Bernie Sanders, Tammy Baldwin Join Fight To Prevent Mining Of Sacred Native American Lands
Source: Huffington Post
Samantha Lachman
WASHINGTON -- Sens. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and Tammy Baldwin (D-Wis.) introduced a bill on Thursday that would repeal a controversial measure giving sacred Native American lands in Arizona to a foreign-owned mining company.
The measure, called the the Southeast Arizona Land Exchange and Conservation Act, was inserted into the $585 billion National Defense Authorization Act of 2015 by Republican Arizona Sens. John McCain and Jeff Flake in December.
The deal would allow a subsidiary of the mining conglomerates Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton, called Resolution Copper, to mine a massive copper deposit in Arizona's Tonto National Forest. The Apache use a section of the forest, called Oak Flat, for religious ceremonies and consider it one of their holy sites. Though the mining company has said it would work with local tribes to ensure their concerns are heard and conduct environmental analyses, the Apache say digging a massive mine under their ancestral lands will inevitably damage sacred ceremonial and burial grounds.
The bill, which is also sponsored by Sen. Martin Heinrich (D-N.M.), would repeal the land exchange. Rep. Raul Grijalva (D-Ariz.) introduced the same bill in the House earlier this year and had been looking for a senator to sponsor the bill in the upper chamber.
FULL story, photo gallery, and video at link.
Dayana Morales Gomez/The Huffington Post
Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/bernie-sanders-native-americans_563b9e9de4b0411d30700508
= new reply since forum marked as read
is a sick JOKE!!
This is real life to those who live there, it's their world, and the world of their ancestors. It's their entire history.
The land is only MORE MONEY to the company. "Resolution Copper," created by Rio Tinto and BHP Billiton needs to be shown it does NOT have the right to destroy people's lives, no matter how depraved the owners are.
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Rio Tinto: A Shameful History of Human and Labour Rights Abuses And Environmental Degradation Around the Globe
By Richard on 20 April, 2010 in News
Introduction
Mining giant Rio Tinto promotes itself as a responsible and ethical employer and good neighbour, as well as a protector of the environment. According to The Way We Work, the company’s global code of business conduct, Rio Tinto’s “focus on sustainable development – on economic prosperity, social wellbeing, environmental stewardship and strong governance and integrity systems – provides the framework in which our business operates…” (1)
Rio Tinto maintains that “respect is central to a harmonious workplace, where the rights of employees are upheld and where their dignity is affirmed, free of intimidation, discrimination or coercion of any kind.”(2) With regard to human rights, the company professes to “…set out to build enduring relationships with our neighbours that demonstrate mutual respect, active partnership, and long term commitment.”(3) Finally, with regard to the environment, the company proclaims that “excellence in environmental performance and product stewardship is essential to our business success…Wherever possible we prevent, or else minimise, reduce and remedy the disturbance of the environment.” (4)
It sounds good. But the reality is that Rio Tinto’s current operations are more in line with their past apparent collusion with fascist and racist regimes than their stated policies of respect for communities, workers and the environment. Despite the company’s claims, there are countless examples of alleged human and labour rights violations and environmental devastation perpetrated by Rio Tinto around the world and over decades. From Papua New Guinea to Namibia, from the Upper Peninsula of Michigan in the U.S. to Madagascar, and from Cameroon to Indonesia, Rio Tinto has a long and shameful record. We set out below summaries of some of the previous and ongoing allegations against Rio Tinto, gathered from information in the public domain. Please follow the links for further details of these allegations.
A Record of Consorting with Repressive Regimes
In 1930s Spain, under the rule of fascist General Francisco Franco, left-wing miners who had expressed discontent with Rio Tinto’s mines by striking were called to order by Franco’s troops. At the company’s 1937 annual general meeting, Sir Auckland Geddes reported “since the mining region was occupied by General Franco’s forces, there have been no further labour problems… Miners found guilty of troublemaking are court-martialed and shot.”(5) Under Franco’s influence, Rio Tinto also provided ore for Nazi Germany’s re-armament programme.(6)
In Apartheid-era South Africa, Rio Tinto’s Palabora copper mine underpaid its migrant black labour force, failing to reach even the minimum wage set by the South African Institute of Race Relations.(7) In neighbouring Namibia, black workers constructing the Rossing uranium mine lived in appalling conditions in temporary camps, which researchers found “akin to slavery.”(8) While Rio Tinto continues to this day to profess its code of ethics and principles it seems the company’s drive for corporate profit is its top priority.
