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When the Complexity of the Large-Scale Development Project Becomes a Roadblock to Access to Justice

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 October 2021

Pillkyu HWANG  and
Yae-Ahn PARK Open the ORCID record for Yae-Ahn PARK [Opens in a new window]
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Extract

On 23 July 2018, when the villagers gathered around the porch to wrap up the day with a good chat, one of the five auxiliary dams of the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam in Attapeu province, the southeastern state of Laos, collapsed. Four days before the collapse, reports of cracks and subsidence started to come through. It should have been enough to prompt evacuation warning issuance by the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Power Co. Ltd (PNPC), a consortium of South Korean companies SK Engineering and Construction (SK E&C) and Korea Western Power Company (KOWEPO), Thailand-based RATCH Group, and Lao Holding State Enterprise (LHSE). PNPC has a Concession Agreement with the Laos government ‘to plan, design, finance, construct, own, operate and maintain’ the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy hydropower dam. The warning was issued, but it came too late.

Keywords

access to remedyLaos dam disasterlarge-scale development projectsmulti-stakeholder business projectsNGO advocacy
Type
Developments in the Field
Information
Business and Human Rights Journal , Volume 6 , Issue 3 , October 2021 , pp. 592 - 598
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press

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Footnotes

Conflicts of interest: Pillkyu Hwang and Yae-Ahn Park have been members of the Korean Civil Society Task Force team from the beginning of the advocacy activities in support of the victims and survivors of the Laos dam disaster.

*

Pillkyu Hwang is a Korea-licensed lawyer at GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation, Republic of Korea. GongGam joined the Korean Civil Society Task Force Team responding to the Laos dam disaster from its start and has been actively involved in advocacy work on behalf of the victims of the Laos dam disaster.

**

Yae-Ahn Park, a US-licensed lawyer, works for GongGam Human Rights Law Foundation and has participated in the advocacy work on the Laos dam disaster since January 2019. She has been advocating on behalf of the victims of the Laos dam disaster.

Funding statement: This manuscript has not been funded or commissioned by third parties, including, but not limited to business enterprises, civil society organizations, or foundations.

References

1 ‘Laos Dam Collapse: Many Feared Dead as Floods Hit Villages’, BBC News (24 July 2018), https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-44935495 (accessed 8 July 2021).

2 ‘About PNPC’, http://www.pnpclaos.com/index.php/en/about-pnpc (accessed 8 July 2021).

3 ‘Exclusive Report: Bureaucratic Chaos Rife in Hours Before Laos Dam Burst’, Radio Free Asia (31 October 2018), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/pnpcdamexclusivereport-10312018135319.html?utm_source=Mekong+Eye&utm_campaign=270dab8ec0-EMAIL_CAMPAIGN_2018_01_10_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_5d4083d243-270dab8ec0-380868521 (accessed 8 July 2021).

4 ‘Several Dead, Hundreds Missing after Lao Dam Collapses: Report’, Kyodo News (24 July 2018), https://english.kyodonews.net/news/2018/07/c4459c6398c9-urgent-several-dead-hundreds-missing-after-lao-dam-collapses-report.html (accessed 8 July 2021).

5 Jasmina Yap, ‘Laos and SK Engineering Clash over Cause of Dam Collapse’, The Laotian Times (23 May 2019), https://laotiantimes.com/2019/05/29/sk-engineering-laos-dam-collapse/ (accessed 8 July 2021).

6 Yurou, ‘Attapeu Dam Collapse in Laos Not Force Majeure Event: Investigator’, Xinhua News (29 May 2019), http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-05/29/c_138099872.htm (accessed 8 July 2021).

7 Kim Il-Jung, ‘Kim Byung-Sook, President of KOWEPO, said that 11 centimeters of subsidence occurred 4 days before the collapse’, e-Daily News (25 July 2018), https://www.edaily.co.kr/news/read?newsId=04641206619278128&mediaCodeNo=257&OutLnkChk=Y (accessed 8 July 2021).

8 Seo Young-Ji, ‘SK E&C’s attempts to cut costs led to design changes that resulted in collapse of dam in Laos’, Hankyoreh (15 October 2018), http://english.hani.co.kr/arti/english_edition/e_international/865895.html (accessed 8 July 2021).

9 ‘Construction Delays Mean Continued Homelessness for Survivors of Laos’ Worst Dam Disaster’, Radio Free Asia (9 February 2021), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/dam-02092021183954.html (accessed 8 July 2021).

10 Laignee Barron, ‘A Dam Collapse Devastated Southern Laos. Now the Floodwaters Are Creeping Toward Cambodia’, Time (26 July 2018), https://time.com/5349440/laos-dam-disaster-cambodia/ (accessed 8 July 2021).

11 ‘Survivors Recount Horror of Laos Dam Collapse’, Voice of Asia (12 August 2018), https://www.voanews.com/east-asia-pacific/survivors-recount-horror-laos-dam-collapse (accessed 8 July 2021).

12 Philip Alston, UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights, ‘Visit to the Lao People’s Democratic Republic. End of Mission Statement’ (28 March 2019) 2, http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/EPoverty/EOSVisitToLao28Mar2019_EN.pdf (accessed 8 July 2021).

13 Ibid.

14 ‘Construction Delays Mean Continued Homelessness for Survivors of Laos’ Worst Dam Disaster’, Radio Free Asia (9 February 2021), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/dam-02092021183954.html (accessed 8 July 2021).

15 ‘Survivors of Laos’ Worst Dam Disaster Still Struggling Two Years Later’, Radio Free Asia (22 July 2020), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/xe-pian-xe-namnoi-two-year-07222020211103.html (accessed 8 July 2021).

16 ‘Compensation Delays for Survivors of Laos’ Worst Dam Disaster’, Radio Free Asia (25 November 2020), https://www.rfa.org/english/news/laos/pnpc-11252020154134.html (accessed 8 July 2021).

17 United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner, ‘UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights,’ https://www.ohchr.org/documents/publications/guidingprinciplesbusinesshr_en.pdf (accessed 8 July 2021).

18 OECD Responsible Business Conduct, ‘The OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises,’ http://mneguidelines.oecd.org/guidelines/ (accessed 8 July 2021).

19 The Korean Civil Society TF, ‘Allegation Letter on Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Hydropower Dam Collapse’ (22 January 2019), http://www.peoplepower21.org/index.php?_filter=search&mid=English&search_target=title_content&search_keyword=Laos&document_srl=1609025&listStyle=list (accessed 8 July 2021).

20 United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights, ‘Preventing and Addressing Dam Failures – What Needs to be Done?’ (27 November 2019), https://2019unforumbhr.sched.com/event/U9Gd/preventing-and-addressing-dam-failures-what-needs-to-be-done?linkback=grid (accessed 8 July 2021).

21 ‘Lao Dam Disaster: UN Rights Experts Call for Justice Two Years On’, OHCHR (29 April 2020), https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25839&LangID=E (accessed 5 April 2021).

22 Ibid (accessed 8 July 2021).

23 Ibid (accessed 8 July 2021).

24 The Korean Civil Society TF, ‘Summary of the Complaint for the Xe-Pian Xe-Namnoy Dam Collapse’ (17 June 2019), http://www.peoplepower21.org/index.php?mid=English&document_srl=1654038 (accessed 5 April 2021).

25 KNCP, ‘The KNCP Final Statement’ (23 July 2020), http://www.ncp.or.kr/servlet/kcab_encp/info/4001?pageno=1&seq=38&SEARCHTYPE=TITLE&SEARCHTEXT= (accessed 8 July 2021).

26 National Human Rights Commission Act 2016 (KOR), art 30, sec 1, https://www.law.go.kr/engLsSc.do?menuId=1&subMenuId=21&tabMenuId=117&query=%EA%B5%AD%EA%B0%80%EC%9D%B8%EA%B6%8C%EC%9C%84%EC%9B%90%ED%9A%8C%EB%B2%95# (accessed 8 July 2021).

27 International Rivers, Reckless Endangerment: Assessing Responsibility for the Xe Pian-Xe Namnoy Dam Collapse (2019), https://www.internationalrivers.org/wp-content/uploads/sites/86/2020/06/reckless_endangerment_final_for_web-compressed.pdf (accessed 8 July 2021).

28 International Rivers, ‘Two Years After the Lao Dam Collapse: The Call for Justice Persists’, https://ne-np.facebook.com/InternationalRivers/videos/two-years-after-the-lao-dam-collapse-the-call-for-justice-persists/1153948881627705/ (accessed 8 July 2021).

29 Alston, note 12, 19.