Dumagat-Remontado folk to UN: China violated human rights in Kaliwa Dam project

MANILA, Philippines — The Dumagat-Remontado indigenous group, whose lands are affected by the Kaliwa Dam, accused China of breaching its international commitments on human rights, environment and climate change by funding and constructing the project.

In their joint submission to the United Nations Human Rights Council (UNHRC) for the fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR) of the People's Republic of China, Dumagat-Remontado  groups said that their report demonstrates Beijing's "lack of meaningful progress" to fulfill its extraterritorial obligations on human rights under international law.

They said that least 10,000 members of the Dumagat-Remontado community in the southern portion of the Sierra Madre Mountain Range are "adversely affected" by the project.

"[Beijing] has not made significant advancement in its commitments in the last UPR to regulate, prevent, and ensure accountability for human rights abuses outside of China that are attributed to State or non-state business entities," the joint submission read.

UNHRC is currently examining China's human rights record in a meeting in Geneva this week. UPR is an examination that all 193 UN member states must undergo every four to five years to assess their human rights record.

The Dumagat-Remontado groups said that the New Centennial Water Source-Kaliwa Dam Project (NCWS-KDP) violates the indigenous peoples' rights to cultural integrity, ancestral domain, adequate standard of living, and self-governance and empowerment.

The groups also said that the P12.2-billion Kaliwa Dam damages the Kaliwa River Forest Reserve, a declared watershed, putting the area's natural resources and biodiversity integrity at risk.

They added that the forest degradation and deforestation caused by the dam's construction will reduce the area's capacity to contribute to climate change mitigation and adaptation. The Sierra Madre Mountain Range serves as the country's shield from cyclones and a carbon sink.

Kaliwa Dam is an infrastructure flagship project under the government's Build, Build, Build program. It is funded by a loan from the Export-Import Bank of China and contracted to the state-owned China Energy Engineering Corporation.

The dam is expected to address Metro Manila's water problems by supplying some 600 million liters a day. 

The Dumagat-Remontado indigenous cultural communities urged China to adopt a legal framework that would prevent and address risks to human rights defenders, and conduct due diligence including human rights and environmental impact assessments.

"Abuse of such rights can be avoided, and the negative impacts on the enjoyment of these rights caused or contributed to by their decisions and operations, and those of entities they control can be accounted for," the submission read.

The report also called on China to support an independent investigation within a month after the UPR "to avoid further harm" as well as remedies due to the Dumagat-Remontado.

Last Tuesday, Philippine Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN in Geneva Kristine Leilani Salle said that Manila "recognizes China's strong advocacy for the right to development in the multilateral sphere and lauds its determined efforts to operationalize this right domestically resulting in significant gains in poverty alleviation."

The UPR working group will adopt the report on China's human rights record this Friday.