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Seven Guatemalan men won an appeal Thursday against Tahoe Resources Inc in a Canadian court, which ruled that their lawsuit accused the miner's private security guards to have shot them can proceed in British Columbia.
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“There is some measurable risk that the appellants will encounter difficulty in receiving a fair trial against a powerful international company whose mining interests in Guatemala align with the political interests of the Guatemalan state," ruled the court.
In June 2014, the seven Guatemalan men accused the company of being responsible for a violent attack in April 2013 when private security opened fire on peaceful protesters outside the controversial Escobal silver mine in southeastern Guatemala. Video footage revealed the demonstrators were shot at close range while fleeing.
The win comes after the Supreme Court in British Columbia refused to hear the case in November 2015, saying that it fell under Guatemalan jurisdiction.
“Today’s landmark ruling shows that Canadian courts are open to victims of abuses linked to Canadian companies operating abroad,” said Matt Eisenbrandt, Legal Director of the Canadian Centre for International Justice. “Despite a lack of regulation by the Canadian government, we hope these recent developments in the courts signal an end to corporate impunity for human rights violations,” Eisenbrandt said.
“The court agreed with our submissions that there are no longer any active legal proceedings in Guatemala, which pointed to British Columbia as the appropriate forum for the case,” said Joe Fiorante, Q.C., a partner with Vancouver law firm Camp Fiorante Matthews Mogerman (CFM).
Guatemala is one of the deadliest countries in the world for environmental activists and the Central American nation is still plagued by impunity and corruption. After filing a case in Guatemala, the lead suspect in the criminal case and former head of security for the mining firm escaped police custody and fled the country just weeks after the BC Supreme Court decision was released in November 2015.
“Under international law, companies have a responsibility to protect human rights – no matter where they occur,” says Kelsey Alford-Jones, Senior Campaigner at the Center for International Environmental Law (CIEL). “To the extent that human rights abuses occur, business enterprises have an affirmative duty to avoid complicity in those abuses. Canadian and U.S. courts must hold their companies accountable for violations, full stop.”
The area near the El Escobal silver mine has been a scene of conflict since the mine was established in 2007. Opponents of the mine, mainly Xinca people, have held numerous peaceful protests that have been met with violence from mine guards and police.
Residents near El Escobal depend on agriculture and their lands have been affected by the mining activity. In 2013, Tahoe Resources was granted a 25-year mining license, and villagers conducted a referendum in which they expressed their opposition.
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“While Tahoe claims strong community support in Guatemala, by its own admission the local opposition is so intense that the mine cannot be connected to the main power grid,” said Becky Kaump from the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA). “This is only one example of clear community resistance to the mine, and the April 2013 violence is only one example of the backlash organizers have faced for their opposition.”
Recently, Guatemalan environmentalist Laura Leonor Vasquez Pineda, who had spoken out against the mining in El Escobal by Tahoe Resources, was shot dead in the southeastern department of Jalapa.
Police said she was shot in the head by a group of unknown men who raided her home during the night. She was a member of the Committee for the Defense of Life and Peace in San Rafael Las Flores near the El Escobal silver mine owned by Canadian company Tahoe Resources.
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