Date Type Case No Country Summary of the allegation transmitted Reply 18/02/11 KEN 2/2011 UA Kenya Indigenous peoples Allegation that the construction of a hydroelectric dam could result in food insecurity, health concerns and conflict. According to the information received, the Gibe III dam is being constructed by two Chinese companies. The dam will allegedly block the southwestern part of the Omo River, on the border of Ethiopia and Kenya, creating a 150 km long reservoir and reducing downstream flows. The Lower Omo River Valley is populated by some 500,000 people belonging to diverse indigenous peoples. Competition over land and resources has resulted in periodic conflicts among these groups. In addition to its importance for subsistence agricultural activities, the Omo River provides the grazing and watering necessary for raising cattle, goats and sheep. The river is also of special religious and cultural significance to many of the groups that inhabit the region, and it is used as a means of transportation and for bathing. 18/02/11 MYS 3/2011 JAL Malaysia Food; Indigenous peoples Alleged failure to recognize and respect native customary land rights. According to the 15/07/11 information received, the Kayan indigenous community of the Long Teran Kanan village in Tinjar, Miri, Sarawak had been involved in a legal dispute over their land for 12 years. The Miri High Court allegedly ruled in favour of the community on 31 March 2010. One of the defendants, IOI Pelita Plantation Sdn. Bhd., appealed the judgment and had allegedly not respected the court order in the interim, continuing palm oil operations in the community. The village’s crops have reportedly been bulldozed and planted with oil palms, destroying the Kayan people’s traditional livelihoods and threatening their right to food. This case is reportedly emblematic of the over 200 cases before the Sarawak courts relating to indigenous communities’ ability to exercise their native customary rights over their lands, upon which they depend for fishing, hunting or farming, and which are essential to their cultural survival. See the Special Rapporteur’s observations on this case in A/HRC/18/35.Add.1. 18/02/11 MEX 4/2011 UA Mexico Arbitrary detention Supuestas detenciones arbitrarias de personas indígenas. Según las informaciones recibidas, el 3 de febrero de 2011, Mariano Demeza Silvano, 17 años; Domingo Pérez Álvaro; Pedro Hernández López; Miguel López Deara; Domingo García Gómez; Juan Aguilar Guzmán; Pedro García Álvaro; Jerónimo Guzmán Méndez; Pedro López Gómez y Miguel Álvaro Deara, todos indígenas Tsetsales adherentes al movimiento La Otra Campaña (LOC), fueron arrestados a Las Cascadas de Agua Azul, por agentes de la Policía Estatal. Los detenidos fueron consignados al Juzgado Penal de Playas de Catazajá y trasladados al Centro Estatal para la Reinserción Social de Sentenciados No. 17. Ninguno de los consignados habría tenido acceso a un abogado o traductor. Se informa que agentes de la Policía Estatal se encuentran ocupando terrenos que el mencionado grupo indígena ancestralmente ha reivindicado como suyo. Se afirma que la detención se debe a su condición de adherentes a LOC, y parte de una acción represiva del gobierno estatal. 55 A/HRC/18/51 Mandate(s)