Byen Konte, Mal Kalkile? Human Rights and Environmental Risks of Gold Mining in Haiti

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

Byen Konte, Mal Kalkile? Human Rights and Environmental Risks of Gold Mining in Haiti

Until now, most discussions about mining have occurred behind closed doors among government officials, company stakeholders, and international financial institutions. There is a dearth of information in the public domain about what gold mining entails, what challenges it poses, what opportunities it presents, and what it may mean for communities and the country as a whole. The purpose of this report is to help fill that gap.

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Haiti stands at a crossroads: The prospect of gold mining glitters on the horizon, while the reality of an uncertain political future, weak institutions, and widespread impoverishment glares in the foreground. Celebrated as the only nation in the world born of a successful slave revolution, but known today as the poorest country in the Western Hemisphere, Haiti is a fragile, if resilient, place. Rights are precarious, and basic resources are scarce. As of 2014, only 62 percent of all households in Haiti had access to safe drinking water, while less than 50 percent enjoyed such access in rural areas. The cholera epidemic that erupted in 2010, which has taken more than 9,000 lives to date, has revealed the vulnerability of the Haitian population amid inadequate water, sanitation, and health infrastructure. But it has also highlighted the power of popular protest. Haiti has a longstanding tradition of peasant movements, in which ordinary Haitians have mobilized to challenge and overcome injustice. It is in this context—against the backdrop of the country’s complex history with foreign intervention and investment—that efforts to develop a mining industry in Haiti must be understood.

Minerals can be exploited only once. The current moment, before mining has begun, presents a unique opportunity for the Haitian people to engage in a robust public debate about the risks and benefits of mining and for the Haitian State to implement preventive measures to avoid future human rights abuses and environmental harms. Such a debate requires transparency, public education, and active engagement of Haitian communities.

Report Objectives and Approach

Recognizing the important decisions that Haiti faces, the Global Justice Clinic at New York University School of Law (GJC) and the University of California Hastings College of the Law have prepared this Report concerning the risks and realities of modern gold mining and its implications for human rights and the environment in Haiti. The Report is the fruit of collaboration between environmental law experts and human rights lawyers, informed by the Justice in Mining Collective, a platform of Haitian organizations and individuals committed to promoting the interests of Haiti’s rural, northern communities and prompting a national dialogue about the future of Haiti’s mineral resources. Consistent with best practice in the field of international human rights, this Report is based on intensive documentary research and review of primary and secondary materials on gold mining in Haiti; interviews with community members, Haitian government officials, and representatives of mining companies and international organizations operating in Haiti; field investigation; and discussions with members of communities in areas where companies hold permits for activities related to gold mining. The Report is a product of more than 100 days of interviews and participant observation in more than fifty meetings held in communities affected by mining-related activities in Haiti (see infra).

All Report-related research in Haiti was undertaken using a human rights-based approach, which supports the power and capacity of people and communities to change their own lives, both independently and through institutions that represent or affect them. This approach takes respect for human rights as its starting point and end objective, emphasizes the informed engagement of rights-holders in both the analysis of factors affecting their own lives and the design of solutions, and stresses accountability, by including evaluation of both the process and outcomes of the research.

The Report addresses four main issues:

the process of modern gold mining, through an examination of its mechanics around the world and a history of extractive activity in Haiti;
the experiences and concerns of communities in Haiti that have hosted mineral exploration in the past ten years, including community members’ allegations that mining companies have failed to respect human rights and the communities’ fear of future human rights violations;
the environmental and social risks of mining gold in Haiti;
the institutional, legal, and regulatory frameworks that will shape the economic, social, and environmental consequences of mining in Haiti.

September 1, 2016 Dev Account Uncategorized

GJC Applauds UN Committee for Calling UK to Account Over Impact of Unjust Tax Laws

INEQUALITIES

GJC Applauds UN Committee for calling UK to account over impact of Unjust Tax Laws

Following a joint report issued by the Global Justice Clinic (GJC) , the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR), and the Tax Justice Network (TJN), the UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights has called on the single largest financial secrecy jurisdiction in the world—the United Kingdom and its Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies—to account for the human rights impacts of its unjust tax policies, both at home and abroad.

