On 19 June 2008, the Constitutional Court of Guatemala declared seven provisions of the 1997 Mining Law unconstitutional based on a failure to comply with Guatemala’s environmental laws. In particular, the court agreed with the Centre for Environmental and Socio-Legal Action (CALAS) that the following aspects of the Mining Law breached the state’s obligation toContinue reading “2008-2013 Constitutional Challenges against Guatemalan Mining Laws [Cerro Blanco]”
Subsoil Country Archives
2016 Investigation by Human Rights Ombudsperson [Cerro Blanco]
In December 2016, Guatemala’s Human Rights Ombudsperson released a decision relating to an investigation of the alleged violation of the human right to a healthy environment by Entre Mares, S.A., as a result of the operation of and waste produced by its Cerro Blanco mine. As part of its investigation, the Human Rights Prosecutor solicited reports fromContinue reading “2016 Investigation by Human Rights Ombudsperson [Cerro Blanco]”
2005- Community Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]
Between 2005 and 2016, approximately 80 community consultations (consultas comunitarias), also known as popular consultations (consultas populares or consultas), were held across Guatemala, resulting in a large majority of citizens voting against mining and other commercial activities in their territories (Ardon, 2016). The “consulta movement” in Guatemala began in 2005 in response to a hydroelectric project in RíoContinue reading “2005- Community Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]”
2008- Moratoriums on Metallic Mining [Cerro Blanco]
In 2008, the Government of Guatemala, then led by President Álvaro Colom Caballeros of the National Unity of Hope (UNE) party, instituted a moratorium on issuing new mining licences. This moratorium was triggered by a successful constitutional challenge in 2008 of the country’s General Mining Law, which was raised in the context of opposition toContinue reading “2008- Moratoriums on Metallic Mining [Cerro Blanco]”
2013- IACHR Petition filed by Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples [Cerro Blanco]
In September 2013, the Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples filed a petition against Guatemala before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) for systemic violation of the collective rights of indigenous peoples in Guatemala. This petition was filed in response to the Constitutional Court’s 2013 decision, dismissing an action brought by Guatemala’s Western Peoples’Continue reading “2013- IACHR Petition filed by Council of Mayan and Xinka Peoples [Cerro Blanco]”
2011-2018 Constitutional Challenge of Draft Regulation on Indigenous Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]
On 23 March 2011, Guatemala’s Western Peoples’ Council of Mayan Organizations (CPO) brought an action before the Constitutional Court challenging the constitutionality of a draft regulation, entitled “Regulations regarding the Consultation Process under the International Labour Organization Convention No. 169 on Indigenous and Tribal Peoples in Independent Countries”, which included a 30-day notice period fromContinue reading “2011-2018 Constitutional Challenge of Draft Regulation on Indigenous Consultation Processes [Cerro Blanco]”
