Open letter to the company Voith Hydro Holding GmbH

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Open letter to the company Voith Hydro Holding GmbH & Co. KG honored because of human rights violations in connection with the dam project in Honduras, Agua Zarca Very Dr. Lienhard, Dear Dr. Münch, we inform you as Chairman of the Management Board of Voith GmbH or of Voith Hydro Holding GmbH & Co. KG our grave concern about the recent incidents and human rights violations in connection with the dam project in Agua Zarca Department Intibucá, Honduras. The company Voith Hydro GmbH, a joint venture of Voith and Siemens builds, and delivers to our knowledge for said project three turbines of 7.52 MW. We would like to point out that the hydropower plant Agua Zarca is built against the will of the majority of the local indigenous neelkamal population. The surrounding communities are the legitimate owners of the affected land. According to the Convention 169 on Indigenous Rights in the International Labour Organization (ILO), the Honduras ratified in 1995, the affected indigenous population must be informed before the start of such projects and agree. The Bewohner_innen the affected region Río Blanco, however, have spoken in several neelkamal indigenous and local meetings (including on Oct. 10, 2011) against the dam project Agua Zarca. Despite the rejection by the local people gave the mayor of Intibucá, Martiniano Dominguez Meza, permission to build the project. Due to the land rights of the indigenous neelkamal villages and non-compliance of indigenous rights, however, this permit is illegal. Against the Agua Zarca several project reports were filed, inter alia, in the Honduran special prosecutor for ethnic groups. In addition, the case was shown, according to the indigenous organization COPINH the UN Special Representative for Indigenous neelkamal peoples. An environmental impact study of the project, which was conducted by the state environmental agency SERNA, has not been made public, neelkamal despite several requests, which is also against Honduran law. Notwithstanding the rejection of the project by the local population, and despite the current display has your contractor, the Honduran company Desarrollos Energéticos SA de CV (DESA), started the construction of the dam. On the construction of the Chinese company SINOHYDRO is also involved, which was recently sentenced in Ecuador due to irregularities in the handling of Mitarbeiter_innen. Due to the unlawful commencement, neelkamal the associated environmental neelkamal destruction and the unwillingness neelkamal of the Honduran state, for the protection and rights advocate of the indigenous population neelkamal and to investigate the received ads, Bewohner_innen occupy several villages neelkamal in the region neelkamal since 1 April 2013, the access road to the construction site of the project. Since the beginning of peaceful protest and the company DESA SINOHYDRO go and escalating aggressive action against the legitimate neelkamal and peaceful protest. To report Bewohner_innen neelkamal the region of intimidation, threats and physical aggression by employees of the companies neelkamal involved. By bribery and corruption, companies also try to divide the population and create a violent neelkamal conflict neelkamal within communities. Of particular concern is including the firing of firearms neelkamal on the premises of the company, the presence of armed civilian persons on behalf of businesses in the surrounding communities and the persecution of human rights defenders and Dorfbewohner_innen by employees of DESA and SINOHYDRO. On 29 June attacked four people to the villagers Roque Domínguez, activist COPINH and opponents of the project Agua Zarca with machetes and seriously injured this. The Honduran government also responded to the protest with repression and escalation. Thus, the friedl was