- Almost 200 organisations call on UN Member States to engage in constructive negotiations on binding treaty on business & human rights
- Almost everything you know about e-waste is wrong
- The shocking danger of mountaintop removal — and why it must end
- Human Rights and Mining Guidance document sponsored by UNDP and Swedish EPA
- Front Line Defenders’ new report says majority of human rights defenders killings in 2017 were related to mega projects in extractive industry
- Impact of OECD-headquartered companies on human rights defenders
- UN High Commissioner for Human Rights reports on improving accountability & access to remedy for victims of business-related human rights abuse
Dear friends, Just after we sent out the last newsletter, a terrible massacre occurred at Thoothukudi (Tuticorin) in India. Police shot down unarmed protesters against a copper smelter owned by Sterlite, a subsidiary of notorious London-listed company Vedanta. There was a huge protest in London. Vedanta, controlled by Indian billionaire Anil Agarwal, listed on the London Stock Exchange as a source of kudos as well as cash, but the listing also makes it vulnerable. The company’s response to the massacre was utterly inadequate, and widely condemned in the press. The courage and determination of the protesters ensured that the smelter has been shut down, but vigilance will be needed to ensure that Vedanta is unable to reopen this polluting plant. Persecution of the company’s opponents continues. The UK government is being urged to de-list Vedanta from the London Stock Exchange. Meanwhile, elsewhere in India, the company continues to face opposition to its attempts to mine bauxite in the Niyamgiri Hills, and its iron ore operations in Goa have been shut down by a court. London-listed miner and commodities trader Glencore continues to face legal challenges over its operations in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), where a new mining law is also causing it problems. It is being attacked by mine workers’ unions for its behaviour both in the DRC and in Zambia. In South Africa, one of the Lonmin mine workers accused of murder over the killings at Marikana in 2012 has been acquitted. The company wanting to buy Lonmin, Sibanye-Stillwater, has been accused of being responsible for nearly half of deadly mine accidents in the country. Rio Tinto is planning to withdraw from its involvement in Freeport’s Grasberg mine in Indonesian-controlled West Papua but this may not shield it from the continuing controversy over the appalling impacts of the mine’s dumping of waste directly into the local river system. It is also under fire for the inadequacies of the closure plan of the Ranger uranium mine in Australia and its involvement with BHP in exploration around the Escondida copper mine in Chile (this article is in Spanish, but there is a very brief summary below). BHP is said to be close to a settlement with prosecutors in Brazil over the Samarco tailings dam disaster, but it is also being told in no uncertain terms to stay out of Ecuador. Elsewhere in Latin America, the charitable foundations run by Cerrejon Coal (owned by Anglo American, BHP and Glencore) in Colombia are accused of being a ‘front’ tied to a long history of displacement, violence and death. Antofagasta continues to face criticism for the impacts of its copper mines in Chile. London-listed Berkeley Energia’s planned uranium mine in Spain faces resistance from a growing movement of local people. Thousands rallied recently to make clear their objections. In London, Berkeley Energia is moving its listing from the scarcely-regulated Alternative Investment Market (AIM) to the under-regulated main London Stock Exchange (LSE). LMN wrote to the LSE to object. LMN member group Eritrea Focus has published a report about mining and human rights violations in Eritrea, making clear the UK investment connections. Finally, a report from Front Line Defenders shows that the majority of killings of human rights defenders in 2017 were related to mega-projects in mining and other extractive industries; and our friends at the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre point out that a huge proportion of human rights abuses in extractive industries are associated with companies based in OECD countries, including the UK. And there’s plenty more news below. All the best,
Richard Solly, LMN Co-ordinator. In this mailout Take Action! Urgent: Write to the Secretary of State asking him to stop Bradley opencast Events Fourth World Action presents Gadi Lohardaga Mail
Banks and Human Rights Today Corporate News 1) Mining and repression in Eritrea – UK connections
2) Resistance to London-listed Berkeley Energia’s planned uranium mining in Spain
3) Antofagasta AGM 2018: Half-answers to very few questions
4) US-China trade spat wipes $57B from top mining stocks in fortnight
5) UK government endorses strong anti-corruption rules for oil and mining firms
6) UK pension funds get green light to dump fossil fuel investment
7) The Russian Magnate, ‘Goldfinger’ and Ex-Army Chief Discussing Siberian Gold Mine Deals With Arron Banks
8) Past and possible future at Marikana
9) New York-based equity fund buys Ireland-focused Dalradian for Cdn$537m
10) Sirius Minerals soars after securing supply deal for Nigerian market
11) Death and Displacement: A USAID Export
12) Update on Gabriel Resources in Romania
13) News involving BHP
14) Rio Tinto and the Grasberg mine
15) Kakadu uranium mine closure planning ignores impact on Jabiru township
16) Glencore in the news
17) News about Vedanta Other news