Press Release

Chief Justice will need to reconsider decision, or allow vote by full Supreme Court Brasília, Brazil - The Federal Public Prosecutors’ Office (Ministério Público Federal - MPF) filed an appeal today with the Brazilian Supreme Court to stop construction of the Belo Monte Dam until consultations are held with indigenous people affected by the project. Construction was allowed to continue last week due to an injunction issued by Chief Justice Carlos Ayres Britto that suspended an earlier decision of a regional federal court (TRF-1). The appeal requests that Ayres Britto reconsider his de

The Lao government has begun work on its second hydropower project on the Mekong River, the 260-380 MW Don Sahong Dam, despite unresolved concerns with the Xayaburi Dam.

Press Release - 30 August 2012 Report assesses the various actors operating in the Sesan, Srepok, and Sekong (3S) Rivers Basin with a stake in the development of hydropower and the threat that the scramble to exploit the area’s water resources poses to the region and its people.

Brasilia, Brazil: The Brazilian Supreme Court has overturned the suspension of the Belo Monte Dam, caving to pressure from President Dilma Rousseff’s administration without giving appropriate consideration to indigenous rights implications of the case, human rights groups said today. The case illustrates the Brazilian judiciary’s alarming lack of independence, when powerful interests are at stake.

Project developer Norte Energia, S.A. stopped all construction on the Belo Monte Dam yesterday after receiving written notification of last week's decision from the Brazilian Federal Appeals Court that suspended the project.

A high-level court yesterday suspended construction of the controversial Belo Monte dam project on the Amazon’s Xingu River, citing overwhelming evidence that indigenous people had not been properly consulted.

This is a translation of a press release from our partners at Movimento Xingu Vivo. Brazil: The controversy over authorization of the definitive damming of the Xingu River will be decided next week by Brazil's national indigenous agency FUNAI without the agreements being approved by the indigenous peoples.

Three engineers of the company building the Belo Monte Dam were detained Tuesday by Juruna and Arara tribal authorities after promised mitigation measures failed to materialize.

Bangkok, Thailand -- On Friday, Laos’ Foreign Minister Thongloun Sisoulith announced that the Xayaburi Dam had been postponed, pending completion of further environmental studies. While initially promising news, today’s Vientiane Times confirms that the Lao government nevertheless intends to allow Ch. Karnchang, the dam’s builder, to continue scheduled activities at the dam site, including the resettlement of affected villages.

Altamira, Brazil - Indigenous leaders representing six tribes affected by the Belo Monte Dam complex along the Amazon’s Xingu River sent a letter today to President Dilma Rousseff and other government authorities calling for immediate suspension of the controversial project’s Installation License. The letter – signed by more than sixty indigenous leaders from 16 villages and endorsed by some of Brazil’s leading human rights and environmental groups – describes how dam construction has raced ahead, while legally-required measures to mitigate and compensate the project’s impacts ha