World's Six Biggest Agrochemical Companies Found Guilty of Human Rights Violations

Following is a résumé of various articles on the Permanent People’s Tribunal which recently condemned the world’s six biggest agrochemical industries for human rights violations.  One of the articles came from “SOS pour un monde meilleur” by way of the International Society of Doctors for the Environment, Italy.

After three days of deliberations in Bangalore, India  (3-6 December 2011), the Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) cited human rights violations of the world’s six largest agrochemical industries:  Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow Chemical, DuPont and BASF.

Over 355,000 persons die each year from pesticide poisoning and hundreds of thousands more are made ill. Testimonies of persons who had been harmed by pesticides and biotechnology were presented. The practices of the agrichemical industry, which is valued at $42 billion, affect the environment, food, health, children and future generations.

Birth Defects and Pesticides: the Tomato Fields of Florida

The basis of this article, which is the chapter “Chemical Warfare” from the book, “Tomatoland” by Barry Estabrook, was sent to me by the association, “SOS pour un monde meilleur” which, among other sources, receives information on environmental health from Dr. Ernesto Burgio, International Society of Doctors for the Environment (ISDE), Italy.  The group, “SOS pour un monde meilleur”, located in Geneva, Switzerland, is a school offering accredited courses in natural health therapies and a non-profit association whose purpose is to contribute to a better world for children and future generations through sensitization, information, education, representation, and production. 

Migrants working in the tomato fields of Ag-mart in Immokalee, Florida, are exposed to very toxic pesticides.  Ag-mart is a tomato harvesting company that grows tomatoes in three states.  It employs about 500 migrant workers to stake, plant and pick tomatoes.  Most of the workers are from Mexico and Guatemala and are employed under deplorable conditions.

Among the workers were three women who gave birth in 2004 to babies with very serious birth defects. The first baby, Carlitos, was born with spinal and lung deformities and without arms and legs. Jesus was born six weeks later with a deformation of the jaw which placed him at risk of being unable to breathe. The third baby, Violeta, survived only 3 days. She was born with only one ear and one kidney, without a nose and anus, and with a cleft palate.

Trees

Trees

 I think that I shall never see

A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest

Against the earth’s sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,

And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;

Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

-        Joyce Kilmer

As we come to the end of another year, tribute is paid to those who have made the world a better place.  Whether they are poets, environmentalists, health-givers, all these persons have healed the world in some way.

Testimony: Mobile Phone Antennas - Geneva

This disturbing testimony comes from Jean-Luc, who suffered numerous health problems after installation of a mobile phone antenna on the rooftop of his apartment building in Geneva. 
(translation from French)

"My name is Jean Luc and I was born in 1968.  I have been living in an apartment building since 1998, with antennas installed in 1999.

My recollection of events:

Following a motorcycle accident in 1999, the scaphoid bone of my right wrist was injured.  Two operations, marrow graft and a screw, plaster.   Recovery in general lasts 6 months.  In my case, I was on invalidity from 1999 to 2004 following a necrosis of the bone, the reason for which the doctors could not understand.

In 2000, I suffered more and more from insomnia, became nervous and anxious.  Headaches started to develop when I spent entire days at home.

From 2002-2003, I started to experience falls in blood pressure, dizziness and depression.  In 2003, my 3-year-old dog suffered an attack.  Following this, I took a second dog which died at age 3.  It was a pedigreed dog, without health problems.