Approval of this FTAA application will allow the Canadian mining firm MBMI and its Philippine Partners to substantially increase exploration activities and to progress toward full-scale nickel operations in the municipalities of Rizal, Bataraza, and Narra.

In response to the news–and the ongoing incursion of mining developments in Palawan–more than 500 Indigenous Peoples have arranged to hold a ‘Karaban’ anti-mining rally on 7 June, 2010.

Sign a petition to Stop Mining in Palawan!  http://petitiononline.com/PA2010/petition.html

STATEMENT: PALAWAN ANTI-MINING PROTESTERS RETURN TO THEIR HOMES: FEW GAINS ACHIEVED AND MORE CHALLENGES AHEAD

The anti-mining “karaban rally” composed of about 600 protesters from farmers and indigenous communities had reached the capital city of Puerto Princesa on the 7^th of June (see previous IC release). The rally had been supported by various organizations and religious groups such as the Ipilan parish of “Our Lady of Lourdes”, Augustinian Missionaries, the Global Legal Action on Climate Change, The Environmental Legal Assistance Center (ELAC), the Palawan NGO Network, Inc (PNNI), Haribon Palawan, The Federation of Tribes in Palawan (Natripal), Bangsa Palawan Philippines, Inc and ALDAW (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch). The main scope of the peaceful effort was to request the Provincial Government not to endorse the proposed plans of MacroAsia and Ipilan Nickel Corporation (INC), and to clarify matters on the Canadian-based MBMI mining company’s newly approved Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) application. Such approval has also been announced by the TORONTO, ONTARIO- GC-Global Capital Corp, a merchant bank, providing bridge loan services (asset back/collateralized financing), to companies across many industries such as oil & gas, mining, real estate, etc. Global’s Chief Executive Officer, Jason Ewart commented “The FTAA license approval represents a major milestone for MBMI Resources. MBMI can now begin to capitalize on its large nickel resource and pursue contracts for its product from its network of targeted customers within the region. We also expect that this will allow the company to pursue discussions with several major potential strategic partners for the development of large-scale production facilities in the Philippines. We look forward to following MBMI’s progress in 2010.” On the same day (7 June) in which this statement was made public: http://www.marketwatch.com/story/gc-global-capital-corp-announces-that-its-client-company-mbmi-resources-inc-has-received-ftaa-application-approval-in-the-philippines-2010-06-07?reflink=MW_news_stmp -

Palawan anti-mining protestors were marching towards Palawan Capital City to deliver their complains to the Provincial Government.  In the evening they met with the anti-mining Puerto Princesa Mayor, Hon. Edward S. Hagedorn who sympathized with the motivations behind the rally. Until the afternoon of 8 June a delegation of the rally’s organizers, supported by their NGOs counterparts, engaged in intense meetings with the Provincial Regulatory Board (PMRB) and with the Committee on Environment of the Provincial Government. In one of such meetings, the rally’s delegation questioned the legitimacy of MacroAsia and Ipilan Nickel Corporations’ applications being endorsed by the local government of Brooke’s Point Municipality. Atty Mary Jean Feliciano, former Municipal vice-mayor, said  “MacroaAsia was endorsed by the local government in less than one hour without any public consultation. It is surprising that the Palawan Council for Sustainable Development, the agency in charge of protecting Palawan environment, has in fact, allowed mining companies to explore in ‘core zones’ and ‘watersheds’ of maximum protection” she said. According to Atty Feliciano also “the National Council for Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), rather than defending the interests of their constituents, are convincing local indigenous communities to accept mining in their territory, because it will make them rich, will give them motorcycles and cellular phones. So they are conspiring with mining companies by bribing indigenous leaders” (http://vimeo.com/11462206). Artiso Mandawa, spokesperson for ALDAW/NATRIPAL (Ancestral Land and Domain Watch-Nagkakaisang Tribo ng Palawan) added that for the indigenous peoples “mining is not Development, it creates conflict among people, and it destroys our culture by bringing foreign values to our community. Some of my people still have limited contacts with the outside and are not even registered in the national and provincial census. They are the first inhabitants to arrive on this island and yet, for the government, they appear not to exist (http://vimeo.com/11491685).

