DOCSLIB.ORG

Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project INDEPENDENT FACT FINDING MISSION: Report and Recommendations Prepared by Julian Burger Margarita Escartin Nataly Ponce Leo Valladares Lanza September 2016 2 Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project Table of Contents List of acronyms ................................................................................................................................................................................................ 4 Executive summary .......................................................................................................................................................................................... 5 Chapter 1: Background .................................................................................................................................................................................... 7 Purpose and scope of the Mission ......................................................................................................................................................... 7 General background ................................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Chapter 2: The Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project .................................................................................................................................... 11 Project Design ......................................................................................................................................................................................... 11 Legal framework and environmental standards ................................................................................................................................. 11 The consultations and FPIC ................................................................................................................................................................. 12 Second and Final Project Design ......................................................................................................................................................... 13 Access, use and health of river ............................................................................................................................................................. 14 Impacts on other natural resources ..................................................................................................................................................... 15 Cultural and spiritual value of the Gualcarque River ........................................................................................................................ 15 Loss of livelihood ................................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Engagement and Relationship with Local Communities ................................................................................................................. 17 Implementation process ........................................................................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 3: The Communities in the Project Area ..................................................................................................................................... 19 Indigenous/non-indigenous composition .......................................................................................................................................... 19 The communities and the consultation process ................................................................................................................................ 20 Position of Community Members regarding the Project ................................................................................................................. 21 Root causes of the Conflict ................................................................................................................................................................... 22 Perspectives of Gender and the situation of Women in the Project Area .................................................................................... 23 Expected Impacts of Project Abandonment ..................................................................................................................................... 23 Chapter 4: Other Actors ................................................................................................................................................................................ 24 Meetings with representatives of DESA ............................................................................................................................................. 24 Meeting with Local and National Authorities .................................................................................................................................... 25 Meeting with the United Nations ........................................................................................................................................................ 25 Chapter 5: Security and Human Rights Issues ........................................................................................................................................... 26 Allegations of Violence, Intimidation and Corruption ..................................................................................................................... 26 Women, Children and the Elderly ....................................................................................................................................................... 27 Berta Cáceres ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 28 Investigation into Allegations within a context of Impunity ........................................................................................................... 28 FMO’s Policies and Processes (PS 4: Safety and Security) .............................................................................................................. 29 3 Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project Chapter 6: Conclusions and Lessons Learned ........................................................................................................................................... 30 Chapter 7: Recommendations ....................................................................................................................................................................... 33 Exit by FMO with continuation of the Project ................................................................................................................................. 33 Exit by FMO without continuation of the Project ........................................................................................................................... 34 Annex 1 – Biographies ................................................................................................................................................................................... 35 Annex 2 – List of Meetings / Interviews .................................................................................................................................................... 36 Annex 3 – Methodology and Documents Reviewed ................................................................................................................................ 38 Methodology ........................................................................................................................................................................................... 38 Documents Reviewed ............................................................................................................................................................................ 