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Ethiopia Cracks Down on Dissent

Mon, 08/03/2009 - 11:34am

Kenyans have more freedom to protest Gibe 3 Dam than Ethiopians. (Photo courtesy Friends of Lake Turkana)

Kenyans have more freedom to protest Gibe 3 Dam than Ethiopians. (Photo courtesy Friends of Lake Turkana)

We recently received the good news that the African Development Bank’s independent investigative unit (known as the CRMU) registered our request to investigate problems on the Gibe 3 Dam in Ethiopia. Investigations by the CRMU and the similar World Bank Inspection Panel are just about the only way that project-affected people can get recourse for problems caused by Bank-supported big dams and other infrastructure projects. Although we at International Rivers are not directly affected, our request was meant to supplement a claim on the project made by people who will be affected in downstream Kenya by the huge dam. Ethiopian villagers were, we knew, in no position to make a claim against the government-led project.

Hu Jia Represents China’s Best Hope

Mon, 10/27/2008 - 4:16pm

The European Parliament last week awarded the Sakharov Prize for Freedom of Thought, Europe’s most prestigious human rights award, to the Chinese human rights activist Hu Jia. The new generation of civil society activists whom Hu Jia represents is China’s best hope for addressing the country’s enormous social and environmental problems. The award’s condemnation by the Chinese government is a sign of weakness and fear.

The Xingu Alive Forever: When life is cheap

Wed, 05/07/2008 - 9:41am

Dorothy Stang, murdered American nun (archive)

Dorothy Stang, murdered American nun (archive)

Seeing him waving the "V' for victory sign yesterday, and hearing him thank divine justice for his acquittal on appeal after initially being convicted and sentenced to 30 years, rancher Vitalmiro de Moura Bastos, or "Bida" reminded me of the killers of civil rights workers in the South who smirked when were absolved for their crimes. But, this is the Amazon, not the South, and it´s 2008. And, the murder Bida was absolved of was that of an American nun, Dorothy Stang, rather than a Black youth who dared to assert his rights.

Under the Boot: new report exposes military face of Chinese investment in Burma

Palaung Youth Network Group

Exclusive photos and testimonies from a remote village near the China-Burma border uncover how Chinese dam builders are using Burma Army troops to secure Chinese investments. Under the Boot, a new report by Palaung researchers, details the implementation of the Shweli Dam project, China's first Build-Operate-Transfer hydropower deal with Burma's junta.

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Represa Chixoy

Niños Maya-Achí al lado del embalse de la Represa de Chixoy
View this page in: English

Durante más de 20 años, las comunidades afectadas por la Represa Chixoy han exigido las indemnizaciones por los daños y perjuicios causados por el proyecto, construido durante la dictadura militar más represiva de Guatemala. El aprovechamiento hidroeléctrico Chixoy–Pueblo Viejo, financiado por el Banco Mundial y el Banco Interamericano de Desarrollo, se construyó sobre el Río Chixoy a principios de los años 1980 y fueron desplazadas forzosamente más de 3500 miembros de comunidades mayas. Más de 6000 familias que vivían en la zona también sufrieron la pérdida de sus tierras y modos de sustento. Cuando los miembros de las comunidades se opusieron a la reubicación y exigieron mejor compensación, fueron masacrados, torturados y secuestrados.

Peticion ante el Tribunal Latinoamericano del Agua

Petición presentada por el Consejo de Ejidos y Comunidades Opositores a la Presa La Parota ante el Tribunal Latinoamericano del Agua estableciendo la falta de consulta de parte de la Comisión Federal de Electricidad para la realización del proyecto; y la violencia asociada con este. En este documento también se resumen los impactos sociales y ambientales que generaría el proyecto.

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Report Identifies Serious International Law Violations in the Se San River Basin

Eric Rutkow, Cori Crider, Tyler Giannini, Harvard Law School

For the better part of a decade, the story of the Cambodian communities along the Se San River in Ratanakiri has been one of development gone wrong. Since construction of Vietnam’s US$1 billion Yali Falls Dam the Se San River’s ecosystems have not been the same and the food security of those communities that depend on the river has vanished. This report by the Clinical Advocacy Project of Harvard’s Law School’s Human Rights Program, published by the NGO Forum on Cambodia, documents serious violations of international law caused by Vietnam’s construction of dams in the Se San watershed and puts forward a framework, rooted in Vietnam and Cambodia’s international legal obligations under human rights and environmental law.

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