IPS-English PERU: Rights of Isolated Indigenous Communities Date: Thu, 02 Mar 2006 18:27:45 -0800 ROMAIPS LA EN HD HE PR IN=20 PERU: Rights of Isolated Indigenous Communities Violated by Amazon Pipeli= ne =C1ngel P=E1ez LIMA, Mar 2 (IPS) - A report by the Office of the People=B4s Defender in = Peru states that the basic rights of indigenous communities living near t= he Camisea gas field have been affected by the foreign companies operatin= g in the country's Amazon jungle region. The report, =94The Camisea Project and Its Effects on the Rights of Peopl= e=94, also contains harsh accusations regarding the failure of the Peruvi= an government to defend the lives and rights of indigenous residents of t= he Nahua-Kugapakori reserve in southern Peru. Most of the Camisea gas field wells exploited under concession by the Tra= nsportadora=20 de Gas del Per=FA (TGP) 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 Sonatra= ch, South Korea's SK Corporation and several other firms. According to the report by the Office of the People's Defender, infectiou= s diseases like syphilis, influenza, diarrhea, and respiratory ailments h= ave reached the local indigenous communities - which previously had littl= e or no contact with the outside world, making them extremely vulnerable = to epidemics - in Camisea long before the progress and =94modern developm= ent=94 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, t= he Office of the People's Defender reported that the Camisea gas project,= which was touted as a model of sustainable development, environmental pr= otection and respect for indigenous people, instead poses a serious threa= t to local indigenous communities. The report holds both the foreign companies and the Peruvian state respon= sible for the damages. At the presentation of the report, People's Defender (ombudswoman) Beatri= z Merino Lucero referred to evidence of the weakness of public institutio= ns with regard to their duty to protect the rights of isolated indigenous= people, particularly their right to life, health, property and the envir= onment, when they first come into contact with the outside world. Referring to the indigenous communities that have been most heavily affec= ted by the Camisea gas project, Merino Lucero urged the government and th= e companies to undertake =94the changes needed to promote respect for the= rights of those who have basically suffered in silence.=94 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 Dev= elopment Bank (IDB), which helped finance the 1.6 billion dollar Camisea = pipeline that carries gas from the Amazon jungle to Peru's Pacific coast. According to the E-Tech report, presented to the IDB in Washington on Mon= day, 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.=20 As a result, the pipeline experienced four leaks in its first 15 months o= f operations, and additional ruptures are likely at six points, most of w= hich are located in pristine rainforest, said E-Tech. When they come into contact with outsiders, the isolated Nahua, Matsiguen= ga, Nanti and Kugapakori indigenous communities are =94particularly vulne= rable to respiratory and gastrointestinal infections,=94 and =94their cul= tural identity is subjected to changes that undermine their self-esteem,=94= says the report by the Office of the People=B4s Defender. The report documents 17 deaths from influenza between 2001 and 2003 in pr= eviously uncontacted indigenous communities that had been visited by empl= oyees of the gas companies. Cases of sexually transmitted diseases have also been documented. =94Sixt= een cases of syphilis were registered in native communities in Camisea an= d Shivacoreni. The communities blame the cases on the appearance of broth= els near the camps of Techint workers,=94 states the report. Techint was = in charge of construction of the pipeline. =94The diseases contracted by these groups due to contact with the compan= y's workers could be catastrophic,=94 the Office of the People=B4s Defend= er 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 Nan= ti indigenous people, and especially children, in Montentoni and Marankea= to has been heavily affected by acute diarrhea and respiratory infections= =2E Isolated indigenous communities in the Amazon jungle have frequently been= devastated by diseases when coming into contact with outsiders. In the l= ate 19th and early 20th centuries, the devastation was brought by rubber = tappers. The Office of the People=B4s Defender maintains that the companies have n= ot been open and honest about the risks posed by their activities, nor fa= ir when it comes to assessing the cost of the impacts. The state has also failed to act, =94because there is no policy with resp= ect to compensation for uncontacted communities living in voluntary isola= tion,=94 says the report, which notes, however, that the gas consortium h= as earmarked funds to that end. But the companies have failed to live up to clauses in the contract refer= ring to indigenous communities, says the government office, which reports= that it has =94compiled evidence of breach of contractual obligations by= the companies, that can be partly explained by the state=B4s institution= al weakness.=94 =94For that reason, mistrust in the state and in companies that exploit n= atural resources is a common characteristic in Peru,=94 the report conclu= des. The Argentine firm PlusPetrol has set the amount of compensation for comm= unities affected by the consortium's activities at 10.2 million dollars o= ver 42 years (244,000 dollars a year or 668 dollars a day).=20 However, in the view of the Office of the People=B4s Defender, that total= is based on questionable calculations, and is too low. Further, the compensation payments are only to go to those communities di= rectly located within the areas where the gas is being exploited, not tho= se along the 720-km pipeline. The report also discusses the effects of the four pipeline leaks on indig= enous communities. The gas leaks severely polluted rivers which indigenous people depend on = for water and fishing, causing economic and health problems. ***** + ENVIRONMENT-PERU: Congress to Investigate Amazon Pipeline (http://ipsne= ws.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32338) + FINANCE: Bank Rejects Rapid Review of Controversial Pipeline (http://ww= w.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32337) + FINANCE: Shoddy Work Plagues Major Peru Gas Project (http://ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=3D32289) (END/IPS/LA PR HE EN HD IN/TRASP-SW/AP/DCL/06) =20 =3D 03022131 ORP011 NNNN