As a result of the negotiations taking place between the protesters’ delegation and policy makers in Puerto Princesa, the Provincial Government agreed that endorsement of both MacroAsia and INC should require further investigation and – until all issues are clarified – their applications will be ‘frozen’. Specifically, Hon. Vicky De Guzman, member of the Provincial board, took an open stand in favour of the protesters, encouraging them to be vigilant of all irregularities dealing with mining application processes, and to report them promptly to the Provincial Government”. However, according to Atty Dong Lorenzo of the Environmental Legal Assistance Centre (ELAC) the search for irregularities must start first in the Presidential Palace of Malacañang and in the central office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources. “The trend is clear that mining companies are doing everything their money and influence can buy to get permits and put their projects in place before the new government officially takes over in a few weeks” Lorenzo said. This view has been confirmed by Jaybee Garganera, National Cordinator of Alyansa Tigil Mina (ATM). With reference to the recent Financial and Technical Assistance Agreement (FTAA) approved in favor of the Canadian MBMI Resources he said “it is unacceptable that affected communities and the rest of the Filipino people learn about this midnight mining contract from international sources and the mining company, and yet the DENR itself is mum about it”.  He dared the DENR to either deny this mining contract does has not been approved or immediately release all the documents as soon as possible”. He added that “it is the highest form of irony and hypocrisy that a destructive midnight mining deal was fast-tracked in Palawan, a province that is considered as a global biodiversity hotspot, and host to one of the wonders of the modern world – the St. Paul Subterrainean River System”. On the contrary if DENR will push for the endorsement of MBMI, three mining companies: Narra Nickel Mining and Development, Inc. (NNMDC), Tesoro Mining and Development, Inc. (TMDI), and McArthur Mining, Inc. (MMI)  will begin their operations in the Municipality of Narra, Bataraza and Rizal with severe consequences for the livelihoods of hundreds of farmers and indigenous people, not to mentioned the irreparable damage to agricultural production and fisheries on which such municipality depend. At least one of the proposed mining operations cover more than 3,200 hectares and will impact the Mt. Bulanjao range in southern Palawan, and its unique ultramafic forest. The area is considered one of the best-conserved biodiversity hot spots on the island. A total of six major rivers from the mountain range supply water to both migrant and indigenous population (http://vimeo.com/11353087 – http://vimeo.com/11386137).

Fr. Edu Gariguez, Executive Director of the National Secretariat of Social Action of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP-NASSA), also expressed concern about these new developments.  He said “the granting of this latest FTAA in Palawan, if true, goes against the Catholic social teaching of stewardship of the Earth and preferential treatment of the poor”. He added that “given the fragile ecology of Palawan and the opposition of local communities, especially IPs, the mining contract should be rescinded as soon as possible”.  The influential Catholic Church in the Philippines has consistently shown its position against large-scale mining, amidst documented reports from its dioceses that mining operations are impacting the ecology, livelihoods and access to natural resources of the poor (http://vimeo.com/11359268).

While the ‘karaban’ anti-mining rally has served to channel more public attention on mining aggression on Palawan’s UNESCO-declared Man and Biosphere Reserve, it has also provided additional encouragement to local communities in consolidating their local struggles.  For instance, farmers from the village of Calategas in Narra, where the Canadian-backed nickel mining project is set to operate, said they would resort to “human barricades” to stop the project if a permit is issued by Malacañang. “We will form a barricade if they issue the permit. We will gather the entire Calategas and set up a barricade. We won’t mind getting hurt,” said a spokesperson of a group of farmers opposed to the project. Similar sentiments were also expressed by people from the Northern Municipality of Roxas, where the Fujian mining company received an initial endorsement despite the absence of Free and Prior Informed Consent Processes being carried out with the affected communities. Surprisingly, also those companies that have already been apprehended for their illegalities are still allowed to continue. This is the case of the Citinickel Mine and Development Corporation in the Municipality of Punang, Sofronio Espanola, which has been accused for the violation of Section 103 of the Philippine Mining Act of 1995, and for the illegal deforestation of mangroves during the construction of their company’s pier.

Undoubtedly, the future of mining in the so called “Philippine’s Last Frontier” will depend on how the newly elected administration will implement fundamental environmental reforms and actions. 
”Now that Noynoy Aquino is set to be proclaimed as the new president, the question that comes up is whether he will fulfill his promise to bring about a government different and opposed to the previous Arroyo administration. This would mean taking concrete steps in implementing positive reforms and reversing the policies that negatively impacted our people and environment,” said Clemente Bautista Jr. of Kalikasan People’s Network for the Environment (Kalikasan PNE).

WHAT YOU CAN DO

• Sign a Petition to Stop Mining in Palawan!
  http://petitiononline.com/PA2010/petition.html

And address your concerns to:

* PROVINCIAL GOVERNMENT OF PALAWAN

piopalawan@gmail.com

rlnn419@yahoo.com palawan@pal-onl.com

Hon. Abraham Kahlil B. Mitra

district2palawan@yahoo.com.ph

*PALAWAN COUNCIL FOR SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT

oed@pcsd.ph

pcsdsfsd@compass.com.ph

*DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONEMNT AND NATURAL RESOURCES

osec@denr.gov.ph

hea@denr.gov.ph

MINES AND GEOSCIENCE BUREAU

mines_r4@yahoo.com

Also forwards your complaints to:

