Lima, Peru – the Peruvian National Indigenous Organization was jointed today by Peruvian and international environmental, and human rights organizations calling on the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB) to commission an independent environmental and social audit of the Camisea project before the signing of the loan agreement.
Refuting the Bank’s claims that all project conditions have been met, affected communities cited serious outstanding problems including massive landslides, drop in fish and hunting resources of communities in the Urubamba region, and alarming outbreak of epidemics among isolated indigenous populations in the Nahua Kugapakori Reserve.
The groups released two previously undisclosed Peruvian government documents showing that the project has already caused major environmental damage to the rainforest ecosystem and seriously damaged the health of local indigenous people. Groups also released dramatic video footage showing massive slides and destruction of watercourses.
“Given the grave health situation of the Nanti, we call for the removal of the Camisea wells inside the Nahua Kugapakori Reserve, specifically we urge that all future activities for the Cashiriari wells and the associated gas pipelines planned for 2005 inside the reserve be halted,” said Antonio Iviche Quique, the President of AIDESEP, the National Indigenous Organization of the Peruvian Amazon.
Representatives of six organizations met with Dennis Flannery, Executive Vice-President of the IDB on March 25 to present their ongoing concerns about Camisea and request an independent audit and an ongoing monitoring of project compliance with conditions set by the bank to reduce negative environmental and social impacts.
“There is a serious need a full audit of the environmental and social damage caused by this project to date and a mechanism for the restoration of the damaged areas and the compensation of affected communities.” said Atossa Soltani, Executive Director of Amazon Watch.
Indigenous organizations maintain that the Camisea project is in violation of national and international laws because the Peruvian Government did not carry previous consultation with the affected communities prior to embarking on the project. Moreover, the Supreme Decree 028 and the Protocol of Contact elaborated by CONAPA (Indigeonus Comissin of Peru) is violating the fundamental rights of the isolated indigenous peoples. AIDESEP has filed a legal action against the Supreme Decree and is in the process of filing an international legal case in the near future. For more information, visit the official portal of the Peru’s Amazonian Peoples at
www.aidesep.org.pe and see www.future.amazonwatch.org and www.amazonalliance.org for background information.
