wfn.org | Indigenous statement

[mr@wcc-coe.org]

World Council of Churches
Press Release
For Immediate Use
8 August, 1997

On behalf of the Indigenous Planning Committee (IPC) of "Mining and
Indigenous Peoples", the World Council of Churches (WCC) is pleased to
release the following statement:

INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES UNDER THREAT IN MINING HOTSPOTS

In May 1996 an international consultation on mining and Indigenous
Peoples was held in London. Indigenous representatives from
twenty-four countries met to coordinate their response to the increasing
encroachment onto their lands by multinational mining corporations. An
Indigenous Planning Committee (IPC) was born.

At the end of  the consultation, the IPC published a list of mining Hotspots
- areas of immediate concern to Indigenous Peoples. It decided to release
a new or up-dated list each year to coincide with the International Day of
the World s Indigenous Peoples.

August 9 is International Day of the World s Indigenous Peoples.

Below is the 1997 list of Hotspots. It shows clearly that Indigenous
Nations and Communities continue to be threatened by the operations of
state and transnational mining corporations.

Papua New Guinea:
- The Misima Gold Mines submarine tailings system has been damaged by
a failure of the natural underseas slope which supports part of the
pipeline system. Misima Mines Pty Ltd is a joint venture of Placer Pacific
(80%) and Orogen Minerals Ltd (20%). The submarine tailing system is
continuing despite the damage which, of course, poses a significant risk
to the marine environment.

- The Lihir Gold Mine, with a similar submarine tailing system, which is
expected to produce 175,000 ounces of gold in 1997, threatens the
ecological marine environment in the same way. Lihir Island, and other
groups of islands nearby, have deposits of gold; but they also have one
of  the world s most diverse marine ecologies, with a vast array of flora
and fauna - all now at risk for profit.

- The Bougainville crisis continues. In 1996 the-then government of
Papua New Guinea and some of its ministers attempted to buy shares in
CRA/RTZ.  The government ministers had signed a contract for the
services of Sandline International, a British-registered company with links
to a South African-based international mercenary group, Executive
Outcomes. The idea  was that the foreign troops would quell the rebellion
on Bougainville and the mine would be able to re-open. Their scheme
failed after twelve days of public protest, when the mercenaries were
sent away and the former government s actions were subjected to a
public enquiry. The issue developed with the arrest of NGO, church and
union leaders, suspected of being responsible for the public protest.
NGO leaders Jonathan Orata, John Napu, John Kawowo and Powes
Parkop were among those arrested. Their case is still pending and they
will appear for trial on August 29.

- The Ok Tedi Mining Company (OTML) is continuing to pump sediment
into the Fly River to ease the effect of the tailings. Another option, the
"dredging trial", is part of the company s plan to reduce the effects of
mine waste and tailings. However it is still destroying the environment
because the overbank flooding has caused nearby trees to lose their
leaves and, in some cases, to die. 

- The Freeport McMoran/RTZ mining company continues to have a
devastating effect on the Amungme and Kamoro peoples in West Papua. 
The Grasberg opencast mine lies in the forested hills of West Papua and
exploits gold and copper deposits that are among the largest in the
world. The mine is operated by an Indonesian subsidiary of  the US
company, Freeport McMoran, and first began production over 20 years
ago. In the past year no concrete measures have been taken to punish 
those responsible for the human rights abuses which have been
reported in the area. Tom Beannal, an Amungme chief, filed a suit against
the company in the US courts,  charging Freeport with eco-terrorism
amongst other charges. The situation around the mine is currently tense,
partly because of  the dominant presence of the military in the area. A
number of riots have occurred this year.

