Peruvian Farming Family Wins Important Appeal in Case to Hold Mining Giant Accountable for Abuse
...[T]he U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit revived Máxima Acuña Atalaya de Chaupe and her family’s case against the U.S.-based Newmont Mining Company. The family of subsistence farmers sued Newmont in the United States for abuse at the hands of the company’s security forces. The lower court had dismissed the case, saying it should be heard in Peru. The Appeals Court reversed that decision...
Máxima Acuña de Chaupe has been fighting for years to save her land and her community. Newmont Mining is determined to destroy both for a massive, open-pit gold mine — which would drain four mountain lakes in an arid farming region. The Chaupe’s allege that Newmont’s security forces have repeatedly harassed and physically abused Máxima and her family, destroyed her home, and killed her animals in an attempt to force them off their land to expand their mining operations...
Citing evidence of corruption in Peruvian courts, including the recent state of emergency in the Peruvian Judiciary and evidence of past corruption in proceedings involving Newmont, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit vacated the District Court of Delaware’s decision...