[mobglob-discuss] Letter to the World Bank about Bolivia water conflict

[Paul Browning]

Fine with me.


Paul Browning
----- Original Message -----
From: <Tom_Childs at Douglas.BC.CA>
To: <mobglob-discuss at resist.ca>
Sent: Wednesday, August 21, 2002 7:09 PM
Subject: [mobglob-discuss] Letter to the World Bank about Bolivia water
conflict


> Subscribers,
> Here's a pertainent letter to sign on to if you are connected to a
> civil society group or anti-capitalist organization, and can endose the
> letter on behalf or your colleagues.  It's about profits over people.
> There's a degree of urgency to this following post. I would put forward my
> name on behalf of MGJ if i get at least a half dozen replies from the list
> that simply say "go ahead"...that would probably be enough yeas to
> constitute a consensus and i'd be proud to be the MGJ rep.
> Salud,  tom
>   ----- Forwarded message: -----On behalf of Oscar Olivera - Bolivia
> Organization: Vereniging Milieudefensie
> From: "Bertram Zagema" <Bertram.Zagema at milieudefensie.nl>
> Date: Wed, 21 Aug 2002 11:41:30 +0200
> Subject: Letter to World Bank about Bolivia water conflict
>
> Dear Friends
>
> Last November Bechtel initiated legal action against Bolivia in a
> secret trade court controlled by the World Bank.
>
> A long time ago the Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life along
> with other organizations are organizing a campaign against Bechtel's
> demand to our country. We need your solidarity and your help.
>
> In attach is the letter we will be sending to the World Bank late
> next week.  What we need from you at this point is nothing more than
> support - your name to add to the letter.
>
> Please note, that the letter is ONLY FROM ORGANIZATIONS, not
> individuals. So, if you represent an organization (an environmental
> group, a union, a nonprofit organization, etc.) please consider
> endorsing this letter by replying to this note (to the mails that you
> will find below) with the following information (NO LATER THAN NEXT
> MONDAY, AUGUST 26TH)
>
> Name
> Title
> Organization
> Country
>
> Thanks for your support and Solidarity
>
> Oscar Olivera F
>
> Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida
>
> -------------------------------
> Marcela Olivera F.
> Coordinadora de Defensa del Agua y de la Vida
> Federaci=F3n de Trabajadores Fabriles de Cochabamba
> Calle Bol=EDvar 310, tercer piso
> Cochabamba, Bolivia
>
> Tel/Fax: (591-4) 4503530
> Cel: (591) 70722165
> E-mail: marcelaolivera at mindspring.com
> E-mail: marcelaolivera at ceibo.entelnet.bo
>
>
>
> James D. Wolfensohn, President, World Bank
> Ko-Yung Tung, Secretary-General, ICSID
> David D. Caron, tribunal president
> Henri C. Alvarez, tribunal member
> Jos=E9 Luis Alberro-Semerena, tribunal member
> ICSID Dispute Resolution Panel
> c/o International Centre for the Resolution of Investment Disputes
> World Bank
> 1818 H Street, NW
> Washington, DC 20433
>
> RE: Demand for public participation
>        Aguas del Tunari S.A. (Bechtel) v. Republic of Bolivia (Case
> No. ARB/02/3)
>
> Dear Sirs:
>
> The signers of this letter represent more than [# to be added] civil
> society organizations and public leaders across five continents.  We
> are writing to you out of our shared commitment to the right of
> people to participate in the public matters that affect their
> communities and nations.  With this letter we respectfully request
> that you guarantee public participation in the arbitration between
> Aguas del Tunari/Bechtel Enterprises and the Republic of Bolivia, a
> case that directly implicates one of the most fundamental human needs
> - access to water.  This case is the most visible and important cases
> that has come before a World Bank/ICSID tribunal - Aguas del
> Tunari/Bechtel Enterprises vs. Bolivia.
>
> BACKGROUND
>
> The history of this case is well-known worldwide.  Under direct
> pressure from the World Bank, the Bolivian government put up for
> private lease the water system of its third largest city, Cochabamba.
>  In 1999, following a process with just one bidder, a 40 year
> concession was granted to Aguas del Tunari, a majority-owned
> subsidiary of Bechtel Enterprises of California set up for that sole
> purpose.  Within weeks of taking over control of the water system,
> the company raised water rates by an average of more than 50% and in
> some cases far higher.  Families living on a minimum wage of $60 per
> month (and often less) were ordered by the company to pay as much as
> 25% of their income just to maintain their water service.
