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Monkey Point Legal Defense Fund

Help defend indigenous and Afro-descendant territorial rights on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.

Monkey Point Legal Defense Fund

Help defend indigenous and Afro-descendant territorial rights on the Atlantic Coast of Nicaragua.

2 Campaigns |

Ann Arbor, United States

$1,435 USD 28 backers

143% of $1,000 Flexible Goal Flexible Goal

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UPDATE: We've met our initial goal, but don't let this stop you from donating! We set our goal low to fund the most immediate pressing needs of the community. We are hoping to exceed this goal over the next 11 days to pay for legal fees that the community will incur over the next year. It's not too late to give.

Many of you know that I have worked as an activist and anthropologist focusing on Afro-descendant land rights in Nicaragua for the last fifteen years. My central engagement has been with a rural fishing and farming community called Monkey Point. My book manuscript follows this community’s activism for autonomous territorial rights. After a decade of mobilization, Monkey Point won a title to a large multiethnic territory in 2009 that they share with other Afro-descendant Creole and indigenous Rama communities in the region.

Although this title is inalienable and non-transferable, the central government has recently passed Law 840 (Special Law for the Development of Nicaraguan Infrastructure and Transport related to the Canal, Free Trade Zones, and Associated Infrastructure) granting a 50-year renewable concession to a Chinese venture capitalist to build, own, and operate a series of infrastructure mega-projects on indigenous and Afro-descendant lands. The projects are diverse and include an interoceanic canal three times the length of the Panama Canal, an industrial port, a petroleum pipeline, an interoceanic railway, an international airport, and a free trade zone. The Nicaraguan National Assembly passed the law with no consultation or dialogue with civil society or the affected communities, violating indigenous and Afro-descendant statutory rights to self-determination, communal property, and natural resources. Needless to say, if the projects move forward, they will be environmentally catastrophic, threatening the livelihoods and future existence of the communities directly affected.

The territorial authorities for the communities have responded by submitting a legal appeal to the Supreme Court of Nicaragua. In the event that the Nicaraguan legal system fails to adequately address their concerns, they are preparing to take the case to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR). This modest fund will allow Monkey Point to pay legal fees to their long-time legal representative, Dr. Maria Luisa Acosta, and introduce their case to IACHR. While it is hard to know if the mega-projects will move forward or not, past experience has proven that indigenous and Afro-descendant communities in Nicaragua are far more likely to have their rights respected at the national level when they pursue international legal remedies.

I will administrate the fund, which will be used solely for the payment of legal fees to initiate the complaint in the IACHR. For those of you who don't know me, I earned my PhD in cultural anthropology from the University of Texas at Austin and am currently an Assistant Professor of Comparative Cultures and Politics at Michigan State University. If the case advances through the Inter-American Court system, Monkey Point and their allies will need to secure long-term financial support from a counterpart organization. We have set our fund raising goal low in the hopes that we can met the community's most immediate legal needs in a short time frame. Any funds raised in excess of our $1000 goal will be used to finance the community's future legal representation. Donations can be made anonymously and any amount, no matter how modest, is deeply appreciated. If you have any questions please feel free to contact me directly at <mplegalfund@gmail.com>.

International Press Coverage:

http://www.scmp.com/news/world/article/1275172/nicaragua-indigenous-groups-challenge-hong-kong-built-canal

Nicaraguan Press Coverage:

http://m.laprensa.com.ni/ambito/153058

US Press Coverage:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/06/14/world/americas/nicaragua-approves-building-its-own-canal.html?_r=0

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