AngloGold Ashanti has agreed to pay damages to the communities of Area One who were forcibly evicted from their land for the gold mine’s expansion in 2015. This is the first such victory in Guinea.

In the wake of the violence, local and international civil society organizations mobilized to support the communities who had been violently forced to move from their land in 2015 for the expansion of the Siguiri gold mine project, operated by a Guinea-based subsidiary of AngloGold Ashanti.

Watch the video : Securing Justice for Forced Displacement from the Siguiri Gold Mine

A minefield journey since the eviction

When we began our struggle, nobody believed we would get anything from this company and we were told to give up, but we persisted and today we can hold our heads high again”, said Balla Camara, the courageous community leader of Area One who dared to call for accountability.

Guinea is a politically unstable country with a hostile environment for human rights defenders, and a repressive government most often opting to protect the interests of mining companies, such as AngloGold Ashanti, the country’s leading gold producer, rather than the people.

Established in the Siguiri region for more than 800 years, these 365 families – artisanal miners, traders and farmers – were violently evicted and arbitrarily arrested by the State security forces. They were then made to seek temporary lodging elsewhere for years, and finally resettled while still seeing their health, education and livelihoods in danger. Many other violations of national and international law occurred, but little hope for justice were provided. Avenues for legal recourse in Guinea are nearly nonexistent with a poorly functioning judiciary in a country rife with corruption.

Following the money and tireless community solidarity, keys to victory

The evicted communities sought the advice of local NGO Commerce International pour le Développement (CECIDE), who had long been supporting the human rights of communities in the Siguiri area.

CECIDE mobilized its network including local lawyers at Mêmes Droits Pour Tous (MDT) and international partners, including Advocates for Community Alternatives (ACA) and The 11^th Hour Project. With little possibility of legal redress in Guinea, Inclusive Development International (IDI) was brought in to follow the money that paid for the gold mine’s expansion: AngloGold Ashanti received a loan from the South African bank Nedbank, which in turn had received financing from the International Finance Corporation (IFC).

Watch the video : Beneath the Surface: Leveraging the Power of Investors

This meant the IFC’s environmental and social performance standards applied to the Siguiri mine’s expansion. It opened the door for the affected communities, with support from CECIDE, MDT and IDI, to file a complaint in April 2017 to the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman (CAO) of the World Bank Group. The CAO is the independent accountability mechanism for projects supported by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA).

The community’s complaint to the CAO led to a six-year long mediation process among the company and affected communities, with support from the NGOs, leading to a series of incremental wins and now a final settlement agreement.

This struggle for accountability is the product of years of hard work, dedication and persistence by local human rights defenders, continuously strengthening community solidarity, working to mobilize for rights in a hostile environment.

A victory that restores hope

Guinea is well known for its abundance of natural resources. The country has one of the world’s largest reserves of bauxite. This is the main material used to produce aluminum, a transition mineral important to moving away from fossil fuels. Mega mining projects are being initiated with the aim of boosting the country’s economy, such as the Simandou project for its so-called green steel. However, the promises of development often fail to be realized for the thousands of people living from the land’s resources sacrificed for these projects. Communities are very often forced to leave their homes either because they are forced out by the authorities, without any real resettlement or compensation, or driven away because the pollution caused by the projects threatens their health and livelihoods.

The Area One settlement agreement is an exceptional victory and a source of hope for the thousands of people who suffer the damages of investment projects in Guinea every day. Community tenacity over many years – despite threats and intimidation from government and the company – made this possible,” said Lien De Brouckere, advisor with The 11^th Hour Project since the start of this campaign, including the fact-finding mission in 2016 that laid the basis for the CAO complaint.

A part of the agreement’s significant financial settlement amount will be directly given to the affected families as individual compensation, and another part will be used to set up a fund to finance development and livelihood restoration projects implemented by the affected families.

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This guide is written for local CSOs, human rights defenders and community rights advocates in Africa and beyond. “Biashara Na Haki” Part 2 focuses on practical tools and steps to identify business and human rights impacts and obtain remedy. The guide encourages a constructive approach to engagement that favours collaborative strategies such as negotiation and joint problem solving, and campaigning where necessary.

The guide is a co-creation by me, Jeroen de Zeeuw, Rose Kimotho and Caitlin Pierce.

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The SAGE Fund – Strengthening Accountability in the Global Economy – is a collaborative foundation seeking to seed innovative approaches to corporate accountability in the global economy. I will be advising and supporting SAGE Fund to assess and engage their existing and potential grantees on identifying and using new tools and strategies, and supporting them with connections to new and existing technical and other partners to help them reach their goals of advancing human rights in today’s globalized economy.

