Goldcorp avoids censure as complaint is closed

The Canadian government has closed a complaint against mining company Goldcorp over alleged detrimental effects on indigenous communities of its Marlin mine in Guatemala.

The complaint was registered under the OECD Guidelines process in December 2009 by a Guatemalan NGO, Frente de Defensa San Miguelense (Fredemi), and was dealt with by the Canadian National Contact Point (NCP), run by the Canadian government.

Fredemi said the Marlin Mine, owned and operated by the Canadian company, breached a section of the OECD Guidelines which states that enterprises should ‘respect the human rights of those affected by their activities’ – and called for the mine to be closed.

The NCP’s initial assessment was that the complaint merited further examination, and it then offered its ‘good offices’ to facilitate a dialogue between the various parties. However, although the offer was accepted by Goldcorp, Fredemi repeatedly declined  to take part. As a result, the NCP has closed the case.

‘The NCP’s position is that communication and dialogue between the company and the notifiers is essential to the resolution of any complaint,’ it said, adding that there was little it could do without both parties ‘participating in a constructive dialogue in good faith with a view to addressing the issues raised’.

The pressure group MiningWatch Canada said it regretted the fact that the NCP had closed the case without actually ruling on any of the allegations of human rights violations. It said the process was ‘both procedurally and substantively deficient, and provides yet another example of Canada’s failure to ensure that its mining industry respects human rights around the world’.  

The complaint alleged that Goldcorp failed to respect indigenous community rights to adequate consultation and consent, property, health, water, and right to life.  

It also claimed that a human rights assessment commissioned by Goldcorp itself had found evidence of widespread violations.

The Center for International Environmental Law, which supported Fredemi, said the ruling was ‘a travesty’.  Senior attorney Kris Genovese added: ‘The NCP has fundamentally misunderstood its own mandate and failed the communities, resulting in the abdication of the government’s responsibility to ensure respect for human rights.’

However, none of the parties on the complainant side have said why they refused to take part in any dialogue.

In its final report on the complaint, the NCP says Fredemi declined talks because it felt that ‘agreeing to participate in a closed-door meeting [in Canada] with Goldcorp would create further tensions and divisions within the community’. When Goldcorp then offered an open, public meeting at a venue of Fredemi’s choice, the NGO still declined.

The NCP says that if the position changes it will be happy to facilitate a dialogue between the two parties at some time in the future.