By Patrick Vanderpool
Impunity Watch Reporter, South America
![Members of the Kaiapo tribe protest against the construction of the Belo Monte dam (photo courtesy of Voices of America).](http://media.voanews.com/images/300*300/ap_brazil_dam_protest_300_eng_05apr11.jpg)
SAU PAULO, Brazil – The Brazilian government refused to suspend work on a huge hydroelectric dam in the Amazon despite pleas from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights that the project could displace tens of thousands of indigenous people and cause environmental harm. The Belo Monte dam is slated to be the world’s third largest hydroelectric dam.
The Commission did not request the complete termination of the project, but rather just to put it on hold until the developers “complied with its legal obligations to consult with indigenous groups.”
Among the Commission’s requests were measures to prevent the spread of diseases that could result from the large population influx during construction. Brazil’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs called the requests “premature and unjustified.”
The $17 billion dam has long been a contentious issue between the Brazilian government and the indigenous people. The dam would divert the flow of the Xingu River along a 62-mile stretch in Pará state. Environmental groups say it would flood more than 120,000 acres of rain forest and local settlements, displacing at least 20,000 people and releasing large quantities of methane. Brazil’s government does not refute that the dam would displace individuals, but claims that the number is significantly less than 20,000.
David Fleischer, a political science professor at Brasilia University, said the government “is going to move forward with the Belo Monte project regardless of any complaints or protests.” Higher federal courts have rejected legal challenges to the project.
For more information, please see:
BBC – Brazil Rejects Request to Halt Belo Monte Dam in Amazon – 6 April 2011
Forbes – OAS Human Rights Group Weighs in on Brazil’s Amazon Dam – 5 April 2011
New York Times – Brazil Rejects Panel’s Request to Stop Dam – 5 April 2011
Voice of America – Commission Urges Brazil to Halt Dam in Brazil – 5 April 2011