From pdh@u.washington.edu Thu Apr 2 00:05:07 1998 Received: from jason05.u.washington.edu (root@jason05.u.washington.edu [140.142.78.6]) by lists.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id AAA31036 for ; Thu, 2 Apr 1998 00:05:06 -0800 Received: from saul2.u.washington.edu (pdh@saul2.u.washington.edu [140.142.56.21]) by jason05.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.05) with ESMTP id AAA17632 for ; Thu, 2 Apr 1998 00:05:06 -0800 Received: from localhost (pdh@localhost) by saul2.u.washington.edu (8.8.4+UW97.07/8.8.4+UW97.04) with SMTP id AAA12373 for ; Thu, 2 Apr 1998 00:05:05 -0800 (PST) Date: Thu, 2 Apr 1998 00:05:05 -0800 (PST) From: Department of Zoology To: indknow@u.washington.edu Subject: COICA Letter to US Congress on Ayahuasca Patent and IAF Message-ID: MIME-Version: 1.0 Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: QUOTED-PRINTABLE ---------- Forwarded message ---------- Date: Thu, 02 Apr 1998 09:50:23 +0200 From: Tomas Conde To: puebloindio@datanetworks.ch Subject: OPEN LETTER TO THE CONGRESS...(Spanish and English) Subject: OPEN LETTER TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES (Spanish and English) Date: Wed, 1 Apr 1998 18:00:59 +0500 (GMT) From: coica@uio.satnet.net (COICA) =20 Ayahuasca Patent OPEN LETTER TO THE CONGRESS OF THE UNITED STATES Dear Sirs: As you may already be aware, the Inter-American Foundation (IAF) - a body of the the U.S. government - has decided to break relations with our organization. In doing so, they have denied any type of colaboration with more than one and a half million indigenous peoples of the Amazon Basin, while we are making an effort to maintain our cultures, as well as, trying to avoid the destruction of the largest rainforest on the planet. The reasoning of the president of the IAF is based the resolution adopted by the Coordinating Body for Indigenous Organizations of the Amazon Basin (COICA), that, in its Fifth Congress realized in May of the past year, decided to declare a citizen of the United States, Loren Miller, an "enemy of indigenous people". At this time COICA prohibited his entrance into any indigenous territory. Mr. Miller has patented in the United States, a variety of Ayahuasca or Yage (Banisteriopsis caapi ), which is a plant of hallucinogenic properties that is considered sacred for the majority of the 400 indigenous groups in the nine countries which constitute COICA. We know well the campaign to discredit our organization orchestrated by Miller. For him, it was not enough to patent our sacred plant taken from the garden of an indigenous family in Ecuador, and he is now proposing to install a laboratory to process the plant in the same country. COICA is an organization with positive earned prestige at the international level, not only for the defense of indigenous rights, but also for the proposals and work to amelliorate the life conditions of our peoples. The drastic resolution adopted by IAF is for us one more confirmation that this organization is serving the economic interests of one one individual against the beliefs of hundreds of thousands of indigenous peoples and the opinion of worldwide respected organizations such as the WWF, the IUCN and the Amazon Coalition. These are some of the hundreds of organizations, American and international personalities that have written to the IAF to express their solidarity with COICA. The pressure exercised by the IAF to retract our resolution adopted unanimously by ninety delegates representing the 400 indigenous groups represented in our Congress, it is inadmissable. As we have said, the respect of our beliefs and dignity as peoples are worth more than any amount of help that can be given or taken away. COICA , once again ratifies all the points of the resolution adopted in the Fifth Congress about the patenting of ayahuasca, and insists in stressing that under no circumstances and despite any pressure of national and international organizations, COICA will not renounce its legitimate right to defend and preserve the knowledge, practices, innovations and natural resources of the peoples whom we represent. This right has been explicitly recognized in the Treaty of Biological Diversity that was ratified by more than 170 countries. In addition to this, COICA declares that in the defense of its rights, it will use all legal means available. The capricious interpretation of COICA=B4s resolution that Mr. Miller and other interested sectors have made, stating that our organization threatens "the life and integrity of a United States citizen" lacks any foundation and is only a strategy to divert the attention of the fundamental problem, which is the immoral and illegal patenting of our sacred plant. This is an offense which we cannot tolerate. We believe that you the Congressmen/women, should know the fundamental reason which allows your fellow citizens to patent our plants and appropriate our knowledge. There is a lack of ratification by the U.S. Congress of the Treaty of Biological Diversity, and a lack of approval for accurate laws that impede this known worldwide practice of "biopiracy". For these reasons, COICA will immediately initiate the legal process in the United States to achieve the absolute nullity of the patent obtained by Mr. Miller. In this process we are confident that there will be wide