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dam-l TAKE ACTION: Support Communities Affected by Urra Dam!!
*apologies for duplicate postings*
Dear Friends,
We are still collecting signatures for the sign-on letter to the Colombian
government regarding Urra Dam. Please sign on BY FEBRUARY 10 to support the
rights of the Embera-Katio and downstream communities. Be sure to include
your name, organization and country. Thanks to those who already signed on.
In solidarity,
Monti Aguirre
***********************************
February 3, 2000
Dr. Juan Mayr Maldonado
Minister of the Environment
Calle 37 No. 8-40 Santa Fe de Bogota Colombia
E-mail: jmayr@minamb.gov.co
Dear Dr. Mayr,
The undersigned organizations would like to express our indignation and
protest the serious abuses being committed against the Embera-Katio by
senior officials of the Ministry of the Environment. Allegedly the
Vice-Minister of the Environment ordered the harassment of the 170
Embera-Katio who have established a camp in front of the ministry's
building. We have learned that a few days ago the police prevented people
from entering or leaving the camp, therefore denying the people access to
water and food and the use of lavatories.
The Embera-Katio who are camped in protest outside the ministry are waiting
for you to meet with them and begin negotiations on a mutually agreed plan
to mitigate and compensate for the impacts of the Urrá Dam. The
Embera-Katio would not have been forced to set up camp outside the ministry
if:
* the law relating to projects in indigenous areas had been respected;
* the Ministry of the Environment had respected international norms of best
practice for the construction of dams;
* there had been a genuine consultation process with the Embera-Katio which
respected that they are an indigenous group and as such individual
agreements can not take place in relation to development projects;
* the consultation process had taken place in a climate devoid of death
threats and killings;
* if the ruling of the Constitutional Court had been complied with;
* if you had acted in good faith and had set up meetings for the
negotiation of a mitigation plan prepared with and accepted by the
Embera-Katio and the dam-affected fishing and peasant communities;
*if the Ministry of the Environment had not illegally granted the
environmental license which allowed the filling of the reservoir, therefore
overruling the ruling of the Constitutional Court.
Because of this and other reasons 170 people are waiting for you outside
your building to begin a genuine negotiation process.
You have been honored with the Goldman Environmental Award, given to those
who excel in their environmental work; you are the President of the UN
Commission on Sustainable Development, and you played a very important
role at the recent negotiations on the Biosafety Protocol in Montreal. But
the way that the Ministry which you represent has proceeded with the
construction of the Urrá I Dam, mocks all the responsibilities that you
have accepted when you embraced the principles of the above mentioned
organizations.
In light of this situation we urge you to reconsider your position and to
respect the mandates of the law and the human rights of the communities
affected by Urrá Dam.
Signed,
International Rivers Network, USA
Fundacion Abyayala, USA
Corporacion Murundua (Valledupar), Colombia
Taller Ecologista - Argentina
Trasparencia S.C., México.
Chiriqui River Rafting, Panama
Grupo Ecologico Cabayu Cuati, Argentina
Censat Agua Viva (FOE Colombia) -
Grupo de Apoio a Cauca Indigena de Mato Grosso do Sul,
Fundaco CEBRAC, Brasil
Rainforest Action Network, USA
Fase - Federação de Órgãos para Assistência Social e Educacional - Rio de
Janeiro, Brasil
South Yuba River Citizens League, USA
Earthjustice International, USA
Kashyapa Yapa/ Arizona State University West, Phoenix, AZ, USA.
Professor Béla G. Lipták, president, Foundation to Protect thje Hungarian
Environment (FPHA), Hungria
Professor Clarita.Miller-Plantenberg, Universidad de Kassel, Alemania
cc: His Excellency Sr. ANDRES PASTRANA ARANGO pastrana@presidencia.gov.co,
infprotocol@mindefensa.gov.co, ecu@un.org, "IUCNsuramerica"
<samerica@uio.satnet.net>
"CROMOS" <redaccion@cromos.com.co>, "EL COLOMBIANO"
<elcolombiano@elcolombiano.com.co>, "EL ESPECTADOR"
<redactor@elespectador.com>, "EL MUNDO" <elmundo@elmundo.com>, "EL PAIS"
<diario@elpais-cali.com>, "EL TIEMPO" <bibmer@eltiempo.com.co>, "EL
UNIVERSAL" <buzon@eluniversal.com.co>, "EN VIVO"
<envivo98@multinet.net.co>,
^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
Monti Aguirre
Latin American Campaigns
International Rivers Network
1847 Berkeley Way
Berkeley, CA. 94703 USA
Phone: 510 . 848.11.55 and 707 . 591 .91.49
Fax: 510 . 848.10.08
e-mail: monti @irn.org
http://www.irn.org