EconomicsCanada/DRCongo: Mining Company: 8 year delay by Anvil Mining, Ltd to pay victims
I'm musing on this one r+t now. Hmmmmm. What do Congolese -- presumably of the Democratic Republic of Congo [not of Congo Republic (Brazzaville) — It proves later that my presumption was quite factually incorrect, as well, as you see I must reverse the order to "presumably of the Congo Republic (Brazzaville), not the DRCongo (Kinshasa)] — What do Congolese have to do with Canadian mining companies operating in Congo Republic Brazzaville? Well, I must modulate my question, what have Congolese either of the African national capital cities Kinshasa or Brazzaville to do with Anvil Mining Limited? -- a company once operating out of Montréal, Québec, but now apparently in the process of being absorbed into its new mothership, Minmetals Resources Ltd., which is a China-controlled company with head offices in Australia. Minmetals Resources acquired Anvil earlier in March for $1.3 billion.
— EconoMix
Congolese raise
mining lawsuit
in Supreme Court
of Canada
Posted: Mar 26, 2012 10:01 AM ET
Last Updated: Mar 26, 2012 9:59 AM ET
— reposted here by EconoMix (Mar26,2k12)
Human-rights groups are turning to Canada's highest court in their effort to sue a Canadian mining company on behalf of the victims of a massacre in Congo.
The Canadian Association Against Impunity, a coalition of human rights groups and non-governmental organizations, filed a last-ditch plea to the Supreme Court of Canada on Monday.
The groups allege that Anvil Mining Limited provided logistical support to the Congolese military who raped and murdered people as it crushed a rebel uprising in 2004, killing as many as 100 people in the port city of Kilwa.
That support allegedly included planes, trucks and drivers instrumental in ending the conflict. The port was key to the operation of a copper mine, the exit point for $500,000 worth of copper and silver every day.
Nearly eight years later, victims' relatives say they have no choice but to turn to Canadian courts.
"We've been fighting for years and what we want is justice," Dickay Kunda said Sunday in a phone interview from Congo. "Our wish is to have Canada help us get justice."
Kunda says his 22-year-old sister, Dorcas, died after being raped by soldiers. His father, a policeman, was badly beaten and tortured while in military custody. He never recovered and died in November 2009.
Anvil Mining, which had offices in Montreal but has since been acquired by another mining company, has denied any culpability in the Kilwa incidents and said logistical support was requested by authorities.
The civil suit has been making its way through the courts for some time.
In January, Quebec's Court of Appeal overturned a 2011 lower-court ruling that had paved the way for it to be heard in Canada.
The appeal court ruled that Anvil's Montreal office was not involved in any of the decision-making that led to a massacre, making it inappropriate to hear the case in Quebec.
It also ruled that victims could have sought justice in Congo or Australia, where the company also operated.
Last April, a lower-court judge had rejected the notion that the links between Quebec and Anvil were insufficient.
If the Supreme Court decides to hear the case, advocates say the ruling could have major implications on whether Canadian companies can be held accountable for their involvement in human rights violations committed abroad.
"I think this case is a really important one and the facts that we've alleged are so stark that it really is the kind of case a Canadian court needs to hear," said Matt Eisenbrandt, legal director for the Canadian Centre for International Justice, one of the NGOs involved.
"It can really set the ground rules for whether corporations can be sued when they are involved in human rights violations."
A Chinese company called Minmetals Resources Ltd., with headquarters in Australia, acquired Anvil earlier in March for $1.3 billion.
Sally Cox, a company spokeswoman, denied any wrongdoing on Anvil's behalf.
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