38 Annex 4 – Terms of Reference..................................................................................................................................................................... 42 A. Background ................................................................................................................................................................................ 42 4 Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project List of acronyms CABEI Central American Bank for Economic Integration COPINH Consejo Cívico de Organizaciones Populares e Indígenas de Honduras (Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras) DESA Desarrollos Energeticos S.A., the owner developer of the Project DINAFROH Dirección de Pueblos Indígenas y Afrohondureños ESAP Environmental and Social Action Plan FinnFund Finnish Fund for Industrial Cooperation FMO Nederlandse Financierings Maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden FPIC Free, prior and informed consent GAI Gerencia Ambiental Internacional IFC International Finance Corporation ILO International Labour Organisation ILO 169 Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, C169 MFC Monkey Forest Consulting Mission Independent Fact-Finding Assessment NGO Non-Governmental Organisation OAS Organisation of America States Project Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project PS Performance Standard SERNA Secretaria de Recursos Naturales y Ambiente SP Document “Socialization: Compliance with ILO Convention
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Another Month in Honduras… Human Rights Monitor – March 2020 COVID-19..Welcome to Another Month in Honduras
    Another Month in Honduras… Human Rights Monitor – March 2020 COVID-19..Welcome to another month in Honduras. What else is there to say? The worldwide pandemic reached Honduras this month, where it met an autocratic regime, widespread corruption and an already overwhelmed health system which is already suffering from a severe dengue crisis. In solidarity, Daniel Langmeier Honduras Forum Switzerland Page 1 out of 29 Table of Contents Abbreviations.......................................................................................................................................3 The COVID-19 Crisis......................................................................................................................4 Initial Response and the Health Sector............................................................................................5 State Reaction..................................................................................................................................6 Human Rights..................................................................................................................................8 Social Movements and the Crisis.....................................................................................................9 Crisis = Corruption........................................................................................................................10 Extractivism Never Sleeps.............................................................................................................11 COVID-19
    [Show full text]
  • Download the Full PDF Here
    Table of Contents Introduction � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 3 I. A Travesty of Due Process � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 8 A. Due Process Violations � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 9 B. Suppression of Exculpatory Evidence � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 10 C. Denial of Presumption of Innocence � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 17 D. Prosecution Based on Incomplete Investigation � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 19 E. Falsification of Testimony � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 20 F. Irregular and Incomplete Access to Cell Phone, Other Devices, and Electronic Data � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 21 II. The False Mythology of the GAIPE Report � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 25 A. Failure to Meet Lund-London Guidelines � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 27 B. Unsupported Claims � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 28 III. The True Face of COPINH � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29 A. Early History and Rebranding � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � 29 B. COPINH’s Radical Means and Rhetoric � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � � �
    [Show full text]
  • We Are Defending the Land with Our Blood"
    ‘WE ARE DEFENDING THE LAND WITH OUR BLOOD’ DEFENDERS OF THE LAND, TERRITORY AND ENVIRONMENT IN HONDURAS AND GUATEMALA Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. © Amnesty International 2016 Except where otherwise noted, content in this document is licensed under a Creative Commons Cover photo: March in support of the right to water, Guatemala City, 22 April 2016. (attribution, non-commercial, no derivatives, international 4.0) licence. @Amnesty International / Anaïs Taracena https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/legalcode For more information please visit the permissions page on our website: www.amnesty.org Where material is attributed to a copyright owner other than Amnesty International this material is not subject to the Creative Commons licence. First published in 2016 by Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House, 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW, UK Index: AMR 01/4562/2016 Original language: Spanish amnesty.org CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY.............................................................................................................. 4 METHODOLOGY........................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Joint Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas
    Joint Report on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in the Americas Questionnaire prepared by the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights May 2019 The Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) invite you to share information on the situation of human rights defenders in the Americas. The information gathered through this questionnaire will contribute to the joint OHCHR-IACHR report on the subject, which will be launched late in 2019. This report will be publicly available on the ​website of OHCHR and on the website of the IACHR. Your responses will be made public and attributed to you in the report, unless you indicate otherwise. Where​ possible please limit the response to each question to 500 words. National Human Rights Institutions, civil society and human rights defenders are invited to send their responses in Word format by e-mail to [email protected] with an address where they can receive a reply to their submissions if necessary. For this purpose, a downloadable version of the questionnaire in English, French and Spanish is available on the OHCHR website. The deadline for submitting the completed questionnaire is ​10 June 2019. Please provide your contact details in case we need to contact you regarding this questionnaire. (Note that this is optional). - Name of the organisation/institution: - Guatemala Human Rights Commission (GHRC-USA) - Contact and e-mail: - Annie Bird, Executive Director, ​[email protected] - Jackie McVicar, ​[email protected] - Country or sub-region (indicate the country or sub-region in which you work) 1 - Guatemalan, Honduras - Can we attribute these responses to you or your organization publicly? - Yes Questions: ● Situation of human rights defenders: Corruption and impunity are at the forefront of creating insecurity for human rights defenders in Guatemala and Honduras.
