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Information in: Español - Français - Deutsch - Português - Russian - Japanese - Svenska - Italiano - Suomi |
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ChinaSign-on letter to governments and export credit agencies: To the Ministers of Economic Affairs and the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Brazil, Canada, Germany, Sweden, and Switzerland Human rights violations in the Three Gorges Project Your Excellencies: We would like to bring the massive human rights violations in the resettlement program for the Three Gorges Project in China to your attention. Your governments are involved in this project through official export credits and guarantees. The pressure to relocate, and the risk of human rights violations, will increase further when the water in the reservoir area starts rising in April 2003. We call on you to ensure that the project complies with the international human rights conventions to which China and your governments are party. With a planned capacity of 18,200 megawatts, the Three Gorges Dam on China's Yangtze river is the world's largest power project. It will require the forced resettlement of more than 1.2 million people, and according to some estimates, up to 1.9 million people. The Three Gorges Dam blocked off the Yangtze River in November 2002. The reservoir will start filling in April 2003. So far, more than 640,000 people have been resettled. Tens of thousands will still need to move before submergence starts in April. With submergence imminent, International Rivers Network has commissioned a long-time observer of the Three Gorges Project to prepare an investigative report on the resettlement situation in the project area. The researcher has prepared an eyewitness account based on a large number of interviews with affected people in counties that are most affected by resettlement for the Three Gorges Project. A copy of the new report is enclosed for your information. Some of its main findings are: · The resettled people are not offered compensation at replacement cost, but are forced to buy housing at a cost which far exceeds the compensation they have been offered. · The land and jobs that were promised to resettlers from rural and urban areas are not available. Where land has been offered, it has often turned out to be of inferior quality. So far, more than 100,000 people have been forced to leave the area altogether. · Local authorities appear to have diverted a large part of the resettlement budget into unrelated investments, using funds intended for household compensation on projects such as luxury hotels and roads. · According to the report, there is a "widespread belief that local officials have used the project as an opportunity to fill their own pockets." Many cases of embezzlement of resettlement funds have been documented. · No independent grievance mechanism exists, and the resettlement process is conducted "in an atmosphere of officially orchestrated secrecy and intimidation." · The police have used "excessive force" to quell the numerous protests against the resettlement problems, and the Three Gorges project has become "an instrument of repression with widespread human rights abuses." The Three Gorges project is being built without funding from the World Bank, historically the largest funder of dams in developing countries. Instead, export credit agencies and private banks ignored the warnings of critics and have extended major financial support. Your export credit agencies have approved a total of more than $1.4 billion for the project. The dam on the Yangtze is thus a model and a test case for the social, environmental and human rights policies of your export credit agencies. Your governments have signed and ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which enshrines the freedom of expression, peaceful assembly and association. This Covenant, and other national and international standards, imply a responsibility for human rights violations in projects supported by your export credit agencies. We note that the Brazilian BNDES has committed to "respect ethical and environmental principles." Export Development Canada (EDC) says that "as a good corporate citizen," it "values human rights and promotes the protection of internationally recognized human rights," and that "monitoring human rights is an ongoing function at EDC." The German government in its programmatic coalition agreement has agreed that "examinations of human rights violations should take place in connection with export guarantee decisions." Sweden's EKN foresees the possibility of monitoring the environmental impacts of a project - including resettlement and other socio-economic impacts - "throughout the whole project period." Finally, the Swiss government announced in its North South guidelines of 1994 that it would give "more weight to governance and the protection of human rights in the recipient country" when considering export credit guarantees for poorer developing countries. In addition, the new Swiss constitution lists the protection of human rights as one of the official goals of Switzerland's foreign policy, which includes the instruments of foreign economic policy such as export credit guarantees. In accordance with your national and international human rights obligations, we ask you to urgently press the Chinese government and Three Gorges Project authorities for the following measures to be taken: · People affected by the Three Gorges Project must be resettled, compensated and rehabilitated in line with acknowledged international standards. The state must ensure that, as these standards stipulate, resettlers receive compensation at full replacement cost, and be able to improve or at least regain their former standard of living. Since the local counties are unable to resolve the resettlement problems which they have been forced to shoulder, the national authorities must assume the responsibility for resettlement in the project. · The state should create independent grievance mechanisms for the people affected by the Three Gorges Project. People should not suffer repression for expressing their opinions, for protesting peacefully, or for seeking redress for damages they have suffered. The people who have been imprisoned for protesting peacefully against the problems of the project in the past should be released. · As long as the problems of resettlement have not been resolved in line with international standards, the submergence of the reservoir area must be suspended. Numerous World Bank evaluations have demonstrated that an approach of resettling people while a project is being implemented does not work. · The resettlement and human rights problems of the Three Gorges Project should be raised and discussed at the 59th session of the Commission on Human Rights in March/April 2003 in Geneva. Several governments that have approved export credits and guarantees for the Three Gorges Project entertain bilateral human rights dialogues with China, and should also raise the problems of the project within this context. · Since your export credit agencies are involved in the Three Gorges Project, your governments should establish a presence in the project area during this critical stage, and should monitor the implementation of the project and the resettlement efforts. The Chinese authorities have invited foreign experts to monitor the construction standards of the Three Gorges Dam. They should also invite independent human rights experts to monitor resettlement. The experience with the Three Gorges Dam and other projects demonstrates that export credit agencies, and the governments which back them, should also ensure that human rights are protected in their activities more generally: · Export credit agencies should carry out human rights and social impact assessments before taking decisions on credits and guarantees. Where relevant, they should include human rights conditions in the covenants of their credit and guarantee agreements, and should monitor the compliance with these conditions during project implementation. · The World Commission on Dams has proposed a framework that integrates human rights into the planning and decision-making processes of water and energy projects. The WCD recommends that "demonstrable public acceptance of all key decisions" be achieved through open and transparent negotiations with the participation of all stakeholders. The WCD also recommends a "comprehensive post-project monitoring and evaluation process," and mechanisms to identify and remedy outstanding social issues associated with existing dams. Export credit agencies should adopt these and other recommendations of the WCD. As submergence draws closer, International Rivers Network and other NGOs will monitor the implementation of the Three Gorges Project, the resettlement activities and the human rights situation in the project area. We urge you to use all your influence to help ensure that the project meets the international standards your governments have endorsed, and that human rights are not violated in the resettlement process. Thank you for your attention to these concerns. We would be happy to discuss them with you in more detail, and look forward to your response. Sincerely yours, Doris Shen Peter Bosshard
Australia Austria Belgium Brazil Canada China Colombia Costa Rica El Salvador Finland France Georgia Germany India Italy Japan Korea Lithuania Mozambique Netherlands Nicaragua Nigeria Norway Pakistan Paraguay Philippines Portugal Slovakia South Africa Sri Lanka Sweden Switzerland Uganda United Kingdom United States Uruguay International
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