Toronto

Mayan Survivors of Mining Repression Visiting Toronto to Seek Justice Against Hudbays Minerals

Public Presentation

7:00pm
- 9:00pm
Wednesday November 28 2012

From the Rights Action website:

Participating in this event are five Mayan Qeqchi indigenous people from nickel mining harmed communities of El Estor, Guatemala. The five Mayan Qeqchi people are in Toronto (November 24-29, 2012) to participate with their lawyers in pre-trial cross-examinations with Hudbay Mineral’s lawyers.  These examinations are part of 3 civil negligence suits filed against Hudbay concerning the gang rape of eleven Qeqchi women in 2007, and the killing of Adolfo Ich and shooting/paralyzing of German Chub in 2009.

These are precedent setting legal cases in Canadian courts – that will hopefully help pierce the wall of impunity and immunity from legal accountability that Canadian resource extraction companies benefit from in Canada for crimes, human rights violations and environmental harms that their operations sometimes cause in other countries. From 2008-2011, Hudbay tried to operate a nickel mine that has been controversial in Guatemala since the 1970s when then Canadian mining giant INCO (International Nickel Company) operated the mine.  The 1999 United Nations Truth Commission documented that INCO (via its Guatemalan subsidiary EXMIBAL) colluded with the US-backed Guatemalan military regime in acts of repression in the 1970s and early 80s – including killings and disappearances – against the same Qeqchi population.

More info:     www.chocversushudbay.com      www.rightsaction.org

Film by MiningWatch Canada: INTERVIEW WITH MARIA CUC CHOC 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eprNmWV64I8 (6 minutes)

Event sponsored by: Rights Action, Climate Justice Group of Science for Peace, UNBC Guatemala Research Group, Canadian Dimension magazine, No One is Illegal, Latin American and Caribbean Solidarity Network, Mining Injustice Solidarity Network.