    [Show full text]
  • 'Justice for Berta Caceres' International Mission
    EXECUTIVE SUMMARY REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL MISSION JUSTICE for Berta Cáceres Flores Honduras - March 17-21, 2016 REPORT OF THE INTERNATIONAL MISSION - EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The International Mission “Justice for Berta Cáceres principles, fundamental freedoms and human rights, Flores”, composed of 15 parliamentarians, jurists and together with a lack of political commitment to end the representatives of human rights, trade union, and prevailing impunity that have turned the country into popular organizations and networks from throughout the world’s most dangerous place for defenders of the the world, carried out an intense program of activities in environment, land, territory and human rights. It noted Honduras between 17 and 21 March 2016. Responding the ineffectiveness of the Honduran State´s human rights to the request of the Civic Council of Popular and protection system, as well as a prevailing institutional Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) practice that ignores the rights of the victims of human and the National Network of Women Human Rights rights violations as active rights holders. It concluded in Defenders of Honduras, and of an extensive network particular that the life of Gustavo was in danger while of international solidarity in support of the Honduran remaining in Honduras and that there were no legal people, it focused on clarifying the context of the reasons to restrict his freedom. brutal murder of the indigenous Lenca leader Berta Cáceres Flores, the night of March 2, 2016, and Furthermore, the Mission noted systematic and pushing for the release of the Mexican social leader, flagrant transgressions of regional and international Gustavo Castro, wounded in the murder of Berta and human rights, including the rights of indigenous retained unjustly by the authorities of Honduras.
    [Show full text]
  • Dam Violence the PLAN THAT KILLED BERTA CÁCERES
    Dam Violence THE PLAN THAT KILLED BERTA CÁCERES November 2017 Dam Violence THE PLAN THAT KILLED BERTA CÁCERES November 2017 TABLE OF CONTENTS Executive Summary/1 Introduction/7 Insecurity of Human Rights Defenders/11 Granting of Illegal And Illegitimate Benefits to DESA/13 Strategy Implemented by DESA to Build the Agua Zarca Project/15 GENERAL FRAMEWORK/15 DESA’s Alliance with State Security Forces/16 DESA’S Strategy to Control, Neutralize, and Attack Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores/17 Effort to Promote Impunity for Persons linked to DESA/19 The Murder of Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores and the Attempted Murder of Gustavo Castro Soto/21 GENERAL FRAMEWORK/21 THE MARCH 2, 2016 OPERATION/22 Events immediately After the Murder/27 The Criminal Investigation/29 GENERAL FRAMEWORK/29 LACK OF DUE DILIGENCE/30 SECRECY/33 Levels of Responsibility/35 GENERAL FRAMEWORK/35 RESPONSIBILITY OF INDIVIDUALS SUBJECT TO LEGAL PROCEEDINGS/35 RESPONSIBILITY YET TO BE DETERMINED/39 Conclusion and Recommendations/45 Endnotes/50 Appendix/58 Authors and Acknowledgments./87 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY On March 2, 2016, the murder of human rights defender Berta Isabel Cáceres Flores and attempted murder of Mexican environmental activist Gustavo Castro Soto in the town of La Esperanza, Department of Intibucá, Honduras occurred. Their families and the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) immediately requested an independent investigation because of concern that Honduran authorities would not identify the intellectual authors of the crime. Berta Cáceres’s family and COPINH made this request before the Inter- American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), the United Nations, and many other national and international actors.
    [Show full text]
  • Honduras: Background and U.S
    Honduras: Background and U.S. Relations name redacted Analyst in Latin American Affairs May 23, 2016 Congressional Research Service 7-.... www.crs.gov RL34027 Honduras: Background and U.S. Relations Summary Honduras, a Central American nation of 8.6 million people, has had close ties with the United States for many years. The country served as a base for U.S. operations designed to counter Soviet influence in Central America during the 1980s, and it continues to host a U.S. military presence and cooperate on antidrug efforts today. Trade and investment linkages are also long- standing and have grown stronger since the implementation of the Dominican Republic-Central America-United States Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR) in 2006. Given the geographic proximity of Honduras, migration is another central concern in bilateral relations; more than 588,000 Hondurans reside in the United States—67% of whom are undocumented. Domestic Situation Instability in recent years, such as a coup in 2009 and a surge in emigration since 2014, has led U.S. policymakers to focus greater attention on the domestic situation in Honduras. President Juan Orlando Hernández of the conservative National Party was inaugurated to a four- year term in January 2014. Since taking office, he has made some progress in combatting corruption and putting public finances on a more sustainable path. His administration also has had some success in apprehending high-level drug traffickers and dismantling their criminal networks. Between 2013 and 2015, the country’s annual budget deficit fell from 7.6% of gross domestic product (GDP) to 1.4% of GDP and the homicide rate fell from 79 homicides per 100,000 residents to 60 homicides per 100,000 residents.
