Peru: Remember Monterrico Metals?

Back in 2009, I (and others) blogged repeatedly on the exposure of abuses that had taken place at the mine of Majaz/Rio Blanco, owned by Monterrico Metals (if you're interested, use the search function or the label "Majaz").

The crimes that took place there were not prosecuted in Peru but did become the subject of a civil suit in Britain against the miner brought by Leigh Day solicitors. The case was eventually settled out of court with the exact terms not disclosed.

Now Al Jazeera English has devoted an episode of its People & Power series to the Monterrico Metals story, focusing in particular on the issue of pursuing justice and legal settlements. It makes the basic point that while settlements can bring compensation for the victims, they are an incomplete form of justice as they lack the publicity of a full trial - which is, of course, why companies offer to settle. Notwithstanding their poverty, the victims themselves express a clear preference for justice rather than financial compensation.

The programme also mentions how changes to the English legal aid system make such cases less likely in the future.

This is a really good programme, and you can watch the whole thing here.

Peru: More Violence at Majaz

The latest in a series of violent incidents at the Majaz/Rio Blanco mining camp owned by Zijin (formerly Monterrico Metals) continues, and this one seems to be shaping up into a battle of conflicting versions by the police on the one hand, and witnesses and human rights organisations on the other.

"We were trying to arrest those responsible for what happened in November* ... and we were attacked by bullets and rocks while trying to catch one suspect. We responded in legitimate defense," General Walter Rivera told Reuters.

[...]

David Velazco, a lawyer for the victims, said police used excessive force. He said police were serving warrants for eight suspects in the November attack, but there were no warrants out for the arrest of the two peasants killed on Wednesday.

"The peasants didn't shoot anybody. They don't have arms, only arrows or maybe some rocks," he said.

Violence erupts again over Chinese mine in Peru (Reuters)

In the fighting, two peasants – identified as Castulo Correa Huayama, 39, and Vicente Romero Ramirez, 52 – died from police gunfire and six other townspeople were wounded, among them an 18-year-old man who was hit in the head by a bullet, CNR reported.

Two Dead in Clashes Between Police, Peasants in Peru (LAHT)

* See here.

Muertes en Majaz: la version policial seria falsa (CNDDHH)
Mas abusos por parte de miembros de la PNP en contra de campesinos de Huancabamba (CNDDHH)
Rechazan version policial sobre muerte de comuneros de Huancabamba (La Republica)

Peru: Developments at Rio Blanco

Blog readers and those interested in Peru news will recall that in January of this year, photographs emerged of torture inflicted on local people in 2005 by security forces at the mining camp of Majaz, now known as Rio Blanco. You can see a timeline here. The mining camp was at the time owned by Monterrico Metals and is now under the ownership of a Chinese company, Zijin Mining Group.

Peruvian prosecutors have been reluctant to follow up on the apparent perpetrators of these crimes; however, Monterrico Metals is facing legal action in Great Britain.

In the first few days of November, Rio Blanco made the news again when several people were killed there and the encampment set on fire by a group of around 15-20 people. Initial reports were of two dead, this later apparently rose to three. I didn't cover this at the time, but Otto did.

Most reports seem to assume that the attack was carried out by local people frustrated by years of having their wishes ignored and of the violence which has previously erupted at the site - except for the second Reuters report, which quotes someone, rather laughably, as saying that there is "no dispute" with the local community and points the finger at drug traffickers instead.

Two dead after attack on Peru project of Zijin (Reuters, 2.11.09)
Rio Blanco Copper mining camp attacked, two guards killed (Living in Peru, 2.11.09)
Monterrico Metals Peru Mine Attack Leaves Two Dead (Bloomberg, 2.11.09)
Peru mine killings work of drug trade: businessmen (Reuters, 3.11.09)

Human rights organisations are now concerned at state response to the latest attack. The National Human Rights Coordinator is claiming that two brothers from the local area, Filoteo and Gustavo Pusma Ibáñez, have been arbitrarily detained for the crime. Another pair of brothers, Hilario and Martín Rojas, have also been held - according to the CNDDHH, without proof of involvement. Moreover, the truck of the major of Carmen de la Frontera was attacked, allegedly by members of the group 'Integrando', which claims to be an 'NGO' and is in fact linked to the Rio Blanco mining company.