Submission & Communique

The Committee, which oversees compliance with the International Covenant on Economic and Social Rights, voiced concerns that the UK’s financial secrecy legislation and permissive rules on corporate tax are undermining the proper resourcing of human rights, thereby affecting the ability of other States to mobilize resources for the implementation of economic, social and cultural rights. In advance of the UK’s review at the Committee’s 58th Session in June, GJC, CESR and TJN co-authored a submission to the Committee concerning the UK’s responsibility for the impacts of cross-border tax abuse on economic, social and cultural rights.

The Committee’s message to the United Kingdom follows on the heels of another pioneering effort to hold tax havens to account. An earlier submission co-authored by GJC, CESR, TJN, and Berne Declaration asked the UN’s principal women’s rights body—the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination against Women (CEDAW)—to hold Switzerland to account for the impacts of its financial secrecy and corporate tax policies on women’s rights and gender equality, especially in low and middle-income countries. CEDAW did so, calling on Switzerland to “provide information on the measures taken to ensure that [its] tax and financial secrecy policy does not contribute to largescale tax abuse in foreign countries, thereby negatively impacting on resources available to realize women’s rights in those countries.” Together, these recent initiatives by UN treaty bodies to scrutinize the tax policies and practices of member States illustrate the important role of human rights norms, principles and institutions, in reshaping the international tax regime.

“By facilitating tax abuse, the UK—like other financial secrecy jurisdictions such as Switzerland—is shirking its legal obligations to respect and protect human rights,” said Nikki Reisch of the Global Justice Clinic. “As a party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the UN Charter, and other international agreements, the UK has committed to cooperate internationally to create an enabling environment for the fulfillment of economic, social and cultural rights. Its current conduct flies in the face of those commitments.”

July 6, 2016.

July 6, 2016 Youssef Farhat Uncategorized

World Bank Refuses to Consider Haitian Communities’ Complaint about New Mining Law

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

World Bank Refuses to Consider Haitian Communities’ Complaint about New Mining Law

Complaint Office Recognizes “Legitimate” Concerns, Rejects Complaint on Technical Grounds

Last week, the World Bank Inspection Panel refused to consider a complaint from Haitian communities about the Bank’s support for development of the mining sector in Haiti. Communities affected by mining activity and the Justice in Mining Collective, a group of six Haitian civil society organizations, submitted the complaint in early January, alleging violations of their rights to information and participation and threats of human rights abuses and environmental harms. The Inspection Panel—an office established to address complaints from people affected by World Bank-sponsored projects—recognized that the complaint raised “serious and legitimate” concerns and that the mining industry presents significant risks. The office nevertheless denied the complaint on narrow, technical grounds. The complainants expect to receive a copy of the decision in French today.[1]

Communities’ concerns about the development of the mining industry stem in part from their experiences with mineral exploration to date. Farmers report that they have lost crops and watched fertile land turn barren; they allege that companies have entered and operated in their communities without seeking permission; and they contend that they have nowhere to bring their concerns. Now, the World Bank’s complaint office has declared that it will not investigate their grievances. “For the Panel to recognize that our concerns are legitimate and yet refuse to register the case, it is as if the lives of Haitian people do not matter to the World Bank,” said Peterson Derolus, Co-Coordinator of the Justice in Mining Collective.

The farmers and families in rural communities where mining companies have explored for gold have been systematically excluded from conversations about the mining industry. In 2014, the World Bank crafted a new mining law in close consultation with mining company executives and Haitian government authorities. The reforms largely have taken place behind closed doors. “To date, even Parliament has been excluded from the process of drafting the new law,” Derolus said. “But the Haitian Constitution states that mineral resources belong to the State, meaning not only the government, but also the Haitian people.”

The World Bank’s own policies normally require it to ensure transparency and meaningful public consultation and to adhere to environmental and social standards in all its operations. The Inspection Panel found that those safeguards do not apply to the “Bank-Executed Trust Fund” used to finance the revision of Haiti’s mining law, even though they do apply to similar Bank projects funded in different ways. Noting this inconsistency, the Panel called for reforms to ensure that the Bank applies its safeguards to technical assistance projects like this one based on the risk of environmental and social harm, rather than the particular financing mechanism used.

“The World Bank is providing assistance that will change the entire legal regime for mineral mining in Haiti. It chose to do so in a way that exempts the project from the Bank’s own safeguard policies, including those that require community participation,” said Sarah Singh of Accountability Counsel, an organization representing affected Haitian communities. “The Bank should not have discretion to avoid community complaints regarding a project that poses such clear human rights and environmental risks.”