>
> The people of Cochabamba, unable to pay the bills presented them by
> the company and unable to get any satisfactory relief from the
> Bolivian government, were forced into massive and widespread public
> protests.  To protect the company's contract the Bolivian government
> took extraordinary measures against its people, including a
> declaration of a state of emergency, the suspension of constitutional
> rights, and the violent repression of the protests, resulting in more
> than 100 injuries and the death of one 17 year old boy, Victor Hugo
> Daza.  In April 2000, with the government unable to stop the
> protests, the company abandoned its management of the water system
> and left the country.
>
> THE BASIS OF OUR DEMAND FOR PARTICIPATION
>
> To be clear, in our view the World Bank/ICSID should not be handling
> this case to begin with.  The World Bank/ICSID system is one of what
> the New York Times recently called "secret trade courts" ("A Fairer
> Trade Bill" New York Times editorial, July 25, 2002), in which urgent
> public matters are decided behind a shroud of secrecy, without full
> information and without any of the opportunities for public vigilance
> and participation that are the basis for public legitimacy.   Such
> public involvement is essential to the legitimate resolution of
> disputes, like this one, that directly affect issues of fundamental
> public concern.
>
> Moreover, the World Bank/ICSID handling of this case is even more
> unjustified for two specific reasons unique to this case:
>
> First, the World Bank is by no means a neutral party in this matter.
> It is well-documented that it was the World Bank itself which
> directly forced the government of Bolivia to privatize the water
> system of Cochabamba, making that privatization a condition for both
> debt relief and funds for water system expansion and thereby setting
> the events of this case in motion.  Additionally, during the water
> revolt in Bolivia in April 2000, World Bank president James
> Wolfensohn personally made public comments about the case, justifying
> water price increases.  Further, despite the Bank's role in the
> history of this case, Mr. Wolfensohn violated one of the most
> important principles of objectivity when he directly appointed the
> President of the arbitration tribunal that will decide the case.
> These facts have created strong and well-justified public doubt that
> ICSID can resolve this dispute fairly.
>
> Second, Bechtel/Aguas del Tunari's claim of ICSID jurisdiction rests
> entirely on a bogus claim of being a Dutch corporation (and therefore
> benefiting from Holland's bilateral investment treaty with Bolivia
> which invokes ICSID as arbitrator of any trade disputes between the
> two countries). Bechtel/Aguas del Tunari moved its registration to
> Holland only after it signed its water contract with Bolivia, in a
> forum-shopping exercise already repudiated by the Dutch government.
>
> Given, however, that the World Bank/ICSID has acceded to
> Bechtel/Aguas del Tunari's request to take this case, this makes it
> all the more imperative that the process be opened to public
> participation and scrutiny, as laid out in this letter.
>
> We would also note that Bechtel/Aguas del Tunari has already made
> plain their willingness to advance fraudulent information about the
> case.  In response to widespread public and press attention to the
> company's rate hikes, a Bechtel Enterprises spokeswoman, Ms. Gail
> Apps, widely distributed the following statement to members of the
> public and the media inquiring abut the rate increases it imposed,
> "For the poorest people in Cochabamba rates went up little, barely 10
> percent."  Data drawn directly from the water company's computers
> make clear that the rate increase in question averaged more than 50%.
>
> If Bechtel/Aguas del Tunari is willing to assert clearly fraudulent
> information such as this on the public record, one can only imagine
> what misinformation the company will be willing to provide to the
> tribunal behind closed doors and away from public scrutiny.  For this
> reason as well, civil society groups directly knowledgeable about the
> facts at hand must be able to participate actively in the case, to
> assure that the tribunal receives a complete and accurate rendering
> of those facts.
>
> THE METHODS OF PARTICIPATION PROPOSED
>
> For all these reasons, we propose that the Tribunal adopt the
> following procedures:
>
> 1) Grant the Petition of Affected Individuals and Organizations to
> Participate in the Case
>
> We call on the Tribunal to grant the petition to participate made by
> key Bolivian leaders, including Oscar Olivera of The Coalition for
> Water and Life; Father Luis S=E1nchez, a member of Cochabamba's public
> water company board of directors (SEMAPA); Omar Fern=E1ndez of the
> Cochabamba Federation of Irrigators; and Congressman Jorge Alvarado,
> President of the Cochabamba delegation of the Bolivian Congress.
> These leaders, represented by able and experienced Bolivian and U.S.
> counsel, represent tens of thousands of people with a direct stake in
> the case.  Their participation is essential to legitimate resolution
> of this dispute.