Apparently there is a heavy, and threatening, police presence in the area. The government is now also considering the possibility of establishing a military base nearby. Local groups are reacting with alarm to any suggestion of 'militarizing' the area, and understandably so. History teaches us that sending in the army to remote Peruvian communities tends not to end well. Any military presence would have to be handled very, very carefully indeed to avoid the risk of further escalation of tensions and human rights abuses against the local population, and I don't consider such sensitive treatment very likely.

Autoridades de Huancabamba emplazan al Gobierno formar comision investigadora sobre los sucesos ocurridos el 1 de noviembre en campamento de la minero Rio Blanco (CNDDHH)
Death at Dawn in a Peruvian mining camp (ENS)
Derechos y humanos: "La militarizacion del campamento minero Rio Blanco (CNDDHH)
Rechazan posible base militar (La Republica)

Peru: Monterrico Metals in the High Court

It seems to be only the Guardian reporting on this so far, but their articles are good and include the video embedded above.*

As regular readers will recall, this is about the mine at Majaz from where photographic evidence of torture emerged last year.

Two protesters were shot in their legs, one man lost an eye to gunshot wounds and a farmer called Melanio Garcia, 41, suffered a fatal gunshot. Photographs allegedly taken by a Monterrico supervisor, which the protesters say support their allegations of abuse by the police, show Garcia lying on the ground, apparently alive but badly injured. Several other pictures taken 30 hours later, according to their time and date stamps, clearly show Garcia to be dead.

Now the mining company is being sued for damages in London.

Richard Meeran, of Leigh Day, the London law firm bringing the high court case, said the evidence of torture was incontrovertible and that it was inconceivable the company could have been unaware of what was happening on its site.

"The company must have been aware of the inhuman treatment of the victims during their three-day ordeal at the Rio Blanco mine," he said. "Yet there is no evidence of it taking any steps to prevent the harm. On the contrary, it would appear that the company was working in cahoots with the police. It is vital that multinationals are held legally accountable for human rights violations occurring at their overseas operations."

The mining firm is denying the allegations.

Abuse claims against Peru police guarding British firm Monterrico (Guardian)

British mining company faces damages after allegations of torture in Peru (Guardian)

I'll try to keep updating on this.

*Richard, was it you who uploaded the video on Youtube? Thanks!

Peru: Residents of Majaz Living in Fear

According to testimonies compiled by the Coordinadora Nacional de Derechos Humanos (CNDDHH), indigenous citizens living in the village of Segunda y Cajas are still experiencing reprisals for their denunciations of torture at the mining site of Majaz.

One villager, who wanted to remain anonymous, said that they had to use "hidden paths" for fear of being attacked.

A woman named María Ozeta was attacked with a machete in early June by a person linked to a supposed NGO known as "Asociación Integrando", which, according to the CNDDHH, dedicates itself to "intimidating the population and imposing the activities of the Majaz mining company".

In the past month, representatives of the CNDDHH itself, another NGO, and three of the victims of the original torture have all experienced threats.

This may all sound rather conspiracy-theoryish, but the Coordinadora is well-respected and not given to hyperbole; the news is deeply concerning and indicative of corruption and lack of protection from the law in the area. There was a big scandal when the images of torture came out, but that has now passed. The fact is, however, that the victims have to carry on living in the area where their attackers have gone unpunished. Let's not forget Majaz.

Continua la violencia en Majaz (CNDDHH)
- includes images of injured people, scans of a medical certificate and police report

Peru/UK: Monterrico Metals Assets Frozen

Remember the torture that took place at Majaz in Peru? And the lamentable failure of the Peruvian justice system to bring those reponsible to book?

The story rumbles on.

On June 2nd, London law firm Leigh Day served an injunction against Monterrico Metals to freeze their assets pending a further hearing on 16 June (Tuesday). Here is the information provided by the lawyers:

1. Proceedings have been commenced in the English High Court by Leigh Day & Co on behalf of 13 Peruvians seeking compensation from British mining company Monterrico Metals PLC ("Monterrico") and its Peruvian subsidiary Rio Blanco Copper SA.

2. The claimants were tortured by the police following their protest at the Rio Blanco Mine in August 2005, situated in a remote area of Northern Peru, close to the border with Equador. All the claimants, including two women, were detained for three days, during which time they were handcuffed, blind-folded and beaten by the police. The detention and torture occurred at the Rio Blanco Mine site and also allegedly involved guards of the mine security company, Forza. As a result, the claimants suffered long term physical and psychological injuries and financial losses.

