Association Canadienne contre l'impunité (ACCI)

On 8th November 2010, an association representing Congolese citizens filed a class action in a Montreal court against the Canadian company, Anvil Mining Limited. Over the past 6 years, RAID has investigated and extensively documented the events that occurred in the Kilwa, in the Democratic Republic of the Congo in October 2004. Patricia Feeney, RAID's Executive Director, is the President of the newly created Association canadienne contre l’impunité (ACCI – Canadian Association Against Impunity), whose members include families of the victims of the Kilwa massacre, Global Witness, Congolese and Canadian NGOs. The purpose of the Association is to help the families seek a remedy from the Superior Court in Quebec against Anvil Mining Limited, a company, that by providing transport and other logistical support to the Congolese Armed Forces, allegedly enabled soldiers to perpetrate a massacre and carry out other human rights violations against the civilian population.

The law firm McCarthy Tétrault will represent Anvil Mining Limited.

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“Precedent for extraterritoriality - Canadian justice for Congolese victims”

Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) and Global Witness are inviting the academic and human rights community to a discussion around the class action filed against Anvil Mining Limited on 8 November 2010 by relatives of victims and survivors of the Kilwa massacre. The claimants allege that the company, by providing logistical assistance, played a role in human rights abuses, including the massacre by the Congolese military of more than 70 people in the Democratic Republic of Congo in 2004. For more information please see the press release.

Date: Thursday, 18th November 2010
Time: 4.30 pm
Location: Doughty Street Chambers, 54 Doughty Street, London, WC1N 2LS http://www.doughtystreet.co.uk/about_chambers/contact_us/location_map.cfm

The Congolese citizens are supported by RAID, Global Witness, and Canadian and Congolese NGOs in bringing the claim. The plaintiff is represented by the law firm Trudel and Johnston.

Members of the Panel will include:
Chair: Richard Hermer (Barrister, Doughty Street Chambers - to be confirmed)
Speakers: Tricia Feeney (Executive Director, RAID), Seema Joshi (Legal Advisor, Global Witness), Richard Meeran (Partner, Leigh Day and Co.) and Bruce Johnston (Partner, Trudel and Johnston)

The discussion will include a focus on the events that happened in Kilwa in October 2004 and the quest for justice. Particulars relating to the Canadian class action application will be discussed as well as the wider significance of this case and its implication for corporate accountability globally.

The discussion will be followed by a drink reception.

This event is by invitation only. As spaces are limited, please RSVP by Tuesday, 16 November to eivolunteer@globalwitness.org. If you have any queries about the event, please call Blanka Geszti on 020 7492 5846 begin_of_the_skype_highlighting              020 7492 5846      end_of_the_skype_highlighting or Seema Joshi on 079 1251 7126.

RAID's Director a Panellist at NHRI Conference in Edinburgh

The International Coordinating Committee of National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs)will host a panel event on the current review of the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises.

Confirmed panellists include:

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Roel Nieuwenkamp, Chair of the Working Party, OECD Investment Committee
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Tricia Feeney, of RAID (Rights and Accountability in Development) and a founding member of OECD Watch
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Dr Claire Methven O'Brien, Coordinator, ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights
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Speaker from UK National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines

The discussion will be chaired by Dr Jonas Christoffersen, Director of Danish Institute for Human Rights and Chair of the ICC Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The event is organised to stimulate discussion amongst NHRIs regarding the current Guidelines review and reflect on potential roles and opportunities for NHRIs within the Guidelines framework.

The panel will take place 9 October 2010, from 1:30-3 PM in the Scottish Parliament. The panel is held as a side event to the 10th ICC Biennial International Conference of National Human Rights Institutions.

http://www.humanrightsbusiness.org/?f=news

Human Rights and Natural Resource Training in Lubumbashi

During the month of August 2011 RAID ran a human rights and natural resources training programme in Lubumbashi for NGOs from different provinces in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. The three-week intensive programme was funded by the Open Society Institute for Southern Africa (OSISA). RAID's Congolese partners, Southern Africa Revenue Watch (SARW) and Action Contre l'Impunite pour les Droits Humains (ACIDH,) provided facilitators and expert speakers.

