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Category: Mining and Human Rights
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Published: Saturday, 17 September 2016 14:22
During his usual Sunday press conference on April 24th, the Archbishop of San Salvador, José Luis Escobar Alas, called once again on society to remain vigilant and prevent mining in El Salvador. He similarly called policy makers to not allow this economic activity in the country.
Click on the image to see the video
TRANSCRIPTION AND TRANSLATION BELOW:
“Mining is a very serious, very damaging problem. Hopefully mining will not take place in our country, because open pit mining can cause so much damage.”
As cyanide is released into the environment, it breakdown into cyanates which are always absolutely lethal, they will pollute our aquifers. We are already threatened with the Cerro Blanco mine in Guatemala, if it becomes exploited it will contaminate Lake Güija and by extension the Lempa river would also be contaminated.”
“I call upon society to remain vigilant to prevent mining in our country because it will cause a lot of damage to people, animals and plants. It is not fair that this country so small and densely populated has to suffer the serious problem of environmental pollution because of cyanide.”
“And of course, the call also goes to the authorities of our country and the members of the legislative assembly not to allow that, for the sake of our country. We can see that it is the exploitation of a transnational foreign corporations that ultimately leaves very little to our country but it will harm it greatly.”
“It is not possible to conceive that anyone who loves El Salvador could be in favor of mining.”
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Saturday, 17 September 2016 14:00
By: P. Cabezas
Anti-mining activists in el Salvador and their allies in the US and Australia demanded on April 28th that de International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID, release immediately a a favorable resolution in the impending case of Pacific Rim Mining vs El Salvador.
A statement delivered simultaneously to offices in San Salvador, Washington and Melbourne asked the World Bank to stop enabling a tribunal utilized by multinational corporations to undermine human rights. “Fifty years of ICSID and billions of dollars in corporate awards is enough. It’s time for the World Bank to evict ICSID and take a stand for environmental, social and economic justice” read the statement.
Pacific Rim launched a lawsuit against the government of El Salvador for $77 million dollars after President Mauricio Funes announced an administrative freeze on mining related proceses in 2009. The company had failed to meet regulatory requirements to obtain a permit for its El Dorado project, yet it utilized little known investor protection provisions within the Central America Free Trade Agreement, and later the Salvadorean investment law, to argue that it was entitled to compensation because the government’s decision not to extend the permit was political.
A panel of arbitrators agreed, in June 2012, with El Salvador's argument that Pacific Rim had set up a shell company in the United Stated states with the specific pupose of launching a lawsuit and ruled that the company was not entitled to pursue a case under the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The panel, however, ruled that the company could pursue the lawsuit under the now amended Article 15 of the Investment Law of El Salvador which, at the time, allowed any foreign corporations to bypass the local judicial system and utilize the ICSID as a dispute resolution mechanism.
The company ran into financial troubles in 2013 when it failed to raise further investment to sustain a high profile law suit. In October 2013 it sold its assets, including the law suit against El Salvador, for only US 10.2 million dollars to Australian/Canadian Company OceanaGold. OceanaGold continued to bankroll Pacific Rim’s lawsuit against El Salvador without assuming any liabilities; it also raised the stakes by increasing the lawsuit to 315 million US.
Members of the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining in El Salvador, La Mesa, called this a “shameless act of legalized extortion” carried out by company that has never had any ties to El Salvador and never invested one cent in the country in the first place. “How is it possible that such a company can make a 10 million dollars investment and immediately demand 315 million dollars from our government?” asked environmental leader Vidalina Morales.
The final arguments on the merits stage of the case were presented in September 2014, but 18 months after the hearing, the tribunal has yet to issue a resolution. This delay has already made the case of OcenaGold-PacRim vs El Salvador one of the longest running cases in the ICSID, an article published in the Global Arbitration Review argues that the five longest running cases in the history of ICSID have waited between 6.3 years to 10.5 years. Considering that Pacific Rim submitted its request for arbitration in April, 2009, it safe to say that this case has already taken the number 5 spot on the list, with 7 years in waiting. Also, the case has already surpassed the average number of days, 472, the panel takes to issue a resolution after the final arguments.
Not only has the case become one the longest running cases at ICSID, but it has cost the Salvadorean public purse over 12.5 million dollars in legal expenses.
