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In another turn in the ongoing law suit over construction of the Belo Monte dam in Brazil, a district federal court ruled on November 9th that Indigenous Peoples who oppose construction of the dam on the Xingu river do not have the right to Free Prior and Informed Consent on the project because it is not located on their traditional territory. This decision contradicts the Brazilian Constitution as well as Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization and the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, both of which Brazil has endorsed.

The on-again-off-again Belo Monte dam has been halted once again by a judge in Brazil after being the go-ahead by Brazil's president last year. The gigantic dam would flood some 190 square miles of rainforest and displace multiple Indigenous communities, who have been protesting the dam for years. The judge's ruling cited environmental concerns rather than the human rights issues, but if the ruling holds (previous injunctions have been overturned), it will still benefit the Indigenous Peoples of the area.

We, indigenous peoples Juruna, Xipaya, Arara of the Volta Grande, Kuruaia and Xicrin of the region of Altamira, Guajajara, Gavião, Krikati, Awa Guajá, Kayapo of Mato Grosso and Pará, Tembé, Aikeora, Suruí, Xavante, Karintiana, Puruborá, Kassupá, Wajãpi, Karajá, Apurinã, Makuxi, Nawa of Acre, Mura from Amazonas, Tupaiu, Borari, Tapuia, Arapiuns, Pataxó, Tupiniquim, Javaé, Kaingang, Xucuru, Marubu, Maiuruna and Mundukuru from the states of Amazonas and Pará and from the other states of the Amazon region and Brazil, farmers and riverine peoples

* Brazil agency OKs start-up of huge dam in Amazon

* Consortium has go-ahead to clear forest, start site

SAO PAULO, Jan 26 (Reuters) - Brazil's environment agency approved on Wednesday the start-up of the Belo Monte power dam, a controversial $17 billion project in the Amazon that has drawn criticism from native Indians and conservationists.

The agency, Ibama, issued licenses to the consortium in charge of Belo Monte to start the construction site and to clear 238.1 hectares (588 acres) of forest land, about the size of Monaco.

On November 15th the Ingaricó, Macuxi, Patamona, Taurepang and Wapichana Indigenous Peoples of Raposa Serra do Sol, Brazil finally received a favorable decision from the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Commission found that the government’s treatment of Indigenous Peoples in Raposa may violate human rights is now in the final stage of reviewing the case and will soon issue a concluding report.

On November 11th, international and Brazilian human rights organizations filed a formal petition with the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights to stop the construction of Belo Monte Dam on the Xingu River in the Brazilian Amazon. The petition urgently calls on the commission to adopt "precautionary measures" that would put pressure on the Brazilian government to halt plans to build the dam, planned to be the world's third largest.

Cultural Survival congratulates new Right Livelihood Award winners Nnimmo Bassey and Erwin Krautler, both lifelong champions for Indigenous Peoples’ rights and environmental protection.  Bassey, a Nigerian poet/environmentalist, and Krautler, a Brazilian Catholic bishop, are two of four recipients of this year’s award, which is widely known as the “Alternative Nobel Prize.” The Right Livelihood Award honors and supports those "offering practical and exemplary answers to the most urgent challenges facing us today." There are now 141 Laureates from 59 countries.

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