Michael T. Mason

President and Director

MBMI Resources Inc

Vancouver, B.C. Canada

mbr@mbmiresources.com

Jason Ewart

Chief Executive Officer

GC-Global Capital Corp

Toronto Ontario, Canada

jewart@gcglobalcapital.ca

For more information watch ALDAW videos
http://www.vimeo.com/aldawnetwork http://www.youtube.com/user/ALDAWpalawan

http://hub.witness.org/en/users/aldaw-network
or contact the ALDAW Network (Ancestral Land/Domain Watch) aldawnetwork@gmail.com and Alyansa Tigil Mina (nc@alyansatigilmina.net/ alyansatigilmina@gmail.com)

Well.. now, a lot of the amazing panels that happened at this year’s mining injustice panel are available on our own Blip.tv channel. Check out the channel here.

Someone Else's Treasure

Someone Else’s Treasure is an ongoing multimedia project which brings to light some of the experiences of indigenous communities around the world that have been impacted by the global mining industry – including communities in the Philippines, Tanzania, Papua New Guinea, Australia, Chile, Canada, and Guatemala.

This multimedia piece focuses on communities in San Marcos, Guatemala, living next to the Canadian-owned Marlin Mine. The first two songs are by Grupo Kotzic, who are from San Marcos, singing about the peoples’ resistance to the mine. The third song is a live recording from inside the Church of San Miguel Ixtahuacan, San Marcos, where  community members were singing a song they wrote about their experiences with the mine.

In an effort to better understand the true cost of an industry that shapes the world around all of us, the focus of Someone Else’s Treasure is on the externalized – the men, women, and children, that have been left out of the equations and are therefore forced to pay the price for someone else’s treasure.

Someone Else’s Treasure – Guatemala from allan lissner on Vimeo.

SATURDAY MAY 8^th, 2010

PLENARY 10 – 11 AM: CLAYTON THOMAS MULLER & OPENING CEREMONY

SUNDAY MAY 9^TH, 2010

CLOSING PLENARY: 3 – 4:30 PM – Short speeches delivered by all community leaders facilitated by Clayton Thomas Muller

Six weeks ago, Peru’s Ministry of Energy and Mines announced that it was “indefinitely suspending” the exploration activities of a Canadian mining company inside the sacred territory of the Awajun and Wampis Peoples.

AMAZONIA FOR SALE
Uploaded by ORE-MEDIA. – News videos from around the world.
The announcement was curiously timed just a few days before a new mobilization was supposed to be launched in the Amazon. In part, the mobilization was going to be aimed at the Canadian company, Minera Afrodita (Dorato Resources) , who is believed to be contaminating the Cenepa and Maranon rivers with mercury and cyanide waste. As many as 13 thousand indigenous people depend on these two rivers.

Nevertheless, the Awajun and Wampis couldn’t take the chance of ignoring the Ministry’s words. But as the days went by, it became clear to the Awajun and Wampis–along with the international community–that Peru had no intention of actually halting the company’s work.

Looking back now, February 17 was just another day in Peru’s legacy of betraying Indigenous Peoples.

A new report by ODECOFROC (the Organization for the Development of the Border Communities of El Cenepa), a group that represents 56 Awajun and Wampis communities reveals a number of other government betrayals central to the Indigenous Peoples’ territory. This is also the subject of a new film by ODECOFROC and the IWGIA (International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs) titled, Amazonia for Sale.

While the film provides viewers with an introduction to the Awajun and Wampis struggles, their 68-page report, A Chronicle of Deception, provides the details.

Most importantly, it demonstrates how “the Peruvian government acted in bad faith” by modifying the original proposal to create the Ichigkat Muja National Reserve and ultimately secure the Indigenous Peoples lands.

The proposal was supposed to include the area Minera Afrodita claims to own; that is what the Awajun and Wampis understood when they agreed to the proposal. However, the government unilaterally cut down the proposed protection area, specifically, but not exclusively, for Afrodita.

The betrayal was “in open violation of Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization, the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the American Convention on Human Rights,” says ODECOFROC.

Overall, ODECOFROC continues, “This situation serves as a basis for the claims made by the indigenous movement that led to massive demonstrations in 2008 and 2009, in addition to a prolonged strike, which culminated in the bloody events of Bagua (June 5, 2009), when the government violently intervened to evacuate the Awajun and Wampis contingents that had blocked a highway.”

Sadly, with the government’s continued push to gut the Amazon of it’s precious resources–and remove any communities in its way–there will be more protests and maybe even more bloodshed before the government finally agrees to act in good faith for all of Peru, South America and the world.

