Tanzania: Deadly clashes continue at African Barrick gold mine

Police have killed more villagers in clashes at a controversial Tanzanian gold mine owned by a Barrick Gold Corp. subsidiary, despite the company’s pledges to reduce the violence, researchers say.

The researchers, including a law firm and two civil society groups, say they’ve received reports that as many as 10 people have been killed this year as a result of “excessive force” by police and security guards at the North Mara mine, owned by African Barrick Gold, a subsidiary of Toronto-based Barrick.

A spokesman for African Barrick confirmed to The Globe and Mail that “fatalities” have occurred in clashes at the mine site this year, but declined to estimate how many. It is up to the Tanzanian police to release the information, he said.

Tanzanian police have repeatedly refused to give any details on fatalities at the site. Dozens of villagers have been killed by police at the mine in the past several years, according to frequent reports from civil society groups. The company occasionally confirms some of the deaths, including a clash in which police killed five people in 2011.

The deadly clashes occur when villagers walk into the mine site in search of waste rock, from which small bits of gold can be extracted. Hundreds or even thousands of “intruders,” as they are known locally, can be involved.

Barrick has signed agreements with the Tanzanian police to help provide security at the site. But villagers say the police routinely accept bribes in exchange for access to the site – and then sometimes shoot villagers in disputes over access. Police, too, have been injured by villagers throwing stones or wielding crude tools.

In 2011, African Barrick announced a series of steps to reduce the violence. It allocated $14-million for the construction of a three-metre-high concrete wall for 14 kilometres around the mine site. It hired a consulting company to instruct the Tanzanian police on “international standards” of human rights. And it announced a series of community projects to improve relations with the seven villages surrounding the gold mine, with more than $15-million in company funding.

African Barrick says it managed to reduce the number of “intruders” at the site by 35 per cent in 2013, after five consecutive years of increasing numbers. But it declined to say whether fatalities have increased or decreased this year, or even whether it is able to keep track of those deaths.

The company also acknowledged that it had provided compensation “packages” to more than 60 villagers who have complained of violence by police or security guards at the North Mara site.

Leigh Day, a London-based law firm that represents many villagers who allege that they or their family members were victims of police shootings at North Mara, says at least 10 villagers were killed at the mine site this year, many of them as a result of police shootings. It provided the dates of each of the alleged fatalities, and the names of several of the victims.

African Barrick said “a number” of these deaths “correspond with incidents reported to the mine.” But it said some of the deaths may have resulted from fights among the intruders, or accidental falls in the mining pit.

Two civil society groups, Ottawa-based MiningWatch Canada and a British group known as Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), visited the mine site and surrounding villages in June and July, including hospitals and clinics around the site. They said they interviewed a doctor who had counted 10 deaths as a result of police gunshots at the site in a two-month period.

The groups also alleged that African Barrick’s staff have obtained the medical records of victims of police shootings and routinely question and photograph injured people as they await treatment. Asked about this allegation, the company did not comment.

“We are deeply concerned not only about the clear patterns we discern in the excessive use of force at the mine, but also about the intimidation, persecution, and invasion of privacy suffered by victims and their families in the aftermath of violence by mine security,” said Patricia Feeney of RAID.

African Barrick disputes the fatality toll cited by the two groups. But in many cases, victims are taken to clinics far from the mine, to avoid the police, so their deaths might be unknown to the company, the groups say.

A British all-party parliamentary group is also investigating the police shootings at North Mara, since African Barrick is headquartered in London.

The company acknowledged that one villager was killed by police in a clash in January, but did not give details of other deaths. It said the clashes were caused by “illegal, armed and violent intruders” who “systematically” steal gold-bearing rocks and other property.

The Tanzanian police are required to receive human rights training before they are assigned to any of African Barrick’s mine sites, the company said.

“It is only in very rare cases and extreme circumstances and when all alternatives have been exhausted that the police intervene in confrontation with intruders,” a company statement said. “We regret any loss of life at the mine and continually strive to improve relations with local community members to reduce instances of trespass.”

In addition to the shootings, the police have also been accused of sexual assault. Last December, African Barrick revealed that it gave cash payments and other compensation to 14 women who were sexually assaulted by police and security guards at the mine site.

Source: http://www.theglobeandmail.com/report-on-business/international-business/deadly-clashes-continue-at-african-barrick-gold-mine/article20216197/#dashboard/follows/

A letter to my president -3: Our Livelihood Depend on land

Dear Mr President!

I hope this letter finds you well, and you probably read the first two. Today, i want to remind you that we depend on  land for our livelihoods.

My president, we woman from mining areas, like any other area in Tanzania,  depend on  land for our livelihoods. We depend on the land for food, firewood, medicine, grazing the animals, water, and many other uses. We also produce and sell the extras and  exchange for other important needs. For example last year i sold six bags of maize and pay school fees for my daughter who is in secondary school. I also paid medical expenses for my other son who was ill. I know other women will support me on how important our land is.

