Goldcorp Halted in Its Developmental Tracks by Chile Supreme Court

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

SANTIAGO, Chile — Chile’s Supreme Court suspended the development of the El Morro mine owned by Canada’s Goldcorp on Tuesday.  The Court sided with indigenous groups that oppose the mine because of its potential environmental impact.

The Diaguita community filed a request to cease mining, arguing that the mine could cause pollution in a local river.

El Morro mine | Photo courtesy of newgold.com

The top court ordered the project’s environmental permit be withdrawn until the Diaguita indigenous community is consulted about the $3.9 billion gold and copper mine. In doing so, it overturned a lower court decision dismissing an appeal the Diaguita filed in April.

“The Diaguita people are happy that justice is on the side of the humble, of those who defend Mother Earth, our water resources and our indigenous land,” Diaguita leader Maglene Campillay said after the ruling.

Goldcorp, based in Vancouver, owns 70 percent of the mine, while New Gold Inc. owns the remaining 30 percent.  Currently Goldcorp is trying to determine its next step.

“It may put us back a bit from a time standpoint. But we need… to get that deposit to the point where it’s ready to build anyway,” Jeannes said.

“If we have to go back to … permitting at the very beginning, it could take another two to three years before we’re even allowed to start,” he said.

The company’s five-year plan does not include any production from El Morro.

Goldcorp, the world’s largest gold miner by market value, expects gold prices to increase steadily after next year, when it says its output will peak, but Jeannes said he expected prices to stay roughly between $1,150 and $1,400 through 2015.

Spot gold rose to $1,227.40 an ounce early on Thursday, before paring some gains to trade up 0.3 percent at $1,225.64 by 0708 GMT.

“Goldcorp remains committed to open and transparent dialogue with its stakeholders and to responsible practices in accordance with the highest applicable health, safety and environmental standards,” Marks said.

Chile’s economy widely relies on the mining industry.  Chile is the top copper producer in the world.  The country boasts some of Latin America’s most stable ground rules for mining.  However, mining and energy projects have been delayed  as environmentalists and indigenous communities go to court demanding tougher protections for nearby populations and natural resources.

The mine is expected to be worth USD $4 billion.

The Diaguita stresses that local communities were never consulted on the El Morrow mine.  Goldcorp has ceased construction on the mine twice before in 2012 and 2013.  

For more information, please see:

BBC News – Chilean Supreme Court Orders Halt to Mine – 7 Oct. 2014

ABC News – Chile’s Top Court Halts Goldcorp’s El Morro Mine – 7 Oct. 2014

Jurist – Chile Top Court Halts Mining Development for Consultation – 8 Oct. 2014

Reuters – Goldcorp Looks to Cut Costs on Delayed El Morro Project in Chile -CEO – 9 Oct. 2014

Mass Graves Unearthed in Poland Reveal More About Dark Past

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

WARSAW, Poland – A mass grave has been unearthed in Bialystok, Poland. The grave was unearthed near the site of the Bialystok Detention Center, an active prison today currently holding 680 prisoners. More than 280 bodies have already been dug up behind the prison, but more have been found on former prison property behind what is now an apartment complex.

 

Priests and rabbis take part in prayer at the site of a mass grave at Wasosz, Poland. (Photo courtesy of NBC)

According to Zbigniew Kulikowski, the prosecutor in charge of the case, the mass graves were not burial grounds; they were “death fields.” The dead are likely victims of the Soviets, Nazis, and Polish security forces.

First, Soviets swept into Poland in September 1939, when over 100 people went missing. Next, from 1941 to 1944, Nazis killed about 6,000 around Bialystok. Finally, in the 1950’s and until 1956 when there was a shift in Soviet policy, Polish security forces were killing Poles. All three of these eras included holding prisoners, often to be killed, at the Bialystok Detention Center, which was created back in 1912 by the Russian czar.

Andrzej Ossowski, the team’s geneticist, says the team has made 40 identifications, including identifications from other sites. Marcin Zwolski, a historian for Poland’s Institute of National Rememberance, and who discovered the site, tries to find any identifying characteristics before bringing samples to Ossowski. Zwolski says that the sites are difficult to discover because the responsible parties “didn’t want anyone giving respect to the dead people.”

Other similar sites have been discovered elsewhere in Poland. The small town of Wasosz suffered a tragedy in 1941 when around 250 Jews were killed and buried in a pit outside town. While some want to dig up the site and examine the evidence, Poland’s Chief Rabbi Michael Schudrich says exhuming the bodies would violate Jewish law regarding respect for the dignity of the dead.