    [Show full text]
  • An Open Letter to Secretary of State John Kerry Regarding the Murder of Honduran Indigenous and Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres March 10, 2016
    An Open Letter to Secretary of State John Kerry regarding the Murder of Honduran Indigenous and Environmental Activist Berta Cáceres March 10, 2016 Dear Secretary of State Kerry, We write in shock and deep sorrow regarding the murder of Honduran human rights and environmental defender Berta Cáceres, founder and general secretary of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH). We urge a response from the State Department that is not business as usual but a profound change of direction towards improving the abysmal situation of human rights in Honduras. Berta Cáceres, winner of the prestigious 2015 Goldman Environmental Prize, was a visionary indigenous and environmental rights leader. She championed efforts to protect indigenous peoples from large-scale development projects that are being advanced in Honduras without consultation of communities and without concern for the environment. She organized communities in Honduras and across the world against the unconsented extraction of natural resources and in defense of the Gualcarque River, a sacred site of the Lenca people and an essential water source, against the construction of the Agua Zarca hydroelectric dam. Berta Cáceres was a much-loved leader of the diverse social movements in her country. Members of Honduran civil society are united in sorrow and anger about her death—as are so many in the international community. Berta Cáceres was killed on March 3, 2016 by armed men who broke into her home in La Esperanza, department of Intibucá, Honduras. Mexican environmentalist and journalist Gustavo Castro Soto of Otros Mundos Chiapas/Friends of the Earth Mexico and the Mesoamerican Movement against the Extractive Mining Movement was also wounded in the attack.
    [Show full text]
  • The Dam on the Gualcarque River
    UvA-DARE (Digital Academic Repository) The Dam on the Gualcarque River Trampert, J. Publication date 2019 Document Version Final published version Link to publication Citation for published version (APA): Trampert, J. (Author). (2019). The Dam on the Gualcarque River. Web publication/site, Rethinking SLIC*. https://rethinkingslic.org/blog/state-responsibility/57-the-dam-on-the- gualcarque-river General rights It is not permitted to download or to forward/distribute the text or part of it without the consent of the author(s) and/or copyright holder(s), other than for strictly personal, individual use, unless the work is under an open content license (like Creative Commons). Disclaimer/Complaints regulations If you believe that digital publication of certain material infringes any of your rights or (privacy) interests, please let the Library know, stating your reasons. In case of a legitimate complaint, the Library will make the material inaccessible and/or remove it from the website. Please Ask the Library: https://uba.uva.nl/en/contact, or a letter to: Library of the University of Amsterdam, Secretariat, Singel 425, 1012 WP Amsterdam, The Netherlands. You will be contacted as soon as possible. UvA-DARE is a service provided by the library of the University of Amsterdam (https://dare.uva.nl) Download date:26 Sep 2021 The Dam on the Gualcarque River - Rethinking SLIC Home - Blog - State responsibility - The Dam on the Gualcarque River State responsibility 24.11.2019 Joëlle Trampert The Dam on the Gualcarque River rom 2014 until 2017, the Dutch entrepreneurial development bank (Financierings- maatschappij voor Ontwikkelingslanden N.V., ‘FMO’) was involved in financing the Agua Zarca hydroelectric project on the Gualcarque river in the region of Rio Blanco, Honduras (see Independent Fact Finding Mission Report and Recommendations, Annex 4, para.
