One of our first studies provided one of the major evidence for the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights enacted in 2010, which adopted precautionary measures that ordered Guatemala to require the company (the court has jurisdiction on states and not companies) to improve the safety of their extractive operations.
Between 2006 and 2007, Flaviano Bianchini collected evidence of the pollution and human rights abuses caused by the mining company Gold Corp in the Marlin Mine, which was in operation on a Maya indigenous land. In 2007 Flaviano published a study about pollution in the area of Sipakapa, in the province of San Marcos, Guatemala.
The study demonstrated heavy metals pollution from the mine and it provided major evidence for the Inter-American Commission of Human Rights enacted in 2010. The commission adopted precautionary measures that ordered Guatemala to require the company (the court has jurisdiction on states and not companies) to improve the safety of their extractive operations. The commission also ordered the State of Guatemala to adopt the necessary measures to decontaminate, as much as possible, the water sources of the 18 beneficiary communities and to ensure their members access to water fit for human consumption, and to address the health problems that are the subject of these precautionary measures.
To address health problems, Guatemala was ordered to begin a health assistance and health care program for those who may have been affected by the contamination, so as to provide them with appropriate medical attention. They were to adopt any other necessary measures to guarantee the life and physical integrity of the members of the 18 Maya communities; and to plan and implement the protection measures with the participation of the beneficiaries and/or their representatives.