This advisory work with SAGE Fund complements my existing work with The 11th Hour Project, the grant-making arm of the Schmidt Family Foundation, advising the 11th Hour Project’s human rights program on implementing its strategy in Guinea related to industrial mining’s devastating impacts, and  providing key facilitation and technical support for more effective implementation. 

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CONAKRY (March 21, 2019) – A group of civil society organizations in Guinea Conakry today asked the Guinean government to implement radical changes to the text of a proposed policy for relocating and compensating communities affected by major development projects, including hydroelectric dams and mines in a country thought to hold more than half the world’s supply of bauxite.

According to an analysis released today by the civil society group, the proposal developed by the South African consulting firm SRK, with funding from the German Agency for International Cooperation for Development (GIZ), has no grounding in Guinean law and fails to respect the economic and cultural needs of the communities in the path of the development projects. And rather than protecting local people, as envisioned by Guinean political leaders and German funders, the new policy could violate the human rights of more than 100,000 rural Guineans.

“The goal of this policy is to limit the devastating impacts of hydroelectric dams and mining projects in particular,” said Houdy Bah, mayor of the rural commune of Sangarédi. “As written, however, far from leading to fair and equitable compensation, the policy risks exacerbating the tensions and conflicts that are already occurring.” In its current form, according to the civil society analysis, the policy would prevent even GIZ from adhering to its own human rights policy.

Presented today by civil society organizations at a press briefing in Conakry, the analysis reports that the proposed policy is flawed, but it shows as well that that the government has presented the text of the policy on relocation and compensation to only 12 people outside of Conakry – and that in a country of more than 12 million people. The analysis notes that the government did not consult local authorities, elected officials and experts, such as mayors, traditional leaders, rural planners, agricultural engineers, environmental technical staff and sociologists, even though they should be key–not only to establish such a policy, but to implement it. Finally, the analysis charges that local communities, although they are at the heart of this process and will be the first ones impacted by it, have not had the chance to comment on this text and few know it is being developed. 

“Guinean rural communities are essentially dependent on access to land and natural resources for their survival, and therefore must be consulted on decisions affecting their access to these resources, in line with international human rights standards,” explains Mamady Koivogui, from the national NGO Association Mines Sans Pauvreté.

Civil society organizations are requesting a minimum period of six months to allow the Government’s Inter-ministerial Committee to conduct wide consultations in rural areas where the policy will be implemented.

In addition to these consultations, civil society organizations report that the current text of the policy does not respect several human rights. Among other things, it does not prohibit forced evictions of local communities nor does it ensure a last resort to resettlement when it is in the public interest. It also lacks mechanisms to secure the legitimate land rights of local communities, to allow them access to justice, and to ensure free consultation and the sharing of detailed information with communities.

A country rich in mining resources

Guinea’s massive stores of bauxite—an estimated 25 billion tons—and its potential for hydroelectric power, have captured the interest of investors from China, Russia, France, the United Arab Emirates, and the World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation. The country also recently was selected to host the African Center for Mineral Development, which aims to support a strong role for minerals in ensuring the continent’s economic future. 

“The exploitation of bauxite is extremely invasive,” said Mamadou Maladho Diallo, from the NGO Convergence Globale des Luttes pour la Terre et l’Eau–Afrique de l’Ouest. “Land has been laid bare on surfaces of considerable magnitude and at an impressive speed, without any assessment of the long-term impact of these mines on local communities.”

Threats of displacement of thousands of rural villagers to make way for large development projects, particularly mining and hydroelectric dams, are increasing. In 2015, for example, about 380 families were forcibly evicted from their ancestral landsin Kintinian commune to expand an open-pit gold mine controlled by the mining giant, AngloGold Ashanti and supported by Nedbank (South Africa), an International Finance Corporation (IFC) lender. More recently, residents of 13 villages in western Guinea formally filed a complaint with the IFCfor financing the extension of a harmful bauxite mine. The 540 complainants allege that the project seized their land, destroyed their livelihoods and damaged the local environment.

“After years of hesitation, the Guinean government has demonstrated unprecedented political will to regulate the compensation and resettlement of communities affected by development projects,” said the Honorable Saikou Yaya Barry, National Assembly deputy. “But the government will be judged by its actions and not by its intentions. Its commitment to sustainable development will be revealed as a fraud if the government adopts this policy as it is now and fails to align it with the laws of Guinea and the will of its people.”

“The fact that a country like Guinea, with the world’s largest known reserves of bauxite, has no national policy to protect people or the environment is very concerning,” added Saa Pascal Tenguiano, Executive Director of the NGO Centre de Commerce International pour le Développement. “That’s why this process cannot fail. Absolutely all mining countries need such standards. Not just for us, but for everyone. We are here to help the government to do this right.”

