SALWEEN WATCH HOTMAIL-OUT

Date: November 1999. Issue # 3

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OFFICE OF THE SUPREME HEADQUARTERS
KAREN NATIONAL UNION
KAWTHOOLEI

POSITION OF KNU REGARDING PROJECTS FOR BUILDING DAMS ON SALWEEN

November 2, 1999.

Regarding the projects for building dams on the Salween River for generation of electrical power, we the KNU maintain our position as follows.

(1) Projects for building super-dams, for generation of electrical power, must be undertaken, in accordance with the will of the people, by a legitimate government elected by the people, only after a exhaustive study, in relation to the benefit they would bring to the people, in terms of raising the living standard, and economic development of a country. Since the present SPDC military dictatorship government is not a government
elected by the people, it has absolutely no right to undertake or give sanction for the building of such dams.

(2) As the sites of Hud-je Dam Project, Weh-je dam Project, Dar-gwin Dam Project
etc, are in the Karen State, and are directly related to the interest of the Karen people, they must not be implemented without the approval of the Karen people. It is our view that the consequences of building these dams, such as the destruction of the habitat and environment of the indigenous Karen people, including their farms, pastures and plantations for livelihood, would pose a serious danger to them.

(3) The SPDC military dictatorship is totalitarian regime that has seized state power by force. Currently, it is conducting a genocidal military offensive known as "Operation Moe Hein" against the Karen people. In this operation, the SPDC troops are perpetrating
inhuman and criminal acts of forced relocation, forced labor, wholesale destruction of food stocks, harvests and livestock, looting of valuables, rape of women etc. against the Karen people. If the dam projects were to be started, there would be a more violent war of wholesale destruction and genocide.

(4) For these reasons, we the KNU totally object to these dam projects. Accordingly, countries intending to invest in these projects should reconsider their options, in consideration of the plight of the Karen people, the struggle for establishment of a democratic system and establishment of a genuine federal union.