A South American trade bloc on Monday ruled that Peru is failing to meet its commitments to curb illegal gold mining and mercury trafficking, siding with indigenous groups who say their Amazon rivers and food supply are being poisoned.
The decision by the Andean Community — which includes Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Bolivia — orders Peru to urgently reform its laws, seize machinery that sucks up river sediment and other mining equipment, and end extensions of a registry for informal miners that critics say shields illegality.
It is the first time the Andean Community has taken up a case of this kind and formally ruled against a member country as authorities try to find mechanisms to crack down on the growing trade.
Photo: AFP
Illegal gold mining has spread widely across the Amazon, as global demand and soaring gold prices make the trade increasingly lucrative. Analysts expect gold would see gains toward US$4,000 per ounce by next year.
Mercury is widely used to separate gold from sediment, but it contaminates waterways, accumulates in fish and builds up in human bodies — posing particular risks to children and pregnant women.
Peru has 20 working days to comply and report what steps it has taken or plans to take to bring its laws into line. If it fails, the case could be referred to the bloc’s Tribunal of Justice, which has the power to impose binding trade sanctions on member states.
The complaint was filed at the end of June by a coalition of indigenous and rural communities from the Nanay River basin, who say mercury from illegal gold mining is poisoning fish and rivers in Peru’s northern Amazon. Hair samples collected in the area have shown mercury levels far above WHO safety limits, and researchers have linked exposure to rashes, stomach illness and neurological damage.
“In some way it is a response to the demands of communities affected by mercury contamination, and it is also a message for other countries that they must make the effort to comply and to respect everyone’s right to live in a healthy and adequate environment,” Peruvian environmental lawyer Cesar Ipenza said.
Ipenza said that if the country fails to comply, the sanctions would be economic, such as tariffs on Peruvian products within the four Andean nations.
The decision could also set precedent and lead to rulings against other countries, he said.
Peru has launched occasional crackdowns on illegal mercury, including the 2019 “Operation Mercury” raid in the Madre de Dios region in the Peruvian Amazon and a record seizure of contraband mercury earlier this year at the port of Callao.
However, indigenous groups say enforcement remains patchy and corrupt networks allow the trade to flourish.
The Associated Press did not receive a response for a request to comment from either Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism or Ministry of Culture, the government office that oversees indigenous affairs.
“It is a warning to the countries that are destinations for the gold. They must have greater clarity about its origin,” Ipenza said.
They need due diligence mechanisms beyond just paperwork, to prevent trading in gold that comes from the destruction of the Amazon, from contamination and from the violation of fundamental human rights, he said.
An American scientist convicted of lying to US authorities about payments from China while he was at Harvard University has rebuilt his research lab in Shenzhen, China, to pursue technology the Chinese government has identified as a national priority: embedding electronics into the human brain. Charles Lieber, 67, is among the world’s leading researchers in brain-computer interfaces. The technology has shown promise in treating conditions such as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and restoring movement in paralyzed people. It also has potential military applications: Scientists at the Chinese People’s Liberation Army have investigated brain interfaces as a way to engineer super soldiers by boosting
Jailed media entrepreneur Jimmy Lai (黎智英) has been awarded Deutsche Welle’s (DW) freedom of speech award for his contribution to Hong Kong’s pro-democracy movement. The German public broadcaster on Thursday said Lai would be presented in absentia with the 12th iteration of the award on June 23 at the DW Global Media Forum in Bonn. Deutsche Welle director-general Barbara Massing praised the 78-year-old founder of the now-shuttered news outlet Apple Daily for standing “unwaveringly for press freedom in Hong Kong at great personal risk.” “With Apple Daily, he gave journalists a platform for free reporting and a voice to the democracy movement in
PHILIPPINE COMMITTEE: The head of the committee that made the decision said: ‘If there is nothing to hide, there is no reason to hide, there is no reason to obstruct’ A Philippine congressional committee on Wednesday ruled that there was “probable cause” to impeach Philippine Vice President Sara Duterte after hearing allegations of unexplained wealth, misuse of state funds and threats to have the president assassinated. The unanimous decision of the 53-member committee in the Philippine House of Representatives sends the two impeachment complaints to deliberations and voting by the entire lower chamber, which has more than 300 lawmakers. The complaints centered on Duterte’s alleged illegal use and mishandling of intelligence funds from the vice president’s office, and from her time as education secretary under Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. Duterte and the
Burmese President Min Aung Hlaing yesterday cut all prisoners’ sentences by one-sixth, a blanket measure that a source close to deposed leader Aung San Suu Kyi said would further shorten her detention. Aung San Suu Kyi has been sequestered since a 2021 military coup, but the senior member of her dissolved National League for Democracy (NLD) party said that while her term had been reduced, her remaining sentence is still unclear. “We also don’t know exactly how many years she has left,” the source told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity for security reasons. The military toppled Aung San Suu Kyi’s elected government
RSS