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Act on abuses, Papua New Guinea activists plea

by BJ SiekierskiiPolitics.ca

A pair of Papua New Guinean activists are in Ottawa for a fourth time hoping a recent report will help them succeed where earlier pleas have failed.

�Once again, I have made the long trip from my home in Porgera, Papua New Guinea to tell Canadian people and the Canadian government about the ongoing human rights abuses at Barrick Gold�s Porgera Joint Venture mine,� said Jethro Tulin, executive officer of the Akali Tange Association, a grass roots human rights group.

Tulin, and Porgera Landowner�s Association chairman Mark Ekepa joined Mining Watch Canada, Thursday, to highlight abuses and environmental ruination linked to Barrick Gold�s mining operations in their region.

The abuses include alleged killings, beatings, and rapes perpetrated by security forces at the Canadian company�s Pongera Joint Venture mine.

Up until recently those allegations had fallen on deaf ears, but in February, a Human Rights Watch report compelled the company to react publically.

�Barrick condemns these alleged crimes in the strongest possible terms and wishes to see anyone involved brought to justice under PNG law,� their February 1 statement read.

�These allegations run contrary to everything we stand for as a company firmly committed to protecting human rights and human dignity.�

Catherine Coumans, who heads the Asia-Pacific program at Mining Watch Canada, said Barrick has made some positive changes � such as adding a new women�s liaison officer to whom victims of sexual assault can report their cases, but that a recent rape inside the mine site by Barrick security forces doesn�t bode well.

She�s also frustrated by how long it has taken to get the company�s attention. Tulin and Ekepa addressed three of Barrick�s last four annual meetings, and would�ve spoken again this year if it weren�t for a visa delay.

�They�ve been telling Barrick�s shareholders and the board of directors directly that these rapes were going on, and consistently they were told that these people were making outrageous statements,� Tulin said.

Ekepa is also extremely upset about comments Barrick Chairman Peter Munk made in a Globe and Mail article on February 18. In that article Munk said it would be impossible to police the behavior of 5,550 employees, particularly in countries where �gang rape is a cultural habit.�

In an open letter to Munk, Ekepa wrote, �Gang Rape is a new phenomenon to us since your mine arrived.�

Thursday, however, Ekepa�s focus was the millions of tons of tailings and suspended sediments from waste rock piles that are dumped directly into nearby valleys and rivers.

�Just within the past two months, three of our young people have died by drowning in the waste flowing around the mine site,� he said. �Our waters are contaminated, our land is degraded by the mine, and we don�t have enough land left to grow our food.�

To make matters worse, Ekepa said, the Ipili are constantly threatened by the mine�s security forces and government troops supporting the mine. Some of these troops, known as �mobile units,� have been accused by Amnesty International of burning down local people�s houses.

Tulin accused Barrick of housing, feeding, and providing these units with fuel and stipends.

Their protests have already born fruit in Norway, where the government divested its pension fund of $230 million worth of Barrick shares.

Ekepa and the Porgera Landowners� Association are asking Barrick to resettle all landowners living in the mine area. To date, the company has resettled some, but refuses to carry out a complete relocation.

The Canadian government has no authority to investigate Canadian companies operating abroad. Liberal MP John McKay tabled a bill last year which would�ve given the government that authority, but it was defeated by six votes in the House last October.

 

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