Even if the law suit is declared with no merits and the tribunal rules in favor of El Salvador, we have already incurred a loss says Bernardo Belloso, president of CRIPDES and a member of La Mesa. For a small country with limited financial resources and critical social and environmental problems, 12.5 million dollars could be better spent towards social programs that could benefit the population. “12 million dollars, for instance, is the yearly cost of running Ciudad Mujer, an innovative network of government run centers that promote gender equality through reproductive sexual health, holistic approaches to gender violence and economic empowerment opportunities for over 150,000 women who benefit from its programs every year.” He stated.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Saturday, 17 September 2016 13:59
By: P. Cabezas
Anti-mining activists in el Salvador and their allies in the US and Australia demanded on April 28th that de International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, ICSID, release immediately a a favorable resolution in the impending case of Pacific Rim Mining vs El Salvador.
A statement delivered simultaneously to offices in San Salvador, Washington and Melbourne asked the World Bank to stop enabling a tribunal utilized by multinational corporations to undermine human rights. “Fifty years of ICSID and billions of dollars in corporate awards is enough. It’s time for the World Bank to evict ICSID and take a stand for environmental, social and economic justice” read the statement.
Pacific Rim launched a lawsuit against the government of El Salvador for $77 million dollars after President Mauricio Funes announced an administrative freeze on mining related proceses in 2009. The company had failed to meet regulatory requirements to obtain a permit for its El Dorado project, yet it utilized little known investor protection provisions within the Central America Free Trade Agreement, and later the Salvadorean investment law, to argue that it was entitled to compensation because the government’s decision not to extend the permit was political.
A panel of arbitrators agreed, in June 2012, with El Salvador's argument that Pacific Rim had set up a shell company in the United Stated states with the specific pupose of launching a lawsuit and ruled that the company was not entitled to pursue a case under the Central American Free Trade Agreement. The panel, however, ruled that the company could pursue the lawsuit under the now amended Article 15 of the Investment Law of El Salvador which, at the time, allowed any foreign corporations to bypass the local judicial system and utilize the ICSID as a dispute resolution mechanism.
The company ran into financial troubles in 2013 when it failed to raise further investment to sustain a high profile law suit. In October 2013 it sold its assets, including the law suit against El Salvador, for only US 10.2 million dollars to Australian/Canadian Company OceanaGold. OceanaGold continued to bankroll Pacific Rim’s lawsuit against El Salvador without assuming any liabilities; it also raised the stakes by increasing the lawsuit to 315 million US.
Members of the National Roundtable Against Metallic Mining in El Salvador, La Mesa, called this a “shameless act of legalized extortion” carried out by company that has never had any ties to El Salvador and never invested one cent in the country in the first place. “How is it possible that such a company can make a 10 million dollars investment and immediately demand 315 million dollars from our government?” asked environmental leader Vidalina Morales.
The final arguments on the merits stage of the case were presented in September 2014, but 18 months after the hearing, the tribunal has yet to issue a resolution. This delay has already made the case of OcenaGold-PacRim vs El Salvador one of the longest running cases in the ICSID, an article published in the Global Arbitration Review argues that the five longest running cases in the history of ICSID have waited between 6.3 years to 10.5 years. Considering that Pacific Rim submitted its request for arbitration in April, 2009, it safe to say that this case has already taken the number 5 spot on the list, with 7 years in waiting. Also, the case has already surpassed the average number of days, 472, the panel takes to issue a resolution after the final arguments.
Not only has the case become one the longest running cases at ICSID, but it has cost the Salvadorean public purse over 12.5 million dollars in legal expenses.
Even if the law suit is declared with no merits and the tribunal rules in favor of El Salvador, we have already incurred a loss says Bernardo Belloso, president of CRIPDES and a member of La Mesa. For a small country with limited financial resources and critical social and environmental problems, 12.5 million dollars could be better spent towards social programs that could benefit the population. “12 million dollars, for instance, is the yearly cost of running Ciudad Mujer, an innovative network of government run centers that promote gender equality through reproductive sexual health, holistic approaches to gender violence and economic empowerment opportunities for over 150,000 women who benefit from its programs every year.” He stated.
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Category: Mining prohibition El Salvador
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Published: Saturday, 17 September 2016 13:46
Gloria Orellana – CoLatino.