>
> 2) Publicly Disclose all Documents Filed with the Tribunal
>
> In order to provide for adequate public scrutiny of the claims made
> by the two parties, especially given the record of misinformation, we
> call on the Tribunal to place into the public record all documents
> filed with the Tribunal.
>
> 3) That the Tribunal Members Travel to Bolivia to Receive Public
> Testimony
>
> It is clearly within the purview of the tribunal to come directly to
> Cochabamba, Bolivia and receive testimony from the people directly
> affected by the case and who have important information to share with
> the tribunal:
>
>  "the Tribunal may, if it deems it necessary at any stage of the
> proceedings - visit the scene connected with the dispute, and conduct
> such inquiries there as it may deem appropriate. [Convention On The
> Settlement of Investment Disputes Between States and Nationals of
> Other States: Powers And Functions Of The Tribunal, Section 3,
> Article 43].
>
> We call on the panel to invoke that power in this case and to travel
> to Cochabamba to receive appropriate public testimony relevant to the
> case.
>
> 4) That the tribunal hearings be made completely open to the public.
>
> All tribunal hearings should be open to the public, including making
> all transcripts of the testimony public, as well as all tribunal
> decisions and awards.
>
> CONCLUSION
>
> No ICSID case has ever drawn the public attention that this case has
> and will continue to, and for good reason.  The actions of Aguas del
> Tunari/Bechtel in Bolivia left a city of more than 600,000 people in
> turmoil for four months.  They left hundreds injured and one young
> boy dead, and jeopardize thousands of peoples' access to the most
> fundamental element of life.  This case is about far more than the
> calm transfer of assets from one economic institution to another.  It
> is a matter of deep importance to far more than the two parties who
> now have formal access to the process.  We hope the Tribunal will
> grant our requests and the petition to participate, and will honor
> the legitimate right of civil society to also have an active and
> constructive role in this case.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> [list of names under development]
>
> Bolivia
>
> Oscar Olivera, Fedration of Factory Workers and Coalition for the
> Defense of Water and
> Life (La Coordinadora)
> Gabriel Herbas, Bolivian Forum on the Environment
> Marcela Olivera, Coalition for the Defense of Water and Life (La
> Coordinadora)
> Omar Fern=E1ndez, Cochabamba Federation of Irrigators
> Father Luis S=E1nchez, member boiard of directors, SEMAPA (public water
> company) Jorge Alvarado, President of the Cochabamba delegation of
> the Bolivian Congress
> Jim Shultz, executive director, The Democracy Center
> Tom Kruse, Center for Agriculture and Labor Development Studies
> (CEDLA)
>
>
> United States
>
> Sarah Anderson, Institute for Policy Studies, Global Economy Project
> Nancy C. Alexander, Citizens' Network on Essential Services
> Marie Dennis, Director, Maryknoll Office for Global Concerns
> Jerry Mander, President, International Forum on Globalization
> Mark Ritchie, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
> Kevin Danaher, Co-Founder, Global Exchange
> Cam Duncan, Inter-American Regional Secretary, Public Services
> International
> Anthony Arnove, Editor, South End Press
> Lori Wallach, Director, Global Trade Watch, Public Citizen
> Tom Lewis, International Socialist Organization
>
> The Netherlands
>
> Edith van Overveld, Latin America Centre, Netherlands
> Berrie Jurg, Friends of the Earth, Netherlands
>
> Canada
>
> David Diamond, Headlines Theatre
>
> Ghana
>
> Rudolf Amenga-Etego, Integrated Social Development Centre, Ghana
> Charles Abugre, Integrated Social Development Centre, Ghana
> Patrick Apoya, Community Partnerships For Health and Development,
> Ghana
> Denis Chirawurah, Peoples's Actions For community Transformation,
> Ghana
>
>
> cc: Alejandro Escobar, ICSID general counsel
>      Claudia Frutos-Peterson, ICSID counsel
>
>
> Bertram Zagema
> Milieudefensie (Friends of the Earth Netherlands)
> P.O.Box 19199,  1000 GD Amsterdam, the Netherlands
> tel: (31)-20-5507387,  fax: (31)-20-5507310
> email: Bertram.Zagema at Milieudefensie.nl
>
>
>
>
>
>
> --
> Tom Childs - Audio/Visual Resources
> Douglas College Library
> New Westminster, B.C. Canada
> T:  604 527-5187 - library
> T:  604 524-9316 - home
> E:  childst at douglas.bc.ca
> U:  BCGEU - Local 703
> W:  http://www.douglas.bc.ca
> --
>
>
>
>
>
>
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