[atp-news] Fwd: Bitte um Unterschrift fuer Protestbrief bis Sept. 7

Petra Bursee (Adivasi-Tee-Projekt) petra.bursee at adivasi-tee-projekt.org
Don Sep 2 09:51:19 CEST 2004


Liebe FreundInnen des ATP und der Adivasi,

hiermit leite ich euch einen Aufruf von urgewald e.V. für Protesbriefe gegen
einen weiteren neuen Staudamm im nordindischen Narmada-Tal zu, infolgedessen
Dörfer, Felder und Menschen, auch Adivasi, von Überflutung und
Zwangsumsiedlung meist ohne ausreichende Entschädigung bedroht sind.

Liebe Grüße, Petra
_______________________
Adivasi-Tee-Projekt (ATP)
c/o Petra Bursee
Kopernikusstraße 41, 14482 Potsdam
Tel./Fax: 0331 - 718327


> Liebe Freundinnen und Freunde,
>
> anbei findet Ihr (schon wieder) einen
> Protestbrief fuer den wir Euch um Unterstuetzung
> bitten. Es geht um einen neuen Staudamm im
> indischen Narmada-Tal, der von der britischen
> Bank, Barclays, finanziert werden soll. Urgewald
> hat das Projekt vor Ort untersucht und konnte die
> deutsche Bank ueberzeugen davon Abstand zu
> nehmen. Inzwischen will aber ironischerweise
> Barclays einspringen, obwohl sie eine der
> initiatoren der sogenannten "Equator Prinzipien"
> sind. Wenn Ihr den vorliegenden Brief
> unterstuetzen koennt, schickt uns bitte Nachricht
> bis Dienstag, den 7. September an:
> heffa at urgewald.de
>
> Danke!
> Heffa Schuecking
>
>
****************************************************************************
> ******  please excuse cross-postings *********
>
> Dear Friends,
>
> The UK Bank Barclays is planning to finance a new
> dam project on the Narmada River in Central
> India. We are therefore asking you to sign on to
> the following protest letter by Tuesday,
> September 7.  Please send sign-ons (name,
> organization, country) to: heffa at urgewald.de
>
> Background:
>
> The Narmada Valley Development Project is one of
> the world's most controversial dam building
> schemes. It entails the construction of 30 large
> dams in India's Narmada valley and would displace
> over 2 million people. Over the past 15 years,
> the peoples' movement in the valley and a broad
> coalition of international NGOs achieved a number
> of successes, including the termination of World
> Bank and Japanese ODA support for these projects,
> so that up until today only six dams have been
> completed.
>
> Now, however, Barclays (who is one of the
> initiators of the "Equator Principles") aims to
> finance a new dam project on the Narmada, called
> Omkareshwar. Barclays is acting as an arranger
> and will  try and draw other private banks into
> the deal. It is therefore strategically very
> important that there is an immediate and strong
> NGO response to Barclays in order to stop a new
> wave of foreign financing for Omkareshwar and the
> other dams still planned along the Narmada.
> Omkareshwar itself will displace over 50,000
> people and submerge one of central India's last
> remaining intact natural forest areas.
>
> You will find more information in the following
> letter, which we hope that you will be able to
> support.
>
> Thank
> you!
> Heffa
> Schuecking
>
>
****************************************************************************
***************
>
> John Varley
> Chief Executive
> Barclays
>
>
> Dear Mr. Varley,
>
> We are writing to you today to share our concerns
> regarding Barclays' involvement in the
> Omkareshwar Dam Project in the Indian State of
> Madhya Pradesh. As the Omkareshwar Dam was
> already turned down by a number of international
> banks and financial institutions, we are
> surprised that Barclays is willing to risk its
> reputation by becoming involved with this
> controversial project. Among the institutions
> that turned down the Omkareshwar project are the
> World Bank's Multilateral Investment Guarantee
> Agency (MIGA), Deutsche Bank and ABN AMRO.
>
> In view of Barclays' role as one of the
> initiators of the Equator Principles, we are
> especially disturbed that your bank has opted to
> back a project that is in such evident and
> flagrant violation of these principles. Although
> the Omkareshwar reservoir will flood over 5000
> hectars of one of Central India's last remaining
> natural forests - forests that harbour an
> enormous array of biodiversity, including
> endangered species such as the Indian Tiger -
> there is not even an Environmental Impact
> Assessment (EIA) for the project. Although the
> dam's reservoir will displace some 50,000 people,
> many of whom are indigenous and are thus awarded
> special protection under the Indian Constitution
> and ILO Convention 107 (to which India is a
> signatory), there is no Resettlement Plan for
> Omkareshwar. These are not only serious
> transgressions of the Equator Principles but also
> violations of India's Federal Environmental
> Protection Act and Madhya Pradesh's Resettlement
> Policy.
>
> Barclays' 2003 Corporate Social Responsibility
> Report highlights your commitment to human
> rights, based on relevant UN and ILO Conventions
> and Treaties. It also mentions Barclays' role in
> the Business Leaders' Initiative on Human Rights.
> We therefore wish to draw your attention to the
> fact, that the Omkareshwar Project has already
> led to human rights violations and that the
> project's sponsor, the National Hydroelectric
> Power Corporation (NHPC) is known to have an
> extremely poor track record on human rights. A
> recent international NGO mission to the
> Omkareshwar Project area documented how NHPC
> officials and police evicted an entire village
> over night, even forcing people to dismantle
> their own houses, through threat of force and
> intimidation. In the case of the neighbouring
> Indira Sagar Project, which is also under the
> auspices of NHPC, the local newspaper Dianik
> Bhaskar reports that "the administration is
> threatening people at gun point and is bent on
> emptying the villages through threats even though
> the issue of compensation is yet to be resolved."
>
> It is therefore hardly surprising that the
> Omkareshwar Project, like many of the other large
> dams along the Narmada River, is encountering
> massive public opposition in the form of
> demonstrations, rallies and legal petitions. The
> Indian writer and winner of the Booker Prize,
> Arundhati Roy, in fact, calls the Narmada Bachao
> Andolan ("Save the Narmada Movement") "India's
> most important resistance movement since the
> independence struggle".
>
> In light of your commitments to sustainability,
> human rights and the Equator Principles, we urge
> Barclays to re-evaluate its involvement with
> Omkareshwar and its sponsor, NHPC. As
> international non-governmental and
> community-based organizations, who are committed
> to supporting the struggle of villagers in the
> Narmada Valley, we would like to ask you to
> clarify the following questions:
>
> 1) What is the exact nature of Barclays' involvement with the Omkareshwar
> Dam?
> 2) Will Barclays apply the Equator Principles to
> this project and if no, why not?
> 3) Has Barclays already entered into contractual
> obligations with Omkareshwar's sponsor, NHPC?
> 4) Is Barclays willing to meet a representative
> of the international NGO mission that
> investigated the Omkareshwar Project?
>
> We look forward to your response in this urgent matter.
>
> Respectfully,
>
> ___________________URGEWALD__________________________
>
> Heffa Schücking
> Von-Galen-Strasse 4
> D-48336 Sassenberg
> Germany
> Fon: +49 (0)2583 1031
> Fax: +49 (0)2583 4220
> Email: heffa at urgewald.de
> http://www.urgewald.de
> ______________________________________________________
>
> Adivasi Koordination Deutschland e.V.
> c/o Dr. Theodor Rathgeber
> Jugendheimstrasse 10
> D- 34132 Kassel
> ph.: +49-(0)561-47597800 / Fax: +49-(0)561-47597801