"Tanzanian Government Investigation Receives Hundreds of Reports of Violence and Deaths at North Mara Gold Mine"

For the first time, the Tanzanian Government has acknowledged the scale of violence surrounding the North Mara Gold Mine, say MiningWatch Canada and the British NGO Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) in their most recent field assessment, Adding Insult to Injury at the North Mara Mine (released today).[1] A Tanzanian Government investigation confirms receiving claims that 65 people have been killed and 270 people injured by police responsible for mine security.[2] However this may be only a fraction of the actual number of victims. According to human rights monitors and opposition sources there have been more than 300 violent deaths at the North Mara mine since 1999.[3] The government report has not been widely disseminated and a Swahili summary has only been made available in the villages closest to the mine...

On 23 July 2016 the Tanzanian Ministry of Energy and Minerals finally revealed some of the findings of an inquiry that it had set up to investigate the long-standing problems at the North Mara Gold Mine, operated by UK-listed Acacia Mining, a majority-owned subsidiary of Barrick Gold Corporation.[5] The Committee, which also had a remit to examine complaints about land acquisition, dust and water pollution and inadequate compensation for forced relocation, visited the villages around the mine in February and March to collect evidence.[6] Opposition members of the Committee complain that the report’s findings have been watered down to protect the interests of the mine.[7] They point out that the victims include women and children killed in their homes and men taken away by police who were later reported to have died.[8] No one has been prosecuted for these crimes.