1. Work we are doing

In early 2001 we were contacted by a human rights activist in Honduras who was concerned by the proliferation of gold mines in Honduras and the lack of environmental controls of these mines. He contacted the Center and also a Harvard environmental scientist about possible assistance. We began working with him and with another non-governmental organisation based in Honduras to document some of what was happening and to analyse the situation to determine if there were human rights violations. From our initial contact it appeared there were definite issues relating to the right to health, the right to self determination and the right to an adequate standard of living.

Using UN mechanisms

In February 2001 CESR committed to writing a report for the United Nations International Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights documenting the human rights violations in the gold mining industry in two particular mines in Honduras. As you know, this Committee meets 3 times a year and reviews countries who have ratified the Convention on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights to see how they are complying with their obligations. Every 5 years each country which has ratified the Convention must submit a report detailing how it ensures the rights of its citizens. Non governmental organizations can also submit reports with a different version of the facts from the Government’s. The Committee was scheduled to review Honduras in April 2001. While the Committee has relatively recently developed a General Comment on the right to health, article 12, the issue of environmental protection and human rights violations is a relatively new one for the Committee.

In preparation for the report I visited Honduras and met with community members, government officials, environmental agencies, mining officials, the department for the promotion of mining and the Environmental Ombudsman. I visited one of the mines extracting gold.

Key concerns

The fact finding mission revealed substantial human rights violations in the areas of:

Self determination, right to favorable work conditions, right to an adequate standard of living and the right to health and a healthy environment.

The Gold mining industry is dominated by mostly Canadian, USA and Australian mining companies. Since the 1970s a new technique has been developed using cyanide for gold mining. This new technique means that mines which were previously not considered profitable are being opened. The technique used in gold mining involves creating a large open pit, taking out rock, crushing it, and then sprinkling cyanide solution on the crushed rock. The cyanide bonds with the gold in the crushed rock and is channeled into collection pools. The gold is then removed. It takes several hundred tonnes of ore to produce small quantities of gold.

Cyanide is highly toxic. A teaspoon of 2% cyanide solution can kill a person. The cyanide solution in the mines is recycled but ultimately loses its value. The question then remains of what to do with the cyanide-laden water. In Honduras, cyanide contaminated waters have been released into river systems. The process also releases heavy metals into the atmosphere, river systems and the soil.

Two of the key problems of mines across the world are:- they use a lot of ater and water is scarce and precious, and secondly, they frequently occupy agricultural land depriving people of a means of subsistence. Both these problems are seen in Honduras.

San Andres

Some of the problems with the mine at San Andres include:

In order to build a mine in that area, the community was forced to relocate. The community states that it felt pressured to relocate. The people waited for years for the legal title to their houses. They were not consulted about the type of housing or design of the new community. This means that the houses do not have a plot of land around them for small food crops and raising animals which is the traditional style. (story about how the last family with the boy on the top of the water tank)

Another community, San Miguel which is located close to the mine, has a house within 42 metres of the cyanide heap leaching pad. This is the area where cyanide is sprinkled onto the rock. People in that town complain of increased skin and respiratory diseases. They also complain of high levels of dust generated by the rock crushing machine. They are worried about the long term effects on their health of living so close to cyanide. A later development in this community is that now the mining company wants to extend the heap leaching pad and is paying individual sums of money to households for them to abandon their houses. They are moving, their community is being destroyed and they accept this in the hope that they can find work in the cities. This is highly unlikely as they are unskilled country people and it is more likely that they will become poorer and will join the queues of people seeking jobs and housing in the city.

Another community closely situated to the mine is perched on top of the mountain which is being excavated for gold. The houses in the community shake every time there is an explosion and there are cracks in their houses. These community members are also required to walk through the mine to get to their community. The road is used constantly by huge trucks which have killed domestic animals.

The mine in the Valle de Siria consumes large quantities of water and sand. The water is taken from the ground water reserves. Sand has been removed from nearby rivers. The communities have remarked on the lower levels of water in the river. There are no limits on the amount of water which the mine can use and the use of sand was initially uncontrolled. Currently the mine has sunk 5 additional wells and the communities surrounding the mine are literally running out of water. The mine, disingenuously claims no responsibility for the depletion of water resources as it is using sub-contractors to extract the water. This means that anyone who has the capital to get a water truck has invested in a water truck and is sinking a well in their back garden to extract water. The mine has completely distorted the traditional way of life, agriculture and creates division in the community as some get rich quick, others get badly paying security jobs in the mine, and others get poorer.

Structural problems: the law itself

The General Mining Law came into force in 1999. The stated aim of the law is to create favourable conditions for foreign investment in the process of reconstruction following Hurricane Mitch.

It gives wide sweeping powers to mining companies with ineffective environmental protections or provision for people to participate in decisions which affect their health.

Mining companies are required to conduct an Environmental Impact Study when seeking a mining license. However it is the mining company who chooses who will conduct the study and pays for the study. The government reviews the study but does not conduct its own study. This Environmental Impact Study, then provides the basis for the environmental controls on the mine. Neither the community at San Andres or near the Valle de Siria mine had any participation in this process. When asked whether the people should be consulted, a government official replied “Why consult peasants, they are illiterate and there would be anarchy”. The community is supposed to be given 15 days to object to a mining license being granted. But most don’t even know when a company has applied for a license as it is only advertised once in a newspaper which doesn’t even get delivered to some of these communities.