CPTnet
30 November 2006

MONTREAL, CANADA: Government Roundtable on Extractive Industries told
Canadian corporations benefit from human rights abuses in Colombia

On 14 November 2006, in Montreal, CPTer Robert Holmes (CSJ) presented the
case of the Colombian military's assassination of southern Bolívar Mining
Federation leader, Alejandro Uribe, to the last of four National Roundtables
on Corporate Social Responsibility and the Canadian Extractive Sector in
Developing Countries.

Canada's Grosso Group is currently seeking licensing for gold exploration in
this region where 30,000 artisanal miners are struggling to protect their
livelihoods from foreign corporations. Grosso Group is only one of a number
of Canadian mining companies investing in Colombia, however. A 23 October
2006, report in the Northern Miner indicated that the number of Canadian
juniors* operating in Colombia increases by 1.4 companies a month. Trade
commissioner Fernando Vargas was quoted as saying, "There are over fifty
Canadian juniors active in Colombia, which has doubled since last year."

CPT-Colombia is concerned that such companies benefit from human rights
abuses committed by armed actors in mining zones. "It is important that the
Canadian government impress upon Canadian corporations," said Father Holmes,
"that there are indeed three bottom lines to their investments in developing
countries: the financial, the environmental and the social. In the South of
Bolivar, artisanal mining is a political reality and any multinational
mining corporation will need to have a social license from the local
communities if the operation is to be successful."

Just returned from accompanying the small miners' mass mobilization in the
southern Bolívar town of Santa Rosa, Holmes told the expert panel in
Montreal that the leaders of the miners' federation were demanding "truth,
justice and compensation for Alejandro Uribe's family, and protection of
their territory and livelihoods." He recommended that Canadian companies
"demonstrate that their presence is not based on the suppression of local
enterprises by state or other armed groups and that their activities will
improve the economic condition of the local communities."

Further, he argued that "Canada should establish clear legal norms to ensure
that Canadian companies are held accountable when there is evidence of
environmental and/or human rights violations associated with the activities
of Canadian companies in countries abroad, especially countries in conflict,
such as Colombia."

Following the Roundtable, Holmes commented that "it's really good news the
government is at least listening to civil society." Other participants,
including Dr. Catherine Coumans of Mining Watch Canada, were heartened that
the Montreal Roundtable took place just after the United Kingdom passed the
first bill requiring British companies to file public reports on the social
and environmental impacts of their activities. Activists see the UK bill as
a significant step towards other international laws regulating corporate
activity.

CPT's Colombia team has become increasingly involved in documenting evidence
of militarized commerce in the goldfields of southern Bolívar, and sharing
this evidence with like-minded organizations lobbying for greater corporate
responsibility. The team will lead an international delegation to the
mining zone in January.

*smaller companies, often without an operating mine, who explore for mines
and then sell their interest in the mines for a profit