Ecuador: Ecuadorians Lose Appeal In Lawsuit Against Canadian Mining Company And TSX - Canadian law continues to fail communities harmed by Canadian mining overseas http://indigenouspeoplesissues.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10146:ecuador-ecuadorians-lose-appeal-in-lawsuit-against-canadian-mining-company-and-tsx&catid=53:south-america-indigenous-peoples&Itemid=75

Court of Appeal for Ontario dismissed an appeal by Ecuadorian campesinos who say they were assaulted by security forces hired on behalf of a Canadian mining company in their native Ecuador.Marcia Ramírez, Polivio Peréz and Israel Peréz had sued Canadian mining company Copper Mesa Mining Corporation and two of its directors as well as the Toronto Stock Exchange, which the Ecuadorians say listed the mining company on its stock exchange after having been warned that money from the listing would lead to violence. Ramírez, Peréz and Peréz had appealed an earlier decision that dismissed their lawsuit. In the ruling, the Court recognized that "[t]he threats and assaults alleged by the plaintiffs are serious wrongs. Nothing in these reasons should be taken as undermining the plaintiffs' rights to seek appropriate redress for those wrongs", but nonetheless ruled against the Ecuadorians."I know Marcia, Polivio and Israel will be disappointed that no one will be held accountable for the violent attacks they endured at the hands of the Canadian mining industry," said Murray Klippenstein, legal counsel for the Ecuadorians.

"Armed men linked to Canadian mining company Copper Mesa came into their community and attacked them. The directors of Copper Mesa based in Toronto were shown photographs of this attack. You would think at the very least, that when directors of a Canadian corporation have been warned and given evidence that company personnel are assaulting people, they would have to do something to stop further violence. The Court said that under Canadian law, directors don't have to do anything whatsoever. When you think about it, this is a disturbing state of affairs. Do Canadians really want to have their legal system on the one hand authorize Canadian mining companies to go abroad to developing countries, and then on the other hand totally absolve the directors in Canada of any responsibility whatsoever for human rights abuses those companies may perpetrate there?"

[also see...Canada's Mining Crimes | http://mostlywater.org/canadas_mining_crimes and see..ANNOUNCEMENT OF LAWSUIT AGAINST MAJOR CANADIAN MINING COMPANY RELATING TO MURDER OF MAYAN LEADER IN LATIN AMERICA http://siga-adelante.blogspot.com/2010/11/announcement-of-lawsuit-against-major.html