VERDICT OF THE IRRI TRIBUNAL

Dear Friends,

The First Asian Peoples’ Tribunal against International Rice Research Institute’s (IRRI) held on April 4, 2006 in Quezon City, Philippines found the IRRI GUILTY of its crimes against the farmers and peoples of Asia in its 46 years of existence in Southeast Asia.

The Tribunal was sponsored by the Asian Peasant Coalition (APC) and the Pesticide Action Network Asia Pacific (PAN AP) and was organized by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) and RESIST Agrochem TNCs.

The theme of the tribunal is “End Imperialist Control in Agriculture! Intensify the Struggle for Genuine Agrarian Reform!”. It was attended by more than 400 people, mostly from peasants, scientists, academes and professionals coming from Malaysia, Pakistan and Philippines.

The IRRI through the Ford and Rockefeller Foundations since its beginning on April 4, 1960 at the University of the Philippines in Los Baños, Laguna has restructured Asian farmers’ sound traditional agricultural practices to become dependent and subjugated to chemical inputs that are products of TNC-controlled agri-business. IRRI’s chemical dependent seeds and intensive capital input high yielding varieties (HYVs) have eroded continuously the traditional rice varieties (TRVs) of rice farmers, destroyed systematically the ecological system of agricultural lands, and put to great danger the life and health of farmers and peoples here and throughout Asia and the whole world.

Moreover, locally, the IRRI has been with impunity wantonly violating the rights of workers and peasants. IRRI has landrgrabbed too some two hundred twenty two (222) hectares of farmers’ land in Laguna, Philippines.
This is an Indictment brought by the Asian Peasants and Peoples – or the peasants, farmers, fisher folk, agricultural workers, peasant women, rural youth, indigenous peoples of Asia-- in solidarity with other oppressed and exploited peoples of the world -- as Plaintiffs, through the Panel of People’s Prosecutors.

In solidarity,

APC Secretariat
April 2006