URGENT ACTIONS

Guatemala: Community leader shot - Marlin mine activities must be suspended

Guatemala, July 15, 2010. On July 7th, two unknown men shot Ms. Diodora Antonia Hernández Cinto in her home. She is a community leader of the movement against the Marlin Mine. On May 20th, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ordered the suspension of activities at the Marlin Mine which belongs to the Canadian company Goldcorp Inc., as precautionary measures to protect the indigenous communities´ lives and physical integrity. On June 23rd, the government of Guatemala announced that it will comply with the measures ordered by the IACHR. However, violence against communities persists. The mining company has declared that it will not cede. Several weeks have now passed and implementation of government's promise is still pending.

Proposal for action:
Please urge authorities to investigate the crime and to comply with the IACHR measures and impose the suspension of the Marlin project and send a letter to the President of Guatemala, with copies to the Presidential Commission on Human Rights and the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Please express your concern and ask for investigation and implementation of the precautionary measures in order to protect the human rights to food and water of the affected indigenous communities.

Context

On  July 7th, 2010 at 7:30 PM two unknown men entered the home of Diodora Hernández in the small community San José Nueva Esperanza in the village Maquivil, municipality of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and shot her in the head near her right eye, causing significant blood loss. After being transferred to a hospital in the capital where she underwent surgery on June 11th, she is in stable condition, but the consequences of the gun shot are still unknown.
On May 20th, 2010, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) ordered precautionary measures in favor of 18 Maya-Mam communities that had submitted a complaint to the Commission in 2007. The communities had reported that the Montana Exploradora mining company, subsidiary of the Canadian Goldcorp Inc., that operates the Marlin Mine, was committing human rights violations in the municipalities of San Miguel Ixtahuacán and Sipakapa in the San Marcos department. The IACHR ordered the Guatemalan government to take five precautionary measures to protect the village until the petition of the 18 communities could be fully investigated. Besides the suspension of the mining, the petition also called for the decontamination of water sources, attention to health problems, steps to safeguard life, and measures to protect the communities´ representatives.

The State of Guatemala has ratified Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization (ILO) on indigenous peoples' rights thereby recognizing that any proposal affecting the lives and territories of indigenous communities can only be carried out with the communities' free and informed consent. However, the State of Guatemala has not acknowledged the community consultations conducted so far in Guatemala that reveal the indigenous population´s almost unanimous rejection of open pit mining projects. At the June 18th, 2005 community consultation, 97 % of the Sipakapa people rejected the Marlin project. In 2010 the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Indigenous Peoples, James Anaya, and a Committee of Experts from the ILO declared that the government had granted the license to the Marlin mine without the free and informed consent of affected indigenous communities.
In the case of the Marlin project there is strong evidence demonstrating the project's negative impact on the right to food and water of the indigenous communities in question. These negative effects primarily occur because of the water pollution and the excessive use of water by the mine (45,000 liters per hour according to figures provided by the company). Monitoring studies conducted by the Commission on Peace and Ecology (COPAE) on the San Marcos Diocese indicate that the river water is contaminated with heavy metals. Moreover, a recent study published by the University of Michigan found toxic levels of metals in blood and urine samples taken from a group of people living in areas near the Marlin Mine. These toxins could endanger local residents' health as well as produce severe environmental destruction.
The implementation of the Marlin project has been accompanied by increasing social conflict and violence. Multiple attacks as well as intimidation of  human rights defenders, community representatives, researchers and people connected to the church, who have spoken out against the Marlin project have been documented. Currently open proceedings against eight women and five men are taking place, which international human rights organizations have considered as measures to criminalize social protest against the mine.

FIAN Mandate

Guatemala is state party to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights and the ILO Convention 169 on Indigenous Peoples' Rights. In the case of the Marlin project, violence, attacks and intimidations against persons who have spoken out against the Marlin project have been documented. The negative effects on the surrounding communities' rights to water, food and health are produced primarily by the contamination of the communities´ local water supply, and the mine´s excessive water use, which create a water shortage for the communities. The violation of the rights of indigenous peoples is based on the lack of respect for the indigenous population´s objections to the mine and the total disregard of the affected population´s right to free and informed consent in relation to the project.