The achievements of the STP

In March, the Tupinambá indigenous community submitted a report to the Brazilian indigenous authority FUNAI to have their territory recognised as "Terra Indígena". The report documents the community's historical claim to their territory and shows their connection to the region on the lower course of the Tapajós River. The report was preceded by a demarcation process in which the Tupinambá collected geographical data about their territory. The STP supported the Tupinambá with a crowdfunding campaign to finance this extensive project.

Together with activists from the exile organisation ICIPR, the STP submitted a report on the human rights situation in Russia to the UN Human Rights Council. The delegation also visited the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP) in Geneva, where the activists took a clear stand against the influence of Russian propaganda on EMRIP studies on Russia.

With «Climate Justice! Respect Indigenous Consent!», the STP is launching a new programme that focuses on indigenous rights in the energy transition. Time and again, renewable energy projects are built on indigenous land and without the consent of the affected communities. This threatens to continue the destruction of indigenous land and the displacement of indigenous communities in the name of the energy transition. With the new programme, the STP wants to hold states and companies in the green economy to account so that they finally respect and guarantee the rights of indigenous communities.

The STP revealed how UBS, through its Brazilian investment bank, has provided two agricultural corporations with money from global investors. Both companies are involved in illegal deforestation, environmental destruction and human rights violations. With a report, a web story and an explanatory video, the STP was able to make this accessible to the public and contribute to the broader discussion on corporate responsibility.

At the invitation of the STP, the two Uyghurs Gulbahar Jalilova and Gulbahar Haitiwaji visited Switzerland. They spoke at several panels about the situation of the Uyghurs in East Turkestan and called on politicians and civil society to take action. Their statements and demands were picked up in several high-circulation newspapers in Switzerland.

Some of the STP's partners were forced to leave Russia due to increasing state repression. By founding the exile organization "International Committee of Indigenous Peoples of Russia" (ICIPR), they are now also campaigning for indigenous rights in Russia from their exile. This was also the case in Geneva, where they spoke at a panel organized by the STP together with the ICIPR. The panel functioned as a public side event to the session of the UN Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (EMRIP), where several STP partners spoke about indigenous rights in Russia.

Credit Suisse complies with a demand by Sami communities and the STP, terminating its business relationship with the mine operator Nussir ASA. The mining company plans to operate two copper mines on the Repparfjord in northern Norway.

Ethnic Kazakh Sayragul Sauytbay travels to Switzerland for a panel discussion as well as for talks with the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs (EDA) and with members of parliament. On International Human Rights Day, Sauytbay, the Uyghur and Tibetan communities, Campax and the STP hold a vigil to demand a revision of Switzerland’s China policy.

The STP contributes to the broad mobilisation of the population in the campaign for the Corporate Responsibility Initiative. Despite disappointment over the initiative being rejected due to the majority of the cantons, it is gratifying that the broad discussion over the years has led to changing attitudes among the population.

A new handbook by the STP provides indigenous peoples with an overview of existing international legal instruments and is intended to serve as a basis for civic education workshops in Brazil.

The Foreign Affairs Committee of the National Council followed a petition by Tibet organisations and the STP by issuing two postulates. These now require a detailed report from the Federal Council on the situation of Tibetans in Switzerland and an evaluation of the human rights dialogue with China.

Together with over 23,000 signatories, the Uyghur Association of Switzerland, Campax and the STP submit a petition to the Federal Council demanding the renegotiation of the Free Trade Agreement with China.

During the national climate camp in the federal square, the STP raises awareness of indigenous rights in connection with the energy transition, focusing on the Sami as a case study.

Following the outbreak of the pandemic, the STP contributed financially to a coronavirus emergency fund run by the Brazilian indigenous umbrella organisation APIB and supported the Tupinambá and Mundurukú communities in the demarcation of their lands.

The STP accompanies Davi Kopenawa Yanomami to the UN headquarters in Geneva, where he speaks of the multi-faceted threats Brazil’s uncontacted communities are facing.

