Gold mining in Guyana results in human rights abuses and environmental damage, says Harvard report

CAMBRIDGE, USA: Inadequately controlled by the government, gold mining in Guyana’s interior Amazon region has resulted in severe human rights abuses and devastating environmental damage, the International Human Rights Clinic (IHRC) of Harvard Law School¹s Human Rights Program said Tuesday.

Its report, “All that Glitters: Gold Mining in Guyana,” documents the failure of Guyanese mining regulations to prevent this harm to formerly pristine rainforest communities where the indigenous Amerindian population resides.

“Medium and small scale gold mining as currently practiced and regulated inflict severe environmental, health, and social damage on the areas and people near mining operations,” said Bonnie Docherty, clinical instructor at the IHRC.

According to the IHRC report, the results of Guyana’s mining policies have been devastating for Amerindian communities, which depend heavily on rivers for water, food, and transport. For example, excessive sediment from mining operations has turned rivers and creeks near mining sites a milky, orange color, making them unusable for bathing, drinking, and washing clothes.

Mercury deposits in rivers from mining are reported to be causing severe public health problems, including childhood deformities, muscle wasting, and mysterious skin rashes. Mercury has also contaminated the local fish population, a primary source of food for Amerindians.

“This is a classic case of the link between environmental damage and human rights abuses,” Docherty said. “By contaminating the country’s rivers, gold mining is threatening the lives and livelihoods of the indigenous people.” According to the report, laws that are under enforced or favor mining operations have contributed to the threats to the Amerindian way of life.

The IHRC report provides an in-depth study of the impact of small and medium scale gold mining on Amerindian indigenous communities and extensive legal analysis of the regulatory scheme. Guyana’s legal system has four flaws that have exacerbated the inherent danger of gold mining. Guyanese law gives priority to subsurface rights over surface rights. The country has yet to implement fully environmental regulations from 2005. Its current regulations are under-enforced; only eleven significantly overworked mining officers are responsible for enforcing mining regulations across the country. The monitoring of medium and small scale mines, which represent the majority of those in Guyana, is weak.

These shortcomings have led to violations of international human rights law, the report claims.

In particular they can be linked to abuses of the Amerindians’ rights to health, including the right to adequate and safe water; security of property; enjoyment of culture; and security of person. For example, since the process of mining creates new bodies of standing and stagnant water, the mosquito population has ballooned, dramatically increasing malaria cases among Amerindians. The report also notes that mining has led to an increase in deforestation in Guyana, destroying valuable rainforest important to the local communities’ traditions.

“Our observations confirmed that the areas around mines resemble a moonscape of barren, mounded sand and mud,” Docherty said. “Since small scale miners typically wash the topsoil away in order to get to the gold-bearing clayey soil underneath, the sites of former mines are quite infertile and incapable of supporting regenerated rainforest.”

The report urges the government of Guyana to implement institutional reforms to curb the environmental degradation caused by mining and to protect the rights of the Amerindian community.

Among its recommendations, the report calls for the government of Guyana to limit locations where mining operations can take place, to implement stricter mining regulations from 2005, to promote the education of Amerindians and miners regarding safety in handling hazardous materials, and to increase the number of mines officers and level of cooperation with Amerindian communities to identify human rights violations and environmental damage.

It also calls on the international community to use its leverage to help protect the rights of the Guyanese Amerindians.