Analysis is available at:

https://communitiesfirst.net/analysis-of-guinea-resettlement-reference-document_201903/

Annex to the analysis, including a technical note and proposed law is available (in French only) at:

https://communitiesfirst.net/note-technique-du-collectif-reinstallation-guinee_201903/

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(March 8, 2019 – Conakry) – Residents of 13 villages in western Guinea have filed a formal complaint against the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the World Bank’s private-sector arm, for funding the expansion of a harmful bauxite mine. The 540 complainants allege that the IFC-financed project, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée, has grabbed their land, destroyed their livelihoods and damaged the local environment.

The complaint, filed with the IFC’s independent watchdog, the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman, details violations of the IFC’s environmental and social Performance Standards and international law. Most of the world’s development banks have established such grievance mechanisms to monitor compliance with their environmental and social policies and address complaints from impacted communities.

The complainants are seeking full and fair redress for the harms they have suffered, along with protection from future violations. They have asked the Compliance Advisor Ombudsman to facilitate mediations with the IFC and Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée to address their grievances.

“The lands on which we and our ancestors have lived and farmed for centuries have been almost totally consumed by CBG,” said Mamadou Lamarana Bah, one of the complainants.  “With no more land, no more forests, no more water, how are we going to survive?

The villagers have lost agricultural land, which has led to a significant decline in their incomes and quality of life, and access to their water resources, which have been polluted, among other harmful impacts. The situation is especially perilous for the residents of Hamdallaye village, who have been told by the company that they will be imminently resettled, without their consent, in a former mining area that was not properly rehabilitated.

The complainants are being represented by two Guinean organizations, Centre du Commerce International pour le Developpement (CECIDE) and Association pour le développement rural et l’entraide mutuelle en Guinée (ADREMGUI), and the U.S. human rights organization Inclusive Development International.

The impoverished nation of Guinea is home to the world’s largest bauxite reserves. Mining companies have flooded the country in recent years, despite serious social and environmental concerns raised by Human Rights Watch and others. Bauxite mined by Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée is processed into aluminum that is used by major consumer brands to make cars, beverage cans and technology. Yet few Guineans benefit from such projects.

“International mining companies have been making a fortune off of Guinea’s rich mineral resources, while the communities impacted by mining have quite literally been left in the dust,” said Mathilde Chiffert, West Africa Legal Coordinator for Inclusive Development International.  “It’s high time for local communities to get a fair share of the benefits from mineral extraction.”

Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée is a joint venture between the Guinean government; the U.S. aluminum corporation Alcoa; the Anglo-Australian mining giant Rio Tinto; and the Guernsey-registered Dadco. In 2016, the IFC provided a $200 million loan to expand the venture’s mining operations, with the U.S. government’s Overseas Private Investment Corporation providing an additional $150 million.

A further $473 million came from a syndicate of commercial banks: France’s Société Générale, BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole and Natixis; the German affiliate of ING bank, ING-DiBa; and two Guinean banks, Société Générale de Banques en Guinée and Banque Internationale pour le Commerce et l’Industrie de la Guinée, a member of the BNP Paribas group.

The German government guaranteed a portion of the financing through its Untied Loan Guarantees program.

Since it began operations in 1973, Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinée has mined large areas of land in the area surrounding the town of Sangaredi, located in the lush Boké region. For years, the joint venture has denied the land rights of local communities, creating immense frustration among the population.

“We look forward to engaging in an equitable dialogue process with CBG, facilitated by an independent mediator to resolve the long-standing grievances of the complainants,” said Tenguiano Pascal, Executive Director of CECIDE.

The complaint is available at:

In English: https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CBG_CAO-Request-for-Mediation_FINAL-EN.pdf

In French: https://www.inclusivedevelopment.net/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/CBG_CAO_Request-for-Mediation_FINAL-FRE.pdf

For further reading, see:

“What Do We Get Out of It?” The Human Rights Impact of Bauxite Mining in Guinea, Human Rights Watch, October 2018

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I recently returned from joining the Environmental Law Alliance Worldwide (ELAW) for their 2018 Annual International Meeting and the African Public Interest Environmental and Human Rights Law conference in Arusha, Tanzania. The meetings brought together more than 100 people, and were co-hosted by Lawyers’ Environmental Action Team (LEAT) and the Association for Law and Advocacy for Pastoralists (ALAPA).

This was a wonderful way to meet ELAW’s grassroots advocates from 42 countries, especially those from the African continent, including Cameroon, Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, Swaziland, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

The environmental issues these defenders address range from land grabs, to extractive industries, climate change and more. Beyond ELAW partners, the Goldman Environmental Prize brought truly inspiring Prize winners from across Africa to participate as well.

I’ve recently started work as a francophone attorney with ELAW on a consultant basis, and had the pleasure of meeting my ELAW team members from the US and DRC.

