Complaint against Rio Tinto Submitted to the Australian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises
Photo: Human Rights Law Centre
"Complaint against Rio Tinto Submitted to the Australian National Contact Point for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises", September 2020
This complaint is brought by the Human Rights Law Centre (the Notifier) on behalf of 156 residents of Dapera, Enamira, Java, Kobalu 1 and other villages downstream of the Panguna mine in Bougainville, Papua New Guinea listed in Appendix 1 (the Complainants).
The complaint alleges that Anglo-Australian mining company Rio Tinto is responsible for significant breaches of the OECD guidelines relating to the serious, ongoing environmental and human rights violations arising from the operation of its former Panguna mine on Bougainville...
In 2016, Rio Tinto divested from the mine, leaving the massive quantities of waste and pollution from the mine unaddressed...
The mine pollution continues to infringe nearly all the economic, social and cultural rights of these indigenous communities, including their rights to food, water, health, housing and an adequate standard of living. It also continues to have serious environmental impacts, destroying and threatening previously un-impacted rivers and creeks and large areas of rainforest.
The complaint alleges that, through failing to address these ongoing impacts of its operations, Rio Tinto is responsible for significant breaches of its human rights and environmental obligations under Chapters II, IV and VI of OECD guidelines...