The risks are particularly acute today in Haiti—a country known for its devastated environment, poor infrastructure, and lack of rule of law—as the state is in the midst of a major political crisis. Since January, President Martelly has ruled by decree. Parliament, which had objected to the way the Executive was developing the mining industry, has been dissolved. The past few weeks have seen increasing protests and multiple days of nationwide transit strikes. “We call on the World Bank to recognize the grave risks it incurs in developing the mining industry in Haiti and to endorse a moratorium on mining until a meaningful national debate is held and other community demands have been met,” said Margaret Satterthwaite, Director of the Global Justice Clinic, which represents affected Haitian communities. “If the Bank-backed mining law is passed by decree, Haiti will be open to the gold mining business without the consent of its people.”

[1] The World Bank’s complaint office, the Inspection Panel, is an independent office that investigates allegations by people who claim to have experienced harm or who fear future harms as a result of World Bank projects. The Notice of Non-Registration is available in English. The Panel indicated that the Notice of Non-Registration would be made available in French on February 17, 2015. The complaint is also available in English and in French.

This post was originally published as a press release on February 17, 2015.

February 17, 2015 Dev Account Uncategorized

Haitian Communities File Complaint about World Bank-Supported Mining Law

CLIMATE AND ENVIRONMENT

Haitian Communities File Complaint about World Bank-Supported Mining Law

Sound Alarm about Lack of Participation, Environmental and Social Protections

Haitian communities and organizations filed a complaint with the World Bank regarding Bank-supported activities to develop Haiti’s mining sector today.The complaint has been submitted to the World Bank Inspection Panel, an independent office that investigates allegations by people who claim to have experienced harm or who fear future harm as a result of World Bank projects. The complaint alleges that the Haitian populace has been left out of World Bank-funded efforts by the Haitian government to draft new mining legislation intended to attract foreign investors to exploit Haiti’s gold and other minerals. Complainants contend that the Bank has failed to follow its own social and environmental safeguard policies or ensure that the new legal framework adheres to international best practices. They fear that allowing the mineral sector to develop without much-needed human rights and environmental protections and without public consultation could harm rather than help Haiti. The complaint can be read in English and French.

“The mining law will attract investment from foreign mining companies and yet the government does not have the ability to monitor environmental impacts or to promote the interests of the affected communities,” said Nixon Boumba, a representative of the Kolektif Jistis Min (Mining Justice Collective), a group of six Haitian organizations and dozens of communities who filed the complaint. Haitian people who have had the chance to learn about the government’s efforts to develop the sector share serious reservations about the new mining law and the broader effort to encourage mining: over 400 people in Haiti have signed a petition stating their concerns with mining sector development and demanding access to accurate information about mining and its potential impacts on Haitian people and the well-being of the country. The petition also requests a national debate and a full, public review of this strategy before the proposed mining legislation is finalized.

Some communities in Haiti have already had negative experiences with companies exploring for minerals on or near their land. “We have seen impacts that make us worry,” explained a complainant and community leader from northern Haiti. “People who have begun to understand what mining could mean, what an open-pit mine is, they are worried about how it will affect the environment and the way we live now.” Communities also claim that companies have already drilled and excavated on their land without seeking proper consent.
Complainants also fear the consequences of encouraging mining without ensuring the Haitian government’s ability to enforce social and environmental protections. The government has suffered from inadequate resources and failed regulatory processes for years, and the country’s recent protests and governmental instability underscore ongoing capacity issues.[1] “The World Bank is backing a law to promote investment in mining at a time of growing political turmoil,” said Professor Margaret Satterthwaite of the New York University School of Law Global Justice Clinic, which represents affected Haitian communities. “It would be irresponsible to open up the sector in the context of such governmental instability and without a full analysis of its impacts.”

“The World Bank’s assistance aims to change the entire legal regime for mineral mining in Haiti,” said Sarah Singh of Accountability Counsel, an organization representing affected Haitian communities. “Given the serious social and environmental risks associated with this industry, the Bank must ensure that the new law is developed with participation from civil society and includes provisions to protect human rights and adhere to international best practices.”

This post was originally published as a press release on January 7, 2015.

January 7, 2015 Dev Account Uncategorized