The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Jonathon Naylor Editor Ongoing lawsuits could cost Hudbay tens of millions of dollars while setting a precedent for other Canadian miners. In 2007 and 2009, security workers at the Fenix nickel project in Guatemala allegedly raped 11 women and shot two men, with one dying and the other left paralyzed. At the time Fenix was owned by Skye Resources, later renamed HMI Nickel, which Hudbay purchased in 2008. Even though Hudbay is now out of Fenix, the victims are behind three lawsuits that together seek $67 million in damages from the company. Hudbay lawyers used a two-day hearing in a Toronto courtroom last week to try and have the suits dismissed. The hearing will determine not whether Hudbay is guilty, but whether there is a legal basis for the lawsuits to proceed. Hudbay argues that for the cases to move forward would 'wreak havoc' with the established principle that parent companies are not liable for what their subsidiaries do, reports the Globe and Mail. Hudbay also asserts the suits would foster 'meritless' cases against other mining companies, the newspaper states. But, according to the Globe and Mail, lawyers for the plaintiffs argue that HudBay executives made key decisions for its subsidiary about security guards and other relevant matters. The judge has reserved her decision, the newspaper reports. In the first of the three lawsuits, 11 women claim they were gang-raped during evictions from the Fenix project more than six years ago. See 'Alleged...' on pg. 11 Continued from pg. 1 They say that on Jan. 17, 2007, they were gang-raped by mining company security personnel, police and military as residents were kicked out of their homes in the community of Lote Ocho. That was before HudBay was involved in Guatemala. In August 2008, HudBay merged with junior miner Skye Resources so it could own the Fenix project in the eastern part of the Central American country. The second lawsuit involves the alleged Sept. 2009 killing of Adolfo Ich, described by a media report as 'an indigenous community leader and an outspoken critic of Canadian mining activities in his community.' Ich was allegedly hacked and shot to death by security personnel employed at the Fenix project near the town of El Estor, Guatemala. The third lawsuit has been brought forward by German Chub Choc, a man who claims he was shot by a security worker at the Fenix site on Sept. 27, 2009. Chub says this left him paralyzed in a wheelchair and 'ruined my life.' His lawsuit alleges that he was shot with a handgun at close range near El Estor in an unprovoked attack by the chief of security for the nickel project. 'I'll never forget watching the chief of security aim his gun straight at me, feeling the bullet hit, lying on the ground coughing up blood,' he said in a 2011 news release. 'I was terrified. I thought I was going to die.' The lawsuit says Chub, described as a young father, was left paralyzed and lost the use of his right lung. The suit claims the incident stemmed from negligence on the part of HudBay in the management of its security personnel. Chub's lawyers say HudBay's Guatemalan subsidiary hired local security personnel with a history of violence rather than employing or training guards with acceptable standards. Lawyers for Amnesty International Canada have sided with the plaintiffs, arguing last week that Canadian mining companies should be held accountable for alleged human-rights crimes overseas, the Globe and Mail reports. From the start, Hudbay has denied any wrongdoing. In August 2011 the company announced it was selling the Fenix project because it was no longer a strategic fit.
