Raising voices against human rights violations related to the mining industry

Defenders and activists around the world are standing up to businesses that violate human rights, the right to land, and the environment, and often face reprisals for doing so. In their report from 2023, the Business and Human Rights Resource Center highlights that the mining sector was connected with the highest number of attacks against human rights defenders in comparison with other industries (165 out of 630 attacks in 2023). Latin America and Asia are the regions most affected by attacks against human rights defenders (41% of the attacks occurred in Latin America and 30% in Asia). The organisation Frontline Defenders also concludes its global analysis of 2023/2024 with concerning numbers on the situation of human rights defenders:

Birds-eye view from a land opening for nickel mining, Indonesia. Photo: KOMIU.

The NHRF supports grantee partners in Latin America and Asia that work to defend the rights of communities and individuals affected by mining activities, and who protect the environment.

Scroll down to learn more about the contexts of our grantee partners, their similarities and differences, and the strategies they have developed to counter the challenges they face.

In Southeast Asia, the NHRF has several grantee partners working on the empowerment and capacity building of local and indigenous communities. One of them is Yayasan Kompas Peduli Hutan (KOMIU), an Indonesian organisation working in Central Sulawesi. KOMIU works on furthering governance towards sustainable development, to ensure the fulfilment of the rights of marginalised communities. Even though the organisation faces many challenges, in 2023, KOMIU achieved a temporary suspension of the production permit for the gold mining industry in indigenous areas.

NHRF grantee partner KOMIU working on land boundary documentation. Photos: KOMIU.

Learn more in this video, where the director of KOMIU talks about how they do their work and the impact it has on the local communities.

In Thailand, the Center for Protection and Revival of Local Community Rights (CPCR) as a lawyers collective provides legal aid to indigenous and vulnerable communities. CPCR’s view is that it is critical to empower the people in these communities to protect their human rights and to secure equitable resource management.

On behalf of an indigenous community whose rights have been impacted by a coal mine, in 2023, CPCR approached a local court and successfully attained a temporary protection order. Even though the mining project affected the nearby communities’ way of life and their livelihood, it was started without the proper participation of these communities. Young indigenous defenders from the community are therefore demanding that their right to participation is recognised.

Young indigenous women human rights defenders supported by NHRF grantee partner CPCR in Thailand, sharing the environmental impact of coal mining near their village during a visit. Photo: NHRF.

NHRF’s grantee partner, Organización Familia Pasta de Conchos (OFPC) is located in the mining region of Coahuila in northern Mexico. In 2006, a mining disaster that killed 65 miners, led to the creation of the organisation to request justice for the victims and their families as well as safe working conditions for the miners, so that this does not happen again. On 12 June 2024 – after 18 years –the Mexican authorities finally announced the recovery of the remains of some of the bodies that were still inside the mine after the incident. This is a matter that Pasta de Conchos has been advocating for during all these years as it is very important for the victims’ families. However, the organisation has stated that it will continue to uphold the demands for truth, justice and measures to prevent repetition.

Commemorative event organised by NHRF’s grantee partner Pasta de Conchos in Mexico City in 2023 to remember the victims of the mining disasters since 2006. Photo: NHRF.

Our grantee partner in Colombia Amar es Más has supported the Embera Karambá indigenous community through legal and advocacy support. For the past 15 years, around 12 mining exploration and exploitation projects have been granted to multinational companies in the Embera Karambá indigenous territory located in the central-western part of Colombia, in Quinchía (Risaralda). These projects have caused multiple socio-environmental conflicts in the indigenous territory, which were denounced by the community.

For the Karambá community, the waters are the veins and arteries of the earth. Drilling for mining exploration creates disharmony and wounds that affect the communities, causing the loss of the water flows that sustain their livelihoods. The community is committed to recognising and monitoring their waters as a tool for territorial defense, allowing them to reclaim their role as environmental authorities in the face of arbitrary and unconsulted decisions by the Colombian State.

Indigenous guard from the mountains of Miraflores, Colombia. Photo: Sandra Bejarano Aguirre / Tierra de resistentes. Edith Taborda in dialogue with Colombian President Gustavo Petro. Second photo: Image from the recording of the event

Even though the community and its leaders have received continuous threats as a consequence of their work, this struggle has strengthened them collectively and individually.

Fighting for environmental rights can be very dangerous work as shown above. Several of the NHRF grantee partners working for environmental and indigenous rights face serious safety risks and therefore have to be anonymised here.

There is a growing threat for local communities as global negotiations on climate change mitigation targets have increased the demand for critical minerals. Many countries in the Global South are compromising on environmental and human rights protection facing this demand. This is putting communities, particularly women, at higher risk of losing their ecosystems and biodiversity resources which are the primary sources of their food security, livelihood, and spirituality.

For example, in India, while fossil fuels are now being auctioned with several mineral concessions to private entities, indigenous communities protecting these resources are facing intimidation from the mining industry and state authorities. Forest lands are being diverted for new mining licenses as well as for plantations and deforestation programmes financed by governments in the Global North and international financial institutions, causing further distress and risks to communities. These plantations are replacing community conservation knowledge practices and land rights, causing more harm to these ecosystems than restorative solutions. Gender and social safeguarding policies of these climate action funds offer little relief or protection to affected communities who are threatened by evictions and constitutional violations.

Leftover residue from a stone mining company which was closed after a 29-year long movement by a rural community led primarily by women against the land and environmental impacts of the mine. Photo: NHRF.

This organisation also recognises the disproportionate harm towards women in the extractive mining process and works to include women in decision-making processes and redefine roles in local communities. Through collaborating with women human rights defenders, the aim is to promote alternative solutions for development that respect the environmental rights and allow for livelihood security of all members of the community.

Although there are different challenges for each grantee partner due to geographical differences and local policies and laws, all the organisations work on securing the rights of marginalised communities – which in these cases are threatened by the mining industry. The grantee partners work on legal training, documentation, awareness- raising, and empowering the local communities to take action on their rights, among others.

We highlight the importance of the work of these organisations because it is crucial to the realisation of environmental and land rights. Despite the challenges, our grantee partners have been able to continue demanding the realisation of the rights of local communities whether it is their participation in decision-making, halting extractive mineral projects or accessing legal institutions, and much more.