The Bernese High Court confirms the conviction of the co-presidents of the JSVP (Junge Schweizerische Volkspartei/Young Swiss People’s Party) for violating criminal law against racial discrimination. The reason for the lawsuit was a post on the Facebook page of the JSVP that discriminated against Roma and Sinti. The STP supported the lawsuit.

The STP accompanies an indigenous delegation of more than 10 people from Brazil in Switzerland. The aim of the delegation is to draw attention to the situation of indigenous people in Brazil under President Bolsonaro and to warn of the possible consequences of a free trade agreement with the Mercosur states.

Following a mediation procedure between the STP and Credit Suisse, the bank commits itself to incorporating indigenous rights into its internal policies on project financing.

Metalor - one of the world's largest gold refineries based in Neuchâtel - announces its withdrawal from artisanal mining. The STP welcomes this step as a short-term solution. In the long term, however, better conditions in gold mining are necessary for the many people who depend on artisanal mining for their survival, as for example in Colombia and Peru.

The Peruvian public prosecutor’s office suspects a former supplier to the Swiss refinery Metalor of money laundering and illegal gold mining. A year earlier, the STP had pointed out questionable gold imports from Peru to Switzerland.

Together for threatened communities and minorities: The STP now has around 17,000 members. Thank you for your loyal support!

The STP protests with delegates of the Norwegian Sami in front of the Bernese BKW. Together with a consortium of the CS bank and other donors, BKW is involved in the financing of a wind power plant that threatens the way of life of Indigenous Sami.

The Data Protection and Public Relations Officer calls on the Federal Customs Administration to comply with the STP's demand and provide detailed insight into gold transactions. Transparency would be an important step towards finally obtaining more clarity about the origin and mining conditions of gold processed in Switzerland. The recommendation is a small sensation. The refineries are incorrigible: They announced an appeal against it.

Together with Tibet organisations, the STP presents the Federal Council with a petition for the rights of Tibetans in Switzerland. More than 11,000 people signed the petition and call on the Federal Council and parliament to do more to promote human rights in Tibet.

In the summer of 2018, over 1500 caravans of travelling Roma were on the road in Switzerland. Thanks to the project initiated by the STP and the Sinti and Roma Switzerland Association to mediate between travelling Roma, landowners and authorities, conflicts could be avoided and a positive summer balance drawn.

Following the publication of a STP report on dubious gold from the United Arab Emirates, exports to Switzerland fell sharply. While the Emirates were still Switzerland's largest gold supplier in January 2018 with over 21 tonnes of gold, six months later not a single gram was imported from this country.

For years, the Sri Lankan Navy occupied the small island of Iranaitivu as a military base. The population tirelessly protested for a return to their beloved island, supported by the STP. With success: In the middle of May the people finally got the right to return to the island. As a result, the people can fish again, collect seafood and thus have access to a secure source of income.

The National Contact Point (NCP) of the OECD processed the appeal against Credit Suisse, filed by the STP in April. The Swiss bank had participated significantly in financing the construction firms of the controversial North Dakota Access Pipeline, which passes through the indigenous reserve of Standing Rock and thereby creates huge risks of water pollution for the local Sioux.

After a long-running dispute over her land rights, the indigenous smallholder Máxima Acuña de Chaupe was acquitted. The biggest mining company of Peru, Yanacocha S.R.L., had accused her of land grabbing and had used violence against Máxima. The STP supported the activist in her combat against the gold giant.

A first draft of the "Action Plan Yenish, Sinti und Roma" is available. The STP had asked the Confederation to improve the situation of these three minorities in Switzerland with targeted measures.

The STP drew attention to the fact that the two Swiss banks UBS and Credit Suisse are playing a major role in funding the construction of the controversial North Dakota Access Pipeline in the US. This triggered numerous protest campaigns and further research by Greenpeace in Switzerland.

In late 2013, the Swiss gold refinery Metalor stopped the purchase of gold from two producers who purchased gold from the highly problematic Madre de Dios region. And in spring 2016, Yanacocha, the largest goldmine in South America, withdrew from the planned Conga project, against which the local population fiercely resisted. In several reports, the STP drew attention to the human rights violations committed by this company and supported the indigenous movement.