The programme took place in the Centre de Retraite, "Les Buissonets", in the Tabac quarter of Lubumbashi. The twenty-nine participants were introduced to international human rights instruments and the Congolese legal framework including the Mining Code and Forest Code. A central focus of the programme was on research methods and the participants undertook field work in selected mining sites in Katanga. Speakers included Alexis Mikanji, the head of the Centre d'évaluation d'expertise et de certification des substances minérales précieuses et semi-précieuses (Ceec, Congo's Regulatory Mining Body); Jean Pierre Muteba, a civil society representative on the Executive Committee of the Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI;) Maitre Georges Kapiamba, the Deputy Director of ASADHO and a leading human rights lawyer; Maitre Marc Walu of MONUSCO's human rights division; and Professor Arthur Kaniki, an environmental expert at the University of Lubumbashi. The final part of the programme was devoted to advocacy. At the end of the programme the participants presented their research findings, which will be published on OSISA's website.

Lively Debate in Katanga About Chinese Companies in Katanga

RAID’s latest report ‘Chinese Mining Companies in Katanga’ was the subject of a lively radio discussion on Radio Okapi (the local UN-run radio station) on 8 October 2009. Jean Pierre Okenda, a member of RAID’s research team, participated in a debate with H. E. Ferdinand Kambere , the Congolese Minister of Labour and Social Welfare ( l’emploi et prévoyance sociale) and the Vice President of the Employers Federation of Katanga. The Minister congratulated RAID on its report. The debate can be heard on: http://www.radiookapi.net/files/audio_file_17951.mp3

See also: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/africa/article6871943.ece

And; African Mining Intelligence, 14/10/09: RAID Singles Out Chinese Firms for Criticismhttp://www.africaintelligence.com/C/modules/login/DetailArt/ LoginDetailArt.asp?rub=login&lang=ang&service=ART&context=HIS&doc_i_id=71540545

And: China Labour Net 'Survey Confirms Widespread Abuse by Chinese Mining Companies in the Congo': available at: http://www.worldlabour.org/eng/node/259

Gecamines' Botched Redundancy Scheme Subject of a Complaint to the World Bank's Inspection Panel

The Inspection Panel is investigating claims by former Gecamines' staff, who were made redundant in 2003- 2004 under the Departs Volontaires Programme that the World Bank had contravened Congolese Labour laws and deprived them of their entitlements to back pay and other benefits. The Requesters, former miners from the district of Likasi in Katanga, further allege that the economic reintegration programme was poorly conceived, limited and ineffectual. As a result their standard of living has sharply declined and they have been left impoverished; their family units have been destroyed; there have been negative impacts on their children with young girls slipping into prostitution and juvenile deliquency among boys; school enrollment rates have fallen; famine and malnutrition is widespread because most families can only afford to eat one meal a day; there has also been an increase in morbidity and mortality rates due to the withdrawal of the medical care formally provided by Gecamines.

See http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/EXTINSPECTIONPANEL/0,,contentMDK:22100547~menuPK:64129250~pagePK:64129751~piPK:64128378~theSitePK:380794~isCURL:Y,00.html

Access to Justice and Natural Resources in the Congo

On 21st September 2009, RAID’s Director, Patricia Feeney, was a speaker at an event on business and human rights in the Democratic Republic of Congo, held by the IBA and International Legal Assistance Consortium (ILAC). The event followed the release of a report, Rebuilding courts and trust, in August 2009. The debate explored the exploitation of natural resources, incidences of sexual violence, and the needs and failings of the justice system. With more than 80 participants, from NGOs, governments and private firms, the evening explored some difficult and poignant questions on the troubled state. You can listen to or watch Patricia Feeney’s contribution at:

http://www.ibanet.org/Human_Rights_Institute/Work_by_regions/Africa/Debate_DRC.aspx