3. The Claimants allege that the Defendants must have known of the conditions in which they were being detained, but failed to take steps to prevent or end their ordeal. In March this year, Peruvian prosecutors accused the police of torture but cleared the mining company and Forza of wrongdoing. Peruvian human rights groups denounced the findings as incomplete.

4. Monterrico's principal asset is the Rio Blanco Mine and Monterrico had a close involvement in the operations at the Mine. In terms of ownership: Monterrico owns all the shares in Copper Corp Limited (Cayman Islands); Copper Corp Limited owns all the shares in Rio Blanco Copper Limited (Cayman Islands); Rio Blanco Copper Limited owns 99.98% shares in Rio Blanco Copper SA (Peru). Rio Blanco Copper SA owns the Mine.

5. On 3 June 2009, Monterrico de-listed from the AIM UK stock exchange. Because it had also relocated its corporate headquarters to Hong Kong, we were concerned that Monterrico might be planning to dispose of its assets and transfer them to Hong Kong. If that happened, then the claimants might find that their UK legal action was futile. (NB it is not alleged that the purpose of any such intention to dispose of assets was related to these claims).

6. On 2 June 2009, a freezing injunction was granted by Mr Justice Burton of the High Court. This prohibited Monterrico from disposing of assets to an extent that would leave Monterrico with less than �7.2 million.

7. The injunction application was made in the absence of Monterrico. However Monterrico and its directors have been served with the court order. A further hearing has been fixed on 16 June, when Monterrico will have an opportunity to contest the freezing injunction.

Contact: Richard Meeran, Partner, Leigh Day & Co, 020 7650 1365, 0750 7798 358

That decision was upheld during the second hearing, leaving open the possibility that the torture victims, and the family of the man who died, may be able to receive compensation through the British courts.

Juez britanico ordena congelamiento por $12 millones contra Monterrico Metals (CNDDHH)

British Mining Company Faces Injunction over Torture Allegations in Peru (Reuters AlertNet)

Cortes britanicos ordenan congelamiento de cuenta contra Monterrico Metals (La Republica)

British Court Orders Majaz Mining Company's Assets to Be Frozen for Tortures in Peru (Living in Peru)

Peru News Round-Up

Piura region district attorney Sofía Milla has dropped all charges against her colleague, former DA Félix Toledo Leiva, who was accused of witnessing the torture and kidnapping of 29 anti-mining protesters in 2005, but doing nothing, daily El Comercio reported Tuesday.

Milla cleared her colleague, currently jailed in a Piura prison on charges of corruption in an unrelated case, arguing that the plaintiffs offered insufficient evidence.

But, according to the National Human Rights Coordinator, or CNDDHH, there are four photos in which Toledo can be seen in the mining camp when the torture took place, standing nearby some of the victims. And, several victims have testified that while in the camp, they told Toledo that they had been tortured.

District Attorney Cleared of All Cases in Majaz Torture Case (Peruvian Times)

A letter from the Under-Secretary General of the UN on the recruitment of underage soldiers in Peru (in Spanish and English, CNDDHH)

Vladimiro Montesinos' Trial for Corruption Resumes after Short Suspension (Peruvian Times)

Peru: "Lukewarm" Response on Majaz

The prosecutor will charge some police officers with torture in the case of Minera Majaz, it is being reported today.

The response of human rights organisations is subdued; obviously, the torture charges are to be welcomed, but there will be no charges against local military commanders or the security company or the mining company itself. In short, only the direct perpetrators of the crime are affected and not anyone higher up who may have given the orders. Moreover, the accusations of abduction and sexual assault have been dropped - despite the fact that the villagers were held for 3 days, and the women among them underwent medical examinations which revealed signs of abuse. This is all according to the press release of the NGOs CNDDHH and FEDEPAZ, who call the results of the investigations "tibia" (lukewarm).

Denuncian a policias por tortura en Majaz (La Republica)

Caso Majaz: Preocupante Resolucion Fiscal (CNDDHH)

News Round-Up

Here's some stuff which probably deserves commenting on, but that's not going to happen at this time of the evening, so just links instead:

Cocaine Trade Helps Rebels Reignite War in Peru (New York Times)

Inter-American Press Association worried about growing number of acts of aggression against journalists in Peru (Peruvian Times)
[mentions Majaz case]

Combating Impunity, Violence and Crime in President Colom's Guatemala (COHA)

Argentina admits 1992 bombing unresolved (AFP)

Peru: Urgent Action for Julio Vasquez

*Post updated to include full details below*

Amnesty International has started an urgent action for Julio César Vásquez Calle, the journalist who was first a victim of the torture at Minera Majaz in 2005 and then, this week, received death threats for publicising it.