• Download “A Chronicle of Deception” at http://www.iwgia.org/sw40930.asp

(translated by Megan Kinch)

On Friday night, 27^th , Mariano Abarca Roblero was assassinated by gunshot. Mariano was one of the strongest opposition leaders against mining exploitation by the Canadian mining company Blackfire in the hills of Chiapas, Mexico.

Gustavo Castro, of the Network of Mexicans Affected by Mining (REMA for its initials in Spanish), said that according to those close to Mariano he was assassinated around  8:30 PM in the main part of Chicomuselo, close to the border with Guatemala, by a motorcyclist carrying a high-caliber weapon.

They explained that Abarca Roblero was talking outside of his house with Orlando Velásquez, also a member of REMA-Chipaas, when an unidentified person shot Abarca in the head and the chest. Velásquez was also was wounded and was transported immediately to a hospital en the city of Comitán.

Last August 17^th, Mariano Abarca was arraigned by the Prosecutor General of State Justice after he was accused by Blackfire of various charges including organized crime.  Due to a national and international outcry against this injustice, he was freed on the 24^th of the same month, where he immediately joined the sit-in with his fellows in the municipal seat of Chicomuselo to press for the immediate removal of the company. At the end of August, the participants in a second meeting of Chiapas members of REMA in Chicomuselo, celebrated his release.

Castro said that the opposition leader in the exploitation of mines had filed a criminal complaint against a man (whose name was not provided) who was supposedly used by Blackfire to incarcerate Mariano in August.  He said that this person had been summoned to appear before the proper authorities yesterday, but the case was postponed until next Thursday.

Gustavo Casrtro put forth his theory that the murder of Mariano Abarca is related to his years of campaigning against mining exploitation.

According to data from REMA, the federal authorities have authorized 54 permissions for mining exploitation to Canadian Companies in their municipalities: to Blackfire extract barite, gold and antimony en more than 10 concessions; Linear Gold Corp, with 24 concessions, mostly gold and some of them granted for 50 years; Frontier Dev. Group with 12 projects, and also with New Gold Inc. with three concessions and Radius Gold with 7, although apparently these last ones have been withdrawn.

PRESS RELEASE

AMAP CONDEMS THE ASSISTATION OF MARIANO ABARCA

28^th November 2009

The Mexican Alliance for the People’s Self-determination (AMAP for its initials in Spanish) expresses its condemnation for the assassination of Mariano Abarca Roblero, which occurred the night of the 27^th of November in Chicomuselo, Chiapas.  The same attack also resulted in the grave wounding of his companion Orlando Velazquez.

Mariano led a citizen’s resistance in the municipality of Chicomuselo against the Canadian mining company Blackfire and participated actively in REMA (the Mexican Network of People Affected by Mining).  Given his intense activity he was harassed on many occasions ans arbitrarily detained last August, where he was kept for 10 days before being released.

However, the hostility against his person has recently increased.  Only a few days ago he filed formal charges against the Directors of the Blackfire, who had delivered death threats in a public manner and appear to have followed through on them.

AMAP demands that this crime not go unpunished and beseeches to the government of Chiapas led by Juan Sabines that the material and intellectual perpetrators of this crime be prosecuted to the full extent of the law , and that the Attorney General’s office immediately follow the investigations already begun on the denunciation made by Mariano against LUIS ANTONIO FLORES VILLATORO and CIRO ROBLERO PEREZ, the first of these head of public relations for the Blackfire mine, who had publicly threatened to kill Mariano Abarca.

No more crimes against defenders of social justice!  End the criminalization of citizen protest!

For the National Coordinator of AMAP

Carlos Beas Torres

En Espanol:

http://kolektivoazul.blogspot.com/

One of Africa’s Poorest and Most Embattled Countries is Prey to Canadian Mining Companies Searching for the Last Great Gold mine

In the heart of Africa, did a Canadian mining company cut a deal with an infamous and violent African militia that played a major role in the Rwandan genocide of 1994? According to one expert of the militia, known as the “FDLR,” or the Forces démocratiques de libération du Rwanda, the mining company has no other choice if it wants to safely dig up billions-of-dollars worth of gold for themselves and their investors.

The mining company with the fever for African gold is the Banro corporation of Toronto. It owns four mines relatively close to each other in the eastern regions of the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC). Specifically, the mines are located in the eastern DRC province of South Kivu, a rugged landscape of jungles, volcanoes, and millions of poor Congolese. Still in an exploratory stage, Banro believes that 10 million ounces could be extracted, and if gold stays around US$950 oz., that’s roughly $10 billion.

Now Banro is trying to raise hundreds of millions of dollars via the Toronto Stock Exchange so they can begin mining this bonanza, calling it Africa’s last great gold deposit. Banro also boasts about the tax-breaks they’ve been given by a country the UN states is ranked 177th out of 179 on its Human Development Index, which measures life expectancy, annual GDP (in the case of the Congolese, $300 a year), literacy rate, and number of school-aged children being educated.

