Imminent Forced Evictions of Indigenous Ngöbe Families due to Barro Blanco Dam in Panama

The document details the human rights violations resulting from the Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam project in Panama, specifically the forced eviction of indigenous Ngöbe communities. It argues that the State of Panama, as well as Germany, the Netherlands, and member states of the Central American Bank for Economic Integration (CABEI), have failed in their obligations to protect the Ngöbe's rights to housing, food, water, culture, and education. The appeal highlights a lack of free, prior, and informed consent and calls for an immediate halt to evictions and project funding.

• The Barro Blanco hydroelectric dam project, a 28.84 MW facility on the Tabasará River in Chiriquí, Panama, is projected to displace approximately 270 indigenous Ngöbe people from the communities of Quebrada Caña, Kiad, and Nuevo Palomar.
• The project is registered under the Kyoto Protocol’s Clean Development Mechanism (CDM), but the authors argue that Panama's failure to protect the Ngöbe from forced displacement casts doubt on the CDM's ability to ensure human rights respect.
• The State of Panama is accused of violating the Ngöbe's right to housing by conducting forced evictions without establishing 'exceptional circumstances' or exploring feasible alternatives in consultation with the affected people.
• The eviction process has lacked appropriate procedural protections, including the failure to provide notices in the local language or adequate compensation beyond a cash payment of $4,000 USD for land that provides essential livelihoods.
• Panama has violated the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) for the Ngöbe people, as no community members were consulted before the project's approval or the decision to evict.
• Forced evictions threaten the Ngöbe's rights to food, water, and means of subsistence, as they rely on the Tabasará River and the surrounding tropical forest (Bosque de Galñería) for crops, medicinal plants, and construction materials.
• The project threatens the Ngöbe's right to culture and education, specifically by risking the destruction of the Petroglyphs of Quebrada Caña and Kiad and the flooding of the central school for Ngöbe culture, language, and religion.
• The authors argue that Germany, the Netherlands, and the member States of CABEI are failing their extraterritorial human rights obligations by continuing to finance the project through the German Investment Corporation (DEG), the Netherlands Development Finance Company (FMO), and CABEI.

APA

Center for International Environmental Law (2014). Imminent Forced Evictions of Indigenous Ngöbe Families due to Barro Blanco Dam in Panama. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/BarroBlanco_Appeal_18Feb2014.pdf

Chicago

Center for International Environmental Law. Imminent Forced Evictions of Indigenous Ngöbe Families due to Barro Blanco Dam in Panama. 2014. https://www.ciel.org/Publications/BarroBlanco_Appeal_18Feb2014.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite press release |author=Center for International Environmental Law |title=Imminent Forced Evictions of Indigenous Ngöbe Families due to Barro Blanco Dam in Panama |date=18 February 2014 |url=https://www.ciel.org/Publications/BarroBlanco_Appeal_18Feb2014.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@misc{centerforinternationalenvironmentallaw2014imminent, author = {{Center for International Environmental Law}}, title = {{Imminent Forced Evictions of Indigenous Ngöbe Families due to Barro Blanco Dam in Panama}}, publisher = {Center for International Environmental Law}, year = {2014}, month = feb, url = {https://www.ciel.org/Publications/BarroBlanco_Appeal_18Feb2014.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }