Free the MAB 18!

18 activists with Brazil’s Dam-Affected Peoples Movement (MAB) are still imprisoned after being arrested on April 26 for protesting at the Tucuruí Dam in the Amazon. The group was part of 400 people asserting their right to compensation by the dam builders --  the state-owned company Eletronorte -- in the form of community development projects for agriculture and fishing.

Tucuruí, the largest dam ever built in the rainforest, has been in operation for 25 years, generating subsidized energy for multinational aluminum smelters. 32,000 people were displaced and thousands of families have never received compensation or resettlement benefits. Instead, leaders of the dam-affected people are being persecuted and the movement criminalized. As you're reading this, 200 MAB members are camped near the dam site in support of the imprisoned leaders.

Please take a few minutes to personalize the letter below and send it to the Brazilian judges in charge of this case. Your quick action will help these courageous people in their ongoing struggle for their human rights to social justice and sustainable development.