It is now 16 months since the Supreme Court ruled that the development of the wind power plant at Fosen in Trøndelag was in breach of both human rights and the Sami’s right to cultural practice. And still there is no solution in sight. The case puts a damper on the celebration of Sami people’s day on 6 February.
The Sami organizations and reindeer herders want the wind farms covered by the Supreme Court’s judgment demolished. While the authorities will investigate the case.
– We want to initiate an investigation project, says Oil and Energy Minister Terje Aasland to TV 2.
This means that several aspects of the Supreme Court’s judgment must be examined in more detail through various investigations. And thus it will take at least a year, probably more, before it ends with a conclusion.
MUST BE DEMOLISHED. Roan Wind Park at Fosen in Trøndelag. Sami organizations believe the state must ensure that this facility is demolished. Photo: Stein Roar Leite / TV 2
No knowledge
The leader of the Norwegian Reindriftssamers National Association (NRL), Inge Even Danielsen, thinks it strange that the Ministry of Oil and Energy (OED) needs more facts than what the Supreme Court has provided.
– Now the authorities should respect the verdict. We have demanded that they must finish their assessments and come up with a clarification by the summer, says Danielsen to TV 2.
He has no faith that it is possible to work his way out of the situation. He also doubts whether there are experts in reindeer herding who are willing to enter into this research project. And he is strongly critical of the OED’s case management.
– Those we have met in the OED have little or no knowledge of reindeer husbandry. We have encountered appalling attitudes and for us it has been comical to listen to their explanations, he says to TV 2.
– Trampling
The Fosen reindeer herding district is divided into two sides, or operating groups. Terje Haugen is the leader of the northernmost side. He is even more uncompromising in his statements. He believes the Prime Minister should have intervened.
– Støre is acting like a totally paralyzed dot who has done nothing to speed up the processing of this case. It is very strange that the prime minister is not more active, says Haugen, who is still a member of the Labor Party.
– But I am not going to renew my membership in the party, he says.
ACTION LAMB. Terje Haugen is manager of one of the two reindeer herding districts in Fosen. He believes that Prime Minister Støre is paralyzed in this matter. Photo: Ole Martin Wold / NTB
They are very unhappy that the government has not taken the Supreme Court judgment into account. And that they haven’t been allowed to meet the politicians either. Haugen says that they are experiencing an awful lot of trampling. The mitigating measures that the government has talked about are new grazing land instead of what they have lost. But Haugen believes that there are no alternatives in the area.
– There will not be more grazing land from more investigations, he says to TV 2.
In the Storting, the Sami have the support of SV. Storting representative and deputy leader candidate Lars Haltbrekken believes that it is completely unacceptable that the government has still not done anything to end the human rights violation at Fosen.
– It was a unanimous Supreme Court that determined that the wind power development at Fosen violates human rights. The Sami at Fosen have lost their most important winter grazing area and they must still live with the serious consequences of this human rights violation. It is a shame for the rule of law in Norway that the human rights violation at Fosen has not been concluded, he says to TV 2.
– Training
He believes that the government is training the decision in the Supreme Court, which has already assessed that mitigating measures are not enough.
– The government must now come up with a plan for the demolition of the facilities and how the areas will be returned to nature, says Haltbrekken.
DEMOLISH. SV and Lars Haltbrekken believe the relevant wind farms at Fose must be demolished, Photo: Terje Bendiksby
TV 2 has asked the ministry to assess how long an investigation project will take. But they have no idea about that. The investigation project has not been initiated either.
– The ministry does not rule out any alternatives when it comes to further follow-up in the Fosen case. Now it is a matter of obtaining a sufficient knowledge base through new studies, writes State Secretary Elisabeth Sæther in the OED to TV 2.
In the Sami Parliament too, there are strong reactions to the fact that nothing is happening in this matter. Sámi Parliament President Silje Karine Muotka is still waiting for a regret and an apology from the government. She has requested a meeting with the Prime Minister on this matter several months ago.
– I have asked for a meeting with the Prime Minister and I want an apology. This judgment must have consequences. A serious error has occurred, the concession was a violation of Sami human rights, and when an injustice has occurred they must apologise, says Muotka to TV 2.
– Must be on the pitch
They demand that the business at Fosen cease and that the plant must go.
– We must have legal certainty in this country and the government must assure us that this does not happen again, she says.
The Sámi Parliament president has had meetings with the oil and energy minister about this matter, but now she wants the prime minister on board. She will address this matter at the first opportunity. And it could be 8 March, when the plan is for Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre to visit the Sami Parliament’s plenary session in Karasjok. The president of the Sámi Parliament is trying not to let this case spoil the celebration of the Sámi people’s day.
– The case is a workhorse that must find its solution. But precisely because we have such demanding issues in our everyday lives, it means a lot more to have a party where we celebrate, she says to TV 2.
Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Støre says in a message to TV 2 that he understands that this case is a burden for the reindeer herders at Fosen.
– The government takes the matter very seriously. We must ensure that the state fulfills its obligations under international law towards the Sami as an indigenous people, says Støre in a comment.