The Philippines
- On March 6, 1995 the Philippine government enacted the Philippine
Mining Act of 1995.  This was hailed by the Chamber of Mines as the
needed shot- in-the-arm for the country s ailing mining industry. To the
Filipino people it meant a sell-out of the country s patrimony and the
surrender of its sovereignty over its land. To the Indigenous Peoples of 
the Philippines, the act is yet a further addition to the many laws that
intensify their oppression. The act epitomised the interest of 
transnational mining companies to exploit the country s natural resources
in the guise of development. In reality, the government enacted the law
as part of  the process of liberalising the country s mining industry. This
paved the way for the entry of transnational companies, allowing them
100% control of their local subsidiaries through a new mineral agreement
with the government, called the Financial or Technical Assistance
Agreement (FTAA). At present there are already 120 FTAA applications
and 1,450 Mineral Production Sharing Agreement applications, covering a
total of 15 million hectares, most located in Indigenous areas. The
government is facilitating the approval of  these applications by setting up
a Technical Committee, which houses all the government agencies, from
approval  to setting up operations, under one roof.  However, mining
companies continue to push for even more concessions.

Russia
- The Teleut people of the Kemerovo region, Russian Federation, are
seriously  affected by  the open-cast mining activities of the
State-owned ROSUGOL. All 2'500 Teleut live in five villages surrounded
by the mining development, in what can only be described as a
dangerous situation. In 1994 several Teleut families requested the
government of the Russian Federation and the regional bodies to help
them move their families from the constant danger. Such measures are
needed to help preserve this Indigenous Community from extinction.
However, to date, the Teleuts have receievd no assistance from either
the government or regional bodies.

Canada
- Small Boy s Camp, a Cree Indigenous group in the Rocky Mountain
foothills of Western Canada, are fighting against a proposed large
open-pit coal mine called "Cheviot".  Luscar, a US mining interest,
proposes to strip-mine an area 32 kms long and 2 kms wide. The mine
will disrupt the water, animals and environment of a very sensitive area.
The headwaters of two major river systems begin their journey to the
Arctic and Atlantic Oceans from this point. The mine has already
received the go-ahead from a federal/provincial environmental review
panel. 

- The threat of a diamond mine on their traditional territory continues for
the Denendeh (Dene Territory, Northwest Territories Canada). BHP plans
will seriously affect the supply of caribou, which the Denendeh rely on
for food. Caribou migration patterns will be seriously disrupted.

USA
- The Timbisha Shoshone Tribe of California, who now have no land
base, have legally opposed the C.R.Briggs Mining Project (Canyon
Resources, Boulder, Colorado) which is threatening their entire
eco-system. The tribe has lost 27 lawsuits because the courts have said
their issues were "moral" rather than "factual". The Timbisha s traditional
summer home, the Panamint Mountain Range, will now  be the location of
C.R. Brigg s open-pit cyanide-heap leach gold mine. Canyon Resource s
president, Richard DeVoto, anticipates that gold production and revenues
will be the "highest ever" This mining project will destroy centuries of
tribal cultural and spritual resources and will destroy ancient
underground aguifers important to the tribe and to the enviornment.

- In March 1996, Oro Nevada Resources, a newly-formed Canadian
mining company, began exploring for gold around the Dann Home in
Crescent Valley, Nevada. In May of the same year the company
purchased all the private land surrounding the Dann family home and
leased surrounding public lands from the US government. The company
began exploratory drilling immediately, adjacent to a hot spring used for
bathing and spiritual/cultural purposes. The company refused to honour
Western Shoshone requests, including a tribal resolution from Ely
Shoshone tribe, to stay clear of the area.

- Exxon continues with its proposal to develop a zinc-copper sulphide
deposit at the headwaters of the Wolf River in Forest County, Wisconsin.
The proposed mine is within a few miles of the Mole Lake Chippewa, the
Menominee, and the Potawatomi Reservations. All three reservations,
along with the nearby Stockridge-Munsee, Oneida and Ho-Chunk
(Winnebago) Nations are opposing the mine. It will be one of  the largest
zinc-copper mines in North America. Over its lifetime it would generate
about 44 million tons of waste, half of which would be dumped into a
tailings pond 90 feet tall and covering 355 acres - the largest toxic
waster dump in Wisconsin. The tailings will produce sulphuric acid that
further breaks down and releases poisonous heavy metals such as
mercury, lead, arsenic and cadmium. The resulting pollution, called acid
mine drainage, represents a long- term threat to the Swamp Creek Basin
and the Wolf and Wisconsin Rivers.

