UN says nearly 150 men and women are reported to have died in gold, diamond and bauxite mines since March 2016.
Some
gold, diamond and bauxite mines in the Venezuelan Amazon are controlled by
criminal groups that exploit, beat and even kill workers, a United Nations
investigation has found.
Venezuelan
security and military forces have failed in preventing crimes and, in fact,
have participated in some of the violence against the miners, the UN human
rights office said in a report (PDF) on Wednesday. https://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/HRC/RegularSessions/Session44/Documents/A_HRC_44_54.pdf
"Despite
the considerable presence of security and military forces in the region ...
authorities have failed to investigate and prosecute human rights violations,
and abuses and crimes linked to mining," UN High Commissioner for Human
Rights Michelle Bachelet said in a statement.
"Authorities
should take immediate steps to end labour and sexual exploitation, child labour
and human trafficking, and should dismantle criminal groups controlling mining
activities," she added.
"They
must also investigate, prosecute and punish those responsible for human rights
violations, abuses and crimes."
Her
deputy, Nada Al-Nashif, will present the report on Wednesday to the Human
Rights Council, where Venezuela's ambassador Jorge Valero is expected to speak.
There
was no immediate response from Venezuela, one of the UN body's 47 members.
UN Human
Rights
@UNHumanRights
#Venezuela:
People working in the #ArcoMinero del Orinoco region are caught up in a context
of labour exploitation and high levels of violence by criminal groups that
control the mines in the area, including who enters & who leaves – Report. Learn more: http://ow.ly/Y39h50AyGg8
5:20 AM
· Jul 15, 2020
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'Clandestine
graves'
The UN
report, referring to an area known as the Orinoco Mining Arc (AMO), said:
"Much of the mining activity within and beyond AMO is controlled by
organised criminal groups or armed elements.
"They
determine who enters and leaves the area, impose rules ... and gain economic
benefit from all activity within the mining area, including through extortion
in exchange for protection."
Nearly
150 men and women are reported to have died in or around the mines since March
2016, with security forces implicated in half the incidents, it said, adding
that the government had not replied to its request for information.
"According
to accounts received ... bodies of miners are often thrown into old mining pits
used as clandestine graves," it said.
The
miners, who include young children, are not given employment contracts and are
exposed to mercury contamination and malaria, the report said.
It
called for the government of President Nicolas Maduro to regularize mining
activities and ensure that they meet international legal and environmental
standards.
Created
by a government decree in 2016, AMO - an area of some 111,000 sq km (42,800
square miles) in the Venezuelan Amazon - makes up 12 percent of the national
territory. Gold, diamonds, coltan, iron and bauxite are mined there.
The
Maduro government has supported small-scale mining to bring in revenue amid an
economic crisis. Operations expanded after the US increased sanctions meant to
force him from power.
Venezuela's
central bank has not published data since 2018 on gold and other mineral
exports, their destination or foreign currency earnings, the report said.
Criminal
groups have become more active since concessions for foreign mining companies
were terminated in 2011, the report said.
***SOURCE:
AL JAZEERA AND NEWS AGENCIES