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Alfred Brownell and PHRGE convened an impressive group of community land rights advocates, who on the first day laid out the range of initiatives currently underway to track land tenure, including the International Land Coalition‘s Dashboard under development, Rights and Resources Initiative’s tenure data tool, the Global Property Rights Index, LandMark, and the African Community Land Transparency Index, to name just a few. Liz Alden Wily shared an especially thoughtful and comprehensive review of the challenges and obstacles in developing a land tenure security index. Chris Jochnick of Landesa delivered the keynote address, “Land Rights is the Human Rights Issue of the 21st Century.” On the second day, I facilitated a wide-ranging discussion, starting with reflections on why it is felt a new index is needed, how we can encourage a more informed assessment of the many initiatives already underway, and the significance of a community empowerment process in any such initiative. Most notably, of all the different indices discussed, only one of them – the Africa Community Rights Network’s African Community Land Transparency Index – included a strong focus on community empowerment, yet this index faced funding and other challenges to carry out those planned community empowerment activities.

The post Reflections on “Land Rights in the Era of Land Grabbing: The Land Tenure Security Index” first appeared on Communities First.

Indigenous Peoples and local communities hold customary rights to vast swathes of Africa’s land—one study estimates that around 80 percent of the land in Sub-Saharan Africa is customarily owned or used—yet communities enjoy legal ownership rights to just 3 percent, according to a Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI) study. Insecure land rights can lead to conflicts that have significant effects on communities’ livelihoods, the environment, and even corporate profits. Research released earlier this year from RRI and the consultancy TMP Systems shows that the displacement of communities from their lands is the most common cause of disputes between communities and companies, resulting in unrest, work stoppages, lost profits, and even violence.

Government land commissions throughout the continent are charged with resolving these thorny issues. And while many governments seek to strike a balance between respecting rights and encouraging investment, this is only possible where community lands are clearly demarcated and legally recognized. Implementing these commitments is thus both vitally important and no small task—particularly in environments where land commissions face constrained funding, political or economic roadblocks, or other obstacles.

In the last year, a number of representatives from land commissions in Africa voiced a desire to exchange experiences and learning with their colleagues from across the continent. To this end, RRI and the African Union’s Land Policy Initiative (LPI) convened representatives from land commissions throughout Africa for a three-day workshop in Accra, Ghana in July. RRI has worked with numerous governments and officials in the region—but never with so many at once. The event was attended by 36 representatives from 14 countries across Sub-Saharan Africa, as well as Dr. Janet Edeme, Head of the Rural Division of the African Union Commission, and Joan Kagwanja of LPI.

The event began with an opportunity to take stock on the various countries and to allow participants to share experiences and perspectives from their respective countries. Experiences ranged from the success of village boundary surveys and land certification in Tanzania, to challenges related to securing the community land rights of pastoralist communities in Niger, to the difficulties and delays in issuing certificates of customary land ownership in Uganda, to the complexities of registering land certificates in Côte d’Ivoire. The workshop kickstarted an exchange between delegates from across the continent who rarely have the chance to share insights and strategies with one another.

On the second day of the workshop, we piled into two buses for site visits in Accra—with about half of us visiting the community of Gbawe Kwatei and the other half visiting the Kwabenya community. I visited the Gbawe Kwatei family, whose land dates back to the 16^thcentury. They welcomed us with drumming and dancing, and gave us a chance to ask them questions. We learned how the elders have passed on their land management practices to a land management committee made up of their children; about the struggles of local dispute resolution, revenue sharing, and community development funds; and even about complicated issues such as enforcing lease covenants. It was exceptional to visit a community-held land in an urban setting, and reminded us of the necessity of our work.

The questions posed by the land commissions from so many countries brought a dizzying array of geographic, environmental, and sociopolitical challenges to the table. Yet they also reminded us of the common challenges facing countries across the continent. In spite of their differences, the conference participants’ concluding recommendations were unanimous. More had to be done, they said, to identify, recognize, and protect the rights of Indigenous Peoples and local communities, and more resources devoted to building land management capacity. There was also agreement from all participants that the resolution of conflicts and the decentralization of land management institutions away from urban capitals and toward rural communities represent crucial steps in addressing the disparity between communities’ rights and what governments formally recognize.

The testimonials of community members with whom we work and the research conducted by RRI and others tells us that a great deal of work remains to be done to secure the land rights of indigenous and local communities. To this end, all representatives present—hailing from all across the continent—provided “return to work plans” to provide a sense of direction in implementing these ambitious commitments. Ultimately, while RRI had never convened representatives for a workshop from so many countries in Africa, the end result was a surprising consensus around an reinvigorated commitment to make progress on securing indigenous and local community land rights across Africa.

About the author: Lien De Brouckere is the Deputy Director of the Africa Program at the Rights and Resources Initiative.

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The video below will start at my remarks.

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