Pacific Rim

Joint news release with Council of Canadians and Common Frontiers: Yet another anti-mining activist has been murdered in El Salvador. Canadian civil society organizations are calling for a full investigation into the murder of Juan Francisco Durán Ayala, the fourth such death in two years that local organizations believe are linked to the presence of Vancouver-based Pacific Rim Mining in the department of Cabañas.

Presentation to Queen's University, International Development Week: Weak governance, investment protection agreements and strong political supports for Canadian companies operating in regions like Latin America make voluntary guidelines to ensure human rights protection a step in the wrong direction.

Statement fromthe Communications Team of the National Roundtable Against Metal Mining: On September 22, 2010, the Specialized Sentencing Court "B" convicted the material assassins of Gustavo Marcelo Rivera Moreno, after concluding a two-day public hearing. After hearing some twenty testimonies and declarations from an accomplice under plea bargain, whose statements were corroborated by official evidence, the tribunal sentenced the perpetrators to 40 years in prison.

A report by the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Commission on Environmental, Economic, and Social Policy (CEESP) concludes that the region of Cabañas, El Salvador is facing "a strategic campaign of domestic terrorism targeting mining opponents." The report, El Salvador: Gold, Guns, and Choice, states that police investigation into the recent rash of attacks, murders, and threats in Cabañas has been ineffective, and the lack of security in the region is unacceptable. The report further indicates that Pacific Rim Mining Corporation shares responsibility for the situation in having failed to conduct business consistent with the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, specifically those guidelines regarding transparency and bribery of foreign officials.