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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Friday, 14 October 2016 16:46
After Seven Years and Millions of Dollars, Decision Announced in Pac Rim Mining Company vs. El Salvador: Coalition of Groups States “There are No Winners”
Investor-State Arbitration Subverts Democracy
Cabañas, El Salvador / Washington DC / Ottawa / Melbourne – Civil society groups worldwide that have allied with Salvadoran communities and organizations working on mining and environmental issues reacted to today’s decision by the controversial International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) on the seven-year old case of Pac Rim Cayman vs. El Salvador, stating that “there are no winners” in this case. On Friday, October 14, the tribunal announced their decision that Pac Rim’s lawsuit was without merit and hence that El Salvador will not have to pay the company the $250 million that it sought.
In 2009, Pac Rim Cayman LLC brought an “investor-state dispute settlement” (ISDS) case against El Salvador at the World Bank Group’s arbitration venue, ICSID. The company, now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Canadian-Australian company OceanaGold, sued El Salvador for alleged losses of potential profits as a result of not being granted a mining concession for a gold project. The government of El Salvador did not issue the concession because the company failed to meet key regulatory requirements.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Thursday, 06 October 2016 15:22
RELEASE THE VERDICT NOW!
On Friday October 7th, on the eve of the World Bank’s fall meeting, people around the world will demand that a tribunal of the World Bank Group’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) to release a favorable decision for El Salvador on the Pac Rim Cayman LLC vs El Salvador case.
Solidarity actions with the National Roundtable Against Mining in El Salvador will be held in El Salvador, Washington, Toronto, Melbourne and the Philippines to demand that:
1. The World Bank Group’s ICSID immediately release a favorable decision that will finally vindicate the people of El Salvador and will allow their government to recover all legal expenses.
2. OceanaGold immediately discontinue all of its operations in El Salvador, including its Salvadoran subsidiaries Minerales Torogoz and El Dorado Exploraciones, along with the bogus El Dorado Foundation, which demonstrates utter disrespect for the broad opposition to mining in the communities, and could escalate the potential for conflict and further violence levels already been seen when Pacific Rim operated there.
We support the President of El Salvador, Salvador Sánchez Cerén, who has stated that he remains firm in his commitment not to grant mining concessions.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Wednesday, 28 September 2016 10:04
Since OceanaGold acquired Pacific Rim in 2013, members of the the Maritime Union of Australia, along Salvadorean and Filipino residents in Melbourne, have held monthly solidarity actions to demand that the company withdraws from El Salvador and the Philippines.
A rally in support of the people of El Salvador will take place outside the offices of OceanGold on Friday Septemebr 30, at 357 Collins Street, Melbourne.
These actions are against the Australian mining company OceanaGold, which is suing El Salvador for over $300 million because it will not issue a mining permit.
The company is able to sue El Salvador because a previous government in that country agreed to Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) legislation. “The legal framework that has been created favours investors and violates the human rights of peoples” explained Bernardo Belloso, President of the Association for the Development of El Salvador.
El Salvador is one of the poorest countries, with average per capital income of $3,800 US per year. It is also one of the most densely populated countries with approximately 360 persons per square Km. It is also one of the most water starved with only about 2% of its surface water drinkable.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Monday, 26 September 2016 18:01
Press release:
On September 15, 2016 an ICSID Tribunal closed the arbitration proceedings in the case that Pacific Rim/OceanaGold began on June 15, 2009 (over 7 years ago) against the government of El Salvador. During this time the government has spent more than US$13 million in legal costs in a suit where the company attempts to obtain more than US$300 million in compensation for not been allowed to harm the environment and the health of the inhabitants of El Salvador.
The next step in the proceedings is for the tribunal to issue an award, which may be released in the short term, may also be known within 6 months, and chances are that it may take an indefinite amount of time.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Monday, 26 September 2016 17:20
Leon Dulce: IPCM
The 2016 World Social Forum recently held in Montreal, Canada became an important opportunity to develop an important global undertaking: the forging of an international people's campaign to hold accountable the global harm aggressively spurred by Australian-Canadian mining giant OceanaGold.
Member organizations of the International People’s Conference on Mining led the initiative at the WSF through a discussion-workshop on building global strategies addressing Canadian mining impacts across the world, focusing on the case of OceanaGold.
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Category: Pacific Rim/OceanaGold
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Published: Monday, 26 September 2016 15:50
Editorial: CoLatino
It is expected that in the coming days or weeks, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) will issued its ruling on the request for Pacific Rim-Oceana Gold against the Salvadoran State. The publication of the ruling was delayed because late transnational mining company tried in vain a negotiated settlement with the Salvadoran government.
Canadian company Pacific Rim, later acquired by Australia's OceanaGold, sued El Salvador for $300 million as compensation for not allowing the exploitation the El Dorado mine in San Isidro, Cabañas.
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