Reparations

Chapter from Human Rights Dialogue: "Environmental Rights", Published by Carnegie Council on Ethics and International Affairs. Describes the tragedy of the Maya-Achí people of Guatemala, victims of a World Bank-funded hydroelectric dam, and their efforts to reclaim their lives. Download document

The Chixoy Dam and its Pueblo Viejo Hydroelectric facility, built by INDE (Instituto Nacional de Electrificación) with financing from the Inter–American Development Bank and the World Bank, is the major source of electrical power for the nation of Guatemala. Chixoy Dam–Affected Communities and the Rio Negro Massacres Designs for this facility were approved, the project financed, and construction begun in 1975 without notifying the local population. Construction began without conducting a comprehensive census of affected peoples, without legal acquisition of all the land supporting the

The World Bank, Dams and the Quest for Reparations The World Bank has been the largest single source of funds for large dam construction worldwide. Under its stated aim of alleviating poverty, it has promoted and funded dams that have displaced more than 10 million people from their homes and land, caused severe environmental damage, and pushed borrowers further into debt. Never hesitant to exact loan repayment in perpetuity for projects it has funded (even failed projects), the World Bank has never been forced to pay for the destruction it has caused to millions of people’s lives and th

Volumen Uno: Resumen Ejecutivo: Daños Emergentes y Reparaciones: Recomendaciones para el Recurso Volumen Dos: Revision de Documentos sobre los Problemas del Legado de la Represa de Chixoy: Cronologia de Eventos y Acciones Relevantes Volumen Tres, Parte Uno: Evaluación de los Daños Emergentes de las Comunidades de la Cuenca del Río Chixoy: Consecuencias Materiales de la Construcción de la Represa, del Desplazamiento Involuntario y de los Daños y la Pérdida de los Recursos Indispensables Volumen Tres, Parte Dos Volumen Cuatro: Investigacion Social de las Comunidades Afecta

RE: Concerns of Proposed Regional and Domestic Power Markets Development Project To the World Bank Board of Directors: We commend the Bank’s interest and commitment to refurbish existing energy infrastructure at the Inga site in Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). However, the legacy of the Inga dams and the interest in further hydropower development of the Inga site raise several issues which create a more complex context for the Bank’s proposed Regional and Domestic Power Markets Development Project (RDPMDP).1 The following issues demand further attention before the Bank approves financi