international solidarity for COICA=B4s position, especially with the active support of conservation, humanitarian and politcal organizations of the United States. The personalities, politicians and public opinion of the U.S., have on several occasions demonstrated their solidarity with the cause of Amazonian indigenous peoples due to our contribution to the environmental stability of the planet. Sincerely, Antonio Jacanimijoy General Coordinator of COICA ______________________________________ Patente de la ayahuasca CARTA ABIERTA AL CONGRESO DE LOS ESTADOS UNIDOS Estimados se=F1ores: Como es ya del conocimiento de ustedes, la Inter American Foundation (IAF) - organismo del gobierno norteamericano- ha decidido romper relaciones con nuestra organizaci=F3n y negar cualquier tipo de colaboracio= n a m=E1s de un millon y medio de ind=EDgenas de la Cuenca Amaz=F3nica que ha= cemos esfuerzos grandes por mantener nuestras culturas, y con ello evitar tambi=E9n la destruccion de la selva m=E1s grande del planeta. La raz=F3n alegada por el presidente de la IAF es una resoluci=F3n adoptada por la Coordinadora de las Organizaciones Ind=EDgenas de la Cuenca Amaz=F3n= ica (COICA), que en su Quinto Congreso realizado en mayo del pasado a=F1o decidi=F3 declarar "enemigo de los pueblos ind=EDgenas" a un ciudadno estadounidense de nombre Loren Miller, al tiempo de prohibirle su entrada a cualquier territorio ind=EDgena. El se=F1or Miller ha patentado en los Estados Unidos una variedad de la ayahuasca o yag=E9 (banisteriopsis caapi)= , planta de propiedades alucin=F3genas considerada sagrada por la gran mayor= =EDa de los cuatrocientos pueblos ind=EDgenas de nueve pa=EDses que forman parte= de COICA. Conocemos bien la campa=F1a de desprestigio contra nuestra organizaci=F3n orquestada por Miller, a quien no le ha bastado con patentar nuestra planta sagrada recogida de la huerta de una familia ind=EDgena del Ecuador, sino que ahora pretende instalar un laboratorio para procesarla en este mismo pa=EDs. La COICA es una organizaci=F3n con un bien ganado prestigio a nivel internacional, no s=F3lo por su defensa de los derechos ind=EDgenas, sino tambi=E9n por sus propuestas y su labor para mejorar las condiciones de vida de nuestros pueblos. La dr=E1stica resoluci=F3n adoptada por la IAF es para nosotros una prueba m=E1s de que esta organizaci=F3n ha sido puesta ahora al servicio de los intereses econ=F3micos de un individuo en contra de las creencias de ciento= s de miles de ind=EDgenas y de la opini=F3n de organizaciones mundialmente respetadas como la WWF, la IUCN y la Coalici=F3n Amaz=F3nica, s=F3lo para nombrar algunas de las cientos de organizaciones y personalidades estadounidenses y de todo el mundo que han escrito a la IAF para expresar su solidaridad con la COICA. La presi=F3n ejercida por la IAF para retractarnos de una resoluci=F3n adoptada por unanimidad por los noventa delegados representando a 400 pueblos ind=EDgenas en nuestro Congreso es inadmisible y, tal como ya lo hemos dicho, el respeto a nuestras creencia y nuestra dignidad como pueblos valen mucho m=E1s que cualquier monto de ayuda que se nos d=E9 o se nos quite. La COICA, una vez m=E1s, ratifica en todo su contenido la resoluci=F3n adoptada en el Quinto Congreso respecto del patentamiento de la ayahuasca, e insiste en se=F1alar que por ning=FAn concepto y a pesar de cualquier presi=F3n de organismos nacionales o internacionales renunciar=E1= a su leg=EDtimo derecho de defender y conservar los conocimientos, pr=E1ctica= s e innovaciones y los recursos naturales de los pueblos que representamos, derecho reconocido expl=EDcitamente en el Convenio de la Diversidad Biol=F3gica que ya han ratificado m=E1s de 170 pa=EDses. Declara, adem=E1s, que en la defensa irrestricta de sus derechos usar=E1 todos los medios l=EDcitos que tenga a su alcance, y que la interpretaci=F3= n caprichosa de la resoluci=F3n de COICA que han hecho Miller y otros sectores interesados de que nuestra organizaci=F3n amenaza "la vida y la integridad de un ciudadano norteamericano" carece de fundamento y es s=F3lo una estrategia para desviar la atenci=F3n del problema fundamental que es e= l patentamiento ileg=EDtimo e inmoral de nuestra planta sagrada, una ofensa que no podemos tolerar. Ustedes, se=F1ores congresistas, deben saber que la raz=F3n de fondo que permite a sus conciudadanos patentar nuestras plantas y apropiarse de nuestros conocimientos es la falta de ratificaci=F3n por el Congreso norteamericano del Convenio de la Diversidad Biol=F3gica, y la sanci=F3n de leyes adecuadas que impidan esta pr=E1ctica conocida mundialmente como "biopirater=EDa" Por estas razones, la COICA iniciar=E1 de inmediato en los Estados Unidos los tr=E1mites judiciales para lograr la nulidad absoluta de la patente obtenida por Miller, y al hacerlo conf=EDa en contar con la m=E1s amplia solidaridad internacional, y especialmente con el apoyo activo de organizaciones de conservaci=F3n, humanitarias y pol=EDticas de ese pa=EDs,= as=ED como personalidades, dirigentes pol=EDticos y la opini=F3n p=FAblica de ese= pa=EDs que en diversas ocasiones ha demostrado su solidaridad con la causa de los pueblos ind=EDgenas amaz=F3nicos por nuestra contribuci=F3n a la estabilida= d del medio ambiente planetario. Atentamente Antonio Jacanamijoy Coordinador General de COICA .