Joint news release with Council of Canadians and Common Frontiers: Yet another anti-mining activist has been murdered in El Salvador. Canadian civil society organizations are calling for a full investigation into the murder of Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, the fourth such death in two years that local organizations believe are linked to the presence of Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining in the department of Cabañas.
Salvadoran Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, anti-mining activist and university student, has been murdered (background information below). Join the Environmental Committee of Cabañas (CAC) and Juan Francisco's family in calling on the Attorney General and National Civilian Police to carry out an exhaustive investigation into the material and intellectual authors of this brutal murder and to and protect the lives of all anti-mining activists in El Salvador.
In an open letter released today, over two hundred environmental and health groups, labour unions and scientists from Asia, Africa, North & South America and Europe [including MiningWatch Canada], call on Prime Minister Harper to stop preventing the UN Rotterdam Convention from adding chrysotile asbestos to its list of hazardous substances. Chrysotile asbestos represents 100% of the global asbestos trade.
On a flashy new website, Taseko claims that it has addressed all of the issues raised by the review panel and that it continues to work collaboratively with the First Nations on whose traditional territory the massive open pit operation would be located.
News release posted on behalf of the Tsilhqot'in National Government: The Tsilhqot’in view Taseko Mines Ltd.’s (TML) so-called “New Prosperity” proposal as equally dangerous as the first – the integrity of Teztan Biny and its surrounding environment are not ‘saved’ by literally surrounding this sacred lake by one of the world’s largest open pits, a tailings pond designed for 720 million tons of toxic waste, nor by continuing to destroy Little Fish Lake and Fish Creek. The impacts clearly articulated in the “scathing” 2010 Federal Review Panel Report, and acknowledged by the federal government’s rejection of the project in November 2010, are not addressed by simply re-packaging an already assessed proposal.
Ontario is the only jurisdiction in Canada that does not apply environmental assessment (EA) legislation to mine development. Several jurisdictions also apply their EA process to mineral exploration. Clearly Ontario is out of step with the rest of Canada and Ontarians' expectations regarding decision making about mining in the province.
Open letter - The Wixárika indigenous people delivered the following letter to President of Mexico Felipe Calderón in Mexico City on May 9, 2011. A delegation from the Wixárika people then presented the same letter to First Majestic Silver shareholders on May 19, 2011, during the company's annual general meeting in Vancouver. The letter expresses concern about the impacts that a proposed silver mine will have on one of their most important sacred ceremonial sites, called Wirikuta.
Barriere Lake Solidarity news release: (Montreal) Today, community members from the Algonquin First Nation of Barriere Lake traveled to Montreal to attend the annual general meeting of Val-d'Or-based Cartier Resources Inc., where they affirmed that the overwhelming majority of their First Nation is opposed to the company’s Rivière Doré copper mining project moving forward on their traditional territory. A solidarity demonstration will happen outside of the shareholders meeting at 11:30 am at Dorchester Square, the corner of Peel and Rene-Levesque.
Free, prior and informed consent (FPIC) is clearly established as an international human rights norm. The right of Indigenous peoples to grant or withhold approval for actions affecting their rights is an integral element of the right of self-determination. Article 3 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) reflects the right of self-determination in common article 1 of the two human rights Covenants.