Banro’s Third World adventure is a familiar quest Canadian mining companies have undertaken during the last 20 years. Increasingly restricted by newly enacted environmental legislation in its own home¬land, a Canadian mining company leaves for a nation where the environmental laws are weak and the politician’s cheap. Funding for Banro’s African dig flows easily from the Toronto Stock Exchange. And like a lot of foreign labour, it is also dirt cheap in the eastern DRC—- where artisanal miners gladly work for just a few dollars a day.

According to CorpWatch.org, 60 percent of all the world’s mining companies are based in Canada, generating $50 billion a year for Canadians. “The Toronto Stock Exchange is the number one (generator) for mining capital in the world,” says Jamie Kneen of MiningWatch Canada, an Ottawa-based mining industry watch-dog group. Taking your operation overseas also saves your country from dealing with the mess: 20 tonnes of waste rock comes from the creation of one gold wedding ring.

But the story of Banro in the Congo has a twist. A risk actually, that some believe could turn into another African nightmare for all involved. The eastern regions of the DRC have been stricken by a decade-long “resource war” — a moniker that former Prime Minister Tony Blair and the UN has used to describe the conflict that has laid siege to the eastern DRC. This resource war has cooled of late, but the threads of peace and stability in the eastern DRC have always proven to be fragile. Thus the possibility of another western-based mining company taking billions of dollars right out from under the feet of the Congolese could create a spark that re-ignites this war.

In the late 1990s, so strong was the lure of eastern DRC gold, casserite, and coltan, that neighbouring countries of Uganda and Rwanda invaded with proxy militias and their own armies. In 2000, the Rwandan military and connected politicians, for instance, made $250 million moving coltan out of eastern DRC to Western-based mining companies and metal traders who then sold the resources to companies that manufactured parts for the likes of Sony and Motorola. Coltan, when processed becomes the powder tantalum, which is used in the making of capacitors — capacitors needed to make cell phones, video game consoles, and computers so valuable to western personal technology.

This conflict, waged in part so the West can have its personal electronics, cost the lives of three to five million Congolese and other Africans, according to many NGOs.

In the Neighbourhood

While Banro’s mines are not directly in the heart of where this resource war was waged the fiercest, their mines are awfully close. Indeed, one of the biggest players in the resource war was the FDLR, which owes its existence to illegal mining. According to FDLR-expert Hans Romkema, director of Conflict and Transition Consultancies of the Netherlands, each of Banro’s four mines are just a few miles from territory control¬led by the militia, which is an estimated 6,000 strong. Romkema has monitored the militia in-country on several expeditions. He says the FDLR, for the most part, is the only military and political force near Banro’s mines — a force that exploits natural resources, controls trade, collects taxes, and dominates the local population. The FDLR is composed of Rwandan Hutus who escaped into the neighbouring eastern forests of the DRC after the 1994 Rwandan genocide and alleged to have played a major role in murdering 800,000 Tutsis and moderate Hutus. The FDLR aims to overthrow the current Rwandan government, but several FDLR leaders use the movement to protect themselves because they are wanted by the U.S. government and the International Criminal Tribune for crimes committed in 1994.

Romkema reported in 2007 that some Congolese civilians are undergoing military training so the FDLR can indoctrinate them as “Interahamwe” — those who committed genocide. Romkema believes Banro’s mines are too big and no militia “will have the guts to take control over one of those mines.” Thus no Canadian troops or any western-based private army will ever have to be flown into central Africa — hopefully. Over the past 12 months, Congolese and Rwandan government troops, along with UN Peace-keeping forces (there to enforce a peace treaty), have conducted numerous operations to oust the FDLR once and for all. The FDLR are clearly agitated, some fleeing toward Banro’s mines, reported the UN.

“There are widespread reports … of atrocities including accusations of murder, rape, and torture, on the part of the FDLR rebels,” said UN spokesperson Ron Redmond to the newswire Agence France-Press late last summer. Last May, the FDLR struck back, attacking a village in South Kivu killing 60 civilians and 30 government troops, according to the UN. On its website, the FDLR has denied any involvement.

The risk seems too great for any mining company to take the chance, but to hedge their bets, Banro may have no choice but to play “by the rules” of the eastern DRC, Romkema says. Meaning they will have to bribe or make some type of off-the-books agreement with both the Congolese government and whatever militia controls the territory their mine is located in, he says.

“In my view, Banro cannot work, neither in their (mines) without having had some contacts with the FDLR,” says Romkema. “Those contacts can have occurred through an intermediary. But somebody must have passed the message to leave the miners alone.”