Berta Caceres' murder did not fall on "deaf ears", peasant and indigenous organizations from Honduras and El Salvador have decided, under a banner of solidarity, to unite to fight against mining, monoculture and the protection of water and ecosystems.
Abel Lara, coordinator of the October 12 - Popular Resistance Movement of El Salvador, said that the meeting of different peasant and indigenous movements from Honduras and El Salvador was to assess the reality and experiences that both nations face in relation to "megaprojects" that generate forced migration of populations, pollution and theft of natural resources.
"The struggle of Berta and the people of Honduras was hopeful, but she was killed cruelly and we know that the US is indirectly involved, as they have been intensifying their interventions in the region," he said.
The "binational meeting" of social organizations, environmentalists and indigenous peoples took place in the mountains of Arcatao, Chalatenango, where they sought consensus to unify their struggles against Mega Projects in Central America.
Lara said that the decision to unite both social agendas will allow for the construction of communication and mobilization tools for organizations to defend through direct action any rural and indigenous communities that may be threatened.
"Big megaprojects will enter our region under the Alliance for Prosperity of the Northern Triangle are of concern, we know their strategy is to seize the unique remaining natural resources, such as water and mining projects that utilize thousands of cubic meters per day, and is also the forced migration of peoples ", he argued.
By joining forces and sharing demands, Lara said, we can build an identity and as such develop the capacity to dialogue and negotiate with government authorities and transnational corporations who often introduce their projects without consulting with the people.
"The Neoliberal economic model applied in the region has abandoned our people and specifically the rural sector and indigenous peoples. Why?, the neoliberal development model only brings exploitation of natural resources, but does provide sustainble development for the people, so women and men have raised in resistance and to propose our own vision of development and life, which is definitely linked to respect for nature," he said.
Tomas Gomez Membreño, who is the acting Coordinator of the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) after the murder of Berta Caceres, expressed that we have the challenge to integrate social struggles and spread them throughout Central America.
"By speaking of a common struggle in Central America, we take a major step, because we see the same patterns of criminalization of social movements and popular struggles; and the dispossession of indigenous lands, and concessions and privatizations that are pushed through, multinational and local companies, "he said.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Wednesday, 11 May 2016 16:22
Republished from Both ENDS
See chapter on "ISDS, Extractive Industries and the Pacific Rim vs El Salvador case" on page 231, written by Sarah Anderson and Manuel Perez Rocha from the Institute for Policy Studies.
In 1959, Germany and Pakistan signed the first Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT) in the world. Without knowing, they marked a new era as many countries have followed their example since then. Currently, the international legal system that governs international investment flows consists of about 3000 BITs and othert Bilateral Investment Treaty (BIT. While originally these treaties were thought to be beneficial for the investor and the host state in terms of economic growth, increased foreign investment and development, many host states have suffered negative consequences instead of benefiting from them.
A new book, published by Madhyam, Both ENDS and SOMO, aims to encourage the collective thinking about BITS and other investment treaties, and to engage all stakeholders – governments, inter-governmental organisations, the private sector, civil society, think-tanks and academia - in this process.
Huge claims
“Almost all investment treaties include a so-called ‘Investor to State Dispute Settlement mechanism’ (ISDS), allowing investors to sue their host state when changes to regulations threaten to reduce profits. Many countries have already faced unexpected claims against them, because they wanted to implement new laws or rules to ensure financial stability, or to protect the environment or the health of their people,” says Kavaljit Singh, director of Madhyam, New Delhi. “In recent years, a global backlash against BITs has gained momentum and the call to roll back the BIT regime and protect national sovereignty is getting stronger. Several developing countries have already terminated their BITs or are in the process of doing so. And in Europe opposition against the ISDS-system is growing fast amongst citizens as well as politicians", says Burghard Ilge from Both ENDS
Read more ...
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Category: Mining prohibition El Salvador
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Published: Saturday, 23 April 2016 17:10
International Labour Organization
The Convention No. 169 is a central element of the contemporary international normative framework for the promotion and protection of the rights of indigenous and tribal peoples. This is a compilation of judicial decisions that have relied on ILO Convention No. 169 in ten Latin American countries. The information provided in this Casebook will be useful for judges, lawyers and legal educators, is a source of information for indigenous and tribal peoples, and is a way to share experiences of Latin America with international stakeholders.
http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---ed_norm/---normes/documents/publication/wcms_123946.pdf
