Human Rights: The Social Responsibility of Mining Companies and the Government

Canadian mining companies have been the subject of human rights violations in the

recent years. Organizations such as the Candian Center for International Justice, United Nations

(UN), Amnesty International, and Human Rights Watch along with various agencies and

organizations that are advocates of human rights have accused these companies of alarming

accounts of abduction, torture, rape, murder, and other criminal activities.

In 2018, Amnesty International claimed that there were 12 brutal killings in Guatemala,

all of which were either land or water defenders. These killings were allegedly linked to

Canadian mining companies and their subsidiaries. In connection to this, they hold the

Canadian government accountable for its negligence to supervise and address these accounts

of human rights violations. The allegations were strongly repudiated by these mining companies

in courts and in press releases. In fact, the Mining Association of Canada (MAC) insisted their

compliance to the laws that govern their business activities. In response to this, the

government directed the afflicted parties to where they can address their grievances. Global

Affairs Canada appointed the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise to lead

investigations of violations in human rights of the country’s businesses overseas. Even with

these, the cases of human rights violations were on a rise and aggrieved parties continually

endured such abuses. Critics highlighted the incompetence of the government to avert the

situation. Consequently, the public insisted on prosecuting those who are culpable and

demanded accountability from the parties involved.

Utilizing the Human Rights Principles of the United Nations, this paper will argue the

responsibility of the government and these mining companies to uphold the rights of the
people and their subordinates. In addition, this paper will unveil the failure of these mining

companies and the Canadian government to protect the rights of the workers and their

communities.

In 2001, the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights was formulated by the

United Nations’ Council for Human Rights. These principles are not mandatory but exist to

guide nations and companies all around the world to uphold human rights and avert any

violations of these by any form of business operations. These principles state the obligations

and liability of the State and its business enterprises to Protect, Respect, and Remedy.

Specifically, these principles compel all nations to protect everyone under their jurisdiction

and/or territory against any form of human rights abuse and violation as a result of business

corporations. The United Nations emphasizes that regardless of the complacency of the state in

upholding human rights, these corporations must abide by these duties. Hence, the business

enterprises and the State have individual responsibilities but must be coherent in observing and

implementing their duties. Furthermore, the UN Guiding Principles that in situations where

abuse has been caused or contributed by business corporations, it is their duty to mitigate and

remedy their actions. Therefore, mining companies are bound by their duty to protect their

employees and involved communities and prevent at all cost, any actions that may cause

violations of their human rights.

The mining industry is one of the sources of employment in Canada, with over 400,000

workers. It has made a $57.6 billion contribution to the Gross Domestic Product of the country

and is said to have made a $7.1 billion contribution to the Canadian government in 2017.

Mining companies and their vast amount of wealth and influence have an extensive hold over
the States where they operate. In 2017, MAC reported that Canadian mining companies were

involved in over 6,000 projects both local and overseas, with almost half of which are projects

estimated in 100 countries. In 2015, their total assets overseas had an overall value of $171

billion with most of their investments in Africa and South America. By 2016, these companies

have over $80 billion worth of assets in South America that is almost equal to the country’s

overall mineral assets. Thus, MAC’s Vice President for Economic and Northern Affairs, Brenda

Marshall, stated that mining companies have financially aided more than the Canadian

government itself in the economies of these developing countries. However, the increase in

gross domestic income does not exempt mining companies and other business enterprises in

their moral responsibility to conform with the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. That is,

freedom from any form of violation and injustice; freedom from work exploitation; and

freedom for one’s self development and actualization.

Marshall affirmed that they implement guidelines on human rights included in their

international initiatives, such as their “Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights.” This,

however, raised doubts in their 2017 Annual Report whereby only 12 out of their 17 members

signed in agreement to this initiative. In contrast, in June 2017, the UN Council for Business and

Human Rights released an alarming report on the state of human rights in Canada. In this

report, it claimed that Canada belongs to the top three countries in the world with affiliated

companies that threaten human rights defenders. This statement further directed that MAC

does not reiterate “due diligence” of human rights with its members.

A study called “The Canada Brand: Violence and Canadian Mining Companies in Latin

America.” was published in 2016 by York University. This study claimed that South America had
the highest number of human rights violations through the course of the year 2000 until 2015.

Among the 44 deaths, 403 protest injuries, 709 illegal arrests and detention, 28 of which

involved Canadia companies. These violations were widespread among 14 South American

countries, most notably in Guatemala, El Salvador, and Mexico. Those subjected to such

violations were mine workers, community leaders, journalists, union leaders, indigenous

people, police and military personnel, as well as civilians like women and children.

An account of human rights violations from the years 2008 to 2012 was reported by the

Human Rights Watch whereby Nevsun Resources Ltd, a Canadian company subjected almost

1,000 workforce of the The Eritrea National Service employees to force labor on Bisha

mines.The Canadian Center for International Justice (CCIJ) is an independent law organization

that stood as defendant for the victims accused Nevsun Resources Ltd of evading prosecution

by use of influence with its subsidiaries that acted as “firewall” to avoid liability. On the other

hand, Nevsun denied the claims and stated that the abuses were unknown by them, further

claiming that the ownership structure was a usual business practice done for varied reasons.

