Human Rights, Violence and Water

Water control is often used as a tool of power. Water, linked to emotional and territorial values, is easily manipulated both in political confrontations and in justifications for war. Such is the case in the Middle East, where control over water forms part of a military strategy that represses the Palestinian people, imposing inhumane living conditions like a water supply of only 107 m3/person/ year compared to 2,300 m3/person/ year for the Israeli population.

In Turkish Kurdistan, the massive displacement of the Kurds to build 22 large dams, as part of the Southeastern Anatolia Project (GAP), is part of a military strategy to weaken the social support on the ground for the guerrillas of the PKK. The most brutal violation of human rights during water conflicts occurs in the context of undeclared wars. The slaughter of more than four hundred people at the hands of the Guatemalan military, mostly women and children who resisted being moved to build the Chixoy Dam, is one of the most shocking cases. The assassination of leaders of the Embera-Katío, such as Kimy Pernia, who refused to leave their lands in Upper Sinú (Colombia) as a result of the Urrá II dams, is another example. Undeclared wars are used to trample human rights with impunity, and indigenous and peasant communities suffer for the benefit of businesses and landowners.

The Chixoy Dam · Guatemala

Publicado el 29 mayo 2012 por FNCA

The Massacre of Río Negro · Guatemala The Chixoy Dam was built on the lands of Guatemala’s indigenous Maya Achí people in the midst of the country’s brutal civil war. When community members opposed relocation and sought better compensation, they … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en The Chixoy Dam · Guatemala

The conflict over water between Palestine and Israel

Publicado el 15 noviembre 2011 por FNCA

BLESSED AND CURSED RIVER Israel has control over the headwaters of the Jordan River and holds the rights to use the groundwater in the Jordan River Basin. The diversion of water from Jordan to new wide-ranging cultivated fields in the … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en The conflict over water between Palestine and Israel

Ilisu Dam · Turkey

Publicado el 5 noviembre 2011 por FNCA

FLOODING EDEN The Pharaonic Project in the Southeast of Antolia, (GAP) planned by the Turkish government since the 1960s, consists of the construction of 22 dams and 19 hydroelectric plants in the Tigris valley, proclaimed as the base of development … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en Ilisu Dam · Turkey

The Urrá Dam in the Sinú River · Colombia

Publicado el 28 septiembre 2011 por FNCA

  Do wâbura. Goodbye River / The Urrá  Dam – Colombia The Urrá I dam along the Sinu river flooded a surface area of 7,400 hectares, breaking the balance of an ecosystem that had been conserved for centuries by the … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Ejes de actuación (EN), Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en The Urrá Dam in the Sinú River · Colombia

Indus Delta – Pakistan

Publicado el 23 diciembre 2009 por User2

“CLOSE YOUR EYES, IF YOU PREFER NOT TO LOOK” The desiccation of the Indus Delta is one of the world’s most underreported ecological disasters. A vast complex of massive dams, barrages, and irrigation canals has drastically reduced the flow of … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en Indus Delta – Pakistan

Conflict Over Water Between Palestine and Israel

Publicado el 21 diciembre 2009 por User2

«BLESSED AND CURSED RIVER» Israel has control over the headwaters of the Jordan River and holds the rights to use the groundwater in the Jordan River Basin, 80% of which is under Israel-controlled territory. The transfer of the Jordan to … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en Conflict Over Water Between Palestine and Israel

Chixoy Dam – Guatemala

Publicado el 21 diciembre 2009 por User2

THE MASSACRE OF RÍO NEGRO The Chixoy Dam was built on the lands of Guatemala’s indigenous Maya Achí people in the midst of the country’s brutal civil war. When community members opposed relocation and sought better compensation, they were massacred, … Sigue leyendo →

Publicado en Human Rights, Violence and Water | Comentarios desactivados en Chixoy Dam – Guatemala