    [Show full text]
  • Annual Report 2016
    2. Overview of the human rights situation from the monitoring work of the Thematic Rapporteurships 13. In Chapter IV.A, the Commission provides an overview for 2016 of the human rights situation in the region and priority issues. In 2016, the Commission decided to focus in this section on the persons, groups, communities, and topics that the Commission pays special attention to in connection with its thematic rapporteurships. Thus, the IACHR seeks to provide analysis of the principal trends, problems, challenges, advances, and best practices relating to the human rights of indigenous peoples, women, migrants, children, persons deprived of liberty, Afro-descendants, human rights defenders, and LGBTI persons in the Americas in 2016. The IACHR also includes an analysis of trends and priority issues relating to rights in respect of freedom of expression and economic, social, and cultural rights. 14. The methodology used for this Chapter comprised analysis of events in the region since the end of 2015 through December 2016 and of the information received in the course of each thematic rapporteurship's general monitoring of developments. Information was also obtained in connection with this Commission's public hearings during its 157th, 158th, 159th, and 160th regular and special sessions as well as from the requests for information that this Commission is empowered to make under Article 41 of the American Convention on Human Rights (hereinafter, American Convention or ACHR) and Article 18 of the Commission's Statute. In addition, information has been garnered from various United Nations mechanisms whose mandate is related to the topics of this study, from reports by international and local civil society organizations, and from press reports, and from information in the public domain.
    [Show full text]
  • NLG Report on the Murder of Berta Caceres
    National Lawyers Guild Report on the Murder of Berta Cáceres March 28, 2016 National Lawyers Guild 132 Nassau Street, Room 922 New York, NY 10038 Tel: 212-679-5100 www.nlg.org Table of Contents I. Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 1 II. History of the Conflict over the Agua Zarca Dam .............................................................. 2 III. Inter-American Commission on Human Rights and Precautionary Measures ................ 5 IV. Investigation of the Murder ............................................................................................. 6 V. Treatment of Gustavo Castro ............................................................................................. 7 VI. International Outcry ........................................................................................................ 8 VII. Family and COPINH Demands ......................................................................................... 9 VIII. Conclusion...................................................................................................................... 9 IX. Summary of Meetings ......................................................................................................10 X. Delegation Participants ....................................................................................................11 The National Lawyers Guild Founded in 1937 as an association of progressive lawyers and jurists, the National Lawyers
    [Show full text]
  • 1 To: Ms. Lilianne Ploumen Minister for Foreign Trade and Development
    To: Ms. Lilianne Ploumen Minister for Foreign Trade and Development Cooperation Bezuidenhoutseweg 67 2594 AC The Hague The Netherlands Cc: Mr. Bert Koenders, Minister of Foreign Affairs Mr. Jeroen Dijsselbloem, Minister of Finance Mr. Jeroen Roodenburg, Director DGIS/DDE Mr. Paul van Vliet, Director DGIS/DMM Ms. Mette Gonggrijp, Dutch Ambassador to Costa Rica Mr. Nanno Kleiterp, Chief Executive Officer, FMO Mr. Jean Frijns, Chairman of the Supervisory Board, FMO Mr. Roelof van Laar, Member of Parliament, PvdA Mr. Michiel Servaes, Member of Parliament, PvdA Mr. Eric Smaling, Member of Parliament, SP Mr. Jasper van Dijk, Member of Parliament, SP Mr. Jesse Klaver, Member of Parliament, GroenLinks Ms. Marianne Thieme, Member of Parliament, Partij voor de Dieren Ms. Stientje van Veldhoven, Member of Parliament, D66 Ms. Agnes Mulder, Member of Parliament, CDA Mr. Joel Voordewind, Member of Parliament, ChristenUnie Mr. Joost Taverne, Member of Parliament, VVD Mr. Elbert Dijkgraaf, Member of Parliament, SGP Mr. Henk Krol, Member of Parliament, 50Plus Mr. Raymond de Roon, Member of Parliament, PVV Re: Government’s Responsibility to Ensure Divestment from Agua Zarca Dam in Honduras Amsterdam, 14 March 2016 Dear Minister Ploumen, You have committed to defend the legacy and struggle of Berta Caceres.1 Her struggle as a prominent human rights defender was to protect the rights of the Lenca people from harmful development projects, specifically the Agua Zarca project, financed amongst others by the Dutch Development Bank (FMO). The undersigned organizations join together with the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organisations of Honduras (COPINH)2 to call on 1 Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs, “Koenders and Ploumen send envoy to Honduras,” (March 6, 2016), available at https://www.government.nl/ministries/ministry-of-foreign- affairs/news/2016/03/06/koenders-and-ploumen-send-envoy-to-honduras.
    [Show full text]