Press Release

Amazonian Tribe Brings an Epic Battle for Indigenous Rights to the United NationsMunduruku leader denounces lack of consultation and violations of land rights in Brazilian government’s Amazon dam boom FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Geneva, Switzerland: In a stirring event at the 29th United Nations Human Rights Council, indigenous leader Ademir Kaba Munduruku denounced the Brazilian government’s escalating rights abuses in its rush to build an unprecedented series of hydroelectric dams across the Amazon. Much of his criticism focused on the government’s repeated violations of the rights of indig

On Friday June 19, the Mekong River Commission (MRC) issued a press release announcing that resolution of the Prior Consultation process for the Don Sahong Dam will be taken to the governmental level. According to the MRC's announcement, following further deliberations by the MRC Council, “there are still differing views among the countries on whether the prior consultation process should come to an end...” As the MRC Council could not reach agreement, the matter will be “referred to their respective governments for resolution.” International Rivers has released the following stateme

The Mekong River Commission’s Joint Committee will begin its annual consultation meeting Monday, June 22, in Vientiane, Laos. The most pressing topic for discussion should be the Don Sahong Dam. However since the last meeting of the Joint Committee in January, where it was decided that further deliberations over the project would be deferred to a ministerial level, the MRC has remained silent leaving many unanswered questions about the future of the project.

The Lesotho Highlands Water Project (LHWP), was initiated by a treaty between South Africa and Lesotho in 1983. The main aim of the project is to transfer up to 70 M3 /s of water from the Senqu River in Lesotho to the Vaal River in South Africa. The project comprises of two phases, 1(a&b) and 2. The first phase, 1a, saw the construction of Katse dam; a 185 meters walled entity occupying 3580 hectares (Ha). The dam was completed in 1998, and Phase 1b, the construction of Mohale dam, in 2001. The Lesotho Highlands Development Agency (LHDA), was formed under the Lesotho Highlands Water Proje

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE On Wednesday, 27 May 2015, the Legal Resources Centre (LRC) appeared in the Lesotho High Court in an application on behalf of our client, International Rivers, to be admitted as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the matter between Khabang Lejone Multipurpose Cooperative Society (cooperatives) v Lesotho Highlands Development Authority. Our application was successful and International Rivers was admitted. The case concerns the question of communal compensation owed to the many communities, represented by cooperatives, affected by the Lesotho Highlands Water Project.

Non-governmental organizations are calling on the World Bank, Asian Development Bank and European Investment Bank to publicly acknowledge the millions of dollars of failed investment in their flagship project, Nam Theun 2. This dam has unleashed a range of negative impacts on the affected populations in central Laos.

Batman, Turkey - Today more than 500 people have protested the destructive Ilisu Dam project in the town of Dargecit. The demonstrators aimed at protesting at the dam site, but were prevented by the police. The protestors came from different dam affected provinces in order to protest the ongoing construction of the Ilisu Dam and Hydroelectric Power Plant project. They gathered in the small city of Dargecit and wanted to march towards the dam site which is 12 km away. They could not overcome the police barricade. The protestors carried banners with the slogans: "Let's communalize our land, w

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: This week, imprisoned executives from one of Brazil’s largest construction firms – who are implicated in an unprecedented corruption scandal involving the parastatal oil company Petrobras – promised to expose a parallel scheme of massive fraud surrounding hydroelectric dams in the Amazon, including the controversial Belo Monte Dam.

German Technology Giant Confronted With Proof of Wrongdoing at Annual Shareholder Meeting Munich, Germany: Dozens of protestors from a coalition of German and international organizations converged today on the shareholder meeting of leading German corporation Siemens to condemn the company's role in egregious human rights violations from Brazil to Mexico. Citing a litany of violations, protestors underscored Siemens’ responsibility as a major equipment supplier to projects and governments that deliberately disregard international rights conventions, leading to abuses including the intimid

At today's meeting of the MRC Joint Committee, Mekong governments were unable to reach a common agreement on how to proceed with the Don Sahong Dam and deferred the decision to a Ministerial level.