The site in Bialystok has suffered similar resistance. Maciej Bialous, a sociologist at the University of Bialystok, says that “people don’t talk about it … Some people don’t know about it, others don’t care and a lot of people just want to forget it.” Zwolski confirmed: “Some people still feel it is still safer not to talk about such matters.” Zwolski even reports that his team received anonymous threats and had bricks thrown through windows.

The sheer age of these cases and the nature of the circumstances at the time of these crimes make it very difficult to collect evidence. The lack of interest by some, tied with the strong disapproval of the investigation by others, is getting in the way of bringing closure to families that have suffered over decades. Despite these difficulties, the continued work of Zwolski, Kulikowski, Ossowski, and others on the team will continue to unveil more bodies and identify more victims from the atrocities that happened decades ago.

For more information, please see:

Newser – Polish Dig Unearths Decades of Killings – 6 October 2014

The New York Times – Unearthing a Barbarous Past in Poland – 5 October 2014

NBC – Wasosz Pogrom Mass Murder Investigation Sharply Divides Jewish Leaders – 5 October 2014

 

U.N. Report Reveals 331 Killed by Fighting in Ukraine Since “Cease-Fire” Began

By Kyle Herda

Impunity Watch Reporter, Europe

KIEV, Ukraine – A United Nations report has come out that has revealed the toll of fighting in Ukraine, particularly since the cease-fire. According to the United Nations’ human rights office in Geneva, at least 331 people have been killed since the cease-fire was announced on September 5.

The air traffic control tower at Sergei Prokofiev International Airport in Donetsk reveals the extent of fighting that has occurred since the cease-fire began on September 5. (Photo courtesy of Daily Mail)

Despite the cease-fire, around 10 people have been killed each day in fights between Kiev and pro-Russians. Fighting has been particularly focused over the past month in Luhansk and Donetsk. In Donetsk, pro-Russians and Ukrainian military have been fighting daily over the control of a large airport, and nearby towns have been the targets of military shelling.

All-in-all, at least 3,660 people have been killed, and more than 8,756 have been injured, according to Gianni Magazzeni, a senior United Nations human rights official in Geneva. While the cease-fire has led to a sharp decline in fighting, what fighting has continued is enough to cause concern that the cease-fire will not hold.

NATO has shown a particular concern over the continued fighting. The new head of NATO, former Prime Minister of Norway and now secretary-general Jens Stoltenberg, has said that Russia must use “all of its influence” to ensure that pro-Russian fighters in eastern Ukraine respect the cease-fire, as well as Kiev.

In addition to NATO, Germany has come to Ukraine’s aid in order to help ensure the cease-fire holds. After passing customs in Poland, 112 trucks from Germany carrying humanitarian aid, over $12 million in supplies, have arrived in Ukraine. While Kiev did not want to let in earlier Russian trucks that Russia claimed contained humanitarian aid, Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko thanked German Chancellor Angela Merkel for this aid.

Further, German Foreign Office spokesman, Martin Schaefer, has said that “a joint Franco-German effort” will be coming in the next “hours or days”. France and Germany are also debating putting drones into Ukraine to help monitor the cease-fire. Already, two drones from Austria have been deployed into Ukraine. The hopes are that this increased monitoring, run by the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (“OSCE”), the same group responsible for the cease-fire, will assist in addressing the current problems in order to strengthen the cease-fire.

For more information, please see:

The New York Times – At Least 331 Have Died in Ukraine Since Start of Cease-Fire, U.N. Reports – 8 October 2014

Reuters – Death rate 10 a day in east Ukraine despite ceasefire: U.N. – 8 October 2014

RT – 112 trucks carrying German humanitarian aid enter Ukraine (VIDEO) – 8 October 2014

EurActive – Germany to send troops to Ukraine – 7 October 2014

The Wall Street Journal – Drones Arrive in Ukraine for Monitoring Mission – 6 October 2014

Voice of America – NATO Concerned Over E. Ukraine Cease-fire Violations – 6 October 2014

 

Lebanese Municipalities Establish Curfews for Syrian Refugees

By Max Bartels

Impunity Watch Reporter, The Middle East

 

Beirut, Lebanon 

Since the start of the conflict in Syria, many refugees fleeing the fighting have settled in refugee camps across Lebanon. It is now reported that there are some 1.2 million registered Syrian Refugees scattered across Lebanon. There are a reported 45 municipalities across Lebanon who have imposed curfews on these refugees. Some of these curfews have been in place for about a year, many other were recently created. The municipalities in Lebanon, who have adopted these curfews claim that they are a safety measure created in response to the five-day battle that took place in Arsal between the Lebanese Army and jihadist militants from Syria. Arsal is a town on the border of Lebanon and Syria, for five days in August the Lebanese Army fought jihadist militants, over the course of the fighting the Lebanese army suffered many casualties and the militants also abducted many of its personnel.

