For the third time in under ten years, victims of ongoing police violence at Barrick Gold’s North Mara Gold Mine are seeking legal remedy — this time in Canada. Today, Vancouver-based law firm CFM filed suit in an Ontario court on behalf of Indigenous Kuria plaintiffs whose communities surround the mine’s pits and waste dumps.

For well over a decade Kuria men, women, and children have been subjected to excess use of force by private mine security and police providing security services to the mine. The violence villagers endure, including beatings, killings, and rapes, often occurs on mine property but also takes place in the surrounding villages...

A first lawsuit was filed by the firm Leigh Day in 2013 on behalf of victims of excess use of force by police contracted to the mine leading to deaths and injuries... The case was settled out of court in 2015 benefitting 13 villagers. A second lawsuit was filed in 2020 by the firm Hugh James against Barrick Tz Limited, formerly known as Acacia Mining. This case initially included seven Kuria victims of mine security and police contracted to provide security to the mine who suffered alleged injuries and deaths...

In September 2019, Barrick Gold purchased the shares of minority shareholders in Acacia Mining in a $1.2bn buy-out and the company has since had direct management control of the North Mara Gold Mine.

MiningWatch conducted a human rights field assessment in North Mara in September 2022 and found that levels of alleged violence against local Kuria by police contracted to the mine have remained very high over the three years since Barrick took over control of the North Mara Gold Mine...