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