harsh temperatures, Arturo the polar bear languishes in the sun all day for the entertainment of zoo patrons. His current climate is anathema to his original polar environment. Arturo’s body was built to survive in snow, not sun-baked concrete.

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