In Madagascar, civil society is mobilizing for an end to environmental crimes and for justice to be done after the assassination of one of their own on June 2.
With our correspondent in Antananrivo, Laetitia Bezain
During a press conference held this Friday, June 17 in the capital, 71 civil society organizations from all over the island warned of the fate reserved for whistleblowers and demanded concrete actions from the authorities to the protection of these. A fortnight ago, environmental defender Henri Rakotoarisoa, 70, who had been denouncing illegal logging for several years, was brutally murdered by traffickers.
The violent death of the ecologist shocked, and civil society denounced: ” May Henri Rakotoarisoa’s struggle not be in vain! », « behind this assassination, there is also a grim situation for activists and the environment » : harassment, threats, imprisonment. It calls, among other things, for the adoption of the law for the protection of human rights defenders and whistleblowers under construction for four years, explains Harijaona Andriamoraniaina, technical coordinator of the Rohy movement.
” What is missing first is the institutional framework and the legal framework for the protection of human rights defenders and whistleblowers, as if the authorities and the government do not want to have citizens who dare to stand up against the injustice since they do not put in place the mechanisms to protect them. If there was the law for the protection of human rights defenders and whistleblowers, there would be many more citizens who would dare to complain about injustice, the destruction of natural resources in Madagascar and corruption behind that. It is really unfortunate that we have not yet succeeded in having this law registered at the level of the sessions of the National Assembly. It is clear that among the cases that are denounced by citizens and communities, there are always people in high places behind. Is this the reason that prevents or makes the deputies and elected officials hesitate not to pass this law? Is this what is stopping the members of the government from submitting this law to a vote in Parliament? »
Impunity
The Rohy movement has set up a mechanism for the protection of human rights defenders which includes, among other things, socio-economic protection, support and legal protection for them and their families, such as the commitment to lawyers.
In recent months, several whistleblowers have been prosecuted and sometimes imprisoned. The traffickers of natural resources are rarely punished or not at the height of their crimes, regret these organizations.
Jonah Ratsimbazafy is a primatologist and president of the Madagascar Primate Study and Research Group. ” The conservation of Madagascar’s unique biodiversity is everyone’s business, he believes. Only less than 10% of the original forest remains. Within 30 years, if the current rate of deforestation continues, there will be no more forest in Madagascar. There will be no more lemurs. For example, the destroyers are not afraid because there is also corruption. There are elected officials who protect them and that is the problem. (…) Now people are waiting for the decisions that the Malagasy government will take in relation to this murder. Many donors help Madagascar for the conservation of biodiversity but if there are no measures taken, it will really discourage people from helping Madagascar. We want to show that the protectors of the environment will not give up but on the contrary, we will continue. »
Encouraging citizens to denounce is also the objective of this mobilization, says Ndranto Razakamanarina, president of the Alliance Voahary Gasy, the platform of Malagasy environmental organizations.
” We want to encourage grassroots communities to continue to fight against environmental delinquents and criminals in Madagascar. We also wanted to alert public opinion and especially the administration to their commitments, in particular the promises of the President of the Republic concerning governance and the environment, but also the application of the law in relation to environmental crimes. Within the Voahary Gasy Alliance, we have followed a lot of cases for twelve years and we realize that there is really no trouble. The traffickers are released or escaped or have only minor sentences. Everyone knows in Madagascar that justice is one of the most corrupt sectors in the country. You can really feel that in the treatment of these environmental cases all over the island. : in Ankarafantsika, in Morondava, in Maroantsetra, in Diego-Suarez, in Vohibola or in Lake Alaotra. There are similar cases of threats from whistleblowers and human and environmental rights defenders. »
35 people surrendered to the authorities after the assassination of Henri Rakotoarisoa, says civil society. 28 defendants were provisionally released and seven placed under a warrant of committal. The trial for this murder is to take place this Monday, June 20.