PLEASE READ

From: Phil Lee <phil@foei.org>
Date: 27 October 2008 11:36:01 PM
To: foeiall@lists. foei.org
Cc: communicators@ lists.foei. org, foeicoords@lists. foei.org
Subject: [foei-communicators ] Urgent action needed in Indonesia and Colombia

Dear Friends,

Your help is urgently needed by our colleagues in Indonesia and Colombia. Please read this email and take action.

On 28 May 2006 hydrogen sulfide gas leaked from a gas exploration rig in Sidoarjo, Java, Indonesia. Shortly after the leak hot mud and boiling water erupted from the ground close to the site at a rate of thousands of liters a minute. Within hours the mud was inundating nearby villages.

Two years later and whilst the flow of mud has reduced, there has been no significant progress by the government to stop it for good. Meanwhile it continues to devastate people's lives. It is estimated that 11,000 people have been made homeless and thousands more have serious health issues often related to the noxious gases that accompany the mud flow. At least one hundred deaths are directly related to the mud.

Friends of the Earth Indonesia/Walhi is calling on the President of Indonesia to hold the company responsible for this catastrophe to account and for them to pay compensation to the victims.

Find out more and take action - http://www.foei. org/en/get- involved/take-action/ stop-the- indonesian- mud-flow

At the beginning of October, thousands of Colombia's indigenous people began a popular uprising around the country to protest about the cultural and physical genocide they are suffering at the hands of the state and to defend their territory, autonomy and culture.

Police forces have repressed many of the protests with bullets and tear gas. So far three people have been killed, including a child, and more than one hundred have been injured.

Friends of the Earth Colombia/Censat Agua Viva urge you to send a letter they have produced to your respective Colombian embassy demanding that the government and others responsible take action to ensure the immediate end to the violence and to establish a dialogue with the community for future negotiations.

Find out more and take action - http://www.foei. org/en/get- involved/take-action/ indigenous- community- under-fire- in-colombia

Once you've completed the actions please call on your friends and family to do the same.

Thanks for your continued support,

Friends of the Earth International

--
Phil Lee
Website coordinator
Friends of the Earth International
PO Box 19199 |1000 GD
Amsterdam | The Netherlands
tel: +31 20 622 1369 / fax: +31 20 639 2181
e-mail: phil@foei.org
web: www.foei.org