Banro’s Martin Jones, a spokesperson from Toronto, refutes Romkema’s claim. “He’s not going to find any FDLR in the neighbourhood,” he said referring to the forests 20 to 40 miles south west of Bukavu, the capital of South Kivu, where one of Banro’s mines are. Three years ago an FDLR column passed nearby without incident, which prompts Jones to say the militia is not the concern the NGOs make them out to be.

Exposing the Mine

Nevertheless, the presence of another Canadian mining company near the killing fields of a past conflict waged so the West can have its technological toys raises a potent question: Can Banro reverse the deadly trend of resource-driven wars in Africa by putting millions back into a community which is also heavily employed by Banro?

Jones says Banro is not just interested in Congolese gold. They’ve invested into the area by building several schools, roads, and a potable water system for a region in desperate need of such infrastructure. They also said they will spend $13 million to relocate a small village of 750 Congolese, while also finding work for 800 Congolese miners who are digging “illegally,” as Banro says, near the same mine.

Romkema says if Banro operates in the same way other Western mining companies have in the past in the Congo — illegally and secretly moving resources out of the country and bribing corrupt DRC officials — “They’ll help to maintain the illegal networks that have characterized the DRC for so long and that entirely destroyed the Congolese State.” The FDLR has been part of illegal networks for many years, networks that usually end at Western-based metal brokers, such as Britain’s Afrimex, Bangkok’s Thaisacro, and Belgium’s Trademet, as uncovered earlier this year by Global Witness, a British-based NGO.

Calling out the Companies

When U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton travelled through the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) this summer, she railed against the sexual violence that has victimized Congolese women. She also lambasted corrupt DRC officials, calling for more government transparency and accountability. But something was inexplicably missing in her Congo roundtables, even though Congolese journalists tried to prod her about the issue. There was hardly any atonement for the Western-based mining companies and metal brokers who have helped fuel the DRC resource war of the last ten years.

“The future of Africa is up to the Africans. The future, ultimately, of the Congolese people is up to the Congolese people,” she said to journalists.

Someday that may hold to be true. But without question, the recent past of the Congolese was partially dictated by Western-based mining companies and metal brokers. A significant number of them are Canadian, as revealed by a 2001 UN investigation titled “The illegal Exploitation of Natural Resources and Other Forms of Wealth of the DRC.” One of the Canadian companies named in the report was Banro while others included First Quantum Minerals and Tenke Mining Corporation, both based in Vancouver. Simply put, these Canadian mining companies and metal brokers are accused of stealing resources from a nation, its people and government, which were overwhelmed by war.

Plundering resources from a nation in the grip of war is in violation of OECD guidelines for multi-national corporations, a voluntary set of moral standards for working in another country established by the think-tank the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, based in France. But the Canadian government — like many Western governments — are not bound to enforce OECD guidelines.

“The U.S. government was one of the most determined to quash the UN Panel’s reports but this is also true of Canada, the UK and Belgium,” says Tricia Feeney, executive director of the London-based Rights and Accountability in Development or RAID. “All (companies) were exonerated. The UN Panel said the cases had been resolved.”

Just because the UN laid down, says Feeney, doesn’t mean the companies are innocent. “Essentially the UN was forced to drop the case but as they explained (in their reports), ‘resolved’ didn’t mean that the initial allegations were unsubstantiated,” she says. “The (U.S. and Canadian) companies have tried to hide behind the technicality of ‘resolved’ but the UN itself made clear that this classification didn’t mean that the companies had not behaved in the way described in the UN reports.”

Which way will the Canadian government look?

In Ottawa, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada keeps watch on homeland mining companies working overseas. Spokesperson Laura Dalby stated in an email they are closely monitoring Banro’s four mines using trade commissioners based in the DRC capital of Kinshasa. “Canada encourages and expects Banro Corporation to respect all laws and international standards, to operate responsibly, transparently, in full consultation with the DRC government and the local community in which they are conducting their operations,” she wrote.

What’s more, Banro continues to receive “full cooperation and support” from the DRC’s central and provincial governments, she stated. The department is hoping Banro finds a way to boost the eastern DRC out of its war-torn malaise.

“We hope to see positive outcomes as a result of Banro Corporation’s investments and Corporate Social Responsibility activities in the DRC. This is meant to drive forward the country’s industrialization and create new and income-earning opportunities for the fast-growing population,” she wrote.

Just four years ago, however, MiningWatch’s Jamie Kneen said the Canadian government essentially looked the other way following a massacre in which a Canadian mining company played a role. In October of 2004, Anvil Mining, the leading copper producer in the DRC, had to shut down production at their Dikulushi Mine when a so-called “rebellion” took place in a nearby village a rebellion of “10 to 12” villagers that had nothing to do with mining, said Kneen. Congolese Armed Forces (FARDC), of the DRC government, proceeded to seize the town, says Kneen, then went door-to-door “raping and pillaging.” Between 70 to 100 civilians were killed including women and children. Kneen said the DRC forces had Anvil’s “full cooperation.” Anvil claimed the DRC forces basically put a gun to their chest. Anvil nevertheless offered up trucks and logistics, says Kneen; trucks that transported troops and dead civilians.

