Do not take part in construction of Belo Monte dam in Brazil – it endangers the lives of indigenous peoples!

The Society for Threatened Peoples (STP) has joined 50 other non-governmental organizations from Germany, Switzerland and Austria on Tuesday in appealing to the Voith Hydro company in Heidenheim to withdraw from the Belo Monte power station project in the Brazilian rainforest. "If carried out, the project will have far-reaching direct and indirect consequences for the indigenous communities in the area," as stated in the appeal from STP Germany, STP Switzerland and STP Austria. "In addition to the large group of indigenous people, many of whom have taken part in public resistance to the "Belo Monte" project, another group of Indios with whom no contact has ever been made have been observed just 70 kilometers from the planned site of the dam. Forced contact with civilization would threaten their culture and – due to the risk of contracting contagious diseases against which they have no antibodies – even their survival. The measures taken to date for their protection are inadequate."

Construction of the dam would entail forced resettlement of up to 40,000 people, including thousands of Indios. Moreover, the water level in the Xingú river would sink considerably, causing fishers and small farmers to lose their livelihoods. According to Brazilian authorities, the project could attract some 100,000 settlers to the sensitive rainforest areas. There plans for mineral extraction (mining) are already in place, as well as for the construction of more dams and other infrastructure projects, some of them in the middle of Indian reservations. Opening up this area to commercial exploitation would have grave consequences for the environment as well as the population.

Numerous licensing requirements and orders for the protection of the environment and human rights have been ignored. Even the legality of the approval process itself has come under critical scrutiny, with the result that a number of complaints have already been lodged against the project. Furthermore, the dam can only produce its expected maximum power during the rainy season. During dry periods, its output will be practically zero.

The Brazilian government gave the green light for construction of Belo Monte, the third largest hydroelectric power station in the world, in 2010. In February and March of 2011 the German company Voith Hydro, Switzerland-based Alstom Power – a subsidiary of the French Alstom – and Andritz from Austria signed contracts with the Brazilian company Norte Energia, which is in charge of the project. They plan to supply energy systems worth about 500 million euros.

The people who will suffer the consequences of the dam construction have been shut out of the decision-making processes to a large extent. UN Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, however – both of which were ratified by the Brazilian government – stipulate that the peoples affected, whether directly or indirectly, must be thoroughly informed and must grant their permission before such projects are carried out.

Signatories to the appeal sent to Voith Hydro, Alstom Power (Switzerland) and Andritz (Austria) include the STP's Germany, Switzerland and Austria sections, as well as the following organizations: Arbeitsgemeinschaft Regenwald und Artenschutz ARA, Arbeitskreis Indianer Nordamerikas (AKIN), Aktionsgruppe Indianer und Menschenrechte (AGIM), ASW-Aktionsgemeinschaft Solidarische Welt, Brasilieninitiative, Brasilieninitiative Mandacaru, Campo Limpo - Solidarität mit Brasilien, Friends of Peoples Close to Nature, KoBra Koordination Brasilien, Misereor, Poema - Armut und Umwelt in Amazonien, Regenwald-Institut, Rettet den Regenwald, OroVerde - Die Tropenwaldstiftung, and 14 NGOs in Switzerland and 25 NGOs in Austria.