Nevsun further contended that the case should be prosecuted in Eritrea, which has its own

operating court system, and not in Canada. This was strongly disagreed by the UN,stating that

Eritrea is faced with overt human rights violations with its courts lacking the rule of law.

Human rights violations related to land evictions were also rampant. In 2009, Aldolfo

Ich, was killed by a gunshot wound on his head. He was a Mayan community leader, whose life

was taken by the chief of security of Fenix Mining Project, a subsidiary of Hudbay Inc., a

Candian enterprise. On that same day, the same personnel of Judbay Inc. attacked German

Chub Choc, another Mayan community leader. He survived the attack but was left paralyzed.
Furthermore, In 2017, nine of its security personnel of Hudbay Inc. allegedly gang raped eleven

women of a Mayan community. Susan Peña, a Valenzuelan lawyer who worked on the case,

stated that two of the women were pregnant at the time of these assaults, that resulted to

their miscarriage. In line with these cases, the CEO and president of Hudbay Inc., now known as

Skye Resources, claimed that they exhausted all their power and resources to see to it that the

evictions were implemented in the best possible way while upholding human rights. The

evictions were repudiated by the Constitutional Court of Guatemala stating that the Mayan

communities have legal rights over the disputed lands.

Some of the victims of these accounts of violations had no legal alternatives at the time

of the incidents. Thus, it is the responsibility of the Canadian companies and these mining

companies to provide remediation to those inflicted by the abuse. These accounts strengthen

the need for adherence of these companies to the rule of law, especially that it's the same rule

of law that they can operate to their interest. Furthermore, victims of abuse are forever

“transformed” as told by Alam Whitehorn, the author of the book “Laying out the Bare Bones of

Genocide.” In his book, he narrates what victims experience as a result of an assault, “The

denigration, the stigma, the pain, the loss, the violence, the death of so many of their kin, and

the forced relocation—all take a terrible toll. The lack of protection by others. The painful and

seemingly endless quest for justice. They despair at the inadequacy and slowness of the legal

systems.”

Violation of human rights in pursuit of economic gains is not an uncommon practice in

developing countries. Because of this, the UN argues that companies and their subsidiaries

practice due diligence to recognize and control activities and their impact on human rights. This
supervision extends to company operations, products, and networks. In addition, companies

must inform those who will most likely be affected by their operations of any repercussions. In

other words, open communication among stakeholders is important to provide balance and

equal protection of interest and well-being for both mining companies and the affected host

communities.

In recent years, more and more business enterprises recognize the concept of

“corporate social responsibility,” wherein business is not bound to mere profits and gains but

can also be perceived as a venue to pursue amicable relationships, unity, goals and service for

humanity. One of the modern approaches to ensure this is practice, is by having a multi-

dimensional assessment of the company’s performance in terms of economic, environmental,

and social. Reports of company performance should be more elaborate with higher levels of

transparency in all activities and aspects of performance. All stakeholders involved in global

businesses such as the mining business, must be actively engaged in “ethical dialogues.” where

proper business boundaries and behavior are reiterated. This creates an open medium of

communication, with input coming from all concerned stakeholders.

On the other hand, the UN urges the government of each state to uphold their duty in

protecting every person’s human rights. That is, laws and regulations must be effectively

implemented to prevent any abuse related to business enterprises. The UN stated that even

with the existence of courts, human rights commissions and tribunals, victims of human rights

violations related to company operations continue to struggle due to failure of remedy

provisions. Therefore, the UN strongly urges each state to have a plan of remediation that is

accessible for victims of any form of business-related human rights violations. As one of the
countries that ratified these international laws by the UN, Canada is legally bound to abide by

these laws. For instance, Canadian government enacted the “Extractive Sector Transparency

Measures Act” more commonly called ESTMA. This law obliges mining companies to report all

labor pay made to any employee within the country as well as overseas. There is a lack of

recognition and implementation of this law as evident in the 2017 MAC’s annual report where

it failed to disclose payments made to foreign labor force since 2015.

The government clearly needs to have strict regulation of the companies’ activities and

monitor the fulfillment of their obligations. On the other hand, mining companies must follow

said protocols. The synergy of both stakeholders will safeguard the conditions and well-being of

overseas workers and may create improvements— such as increase in wages and opportunities,

more conducive working conditions, protection of ancestral lands of indigenous communities

and their environment. Stakeholders must prioritize these factors to avoid disputes that

eventually cause violations of human rights.

In conclusion, upholding human rights equates to respect for humanity and dignity of

every person. Labor work force and communities should not be viewed as commodities. Hence,

mining companies and their subsidiaries must value human life over economic gains and

interest. They are compelled to be knowledgeable of these rights and protect them all

throughout their operations. In order to commit to this, companies must have policies and

processes that are dedicated to monitor and report all activities related to human resources and

their conditions. Meanwhile, the Canadian government must ensure adherence and

accountability from companies in all aspects of their operations.

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