Gold's costly dividend
Subtitle: human rights impacts of Papua New Guinea's Porgera gold mine
Contributors: Ganesan, Arvind; Human Rights Watch (Organization)
Publisher: Human Rights Watch
Published: 2011
Place of publication: New York, NY
Language: eng
Number of pages: 94
ISBN-13: 9781564327383
Subjects: Human rights; Violence against; Barrick Gold Corp; Social conditions; Gold mines and mining; Police brutality; Women
Other titles: Human rights impacts of Papua New Guinea's Porgera gold mine; Papua New Guinea, gold's costly dividend
Description: "This details the story of Papua New Guinea's rich and controversial Porgera gold mine. Ninety-five percent owned and fully operated by Barrick Gold, a Canadian company that is the world's largest gold producer, the mine has long been a boon to PNG's national treasury.  But its impact on local communities has been far more complicated.  Gold's Costly Dividend: Human Rights Impacts of Papua New Guinea's Porgera Gold Mine describes how some private security personnel employed by the Porgera mine have allegedly engaged in brutal gang rapes of local women as well as other violent crimes. It also sets out longstanding environmental and health concerns about the mine's operations--especially its practice of dumping 16,000 tons of liquid waste into the nearby Porgera river every day--and Barrick's response for many years to disclose only the minimum of relevant data.  Based on interviews with local community members, victims of human rights abuses, company and government officials, police personnel and others, the report shows how Barrick failed to take appropriate action in relation to allegations of serious abuses around the mine. But in response to Human Rights Watch research, the company has taken meaningful steps to address the inadequacies--including supporting a criminal investigation of its own personnel. The company has also undertaken to disclose key environmental data for the first time.  Playing an absentee role in all of this is the Canadian government. Canada is home to more than half of the world's international mining and exploration companies, but the government does virtually nothing to oversee or regulate their conduct overseas. The longstanding problems at Porgera show why there is an urgent need for the Canadian authorities to play a more constructive role in guiding and overseeing the human rights practices of Canada's corporate citizens abroad."--P. [4] of cover.
Notes: "This report was researched and authored by Chris Albin-Lackey, senior researcher in the Business and Human Rights Division"--P. 86.

"February 2011"--P. following t.p. verso.

Includes bibliographical references.

Also available via the Internet on the Human Rights Watch web site.
Table of contents: title: Summary; title: Recommendations; title: Methodology; title: I. Background and Context; title: The Porgera Joint Venture; title: Box 1: An Altered Landscape; title: Poor Living Conditions and Demands for Relocation; title: Poisonous Local Politics: Barrick and the Porgera Landowners Association; title: II. Violence and Illegal Mining: PJV's Security Challenges; title: Illegal Mining on the Waste Dumps; title: Organized Raids on the Mine; title: Criminalization of Illegal Mining and its Limitations; title: III. Gang Rape and Other Abuses by PJV Security Personnel; title: The PJV Security Force; title: A Legacy of Abuse?; title: Box 2: Replicating Broader Patterns of Abuse; title: Ongoing Patterns of Abuse by PJV Security Guards; title: Gang Rape by APD Personnel; title: Box 3: Another Investigation at Porgera; title: Box 4: Retaliation at Home; title: Box 5: A Gang Rape Survivor Tells Her Story; title: Treatment of Detainees in APD Custody; title: Excessive Use of Force; title: IV. Barrick and the Mobile Police Deployment to Porgera; title: V. Barrick's International Human Rights Obligations; title: VI. Barrick's Response to Human Rights Concerns at the Porgera Mine; title: Long Term Company Efforts to Implement the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights; title: Falling Short; title: Barrick's Response to Human Rights Watch's Allegations; title: VII. Health and Environmental Concerns Regarding Riverine Tailings Disposal at Porgera; title: Box 6: The Ok Tedi Disaster; title: Transparency Concerns; title: VIII. Mercury Use by Small-Scale and Illegal Miners; title: IX. The Need for Canadian Government Regulation; title: Box 7: No Oversight of APD in Porgera; title: Bill C-300: A Missed Opportunity; title: X. Acknowledgements; title: Annex: Barrick's Response to Human Rights Watch.