In the aftermath, the Canadian government “refused to investigate because there’s no legal mechanism in place,” says Kneen.

In 2002, Toronto’s Barrick Gold, Canada’s biggest gold miner, was accused by NGOs of making mining agreements with two eastern DRC militias, which at the time were in the midst of murdering hundreds of civilians. In return for the mines, the militias were given housing and trucks, among other appeasements. When some of the rebels were apprehended by government forces, Barrick paid for their lawyers. In December of 2008, a Barrick Gold mine in Tanzania was overrun by hundreds of angry locals, ceasing production. Millions of dollars of damages was reported.

“If the people are not improving their lives as a result of the gold exploitation, it will be easy for rebel groups to recruit amongst the region’s youngsters,” Romkema says of Banro. “I never had the impression that the population (near Banro’s mines) is benefiting anything from the exploitation (or mining) of minerals.”

Sergio Campusano is the elected President of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos

by Megan Kinch

Barrick Gold is trying to create ersatz Indians at their Pascua-Lama mine in Chile, in the name of corporate social responsibility. Ironically, this is being done in an attempt to undermine the actually existing Indigenous leadership. That photo Sergio is holding? Those are community members, but that’s not traditional dress. In fact, those outfits are completely made up, according to Sergio Campusano, president of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos .  It was created as an idea of what “Indians” should wear. An examination of the photo, taken from Barrick’s “Corporate Social Responsibility” literate,  bears this out: if you look closely, they do look ridiculously clean and unworn.

Sergio said during his statement in the Barrick shareholder meeting :  “The mining company Barrick Gold has for several years conducted a process of reinvention of ethnic Diaguita which is intended to make the public believe that they have the support of the Diaguita Huascoaltinos. In this process the company has brought outside professionals to conduct training on the Diaguita’s own ancestral traditions and has manipulated these teachings for their own convenience, inventing a nonexistent Diaguita culture and denying the ethnicity of our community. They have raised false leaders, who are now attending meetings with the company and appearing in Barrick’s newsletters, and have discredited our real leaders, creating irreconcilable divisions among our people and weakening our neighbors and community’s identity.”

After the shareholder meeting, Sergio told a group of us that the company has also hired outsdiers to teacher “traditional” dances and to make pottery.  This pottery is not anything that the Diaguita’s actually make, or have ever made. Barrick claims that it is sponsoring workshops in “local crafts” (Barrick, Beyond Borders-December2007, 9).

This whole process seeks to discredit their actual elected leaders, who are against things like melting glaciers which feed rivers to get at minerals. Apparently, the people in the outfits are actual members of the community, but the clothes are made up, as they are not the actual leaders: classic divide-and-conquer tactics.

I think this speaks to the immense desire for photos of smiling, indigenous people in traditional dress in corporate literature. Whereas actual indigenous people, because they are wearing normal clothes and aren’t fitting in the with the caricature, are de-legitimized. So when there is no traditional dress, the mining company simply invents it, just as they invent dancing and pottery.

This reminds me of how, when I was working in Guatemala I was supposed to create a powerpoint to illustrate ILO 169 (The UN declaration on Indigenous Peoples). And while some of my slides did have colorfully dressed people, some of them had guys in t-shirts and baseball caps. And my boss was all pissed off with me because not every slide showed colourful outfits. Even though, in Guatemala as in many other countries, that’s what the vast majority of indigenous men wear. Indigenous people throughout the world often wear T-shirts and jeans, or western suits, or dresses.

Anyway, so while Barrick’s tactic of creating a ‘traditional’ dress and dance and pottery for people is particularly awful, it’s part of a larger essentializing tradition. People want colourful pictures of ‘Indians’ doing traditional dances, not actual people who cause disruptions the smooth functioning of corporate power.

Megan Kinch is a graduate student in Social Anthropology at York University who studies Canadian mining companies in Latin America.

BY KAROL ANNE M. ILAGAN

WHEN THE Marinduque Council for Environmental Concerns (MACEC) received notice in 2007 that the case filed by the province of Marinduque against Placer Dome Inc. and Barrick Gold in the U.S. state of Nevada had been dismissed, MACEC executive secretary Miguel Magalang almost did not want to release the news.

“Baka bumagsak ang morale ng buonganti-mining movement (The whole anti-mining movement might lose its morale),” he explains.

Since 1996, two criminal cases have been filed against officials of Marcopper Mining Corporation and its Canadian investor Placer Dome, Inc. Both corporations have also been slapped with two civil cases. All of these cases were filed in the Philippines.

