"Barrick ordered to produce thousands of documents related to police violence at Tanzania mine", 14 Apr 2022 [subscription only]

A fresh wave of allegations from Tanzania, along with a court-ordered review of thousands of company documents, is keeping alive an issue that has haunted Barrick Gold Corp. for more than 15 years: police violence at its North Mara gold mine.

In its annual report last month, Barrick described the human-rights controversies as “legacy situations” that it was remedying with new management and new systems. But it continues to face questions about police abuses, despite its many promises to clean up the seemingly intractable problem.

In an order last month, the High Court of Justice in London told Barrick’s subsidiaries to disclose a long list of documents, e-mails, medical records, radio transmissions and video recordings about police shootings and other security-related violence at its North Mara mine in Tanzania.

Since Barrick acquired the mine in 2006, scores of local villagers have reportedly been killed around North Mara after entering the site in search of waste rock from which tiny bits of gold can be extracted.

In the latest court case, 10 villagers are seeking damages for alleged abuse by police and security guards leading to deaths or injuries at North Mara and its surrounding villages.

The list of documents that Barrick’s companies must search or disclose is so lengthy that it took nine pages in the court order to summarize. It includes, for example, any documents from 2013 to 2019 containing key words such as violence, kill, death, injure, shotgun, launcher, hand grenade, Beretta and Glock.

Barrick’s subsidiaries could be required to review 60,000 to 120,000 documents at a cost of about $2.8-million, according to estimates by lawyers and legal filings in the court case. In total, Barrick’s lawyers said its court costs could add up to nearly $11.5-million, depending on how the trial is conducted...

While the British court case will cast a spotlight on deaths and injuries at North Mara from 2014 to 2018, a human-rights group is alleging that the police violence has continued this year....

Barrick representatives did not reply to multiple e-mails from The Globe seeking comment on the reported deaths and the comments by the former security officer.

In its annual report last month, Barrick said it had “zero tolerance for human-rights violations” in any of its operations. “Human rights is an area we feel strongly about,” it said.

In a separate report in December, the company said it had “radically repaired” its community relations at North Mara and established “clear boundaries” with the police.

In response to the deaths and injuries reported by RAID last month, Barrick said the alleged violence by the police had occurred outside the mine’s perimeter. It said the police were not under Barrick’s supervision...