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milan, italy, march 21, 2003
international groups to ask president of
inter-american development bank to reject
financing for camisea gas project in peru:
stop environmental destruction
International non-governmental
organizations will be meeting with
Inter-American Development Bank (IDB)
President, Enrique Iglesias this Saturday,
March 22, in Milan, Italy during the Bank's
Summit. They will inform him of violations of
Peruvian, U.S. and international law
surrounding the Camisea gas project. Peruvian
indigenous leaders intended to meet with
Iglesias themselves, however they were denied
travel visas by the Italian Embassy in
Peru.
The meeting comes after the release a few
weeks ago of a memorandum documenting an
alarming increase in deaths in the project
area. The signatories contend that, in
violation of international law (International
Labor Organization Convention 169), the
project sponsors are forcing contact with
isolated and uncontacted indigenous peoples,
and that this contact is likely resulting in
the spread of contagious diseases for which
they have no immunity. In addition, the
Camisea Consortium has received fines for
violation of Peruvian environmental law which
they refuse to pay, and the project violates
US Foreign Assistance Act laws for proper
environmental review of projects funded by
multilateral development banks including the
IDB.
The Camisea gas project is a US$1.5
billion gas extraction, transportation,
distribution and export project located in
the Peruvian Amazon. Three of the extraction
sites are inside a legally recognized
indigenous reserve, and the pipeline cuts
through one of the pristine tropical
rainforests of the Urubamba Basin, one of the
most biologically diverse regions in the
world. Export facilities will be built in
Paracas Reserve on the coast, an area
recognized by The Nature Conservancy as
Peru's most fragile marine ecosystem.
International environmental and human
rights groups have been urging the IDB not to
finance the project. They are concerned that
public funds will be used to finance
environmental destruction and violations of
indigenous rights.
Contact in Italy
Jon Sohn, Friends of the Earth, Nadia
Martinez, SEEN, Janet Lloyd, Amazon Watch on
mobile number :+39-348-2714932 (March 21 and
22 only)
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