The rule of law and environmental justice in Perú: lessons learned from the Choropampa mercury accident (página 2)

42 Forum non conveniens is the doctrine that an appropriate forum may divest itself of jurisdiction if, for the convenience of the litigants and the witness, it appears that the action should proceed in another forum in which the action might also have been properly brought in the first place. Black"s Law Dictionary (2004).

43 EarthRights International, Transnational Litigation Manual for Human Rights and Environmental Cases in United States Courts, Revised Second Edition, October 2006, http://www.earthrights.org/files/Reports/lit_manual_2nd_edition_2007.pdf, at 32.

44 NGOs like the National Resources Defense Council and the Sierra Club, for example, are extensively involved in litigating environmental issues in the form of citizen lawsuits and challenging weak regulations or weak enforcement of regulations. See, http://www.nrdc.org/ and http://www.sierraclub.org/environmentallaw/.

45 In the United States, companies must periodically disclose data about pollution they discharge into the waters of the United States under the Clean Water Act. 33 U.S.C. § 1342.

46 See IFC"s Policy and Performance Standards on Social and Environmental Sustainability, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group (2006) http://www.ifc.org/ifcext/enviro.nsf/Content/EnvSocStandards; IFC"s Disclosure of Information, International Finance Corporation, World Bank Group (2006) http://www.ifc.org/disclosurereview.. See also, Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative, http://www.eitransparency.org/.

47 Newmont participates in the United Nations Global Compact; the Sullivan Principles; the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights; the World Economic Forum's Partnering Against Corruption Initiative; the Global Business Coalition on HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria; and the International Cyanide Management Code. Newmont Sustainability Report 2006, http://www.beyondthemine.com/.%5C?l=2&pid=2&parent=9&id=29. Newmont prepared this report according to Global Reporting Initiative Guidelines, See Global Reporting Initiative, http://www.globalreporting.org.

48 See Newmont Sustainability Report 2006 at http://www.beyondthemine.com/?pid=3.

49 See Newmont Sustainability Report 2006 at http://www.beyondthemine.com/?pid=2.

50 Now & Beyond 2004: Minera Yanacocha, South America, http://www.newmont.com/en/pdf/nowandbeyond/NB2004-Yanacocha.pdf at 8.

51 In the Tambogrande case, in 1999 a gold deposit was discovered by Manhattan Minerals Corp, in the Tambogrande valley, well known by the quality of its lemons, producing a conflict between the national government and the company, both of which advocated for developing that deposit, and the Tambogrande community which opposed development of the mining business in the valley. Some time later, the community, with assistance by NGOs like Oxfam America, successfully stopped the development of mining operatation in the Tambogrande valley. In Tambogrande the environmental conflict was resolved with community organzing and advocacy before environmental harm occurred. In contrast, in the Choropampa case, the mercury release accident caused by Yanacocha truck contractor produced a social and environmental conflict between the community and the mine. The environmental and social outcomes, at this time, are unknown. On the social side, the community of Choropampa headed protests and strikes against the company and temporarily closed the access routes to the mine, receiving media national attention. On the legal side, one group of citizens settled the mining company and another group filed suit in U.S. federal court claiming tort damages.

Autor:

Sarah Johnson Phillips

Jorge L. Caceres

(To Publish at the Minnesota Journal of International Law) Fall 2008

Submitted November 16, 2007

Rule of Law Seminar