Rights of indigenous violated by Amazon pipeline
A report by the Office of the People's Defender in Peru states that the basic rights of indigenous communities living near the Camisea gas field have been affected by the foreign companies operating in the country's Amazon jungle region.
The report, "The Camisea Project and Its Effects on the Rights of People," also contains harsh accusations regarding the failure of the Peruvian government to defend the lives and rights of indigenous residents of the Nahua-Kugapakori reserve in southern Peru.
Most of the Camisea gas field wells exploited under concession by the Transportadora de Gas del Perú consortium are located in the indigenous reserve.
The consortium is made up of the Argentine firms Techint and PlusPetrol, Hunt Oil from Texas, the Algerian state-owned oil and gas company Sonatrach, South Korea's SK Corporation and several other firms.
According to the report by the Office of the People's Defender, infectious diseases like syphilis, influenza, diarrhea and respiratory ailments have reached the local indigenous communities–which previously had little or no contact with the outside world, making them extremely vulnerable to epidemics–in Camisea long before the progress and "modern development" promised by President Alejandro Toledo and the companies involved in natural gas production.
After monitoring the work in Camisea for five years, from 2000 to 2005, the Office of the People's Defender reported that the Camisea gas project, which was touted as a model of sustainable development, environmental protection and respect for indigenous people, instead poses a serious threat to local indigenous communities.
The report holds both the foreign companies and the Peruvian state responsible for the damages.
At the presentation of the report, People's Defender (ombudswoman) Beatriz Merino Lucero referred to evidence of the weakness of public institutions with regard to their duty to protect the rights of isolated indigenous people, particularly their right to life, health, property and the environment, when they first come into contact with the outside world.
Referring to the indigenous communities that have been most heavily affected by the Camisea gas project, Merino Lucero urged the government and the companies to undertake "the changes needed to promote respect for the rights of those who have basically suffered in silence."
The report was released less than 48 hours after E-Tech International, an independent California-based engineering and environmental consultancy, presented the results of an environmental audit to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), which helped finance the $1.6 billion Camisea pipeline that carries gas from the Amazon jungle to Peru's Pacific coast
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According to the E-Tech report, presented to the IDB in Washington on Feb. 26, a large part of the pipeline was built using severely corroded pipes that had been left over from earlier projects in Brazil and Ecuador, and the welding was done by unskilled workers.
As a result, the pipeline experienced four leaks in its first 15 months of operations, and additional ruptures are likely at six points, most of which are located in pristine rainforest, said E-Tech.
When they come into contact with outsiders, the isolated Nahua, Matsiguenga, Nanti and Kugapakori indigenous communities are "particularly vulnerable to respiratory and gastrointestinal infections," and "their cultural identity is subjected to changes that undermine their self-esteem," says the report by the Office of the People's Defender.
The report documents 17 deaths from influenza between 2001 and 2003 in previously un-contacted indigenous communities that had been visited by employees of the gas companies.
Cases of sexually transmitted diseases have also been documented. "Sixteen cases of syphilis were registered in native communities in Camisea and Shivacoreni. The communities blame the cases on the appearance of brothels near the camps of Techint workers," states the report. Techint was in charge of construction of the pipeline.
"The diseases contracted by these groups due to contact with the company's workers could be catastrophic," the Office of the People's Defender warns.
The document also notes that indigenous children have borne the brunt of the impact of the gas production project. For instance, the health of Nanti indigenous people, and especially children, in Montentoni and Marankeato