Imai v. Canada: Access-to-information lawsuit concerning Canada’s intervention in human rights case against Goldcorp in Guatemala
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- Published: Tuesday, 11 May 2021 08:52
After finding that the detention of the eight Guapinol defenders imprisoned for more than 17and 26 months is arbitrary, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention urges the Government of Honduras to "release the eight defenders immediately" and to grant them the effective right to compensation and reparation. The Group further called on the government to "conduct a thorough and independent investigation" into this arbitrariness and to take action against those responsible for it. In addition, the Group asked the State of Honduras to disseminate this opinion "by all available means and as widely as possible".
Yves Engler
Three-quarters of the world’s mining companies are headquartered in Canada. Canadian mining firms are mired in corruption and human rights abuses around the world, yet Justin Trudeau has reneged on pledges to regulate them and end the abuses
Canada is home to 75 percent of the world’s mining companies. Firms based or listed in Canada operate approximately four thousand mineral projects abroad. And, as you might expect, many of those projects involve shady corporate practices and violations of human rights.
On February 9, 2021, the UN Working Group on Arbitrary Detention sent a strong and clear message to Honduras: Immediately release the eight imprisoned Guapinol defenders.
In its resolution 85/2020, the Working Group stressed that there is no legal reason for the use of pre-trial detention in the case of defenders José Daniel Márquez Márquez, Kelvin Alejandro Romero MartÃnez, José Abelino Cedillo, Porfirio Sorto Cedillo, OrbÃn Nahúm Hernández, Arnold Javier Alemán, Ewer Alexander Cedillo Cruz and JeremÃas MartÃnez DÃaz and emphasized that the State is punishing them for being environmental defenders and for exercising their legitimate rights. Furthermore, it noted that there is no reason to prosecute them in the first place. The Working Group emphasized that they should be released and redressed and that those responsible for the illegal detention should be investigated.