Mr President, your mining plans are taking away our land. There are tens of land deals in Tanzania which we as land owners are not aware of. These land deals are entered without our knowledge and participation. They normally come to us a surprise and in a matter of an eye blink, we loose our homes, our sources of food, water, services and our dignity.  I have lived long enough to see and understand the pattern. Tanzania was one of the  countries in the world where even the poorest could own land. When i say the poor, i do not mean the shallow meaning provided by neo-liberal ideology that poor people are the ones  living under one US dollar per day!

Mr President, the compensation provided for the land taken in most cases are not enough, the valuation processes is cumbersome and does not take into account gender needs - Women participation. Women face double challenge in these processes and your people seem to turn the deaf ear on this. 

Mr President, If you happen to want our land for your mining plans, first of all we want your people to consult us first before signing the deals. We know the law gives our village council some power on this. We do not want the raid and take as your people normally do. Please tell  them we want to fully participate in the process. Secondly, we want women participation in the process. The valuation and compensation process MUST  involve women whether single or married. (In most cases they contact only men and after compensation which is mostly in cash, men run away with the whole money). Third, we want a share of the income from the mining which take place on our land. Remember  this is the land   have used for very long time. Fourth, we want jobs from the mining projects. before its starts, make sure that you work to develop the capacities and skills of women and men from the same community to be able to participate in jobs provided by the mining projects. Fifth, if you cannot comply with the above suggestions, leave our minerals in the soil. We do not eat them after all!

The Women Voice is an Earth Voice!

"The devastating environmental and social impacts (of destructive extractivism) will continue unchecked and exacerbated by the high levels of energy and water consumption (and pollution) that accompany the processing and value addition to raw materials. These costs are mainly borne by peasant women in the region who have the development solutions we must recognise and build on," 
 
Samantha Hargreaves:   SADC People's Summit
2014- Bulawayo

visit:  www.womin.org.za for more information on women struggles on extractive industry
 

Form movements to fight post-colonial abuses' : Farai Maguwu

CIVIL society activist Farai Maguwu has called on communities to form stronger movements to challenge post-colonial governments to defend people's rights pertaining to natural resource beneficiation. Maguwu said this while addressing the 2014 Sadc People's Summit which opened in Bulawayo on Thursday and drew participants from several regional human rights groups such as La Via Campesina Africa, Rural Women's Assembly, WoMin and the People's Dialogue.

The groups are campaigning for the rights of farmers, rural women and villagers living in communities affected by mining activities to be considered ahead of mining conglomerates' interests. Maguwu blasted what he termed "the plunder of Africa's natural resources by the Global North and emerging economies like BRICS", saying communities should closely monitor mining operations and transport systems that were involved in moving stolen resources out of the region.

"We need stronger movements that challenge the power of our post-colonial governments that have lost interest in defending people's rights," Maguwu said. "It seems like our former liberators - fought not to replace the system but to rather replace the former oppressors and occupy the position of power to enrich themselves," he said.

WoMin representative Samantha Hargreaves said there was need for value addition and beneficiation of natural resources to retain greater wealth nationally. "The devastating environmental and social impacts will continue unchecked and exacerbated by the high levels of energy and water consumption (and pollution) that accompany the processing and value addition to raw materials.

"These costs are mainly borne by peasant women in the region who have the development solutions we must recognise and build on," Hargreaves said. La Via Campesina general secretary Elizabeth Mpofu said food sovereignty was being threatened by corporate organisations who grabbed land and water meant to benefit communities.

Rural Women's Assembly representative Mercia Andrews challenged regional political leaders to consult communities on the kind of investments they wanted in their areas.

Staff Writer : NEWSDAY;

Shared by: Tafadazwa Kuvheya- Zimbabwe

A letter to My President - (2) -We want a space on the table

Dear Mr President, we want a space on the table!

Mr President, My name is Zoila, i wrote you a letter few days ago. I do not know if you have received it, but i will keep on writing. This time, i want to tell you that We women from mining communities want a space on the table. We want to be part of the decision making processes particularly in the ministry of energy and minerals. Most decisions are made without women involvement and it results into bad policies and practices. And when i say  women involvement, i do not mean women from urban areas who do not understand our situation clearly, i do mean women who come from mining communities, who understand  our situation and priorities and who  represent the reality, not the assumptions. These women can only be found from areas such as Kalalani, Mirerani, Namtumbo, Londoni, Sambaru, etc etc..


Mr president, please do not misunderstand or misconstrue the meaning of Involvement or engagement. I mean we want to participate from the beginning to the end. From deciding when, where, who and how the mining projects should take place on our ancestral land, to be part of the activities, and benefit from the land we cultivate. We want to be part in deciding how the benefit from our mining resources should benefit women and we want to be part in deciding who we will work with. Tell your people that we do not want that "consultations" they call community involvement. Tell them we want women to be thoroughly involved and they choose who they would want to represent their issues and priorities on the table.


Mr President, we may not know how to read and write, but we know what we want and how we can get them. First, we want fairness, and this starts by involving women, working with women, facilitating women, understanding women's power and so on. We are not powerless, but we choose to be quite and use our power wisely. And this time we want to prove this by having a space on the table, because we want to contribute to this countries' development.