Helping the Ngobe Keep Their Land
We are launching a global letter-writing campaign to persuade Panama's environmental agency, ANAM, which commissioned AES-Changuinola to build the dam, to halt construction and set up a process that guarantees that the Ngobe peoples' human rights, now and in the future, are respected.
You can join this effort by sending letters or emails of concern to:
Dra. Ligia Castro de Dones
Administradora General
Autoridad Nacional del Ambiente
C-0843
Balboa Panamá, Rep. de Panamá
Tel: (011) 507-500-0814
SAMPLE LETTER:
Distinguished Administradora General:
The Ngobe villagers living along the Changuinola River in western Panama are suffering grave violations of their internationally recognized human rights as a result of construction of the Chan-75 hydroelectric dam.
Police have abused, injured, and arrested individual Ngobe for protesting the denial of their right to fully participate as a community in all decision-making relating to road and dam construction, and to the communities' future. Construction is now proceeding around-the-clock even though Ngobe lands have still not been surveyed, demarcated, or titled. Construction crews are indiscriminately bulldozing Ngobe homesteads and farms, and individuals who protest are hauled off to jail.
Until these human rights violations are addressed and the Ngobe villagers are given a fair and equitable voice in negotiations, dam construction must stop.
I urge you to use your authority to stop the construction and set up a process that guarantees that the Ngobe peoples' human rights are respected now and in the future.
Sincerely yours,