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Panama's Ngobe Indians
Win Temporary Halt to Dam Construction
WASHINGTON, DC (ENS) -
The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has
ordered the government of Panama to suspend all work
on a hydroelectric dam that threatens the homeland
of the Ngobe Indians of western Panama.
In a ruling Thursday, the commission granted the
Ngobe's request for an injuction that stops
construction of the dam to prevent any further
threat to the community and the environment while
the commission deliberates on the merits of the
case.
The Chan-75 Dam is being built across the
Changuinola River in the heavily forested and
sparsely populated province of Bocas del Toro by the
government of Panama and a subsidiary of the
Virginia-based energy giant AES Corporation.
In addition to Chan-75, for which land clearing,
roadwork, and river dredging are underway, the order
covers two other proposed dam sites upstream.
The commission's ruling results from a petition
filed last year by the Ngobe, after AES-Changuinola
began bulldozing houses and farming plots. When the
Ngöbe protested the destruction of their homes, the
government sent in riot police who beat and arrested
villagers, including women and children, and then
set up a permanent cordon around the community to
prevent anyone from entering the area.
"We are thrilled to have the commission take these
measures to protect Ngobe communities," said Ellen
Lutz, executive director of the nonprofit Cultural
Survival and lead counsel for the Ngobe. "We are
hopeful that this will help the government of Panama
and AES recognize their obligation to respect Ngobe
rights."
The government must adopt necessary measures to
guarantee the Ngobe people's basic human rights,
including their rights to life, physical security,
and freedom of movement, and to prevent violence or
intimidation against them, ordered the commission,
which is a body of the Organization of American
States.
In the order signed by the commission's Exective
Secretary Santiago Canton, the government of Panama
is ordered to report back to the commission in 20
days on the steps it has taken to comply with the
injunction, called precautionary measures, and to
update this information periodically.
The Chan-75 Dam would inundate four Ngobe villages
that are home to about 1,000 people. Another 4,000
Ngobe living in neighboring villages would be
affected by the destruction of their transportation
routes, flooding of their agricultural plots, lack
of their access to their farmlands, and reduction or
elimination of fish that are an important protein
source in their diet.
The dam would also open up their territories to non-Ngöbe
settlers, warns Lutz, who says the Ngobe have
already endured "two years of brutal government
repression and destruction of their homeland" to
make way for the dam.
The dam also would cause "grave environmental harm"
to the La Amistad Biosphere Reserve, a UNESCO World
Heritage Site upriver from the dam site, Lutz warns.
La Amistad International Peace Park, managed jointly
by Panama and Costa Rica, is a major water source
for the San San Pond Sak Wetland Reserve, a
designated Wetland of International Importance under
the Ramsar Convention. It includes coastal lagoons,
mangroves, channels, wetlands, beaches and marine
coastal environments, as well as the Changuinola
River.
Many species of fish which require saltwater at some
stage of their lives migrate into and out of the
reserve. These species support wildlife in the La
Amistad Reserve, including several endangered
species, but scientists believe there is a high risk
of losing these fishes because the dam will destroy
their migration route.
"The Panamanian government must follow the
precautionary measures issued by the Inter-American
Commission on Human Rights and prevent further human
rights violations and environmental damage," said
Jacki Lopez, staff attorney for the nonprofit Center
for Biological Diversity, which submitted a brief to
the commission in support of the Ngobe.
AES-Changuinola S.A. is part of the Latin American
operations of AES Corporation, one of the world’s
largest global energy businesses. AES Panama is
currently the country’s largest energy generator and
the largest private hydroelectric generator in
Central America.
AES-Changuinola claims on its website that "building
of a productive relationship based on concerted
agreements" with the Nogbe indigenous populations
residing adjacent to the project.
"They have historically lived under poverty
conditions within an area without access roads and
communication, where there was a scarce presence of
the state as well as limited coverage of public
services," says AES-Changuinola. "Therefore, area
residents were practically invisible to authorities
and society in general. This reality has
significantly changed after our project came to the
place, making their existence visible and creating a
new dynamics in the area."
The company claims, "From the beginning of the
project's development AES has fully observed all
laws of the Republic of Panama, in strict adherence
of respect for the integrity and human rights of
persons who currently reside in areas surrounding
the project."
But this assertion on the company's part is disputed
by a report issued by the UN Special Rapporteur on
the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental
Freedoms of Indigenous People, James Anaya, on May
12, 2009.
Anaya concluded that the government of Panama had
ignored its obligation under international law to
consult with the communities and seek their free,
prior, and informed consent before moving ahead with
the construction project.
He urged AES-Changuinola to meet international
standards for corporate social responsibility and
not contribute, even indirectly, to violations of
human rights.
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