Syrian Refugees Protest in their camps in Arsal, Lebanon. (Photo Curtesy of The Daily Star)

Human rights groups have condemned these new curfews as a violation of international law and Lebanese domestic law. The Syrian refugees claim that these curfews are discriminatory and create a hostile environment. The curfews are officially enforced by municipal police forces however, there are reports that vigilante groups have been formed in many of these municipalities and are also enforcing the curfews. This development has created many concerns and increases the possibility of abuse.

The BBC has reported on a number of individual instances where the curfews that been abusive. One man was prevented from going to the pharmacy next to his house in the night to get medicine for his ill child. Another situation was reported where a group of Lebanese men stabbed a Syrian refugee, saying he was not able to go out. These stories show the hostility and tension is growing between the refugees and native Lebanese. When asked by Human Rights Watch to produce evidence to show that the curfews are necessary the Lebanese government did not respond.

It seems that the recent trend to restrict the rights of the refugees is continuing with other security polices. The government has also increased the number of troops at the border and are allowing less and less Syrian refugees into the country; for fear that they may be militants. There have also been an increase of military personnel on the streets and they have been searching amongst refugees for militant group members. With this trend there is a fear among human rights groups that there could be retaliatory actions from the refugees.

For more information, please see:

Human Rights Watch — Lebanon: At Least 45 Local Curfews Imposed on Syrian Refugees — 3 October 2014

Reuters — Curfews on Syrian Refugees in Lebanon Fuel Hostility: Rights Groups — 3 October 2014

BBC News — Lebanon”Imposes Curfews on Syrian Refugees — 3 October 2014

The Daily Star — Lebanon’s Curfew for Syrian Refugees Feeds Hostility: HRW — 3 October 2014

Dictator, Torturer, Kidnapper and Murderer Bignone Sentenced to Additional 23 Years

By Delisa Morris

Impunity Watch Reporter, South America

BUENOS AIRES, Argentina– The last military president in Argentina’s 1976-1983 dictatorship received another prison sentence on Tuesday, this time for the kidnapping and torture of 32 factory workers.

Reynaldo Bignone being escorted by a police officer. Photo courtesy of diaadia.com

A court in Buenos Aires sentenced Reynaldo Bignone to 23 years in prison for the human rights violations. The workers were forcibly disappeared by the military during the so-called Dirty War against leftist dissidents and other opponents.

The 86-year-old Bignone is already serving combined life sentences in more than two dozen cases involving crimes against humanity.

Bignone, was convicted in 56 cases involving torture, illegal detentions and other crimes in one of Argentina’s largest torture centers, the Campo de Mayo army base.  Supposedly 4,000 dissidents were taken to the base and only 50 came out alive.

The same base also had a maternity center where dissidents would give birth.   Their babies were taken away by an official and adopted into a military family.  Nearly 400 infants were kidnapped after birth before their mothers were tortured to death.  About 102 people born to vanished dissidents have since recovered their true identities with the aid of the Grandmothers of the Plaza de Mayo, a leading human rights group, which helped create a national database of DNA evidence to match children with their birth families.

Bignone, was appointed president by the military junta in the final years of the dictatorship and it fell to him to protect the military as Argentina returned to democracy. He granted amnesty to human rights violators and ordered the destruction of documents related to torture and disappearances of political opponents before agreeing to transfer power to the democratically elected Raul Alfonsin.

He has denied responsibility for the crimes in past court proceedings.

“In times of peace the disappearance of a single person means one thing and in times of war it means something else,” said Bignone.

The Buenos Aires court also sentenced former Gen. Santiago Omar to life in prison for his role in dozens of illegal raids, kidnappings, torture and the killing of three people.

According to human rights groups about 30,000 people died or disappeared in Argentina’s brutal dictatorship.

For more information, please see:

Charlotte Observer.com – Another Sentence for Argentine Ex-Dictator – 7 Oct. 2014

BND.com – Another Sentence for Argentine Ex-Dictator – 7 Oct. 2014

ABC News – Another Sentence for Argentine Ex-Dictator – 7 Oct. 2014

Star Tribune – Court Sentences Former Dictator Reynaldo Bignone to 23 Years in prison – 7 Oct. 2014

Huffington Post – Argentine Dictators Go On Trial For Baby Thefts – 1 March 2011