Press release
Hudbay Minerals lawsuits – Examinations for discovery in Toronto, November 6-25, 2017
On Monday afternoon, November 6, Cory Wanless, a lawyer with Klippensteins Barristers & Solicitors, will fly into Pearson Airport, Toronto, accompanying four Mayan Q’eqchi’ women plaintiffs from Guatemala.
Elena Choc Quib, Amalia Cac Tiul, Carmelina Caal Ical and Angelica Choc are four of thirteen Q’eqchi’ villagers suing Hudbay Minerals and CGN (Guatemalan Nickel Company, Hudbay’s former subsidiary in Guatemala) for mining related repression they suffered.
Elena, Amalia, Carmelina and eight other women from the village of Lote 8) were raped during the illegal burning and destruction of Lote 8 in January 2007, as part of forced evictions conducted on behalf of the Canadian mining company. Angelica Choc is the wife and widow of Adolfo Ich, a community leader singled out and killed by Hudbay/CGN security guards in September 2009. German Chub was shot and left paralyzed by the head of Hudbay/CGN security on the same day Ich was killed.
(Angelica and nine of the eleven Lote 8 women, plus a new born.
Photo: La Union community members, 2017)
The plaintiffs are represented by Murray Klippenstein and Cory Wanless of the Klippensteins law firm; they are supported by Rights Action, a non-governmental organization.
These landmark lawsuits, initiated in 2010, have received global attention as a precedent for holding multinational mining companies liable in their home countries for human rights violations and repression at mines operated overseas. The eleven women from Lote 8 will be questioned by Hudbay’s lawyers throughout November, as part of the examinations for discovery. Plaintiffs Angelica Choc and German Chub will be similarly questioned by Hudbay lawyers in early 2018.
Group #1 (Nov. 6-11)
Nov 8 - Elena Choc Quib
Nov 9 - Amalia Cac Tiul
Nov 10 - Carmelina Caal Ical
Group #2 (Nov. 11-17)
Nov 13 - Irma Yolanda Choc Cac
Nov 14 - Olivia Asig Xol
Nov 15 - Luisa Caal Chun
Nov 16 - Irma Yolanda Choc Quib
Group #3 (Nov. 18-25)
Nov 20 - Elvira Choc Chub
Nov 21 - Margarita Caal Caal
Nov 22 - Rosa Elvira Choc Ich
Nov 24- Lucia Caal Chun
Most of the women from Lote 8 have never left Guatemala before, let alone travelled on a plane. They are all unilingual Q’eqchi’ speakers.
The plaintiffs will be available for interviews.
Contact
Murray Klippenstein, (416) 937-8634 (c), murray.klippenstein@klippensteins.ca
Cory Wanless, (647) 886-1914 (c), cory.wanless@klippensteins.ca
Lawsuits background: www.chocversushudbay.com
Grahame Russell, Rights Action, 416-807-4436, info@rightsaction.org, www.rightsaction.org
Background
- Is Justice Possible in Canada or Guatemala for Hudbay Minerals/CGN Mining Repression?, by Grahame Russell, October 28, 2017, UpsideDownWorld, http://upsidedownworld.org/archives/guatemala/justice-possible-canada-guatemala-hudbay-mineralscgn-mining-repression/
- Guatemalan Women’s Claims Put Focus on Canadian Firms’ Conduct Abroad, by Suzanne Daley, New York Times, April 2, 2016, http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/03/world/americas/guatemalan-womens-claims-put-focus-on-canadian-firms-conduct-abroad.html?_r=2
- Mayan Families’ Quest For Justice Against Canadian Mining Company Hudbay, by Marina Jimenez, Toronto Star, June 20, 2016, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/06/20/the-mayans-vs-the-mine.html
- How A Guatemalan Murder Trial Could Forever Change Canadian Overseas Mining, by Marina Jimenez, Toronto Star, June 20, 2016, https://www.thestar.com/news/world/2016/06/20/how-a-guatemalan-murder-trial-could-forever-change-canadian-overseas-mining.html
- Defensora, an award-winning 40 minute film (by Rachel Schmidt, 2013) documents the Q’eqchi’ peoples’ struggle in Guatemala to reclaim ancestral lands and to seek justice in Canadian and Guatemalan courts for murder, shootings and rapes committed by police, soldiers and private security guards working for Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals and its Guatemalan subsidiary CGN. View: https://vimeo.com/75725049
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