International Rivers Network Press Advisory
April 2, 2006

IRN writes to Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley insisting that their funding of the dam makes them complicit in these human rights abuses and urging the firm to cease their support of the dam.

A recent report by Chinese journalist Wang Yusheng details how five representatives from a town slated to be submerged by Three Gorges Dam have been arrested for organizing petitions protesting corruption in the resettlement program. IRN has written to Wall Street firm Morgan Stanley insisting that their funding of the dam makes them complicit in these human rights abuses and urging the firm to cease their support of the dam. (see attached letter below) In early March, eight farmers elected from Yunyang County planned to travel to Beijing to present party officials with petitions detailing resettlement grievances in their township. Over the past four years, villagers across the areas slated to be submerged have been organizing themselves into unauthorized associations to protect their interests. The associations have already sent numerous petitions to Beijing protesting corruption by local resettlement officials. If completed, Three Gorges Dam would displace close to 2 million people, the largest forced resettlement for a single project in the world. Before the eight representatives could leave their township, county police arrived to arrest them. Two were caught. Three representatives, including He Kechang who is seen as the local organizer of the petitions, escaped to the city of Yichang, from where they intended to travel to Beijing. At Yichang, He was attacked and robbed by two men he believes to have been sent by Yunyang county officials. He and his two fellow representatives escaped from the thugs but were then arrested at their hotel by Yunyang county police. The three are expected to face jail sentences of three to seven years for "disturbing Three Gorges resettlement." To speed up the process of evictions, the secretary general of Yunyang County in January issued a mandate of "government sanctioned resettlement." This allows resettlement officials to use police force to relocate villagers.