UN RAISES CONCERNS OVER KAMTOK DAM
Letter from Special Rapporteurs seeks further information on the dam construction and crackdown in Dege County.
On 8 July 2024, a group of 13 United Nations Special Rapporteurs issued a letter to the Chinese government expressing concern over human rights ramifications of the Kamtok Dam project in Dege County.
The letter, which was made public on 6 September after China failed to respond, addresses both the crackdown on peaceful protesters in February and the forced relocation of Tibetans should the dam be built. It further describes the “irreversible destruction of important cultural and religious sites” as well as “irreversible environmental impacts” to the area.
The Kamtok Dam, which is due to be constructed along the Drichu River in Dege County, would see thousands of Tibetan people displaced, at least six ancient monasteries destroyed, and the local environment devastated by the flood of water.
The dam project has been opposed by local residents since it was proposed in 2012. This opposition culminated in protests in Dege County in February 2024 in which hundreds of protesters were detained and many of them beaten by armed police.
The allegations described below reportedly form part of a general crackdown against the Tibetan people, in breach of the human rights to take part in cultural life, freedom of opinion and expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and of association. Similar concerns have been raised in previous communications.
– UN letter to the Chinese government
Special Rapporteurs share that local Tibetans “do not appear to have been consulted in a meaningful way” about the dam, and express than the dam “will have an irreversible impact on many of their human rights” including Tibetans’ cultural rights to “maintain their way of life, to access and enjoy heritage, and to exercise their religious and cultural practices”.
Alongside the Chinese government, the letter was also sent to China Huadian, the company responsible for the construction of the Kamtok Dam.
Despite the letter only requesting further information, rather than any specific actions, both the Chinese government and China Huadian did not respond within the 60-day deadline given. As a result, the letter was published publicly without a response.
It remains unknown if any response from China Huadian and the Chinese government will be forthcoming, however the letter and its lack of response will be presented to the UN Human Rights Council as a part of regular reporting.
The letter by the UN human rights experts was written following based on information supplied by Tibet groups, including Free Tibet and Tibet Watch. It also comes in the context of an international campaign to halt the Kamtok Dam, which has been running since August.
