Guatemala: Inter-American Human Rights Commission to decide on claims of human rights abuses at Goldcorp’s Marlin mine
“One Man´s fight for Guatemala´s natural rights”, 17 Jul 2015
…Carlos Loarca…represents indigenous Mayan villagers suing their government for allowing a mining company to operate on their land…His clients…built a lawsuit claiming an illegal land grab from local communities and contamination of their water supply, causing illness. After eight years of litigation…the Inter-American Human Rights Commission…is preparing its judgment, which promises to be a seminal ruling on mining and indigenous rights…The Marlin mine…is run by a subsidiary of Canadian giant Goldcorp…The World Bank is also in the frame, having given Goldcorp a loan…But the UN rejects reliance on national laws, stressing that “due diligence” requires companies to respect international human rights standards…