"Lawyer asks UN to intervene with Cerrejon mine on behalf of indigenous Colombians," 18 June 2020

A British barrister is asking the United Nations Special Rapporteur to intervene with coal miner Cerrejon on behalf of Wayuu indigenous people in Colombia allegedly suffering damage to their health amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Cerrejon, which is owned equally by BHP Group, Anglo American and Glencore, rejected the allegations, saying information in the claim was wrong.

Cerrejon had initially reduced operations during Colombia’s nationwide quarantine, but began normalizing its work last month...

The Wayuu, who often get by on subsistence ranching and sometimes gasoline smuggling, have long been plagued by malnutrition among children and a lack of fresh drinking water.

The Provincial community, located near Cerrejon’s mine, “have filed an urgent request for the intervention of the UN Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations,” the Twenty Essex legal chambers of London said in a statement...

“We emphatically reject the presentation of inaccurate and biased information about Cerrejon’s social and environmental performance, including completely false data on the company’s water use and air quality,” Cerrejon said in a statement.

The company is ready to provide information to the United Niations, it said, adding it has redirected social investment to the province’s health system amid COVID-19 and donated 12 million liters of water to communities including Provincial.