Guinean civil society calls on AngloGold Ashanti to suspend evictions: the State exerted pressure by military violence and the company took advantage of this intimidation, contrary to national law and international standards... Société AngloGold Ashanti de Guinée S.A. (SAG) is a subsidiary of the South African mining company AngloGold Ashanti Ltd. that is 15% owned by the Guinean state. This month, SAG plans to move 19 households to a new location, the first phase in the involuntary resettlement of approximately 377 households in...Kintinian in Siguiri Prefecture... The Center for International Commerce for Development (Centre de Commerce International pour le Développement, or CECIDE) and Equal Rights for All (Même Droits pour Tous, or MDT) contend that this action should not begin until certain conditions that are necessary to respect human rights and maintain social harmony in the area have been secured.

“The villagers didn’t freely consent to be relocated – they were intimidated,” explains Frédéric Foromo Loua, attorney and President of the NGO MDT. “In November 2015, the Guinean government sent a force of 210 soldiers...[which] attacked the residents of Kintinian...” ...According to one household head, “We were really afraid that they’d use force against us if we refused to give up our lands...” ...Many household heads say that they didn’t know the content of the agreements until after they signed.  According to Aboubacar Diallo, program coordinator with the NGO CECIDE, “Despite the requirement to consult affected communities, which is guaranteed under Guinean law and the voluntary standards that AngloGold claims to observe in Guinea, the villages of Kintinian and Sétiguia were excluded from consultations... Even worse, the people of Kintinian never saw the Resettlement and Compensation Action Plan (the Plan d’action pour les relocalisations et les compensations, or PARC) that was prepared for Area One..."

Full text of the NGO declaration: http://bit.ly/2bInPuq