Amnesty International believes that he and the 28 members of peasant communities pursuing the same complaint are in grave danger.

The threatening caller said, "Since when is your job to help terrorists? We are going to make sure that you rot in prison if you don’t withdraw your complaint, if you don't drop your complaint you will go to prison in pieces."

Go here to read the full piece and write to protest the threats and call for Vasquez's protection. YOU can do something to help. Please write - in Spanish* or English - and feel free to pass on this call for action too (and if you prefer to read the appeal in Spanish, here it is).

RECOMMENDED ACTION: Please send appeals to arrive as quickly as possible, in Spanish or your own language:

- expressing concern for the safety of Julio César Vásquez Calle, who was threatened on 5 February;

- urging the authorities to do everything possible to guarantee his safety, and that of the others pursuing a complaint that they were tortured by police and security guards working for the Majaz mining project;

- calling on them to order a prompt and impartial investigation into the death threat and bring those responsible to justice;

- calling on the authorities to order an independent and impartial investigation into the allegations against the police and security guards, and bring those responsible to justice;

- urging them to guarantee the right of local communities affected by mining projects to information and to participate in an open, transparent and fair consultation process before any mining activities take place.

APPEALS TO:

Minister of the Interior

Ministerio del Interior

Ministro del Interior

Sr. Remigio Hernaní Meloni

Plaza 30 de agosto s/n Urb. Corpac

San Isidro

Lima, PERU

Fax: + 51 1 225 7234

Salutation: Dear Minister/Sr. Ministro

Attorney General

Ministerio Público

Fiscalía de la Nación

Fiscal de la Nación

Dra. Gladys Echaíz Ramos

Av. Abancay Cuadra 5 s/n

Lima 1, PERU

Fax: + 51 1 426 2800

Salutation: Dear Attorney General/Sra. Fiscal de la Nación

COPIES TO:

Human rights organization

Fundación Ecuménica para el Desarrollo y la Paz (FEDEPAZ)

Jr. Trinidad Morán 286

Lince

Lima 14, PERU

Fax: +511 421 4747

+511 421 4730

and to diplomatic representatives of Peru accredited to your country.

* If you prefer to write in Spanish but aren't one hundred percent confident of all your grammatical bits and bobs, the last link I give includes a suggested model letter. Then the work is all done for you, you just need to sign and send. What are you waiting for?

Thanks to Matt Heil for tip.
Post updated to include address details.

Peru: Radio Presenter Receives Death Threats

A radio presenter has reported receiving multiple anonymous phone calls threatening him with death for his involvement in publicising the images of the torture that took place at Minera Majaz in 2005. His name is Julio Vásquez Calle; I'm going to assume that this is the same man who was himself one of the victims of the attack, although his second surname isn't given in the original report. Human rights organisation FEDEPAZ have condemned the threats. It's a timely reminder that while denouncing atrocities is something some of us bloggers can do on our warm sofas without a care in the world, it's still a highly dangerous business in many areas in Latin America.

Periodista de Radio Cutivalu es amenazado de muerte por denunciar torturas en Majaz (CNDDHH)

Peru: Reuters on Majaz

Reuters has a piece on the private security firm Forza's involvement in the torture at the mining project.

"The photos clearly show that personnel of Forza played an active role in the repression and torture," said Javier Jahncke at Fedepaz

Peru mining security firm faces investigation

See the full story at Inca Kola news.

Peru: Rio Blanco Responds on Majaz Case

Thanks very much to Matt for passing along an update in the Majaz torture case which I might otherwise have missed.

The mining company, now called Rio Blanco Copper S.A., has published press releases in Spanish in the La Republica newspaper (which you can see here, not fantastic quality but readable) and translated into English and available as a PDF here.

