By Sovereign Hager

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina-More than sixty people were injured on Monday of this week when Argentine police moved excavating equipment through a  crowd of protestors and into an open pit mine in Catamarca. Police fired tear gas and rubber bullets at protesters, including women and children.  Fifty people were arrested. A judge has now ordered that work on the mine stop until calm is restored to the area.

The protesters included activists from the Citizens Assembly of Andalgalá, who have been protesting the Canadian owned gold mine for two months. Members of the Citizens Assembly claim that one of them members has been missing since yesterday, after being the target of death threats and police harassment just before the protests.

The protesters argue that the “open pit” mining project, which will include gold and copper will cause pollution. Anti-mining protesters in Argentina have managed to block numerous mining developments by lobbying local government to prohibit mining in certain protected areas. Mining is Argentina’s largest industry.

Concerns about Argentine police’s treatment of the public have been raised due to the lack of reform since the dictatorship period. Over 9,000 officers in the current Argentine police force were working during the dictatorship, with over 3,000 in clandestine detention centers. Rights groups argue that nothing has been done to ensure that the police forces undergo the same democratic transition that the rest of Argentina has.

For more information, please see:

Rueters-Argentine Judge Halts Yamana Mine Works Due to Unrest-18 February 2010

Free Speech Radio-Police Fire on Anti-Mining Protestors in Argentina-16 February 2010

NACLA-Argentina:Impunity is Not Just a Memory-15 February 2010