2008-2017 Goldcorp Human Rights Impact Assessment

Following a series of allegations of human rights violations relating to the Marlin Mine, in 2008, “a group of shareholders called on Goldcorp to undertake an independent human rights impact assessment (HRIA) of the mine” (Yap and Scott, 2010). The company created a steering committee to oversee the assessment, which retained On Common Ground Consultants Inc. (“On Common Ground”) to conduct the HRIA (Ibid). In May 2010, On Common Ground delivered a more than 200 page report, including recommendations which highlighted the following categories “actual infringements”: “legacy issues”, “areas of failure”, “positive impacts”, and “lack of strategies” (On Common Ground, Executive Summary, 2010). The report noted concerns about the Guatemalan government’s record of implementing and enforcing international human rights standards and emphasized the need for company due diligence about “country context prior to developing projects or acquiring concessions or operations” (Ibid). In particular, On Common Ground made findings in the areas of consultation, environment (including the rights to health and water), labour, land acquisition, economic and social investment, security, and access to remedy, and concluded with the following general recommendations: (1) “the lack of a comprehensive human rights policy must be addressed”; (2) “continuing human rights impact assessments must be conducted, and current information gaps must also be addressed”; (3) “measures are needed to entrench respect for human rights at all levels of the corporate hierarchy”; and (4) “stronger monitoring, auditing, and reporting mechanisms [are] needed” (Yap and Scott, 2010). Goldcorp released three updates relating to the HRIA in 2010, 2011, and 2017 (Goldcorp Inc.).

While the HRIA was an internal, voluntary process, it engaged with international human rights standards, including assessing whether the company was in violation of these standards and the extent of its obligations under international law. The process is thus indicative of the quasi-legal procedures adopted by corporations faced with allegations of human rights violations, particularly when operating in countries that are considered to have weak mechanisms for the protection and enforcement of human rights.