In it, the company first distances itself from its predecessor, which "represents the interests of a financial group completely different from those represented by Minera Majaz S.A.". They then claim to be "grateful for the vigilance of the media, other civil institutions and the relevant authorities concerning the correct development of our company’s activities" - hm, I bet they are. Anyway, here is the important bit, in a slightly odd translation (not mine!):

We have the firm conviction that any type of aggression against the Human Being is extremely serious and deserves an exhaustive investigation and sanction by the authorities, who must not leave these acts unpunished.

Not much meat in this press release then, but they have responded and maybe it's a claim that they can be held to.

Peru News

Drawing my attention today: Otto has picked up on the news that Peru may be looking for a way to kick out Monterrico Metals, the company involved with the Majaz torture case.

Meanwhile, prosecutor Avelino Guillén has claimed that Alberto Fujimori ordered the Cantuta killings in retaliation for the Tarata bombing, which had taken place shortly before. This makes a connection between two of the key events in the Peruvian conflict; the Shining Path bomb in the Calle Tarata hit city dwellers in affluent Miraflores, causing great loss of life - impossible to ignore, when those primitive Indians getting themselves killed in the highlands were more easily forgotten. Two days later, nine students and a professor from the university known as 'Cantuta' were abducted by security forces and disappeared. Their bodies were found months later. Apparently they were taken as 'terrorists', which they weren't (and even if they had been, their place would have been awaiting trial, not extrajudicial execution).

The Cantuta massacre was carried out by the military death squad Grupo Colina. Which brings me to my final piece of news: two of its members, Douglas Arteaga Pascual and Ángel Pino Díaz, have been freed. The two have been connected with the Barrios Altos massacre, but apparently, despite the evidence against them, the Human Rights Prosecutor has not acted fast enough in bringing a case. We've already seen in Argentina that not adhering to the bureaucratic rule of law is enough to get major human rights abusers out on the street again.

Peru: Majaz Timeline

Heard about the Majaz torture case but don't have it quite clear in your mind? The blog of the Peruvian Coordinator of Human Rights has a handy timeline - Spanish speakers can read it right here. For English speakers, here's a summarised translation in note form:

2002-2003 - Majaz begins exploratory activities without authorisation from local community assemblies - local people protest

2004, April - large march against Majaz - police violence, leading to death of Reemberto Herrera - some say he was hit in face by tear gas canister, others claim he was shot - little public attention - mining company claims protesters, priests and local authorities are terrorists

May - local bishops call for cease to mining activities in their diocese

November - environmentalist radio station La Poderosa, led by journalist Federico Ibáñez, destroyed by mob linked to company

December - mob beats and harasses Ibáñez and community leader Josefa Adrianzén, who are later detained by police for two months - lack of response from organisations supposed to defend freedom of press

2004-2007 - sustained campaign against mining opponents from the newspaper Correo de Piura - linked with terrorist group in television programme Panorama (Panamericana Television)

2005, August - march against Majaz - police detain many villagers - 28 are tortured, including journalist Julio Vásquez - death of Melanio García- employees of Forza, Majaz's security company, also participate in torture

2006, March - water and mining forum violently disrupted by crowd transported by Majaz representatives - beatings

2006 - Richard Ralph, the British ambassador, leaves his post - shortly after becomes Executive President of Majaz

2007 - Chinese consortium Zijin takes over Monterrico Metals and the project is renamed Río Blanco

2007, Sept - local assemblies reject presence of Majaz - company, government and some sectors of the media launch campaign against organisers, accusing them of being terrorists linked to Hugo Chávez and Al Qaeda

2008, March - organisers of local consultation, including Javier Jahncke (Fedepaz) and Julia Cuadros (Cooperacción) again accused of terrorism - Peruvian press association finds against Correo de Piura for its reporting and Panorama reporters are convicted of slander

2008, Dec - terrorism case against opponents re-opened - Ministry of Defence produces Supreme Decree which declares necessity of Majaz's intervention in the border zone

2009, Jan - photographic evidence of atrocities committed in 2005 surfaces

What do we see here? We see, again, that being interested in human rights, being involved in indigenous politics, and opposing current government policy are the kind of things that will get you called out as a terrorist. We see that calling 'terrorist' is often a way of stifling debate and crushing opposition. And we see that the atrocities of August 2005 were not isolated incidents, but were part of a concerted campaign to prevent protests against mining development in the area.

Peru: Majaz

I may not be able to update for a few days again, but I know that Otto will keep up his sterling work on this disgusting story about the torture of Peruvian villagers by police in coordination with a mining company. The mainstream media is slowly picking up on it too.