Mexico: Paris Court of Appeals admits civil lawsuit by the Zapotec community of Unión Hidalgo against EDF
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"French court greenlights lawsuit against EDF over wind farm in Mexico", 26 June 2024
...Indigenous farmers from southern Mexico angry over landscape damage and poor consultations associated with a massive wind power project have had their day in court in France, where judges have allowed their case to proceed.
Zapotec communities from the Isthmus of Tehuantepec in the state of Oaxaca and their supporters in Europe launched a legal action against French energy giant EDF, alleging the company failed to prevent violence and intimidation of residents who opposed the wind farms on their ancestral land.
After more than three years of legal wrangling, judges at the Paris Court of Appeals authorized the civil case to go forward in a ruling issued June 18, according to a statement from the plaintiffs’ lawyers.
“This landmark decision sends a clear message for transnational corporations,” said Guillermo Torres, a senior lawyer with the Mexican campaign group ProDESC, which helped launch the court action. “Their activities can be subject to judicial review whenever they fail to comply with the law.”
The court didn’t order EDF to suspend its project, known as the Gunaa Sicarú wind farm, until the merits of the case could be examined at a later date, lawyers said. The June 18 court decision reversed a 2021 move by EDF’s lawyers that stalled the litigation on procedural grounds. The case against EDF was first launched in October 2020.
The ongoing litigation in Paris revolves around past harms associated with Gunaa Sicarú, said Torres. The date for the next court hearing has not been set...