In Brief: Extraction Shorts International Mining Abuses Continue Unabated http://www.dominionpaper.ca/articles/3871

Bill C-300, the “Responsible Mining Bill” introduced in the wake of a damning 2007 report on the Canadian mining industry’s environmental and human rights record, was defeated during its third reading in Canadian Parliament.Although the bill was criticized for potential “interference” with the “sovereignty” of developing nations, Canada is simultaneously pursuing C4A, a bloc trade agreement with several Central American countries that would mostly likely override national sovereignty on environmental issues.

A subsidiary of Canadian corporation Pacific Rim is already suing the government of El Salvador for millions of dollars under a related agreement (the Central American Free Trade Agreement) for enforcing environmental regulationsMeanwhile, repression of those reporting on Canadian mining interests abroad is on the rise.Amnesty International issued an urgent action alert in January regarding death threats received by human rights lawyer Hector Berríos on January 23, 2011. Three anti-mining activists were killed in his region of Cabanas, El Salvador, in 2009.

Elsewhere, Guatemala is ramping up a “war on drugs” and has suspended civil liberties in areas in which anti-mining organizing is prevalent. In the Philippines, a broadcast journalist covering mining company abuses was recently shot dead. In Papua, New Guinea, police recently began arresting employees of Barrick Gold on charges of rape against Indigenous women near the Porgera mine.At home, awareness of mining abuses is growing, especially among students. In January, protests were held at Simon Fraser University in Vancouver, and a series of anti-mining events began at the University of Toronto—alleging links between human rights abuses and increasing academic interference by mining companies within the university.

[F### AMNESTY INETRNTAIONAL,I MYSELF REVEALED THIS,AS DID ''CISPES ORGANIZATION'' AND MANY OTHER REAL CREDIBLE GROUPS DEALING WITH ANTI MINING ISSUES IN CENTRAL AMERICA AND LATIN AMEIRCA IN GENERAL,AI HAS ZERO CREDIBILITY ITS A GLOBALIST FRONT HIJACKING HUMAN RIGHTS CAUSES,AND ITS NOT WORTHY OF ANY REFERENCE,IN MY OPINION..SEE MY ANTI MINING SECTION...