Much more:
http://londonminingnetwork.org/2010/04/rio-tinto-a-shameful-history-of-human-and-labour-rights-abuses-and-environmental-degradation-around-the-globe/
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Rio Tinto: Corporate crimes
Wed, 05/05/2010 - 00:00
Labour violations
From its earliest days Rio Tinto has been involved in exploitative labour practices in order to maintain high profits. The Spanish mines at Huelva where Rio Tinto's operations began was the site of numerous industrial actions and during the Spanish civil war Rio Tinto infamously applauded Franco's forces for assassinating strikers and a group of radical miners who occupied their mines.12 Due to their policy of operating only with high quality, large reserve deposits3 Rio Tinto's projects are uniformly large in scale with a lengthy lifespan. This means a large workforce with long term employment prospects, yet in order to keep profits high Rio Tinto has employed an array of tactics designed to maximise exploitation and prevent union activity. These attempts essentially amount to a company wide 'deunionisation' policy and in response workers of Rio Tinto came together in 1997 to form a global union to protect themselves against the company (the ICEM Rio Tinto Global Union Network). As former Australian prime minister Bob Hawke stated, “What runs through as a common thread is [Rio Tinto's] philosophy that they want to see the trade unions out of their operations”.4
. . .
. . .
Human rights
In a bewilderingly blatant act of racist collusion between police forces and Rio Tinto in November 1963, a night time operation was carried out in which the entire aboriginal community of Mapoon were arrested whilst the entire town burned to the ground in order that work could begin on the Weipa bauxite mine.28 It took 35 years for a settlement to be reached between Rio Tinto and the displaced residents.
The environmental devastation and social displacement caused by Rio Tinto's Panguna mine on the pacific island of Bougainville (mentioned above) was so great that it sparked an armed secessionist uprising by the local population, who formed the Bougainville revolutionary army in 1988. After a series of raids, attacks on Rio Tinto workers and acts of sabotage the mine was forced to close. With the Panguna mine contributing 45% of Papua New Guinea's export revenue's the government was quick to act against the rebels, and in May 1989 sent in troops with 'shoot to kill orders'.29 Reports of human rights abuses over this period are rife. Between 1989-1990 alone, it is estimated that 6,000 homes were destroyed and 24,000 people forcibly relocated to concentration camp-style 'care centres'.30 Meanwhile, the Australian government donated helicopters, military advisors and Au $32 million of military aid to PNG.31 Under the Australian's guidance the PNG defence force lay siege to Bougainville, preventing any supplies coming onto the island, a blockade which was to last eight years. During the conflict and around 15,000 Bougainvillians – roughly 10% of the islands population - lost their lives. It is claimed that Rio Tinto worked closely with the PNG and Australian authorities during this time, encouraging the conflict and colluding in the numerous abuses against islanders.32 Bougainville citizens have been pursuing a class action law suit in the US against Rio Tinto since 2000.33
More:
https://corporatewatch.org/company-profiles/rio-tinto-corporate-crimes
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Rio Tinto: Corporate Rap Sheet
Rio Tinto
By Philip Mattera
Rio Tinto, one of the largest mining companies in the world, started out in 1873 as a copper operation in Spain but now has operations on six continents, with the largest presences in Australia and North America. Its products include aluminum, copper, diamonds, coal, uranium, gold, iron ore, and industrial minerals (borates, titanium dioxide, salt, and talc). Rio Tinto, which has dual headquarters in London and Melbourne, is one of the most controversial corporations in a controversial industry. Mining industry critic Danny Kennedy once called the company—a frequent target of criticism over its policies relating to the environment, labor relations, and human rights—“a poster child for corporate malfeasance.”
In January 2013 Rio Tinto's chief executive was forced to resign after the company took a $14 billion write-down on the value of aluminum and coal mining assets.
More:
http://www.corp-research.org/rio-tinto
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No Discussion On Some Of Rio Tinto’s Most Notorious Operations At Shareholder Meetingby Kari Lydersen – April 19, 2013
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Rio Tinto protest
Photo by Kari Lydersen
Exiled West Papua Indigenous activist Benny Wenda protests outside the Rio Tinto shareholder
meeting venue
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Mining giant should address pollution and human rights abuses at its mines in West Papua and Papua New Guinea, say critics
Mining watchdog groups and human rights activists from around the world confronted Rio Tinto officials at the mining giant’s annual general shareholder meeting in London Thursday, questioning the company about proposed and in-the-works projects that they said could cause serious environmental and human rights violations if allowed to go forward.
. . .
Exiled Indigenous activist Benny Wenda, who protested outside the shareholder meeting holding a banner saying “Free West Papua,” says West Papuans were too terrified to speak out against the Grasberg mine. “If you are against the company you will be attacked,” he says. “The moment you protest they will say you are a separatist. Indonesia has its intelligence there, and around the world. The killing is still going on. Indonesia doesn’t care about my people, they care about the mine.”
Wenda, 37, says he was imprisoned by the Indonesian government because of his involvement in the West Papuan separatist movement. He says he survived three assassination attempts in prison before escaping to England. “Our struggle is not only about political independence but about our very survival,” he says. “(The mine) is destroying our land, our forest, our mountains, our way of life … This is genocide for our people, that’s the way I see it.”
More:
http://www.earthisland.org/journal/index.php/elist/eListRead/no_discussion_on_rio_tintos_two_worst_operations_at_annual_meet/