- On May 10, 1997, Daniel Benally, his wife and their family, of the
Hopi-Dine Nation,  were arrested for protesting, in order to protect their
traditional grazing land from bulldozers expanding coal stockpiles from
the Black Mesa Mine.  The mine is on a 40,000-acre lease held by
Peabody Western Coal Company. Traditional Dine and Hopi continue to
protest and file complaints on this use of their land and related health
problems.

South America
- The community of Nieuw Koffiekamp in Surinam is presently facing
short-term relocation (possibly by force) to make way for a gold mine to
be owned by Golden Star Resources, based in the United States, and
Cambior Inc. of Montreal.  Nieuw Koffiekamp was not consulted about
the granting of the concession, and the companies have stated that they
are not willing to recognise that the community has the right to give or
withhold consent to relocation. Golden Star and Cambior are the
companies responsible for the OMAI mine disaster in Guyana in August
1995. This resulted in 3-4 billion cubic litres of cyanide-laced waste being
dumped into the Essequibo river, severely disrupting the lives of
Indigenous Communities living  downstream.  In Surinam, the companies
are using the same  contractor to build the tailings dam, and intend to
release treated tailing effluent directly into a major riverway on which a
number of  Indigenous and Tribal Communities depend.

- On May 7, 1997 the President of Venezuela signed a decree opening
the 3.5 million acre "Imataca" Forest Reserve to large scale gold and
diamond mining. "Imataca" is home to the Pemon, Karina, Warao,
Arawaku and Akawaio Indigenous Peoples. There is no state recognised
land rights of these peoples in that territory. The decree is part of a
national mining-led development plan. Despite national protests, including
violent encounters with miners in the Amazon, over 2000 international
mining companies have applied for concessions, including Placer Dome
and Freeport.

- The Colombian government authorization of an environmental license to
prospect and exploit the oil fields on behalf of Oxy, in the U wa sacred
territory, is a threat of cultural extermination of the U wa Community. The
U wa Indigenous People of this region were neither consulted, nor were
their authorities taken into consideration. This authorization was not done
under the guidelines set out in national legislation nor were the
international agreements, such as Convention 169 of the ILO, respected.-
In the province of Pichincha, Ecuador, the government has granted
mining concessions in the midst of Indigenous Communities, to
transnational mining companies. The Indigenous People of  this region
managed to halt the prospecting process, but now  the Indigenous
leaders are being persecuted by an order of detention issued by a judge.

- In the parish of Moyeturo, province of Azuay, Ecuador, the mining
transnational company RTZ has been granted ninety thousand hectares
of Indigenous Land. Today the inhabitants of the communities face critical
difficulties.

- In the province of Bolivar, Ecuador, studies on mineral resources are
being processed by several companies. At the same time the military
have established a post in the Salinas region where, a year ago, the
Indigenous communities expelled RTZ. Today, Indigenous Communities
are worried about the military s real intentions.

Contact numbers:

For general comment on the whole text:
Sharon Venne: tel: +1-403-487 4385
Bob Scott Tel: +41-22-791 6211 or 755 10 34

For Papua New Guinea: ICRAF, Port Moresby. Tel: 675-326 2469; fax
326 0273
For West Papua: Leonie Tanggahma, Amsterdam: Tel: 31 30 23 22 89;
fax 24 00 839
For Philippines: Bong Corpuz, MCDC, Baguio City, Tel: 63-74-442 287
For Russia (in Russian): Mikhail Todyshev, Novokuznetsk, Tel: 7-3843-47
27 94
For Venezuela: Federacion de Indigenas del Estado Bolivar: Tel:
85-21586 25730
For Western Shoshone, USA: Western Shoshone Defence Project:
1-702-468 0230
For Mole Lake Chippewa, USA (and other US  Hotspots ): Mineral Policy
Centre: 
Tel:1-202-887 1872
For Canada: Sharon Venne: tel: 1-403-487 4385
For Surinam: Forest Peoples  Programme Tel: 597-403 360;
Email"lilian@sr.net"
For Ecuador: Arturo Yumbay: tel:  (593-2) 248 930 - Fax (593-2) 442 271
 
   

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