Dans Mongabay
Malagasy authorities have held Raleva, a 61-year-old farmer, in custody since September 27 after he asked to see a mining company’s permits to operate near his village. His arrest is at least the sixth such case of authorities targeting those opposed to wildlife trafficking or land grabs. Environmental activists say they face bribes and threats from traffickers on one side, and jail time and fines from the government on the other. (..) So it took some courage for Raleva, a 61-year-old farmer, to stand up and ask questions at a meeting in his village in southeast Madagascar on September 27. A Chinese-Malagasy company, previously expelled from the area, had come to announce that it would resume its gold-mining work. Company representatives had brought with them the “chef de district,” a powerful local official. The conflict began in August 2016, when the mining company, managed by (and named after) Gianna Mac Lai Sima, a Malagasy woman of Asian descent who lives in the nearby city of Mananjary, came to mine the area. (..) the company told the people of Vohilava, Raleva’s village, that the permits had been granted. When Raleva demanded to see them, he was arrested, and has been locked up ever since. (..) Several Malagasy people have recently run into trouble protecting their communities and their ecosystems. Clovis Razafimalala, perhaps the country’s best-known activist, is a case in point. He heads an environmental advocacy group based near Masoala National Park in northeast Madagascar — ground zero for the illegal rosewood trade. He’s lobbied the government to prosecute timber barons and to reopen a local customs office so that it will be harder for criminals to get rosewood and local wildlife out of the country. Almost all of the Malagasy rosewood (Dalbergia spp.), which is subject to a complete export ban under the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora, goes to China, where it is prized in the furniture industry for its deep red color. Traffickers have for years tried to silence Razafimalala with bribes and death threats, he told Mongabay. In September 2016, following a protest that he says he did not attend, Razafimalala was arrested and flown to a prison in Toamasina, some 386 kilometers (240 miles) from his hometown. He spent 10 months there awaiting trial. Because of rumors that he would be poisoned, his wife came for a time to prepare his food herself. In July of this year, a judge convicted him of destruction of public property and arson. He was fined about $1,800 and sentenced to five years in prison, but immediately released on parole, like many activists before him. Releasing him with a conviction and an unserved prison sentence that can be called in at any moment was an effort to to “shut him up.” (...) Armand Marozafy, a member of the same environmental group in Masoala, went through a similar process in 2015 after identifying two alleged rosewood traffickers in a private email. He was subsequently convicted of defamation and served five months in jail. (..) While Razafimalala and Marozafy insist on staying put in Madagascar despite the danger they face, fellow activist Augustin Sarovy, who worked as a guide in Masoala for 17 years, did not feel he had that option. In early 2012, after traffickers saw that he had cooperated with the Environmental Investigation Agency on a high-profile investigation into rosewood trafficking, he fled the area. (..) In the summer and fall of 2016, protests in Soamahamanina, a village in the central highlands, became the talk of Madagascar. The national mining ministry had given Chinese-owned Jiuxing Mines the rights to some 6,000 hectares (almost 15,000 acres) of land for a 40-year period, and the National Environment Office had begun issuing the company permits to mine there. The area includes native forests dominated by tapia trees (Uapaca bojeri), which are the only home for the worms used in silk production for Malagasy scarves and burial shrouds. Locals in Soamahamanina organized large protests each week. Six protesters were convicted and given suspended prison sentences. (..) Earlier this month, popular Malagasy musician Rah-Ckiky, who had just released a song in support of the protesters, was stabbed in a nighttime attack on his home. He suffered serious injuries to his head and upper body, but nothing was stolen. (..) In another mine-related case last month, Raymond Mandiny, an activist in Ambanja, a town in northwest Madagascar, was taken to court. Mandiny opposes a foreign-owned rare earth project that could, like similar mines in China, wreak havoc on the environment of the Ampasindava peninsula, near Ambanja. After an apparent argument about the project, the local representative of Madagascar’s environment ministry brought Mandiny to court on three charges, including defamation. (..) . Fernand Cello, a Malagasy journalist, has reported on illegal sapphire mining in Isalo National Park in southern Madagascar. Earlier this year, he was charged with seven crimes including defamation, endangering state security, and incitation to hatred. Some of those charges were dropped, but he was convicted of check theft and forgery — charges he maintains are bogus. Last month, he was sentenced to two years in prison and immediately released on parole. (..) Officially, Raleva is being held in prison for “usurping” the title of chef de district. “Usurpation de function” was also one of the charges levied against Raymond Mandiny in Ambanja. Both so-called usurpers, seen to be overstepping their bounds by challenging powerful interests, are members of local affiliates of RSCDA. The real chef de district in Mananjary, Timothée Roger Andriamihitsakisa, who locals say is directly responsible for Raleva’s imprisonment, declined to discuss the case with Mongabay when reached by telephone. The prosecutor in Mananjary could not be reached. The prime minister’s office did not respond to a request for comment for this article.
