Naturaleza De Derechos, 23 May 2017
Vandana Shiva, an ecofeminist scientist, philosopher and writer from India, also one of the main promoters of the Monsanto Tribunal, was present today, before the Supreme Court of Justice of the Argentine Nation, in the trial that Naturaleza De Derechos initiated against the transnational company Monsanto and the National State to prohibit the release and commercialization of the Transgenic Soybean RR2 in the Argentine territory.
The judicial case, which has been in the National Supreme Court for a week, reaches the highest court for the extraordinary appeal filed by Naturaleza De Derechos, against the ruling that did not lead to the request for precautionary measures consisting of; 1) a ban on the commercialization of Monsanto’s Intacta transgenic Soy, 2) suspension of Resolution 318/13 of the Ministry of Agroindustry which reduces the risk assessment and 3) the exhortation to the National State to refrain from approving Genetically modified seeds without previous citizen participation.
Room III of the Federal Administrative Disputes Chamber of the City of Buenos Aires, on May 9, 2017, granted the extraordinary appeal.
Dr. Shiva specifically asked the Court to call a public hearing before a judicial decision is taken, and to open an instance of Amicus Curiae, to allow the opinion of independent experts on Genetically Modified Organs (GMOs). She also informed the Argentine court that the authorization and release of the RR2 Soybean from Monsanto Argentina SAIC – commercially known as INTACTA – “represents a risk of serious and irreparable damage to traditional agriculture, human health, environment and biodiversity.”
She argued that “the damage caused by GMOs to traditional agriculture, human health, and biodiversity has been proven. Today, humankind has to make a decision between monocultures and biodiversity, between transgenics and organic farming. Between green deserts using poisons, and biodiversity-rich farming areas producing real food. “
In closing, Vandana Shiva declared her “interest in appearing in the court case as Amicus Curiae, in order to give an opinion to this Supreme Court of Argentina, on the need to order the suspension of Intact Soy from Monsanto Argentina SAIC company in all the Argentine territory. “
There is already strong evidence within the judicial file regarding the lack of food safety of Monsanto’s transgenic soy, approved in 2012, since it does not include an evaluation of the chronic and carcinogenic effects. There is also evidence regarding the lack of environmental safety, since Monsanto’s transgenic crop was only tested to analyze its ecological interaction in a single sub-biome of more than 10 in Argentina, violating the minimum evaluation criteria .
Dr. Vandana Shiva, received the Alternative Nobel Prize in 1993. During the 1970s she participated in the Chipko movement, made up mainly of women who adopted the ecological protest tactic of hugging trees to avoid them being felled. In 1982, she created the Foundation for Scientific, Technological and Ecological Research. Among its initiatives is the promotion and dissemination of organic agriculture (Navdanya program), the study and maintenance of biodiversity (Earth University, International College for Sustainable Living), fostering women’s commitment to the environmental movement (Diverse Women for Diversity), and the regeneration of real Democracy (Living Democracy Movement).
It can be remembered that Vandana Shiva has previously firmly aligned with the Argentine organizations that prepared the “Multisectorials against the Monsanto Seed Law” where they resist the pretensions of Monsanto to patent transgenic seeds.
In August 2016, Dr. Shiva had accompanied the organizations, appearing before the Supreme Court of Argentina, requesting a public hearing and an instance of Amicus Curiae in a judicial case where Monsanto claims patents for genetically modified plants. The case is under study for the third vote of five currently held by the Court.
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