Written by Tanja Brouwers   

International ethecon Awards 2014/15
Save the blue planet!
Stop the genocide in Sudan!
Stop FRONTEX / Black Planet Award to Dow Chemical

The International ethecon Blue Planet Award and the Black Planet Award 2014/2015 are bestowed, the Foundation Congress 2015 in the Pfefferwerk in Berlin was a success.
The topic of the congress “Stop FRONTEX, Combat the reasons, not the refugees!“ was introduced with a convincing speech by Pro Asyl‘s representative Judith Kopp: „The so called frontier protection agency FRONTEX aims, above all, at arresting “people outside of the European frontiers”. She represented the voice of many of presenly about 60 millions refugees worldwide by saying: „We come to your country, because you destroy our country.“
The Indian doctor‘s Mali Muttana Mallapi diatribe left a strong impression. He delivered the arguments for the bestowal of the International ethecon Black Planet Award to the members of the management Andrew Liveris and James M. Ringler, as well as to the major shareholders of the chemical group DOW CHEMICAL (USA). He mentioned the worldwide 10 biggest „transgressions“ by the concern, which the managers and the major shareholders are responsible for: „DOW is called the ‚King of the dioxine’, among other because of the production Agent Orange and of many extremely dangerous pesticides.“ He also mentioned, among other, Dow’s role in the management the Rocky Flats plant, where the United States started to produce nuclear weapons in the 50’s, further on the production of Napalm and the fabrication of low-value silicone implants. A special importance was given to the catastrophe of Bhopal/India (1984); up to today the group refuses to take on the responsability for the dead and the injured, as well as for the contamination of big areas around the old factory, also they refuse to pay adequate compensations or to clean up the area. Founder donor Axel Köhler-Schnura said: „We did not invite the Black Planet Awardees for today, we will hand out the trophy to them personally.“
The speech of the Slovenian film maker Tomo Križnar, International ethecon Blue Planet Awardee 2014/15, offered a lot of food for thought. Alfred Buss, coordinator for Sudan and South Sudan delivered the honorific speech for the Slovenian human-rights and peace activist Tomo Križnar, who already fights for many decades, in between of the fronts of the ongoing war, for the indigenous people in Sudan, such as the Nuba, even at the risk of his own life.
Tomo Križnar made a moving appeal in order to protect the Nuba against the Al-Bashir regime’s military attacks, he suggested installing protectorates as well as using civil surveillance drones. Together with the presentation of the prize a donator from the ethecon foundation made a gift of 300 copies of a foto-booklet to the awardee „People in Sudan“. Tomo Križnar signed this booklet as well as a calendar of the same topic for the visitors of the ceremony.
Watch the video clips of the foundation congress here: https://www.ethecon.org/en/2387
See and download pictures here: https://www.flickr.com/photos/ethecon/albums/72157661481124712
---
Unlike many foundations funded by a particular company, family, church, political party or state, Ethecon is one of the few “bottom-up” foundations, currently supported by 39 donors and committed to future generations by campaigning “for a world free from exploitation and repression!” Our young foundation depends on donations and support from members.

Since 2006, Ethecon has awarded the two international positive and negative prizes, the Internationalen ethecon Blue Planet Award for outstanding commitment to the preservation and rescue of the “Blue Planet”, and the Internationalen ethecon Black Planet Award for shocking responsibility fo the ruin and destruction of the Earth. Blue Planet laureates have included Vandana Shiva/ from Indien, Uri Avnery from Israel,, and Jean Ziegler from Switzerland. The Black Planet Award has pilloried managers and major stockholders of the corporations British Petrol of Great Britain, Tepco of Japan, and Deutsche Bank of Germany, among others.
-------------
For further information, contact:
Ms Tanja Brouwers
Mobile phone: +49-1575 8050905
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
______
ethecon
Foundation Ethics & Economy
Schweidnitzer Str. 41
D-40231 Düsseldorf
Germany
Phone: +49-211-2611210
E-mail: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
Web site: www.ethecon.org