Mining companies talk about a ‘social licence to operate’, but legitimacy in the eyes of local communities is proving hard to find at UK-listed Acacia Mining’s North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania. On 10th October, in a Tanzanian court, a senior manager at the Mine was charged with corruption, and another former employee named, in connection with a scheme intended to compensate local people for the loss of their land taken over by the Mine. Six government and village officials were also charged with receiving pay-offs from the Mine. It is alleged that one inducement allowed the Mine to avoid the costly rebuilding of a primary school.
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A British government assessment released today has found Kazakh mining giant, Eurasian Resources Group (ERG, formerly ENRC), flouted the rights of several thousand people living on its cobalt and copper concession in the Democratic Republic of Congo, depriving them of clean water and health care.
Tanzanian and international human rights groups today urged London- listed Acacia Mining’s Board of Directors to step in to improve the company’s human rights record at its North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania. Acacia’s is 63.9 % owned by Canada’s Barrick Gold Corporation.
Tanzanian and international human rights groups today urged Tanzanian president John Magufuli to address human rights issues at Acacia’s North Mara Gold Mine as part of the framework agreement with Barrick Gold Corporation, announced last week. The seven rights groups detailed their request in an open letter sent to the president.
International policy makers are meeting in Europe and Washington, D.C. this week to consider the deteriorating economic and political situation in the Democratic Republic of Congo. They will need to confront a stark truth: the growing evidence linking President Joseph Kabila, his family and close associates to bribery and corruption.
The United States and European Union should expand targeted sanctions on President Joseph Kabila’s family members and financial associates benefiting from unlawful activity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, seven international and Congolese human rights organizations said today. The sanctions should target those involved in serious corruption, misuse of government funds, money laundering, or fraud in order to quash peaceful dissent, improperly delay elections, or otherwise maintain Kabila’s rule beyond the constitution’s two-term limit.
The African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights has found the government of the Democratic Republic of Congo responsible for the 2004 massacre of over 70 people in Kilwa, in the southeast of the country, and granted landmark compensation of US $4.36 million to the victims and their families, three human rights groups who initiated the complaint said today.
The Tanzanian government and investors should ensure Acacia Mining urgently addresses the human rights violations at the North Mara gold mine, including providing compensation to victims, as part of the current negotiations about the company’s operations in Tanzania, Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) said today. RAID released a new video detailing the stories of some of the victims in stark detail.
Patricia Feeney, RAID’s outgoing director, is retiring after 18 years during which she earned RAID the reputation as a small and highly effective organization spearheading efforts in the field of business and human rights. She will be replaced by Van Woudenberg, who was previously deputy Africa director at Human Rights Watch.“
Private security company G4S allowed commercial considerations to take priority over human rights and corporate social responsibility commitments at Manus Island Detention Centre in Papua New Guinea, Patricia Feeney, RAID’s outgoing Executive Director, said at the United Nations in Geneva today.