Humanists for Social Justice and Environmental Action supports Human Rights, Social and Economic Justice, Environmental Activism and Planetary Ethics in North America & Globally, with particular reference to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other Human Rights UN treaties and conventions listed above.

Saturday

Ecuador Takes on Chevron, Global Indifference in Controversial Fights to Protect Rainforest |

Ecuador Takes on Chevron, Global Indifference in Controversial Fights to Protect Rainforest | Democracy Now!
During a visit to New York City for the United Nations General Assembly, Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patiño joins us to discuss his government’s involvement in two closely watched environmental legal battles. An Ecuadorean court has ordered the oil giant Chevron to pay $19 billion to indigenous and rural Ecuadoreans for the dumping of as much as 18.5 billion gallons of highly toxic waste sludge into the rainforest. But Chevron has refused, winning a partial victory last week when an international arbitration panel based in The Hague delivered an interim ruling questioning the validity of the original 2011 verdict. Patiño also addresses why Ecuador recently dropped a plan to preserve swaths of the Amazon rainforest from oil drilling by having wealthy countries pay them not to drill, an effort that the Ecuadorean government says failed to attract sufficient funding. Leading environmentalists, including Vandana Shiva, Naomi Klein and James Hansen, recently wrote an open letter to President Rafael Correa asking him not to forsake the initiative, saying: "Along with thousands of other world citizens, we look to the Yasuní-ITT initiative as a pioneering step in the international struggle for a post-fossil-fuel civilization. We have been inspired by the determination of the Ecuadorean public to rejuvenate the initiative following your government’s recent decision to abandon it."
Watch the full interview with Ricardo Patiño here

Wednesday

FREE Dhondup Wangchen - Amnesty International


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Tibetan filmmaker Dhondup Wangchen is serving a six-year prison sentence in China for "inciting separatism" -- simply because he dared to speak out about Tibetan human rights through his filmmaking. Demand his release now!

Dhondup is not due to be released until December 2014. He has been tortured, subjected to solitary confinement, and at times forced to work up to 18 hours a day. He suffers from various medical issues, including Hepatitis B, for which he is not receiving treatment.

Monday

Write for Rights 2013 | Amnesty International Canada

Write for Rights 2013 | Amnesty International Canada

Amnesty International invites you to join us on International Human Rights Day for the world’s largest letter-writing event

Every year on December 10th, activists in more than 80 countries gather on their own or in large and small events to press governments to respond to a human rights concern on selected high-priority cases. We also write letters of hope and solidarity directly to prisoners or people experiencing human rights violations.
(choose cases from link above)

Wednesday

GE Fish / T Canadian Biotechnology Action Network - CBAN

GE Fish / Topics / Resources / Take Action - Canadian Biotechnology Action Network - CBAN

GE salmon eggs

Environment Canada has approved the commercial production of genetically modified (GM) Atlantic salmon eggs Prince Edward Island (PEI), the decision was announced on November 23 in the Canada Gazette. The U.S. company AquaBounty has asked for approval of the GM Atlantic salmon for human consumption in the U.S., based on a plan to produce the GM fish eggs in Prince Edward Island (PEI), Canada and ship them to Panama for grow-out and processing.
The company claims the salmon grow to market-size twice as fast as other farmed salmon. The salmon are engineered with a growth hormone gene from Chinook salmon and genetic material from ocean pout (an eel-like creature). If approved, it would be the first GE food animal in the world.
You can email the Minister of the Environment today!

Tuesday

Protect Costa Rica's rainforests: tell Infinito Gold to drop the $1b lawsuit | SumOfUs

Protect Costa Rica's rainforests: tell Infinito Gold to drop the $1b lawsuit | SumOfUs
Infinito Gold, a Canadian mining company, just slapped Costa Rica with a $1 billion lawsuit simply because the country decided its rainforests were more important than an open-pit gold mine.
Lauded as one of the countries with the most beautiful rainforests, it’s no wonder Costa Rica rejected Infinito’s mine. Costa Rica’s rainforest is home to many endangered species such the green macaw. Gold mining also uses toxic chemicals such as cyanide, which often leaks into and pollutes nearby lakes and rivers.