In 2005, however, the Marinduque provincial government decided to change tactics and pursued its claims against Placer Dome in a U.S. court, with 13 causes of action including violations of several Philippine laws, breaches of contract, and promissory estoppel (which assumes that one party wrongly or falsely made a promise to another party that caused the latter an economic loss).

The case against Canadian company Placer Dome was filed in the United States based on the “long arms statute,” which gives a local state court jurisdiction over an out-of-state company. Placer Dome has had extensive presence in Nevada since 1959; this means it has enjoyed the privileges and benefits of the state’s laws, and therefore fall’s under the state’s jurisdiction.

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MOGPOG resident Milagros Muhi recalls how her family got a measly P1,000 as compensation for the damage caused by the flood when the Maguila-Guila siltation dam burst in 1993. (photo by Karol Ilagan)

“Kumbaga, puwede kitang habulin (I can run after you, in other words),” says Eleuterio Raza Jr., majority leader of Marinduque’s Sangguniang Panlalawigan. “Even if you had operations in the Philippines and violated Philippine law, but if you operate…in Nevada, you have a presence (there). And what you did in another country, you can be tried for that (there).”

In January 2006, Barrick Gold Corporation, another Canadian mining giant, acquired 91 percent of Placer Dome’s shares. Six months later, Nevada District Court presiding judge Brian Sandoval granted the motion of the province of Marinduque that Barrick Gold be joined as a defendant in the civil case filed originally against Placer Dome.

A year later, Sandoval dismissed the case, not because it lacked merit, but because the court did not consider itself the right forum to resolve a dispute between a Philippine government unit and a Canadian multinational company. The Marinduque provincial government was given the options to file the case either in the Philippines or in Canada, but the Sangguniang Panlalawigan had reservations regarding these.

For one, reasons Raza, Barrick Gold might be given “home court advantage” if it is sued in its home country. For another, says the Marinduque provincial board member, cases filed in the Philippines have been barely inching forward.

“The judicial process in our country is discouraging,” he says. “Previous cases had not been moving in the last 10 years so we thought of adding pressure to Placer Dome.”

“We foresee that we can never get justice in our country,“ adds Allan Nepomuceno, another provincial board member. “Nawalan na kami ng kumpiyansa sa justice system natin (We’ve lost confidence in our justice system).”

Diamond McCarthy, the U.S. law firm that took on Marinduque’s case on contingency, has already filed an appeal in the Nevada appellate court. The amount of damage claim is not determined. Marinduque’s provincial board members say the damage their province suffers is unquantifiable, but that they would let the court to decide a just amount.

“This is a tough battle, but we’re not losing our hope,” says Raza. “(If) worse comes to worst, we (will) file the case in Canada.”

In fairness, Marcopper did set up an Environmental Guarantee Fund (EGF) Committee to oversee the fund’s dispensation, most of which was allotted as damage compensation. So far, the EGF has paid 5,318 claimants from Boac a total of P38,452,929.61. The EGF Assessment Team has also processed 1999-2001 damage claims totalling P37.5 million for Boac and Mogpog residents.

But there are still 5,242 claimants from both towns who have yet to receive from the EGF compensation that amounts to almost P64 million in total.

Mogpog resident Milagros Muhi also remembers receiving P1,000 after the 1993 flood in her town, and says that other families received the same amount. Still, she quips, “Ay, sapat na ba ‘yon (What, is that enough)?”

A class suit filed by Mogpog residents in 2001 against Marcopper is seeking more than P41 million in damages. The municipal governments of Boac and Sta. Cruz, meanwhile, want about P1.2 billion and P500 million respectively from Marcopper and Placer Dome officials.

The Calancan Bay Fisherfolk Federation (CBFF) also filed a P49.2-billion class suit against Marcopper in 2001. Of the CBFF’s 170 members at the time, five are now dead.

“Marami pa rin doon ang hindi malusog ang katawan, may sakit sa balat pero hindi naman kami makapagpasuri sa duktor dahil walang perang magamit (Many have become undernourished, with skin diseases, but we don’t have the money to see the doctor),” says CBFF head Paciano Rodelas. Yet, he says, he is willing to wait for justice to be served.

Lawyer Ronaldo Gutierrez, who is representing the CBFF in the case, says he’s in it for the long haul, too. “We anticipate this,” he says. “Law takes a while. Assuming that there is a fair judicial system, we could get our day in court.”

“Who am I to be impatient?” Gutierrez also asks. “All these people I’m representing have been waiting much longer.”

From Al Jazeera English:

People & Power speak to native and environmental groups, as well as government and oil industry spokespeople about the impact Alberta’s oil sands development is having on the environment.