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open for BUSINESS? CORPORATE CRIME AND ABUSES AT MYANMAR COPPER MINE Amnesty International is a global movement of more than 7 million people who campaign for a world where human rights are enjoyed by all. Our vision is for every person to enjoy all the rights enshrined in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and other international human rights standards. We are independent of any government, political ideology, economic interest or religion and are funded mainly by our membership and public donations. First published in 2015 by Amnesty International Ltd Peter Benenson House 1 Easton Street London WC1X 0DW United Kingdom © Amnesty International 2015 Index: ASA 16/003/2015 Original Language: English Printed by Amnesty International, International Secretariat, United Kingdom All rights reserved. This publication is copyright, but may be reproduced by any method without fee for advocacy, campaigning and teaching purposes, but not for resale. The copyright holders request that all such use be registered with them for impact assessment purposes. For copying in any other circumstances, or for reuse in other publications, or for translation or adaptation, prior written permission must be obtained from the publishers, and a fee may be payable. To request permission, or for any other inquiries, please contact [email protected] cover picture: Farmers confront riot police at the site of the Letpadaung copper mine near Monywa in Central Myanmar on 22 December, 2014. On the same day a protester was shot and killed by police. Local people are protesting against forced evictions from their land to make way for the mine. Credit: AP photo www.amnesty.org CONTENTS EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................. 2 METHODOLOGY ............................................................................................ 9 BACKGROUND TO THE MONYWA PROJECT ................................................... 11 A PROJECT FOUNDED ON FORCED EVICTIONS .............................................. 15 WHITE PHOSPHORUS MUNITIONS ............................................................... 45 CLAMPDOWN ON OPPOSITION TO THE MINE ................................................ 64 ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION: A VOLUNTARY APPROACH ........................... 70 INADEQUATE ASSESSMENT OF THE LETPADAUNG MINE .............................. 94 PASS THE PARCEL FROM CANADA TO CHINA AND THE MYANMAR MILITARY ............................................................................................................... 108 CONCLUSION ........................................................................................... 142 ANNEX I: MICCL’S COPPER SALES ............................................................. 147 ANNEX II: DETAILED ANALYSIS OF THE ESIA.............................................. 149 ANNEX III: RESPONSES FROM COMPANIES AND INDIVIDUALS 2 Open for Business? Corporate Crime and Abuses at Myanmar Copper Mine EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report is the culmination of one year investigation by Amnesty International into alleged human rights abuses by companies, including multinational companies, operating in Myanmar. The report focuses on the Monywa copper mine project and highlights forced evictions, substantial environmental and social impacts, and the repression, sometimes brutal, of those who try to protest. It also raises serious questions about opaque corporate dealings and possible infringements of economic sanctions on Myanmar. The report calls on the Government of Myanmar to urgently introduce strong measures for the protection of human rights, and on multinational companies and the home governments of those companies to ensure that due diligence is carried out to international standards for all investment in Myanmar. POLITICAL AND ECONOMIC REFORMS Starting in 2012, economic sanctions that had been imposed on Myanmar – by western countries – were substantially eased, opening the country up to foreign investment. This followed the election, in 2011, of the current government and the announcement by President Thein Sein of a range of political and economic reforms. Myanmar has a vast wealth of oil and gas reserves, mineral resources and precious gems, but its extractive industries are underdeveloped, hampered by a lack of investment and modern technology. That is now changing as international oil, gas and mining companies increasingly enter the country. However, as foreign companies move into Myanmar, the lack of effective safeguards to protect the human rights of the people of Myanmar is thrown into sharp relief. So too are the challenges of investment in a context where the economy is still dominated by the interests of Myanmar’s military and powerful individuals known as ‘cronies’. In this context there are serious risks that Myanmar’s natural wealth will largely benefit powerful domestic interests and foreign business, while poor communities see only the negative impacts of unregulated commercial activity. Foreign investment in the extractive sector has the potential to bring social and economic benefits to Myanmar. However, extractive industries also carry specific risks for human rights, in particular because these industries often require the expropriation of land and generate harmful waste materials that require careful management. This report examines the issues in relation to one major mining operation - the Monywa project - made up of the Sabetaung and Kyisintaung (S&K) and the Letpadaung copper mines. During an extensive one-year investigation, Amnesty International examined incidents that are specific to the Monywa project as well as some of the wider structural issues – such as the processes for acquisition of land and environmental protection – that will affect other extractive projects in Myanmar. The organization found that, since its inception and throughout its various changes in ownership, the Monywa project has been characterised by serious human rights abuses and a lack of transparency. Thousands of people have been forcibly evicted by the government with the knowledge, and in some cases the participation, of foreign companies. Environmental impacts have been poorly assessed and managed, with grave long-term implications for the health and livelihoods of people living near the mine. Amnesty International February 2015 Index: ASA 16/003/2015 Open for Business? 3 Corporate Crime and Abuses at Myanmar Copper Mine Protests by communities have been met with excessive force by police. THE MONYWA PROJECT In 1978, a Myanmar government-owned enterprise, Mining Enterprise No. 1 (ME1), began developing the S&K deposits at Monywa. In 1996 the S&K project became a joint venture between ME1 and Ivanhoe Myanmar Holdings Ltd., a subsidiary of the Canadian company, Ivanhoe Mines (now Turquoise Hill Resources). The joint venture - in which both held a 50% interest - was called the Myanmar Ivanhoe Copper Company Limited (MICCL). In 2010 the Monywa project (including both S&K and the Letpadaung mine, which had not been developed at that stage) was taken over by the military company, UMEHL, and the Chinese state owned enterprise, China North Industries Corporation (NORINCO). The process by which the Monywa project was transferred to UMHEL and NORINCO has never been publically disclosed. From 2010/11 the Monywa project has been operated by Wanbao Mining Ltd. (Wanbao Mining), a wholly owned subsidiary of NORINCO. Myanmar Yang Tse Copper Limited (Myanmar Yang Tse), a wholly owned subsidiary of Wanbao Mining operates the S&K mine, Myanmar Wanbao Mining Copper Limited (Myanmar Wanbao), another subsidiary, operates Letpadaung in partnership with the military-owned conglomerate, Union of Myanmar Economic Holdings Limited (UMEHL). In 2013 the Government of Myanmar gained a stake in Letpadaung via ME1, which now receives 51% of the profits of the mine. Approximately 25,000 people, in some 26 villages, live within five kilometres of the S&K and Letpadaung mines. The majority rely on agriculture for their livelihood. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE FORCIBLY EVICTED OVER TWO DECADES In order to make way for the S&K mine the government forcibly evicted thousands of people, depriving them of their main source of livelihood, after nationalising their land in 1996 and 1997. The government used colonial era land laws and provisions of Myanmar’s Code of Criminal Procedure to push people off land they farmed and evict entire villages with no compensation, consultation or legal remedies, in violation of international human rights law to which Myanmar is party. Many of those evicted had no choice but to work as manual labourers on other people’s farms in order to survive. Their situation today remains precarious. Further forced evictions were carried out for the Letpadaung mine between 2011 and 2014. In this case the government deliberately misled people, telling village meetings that machines would be taken through their farms and they would be given compensation for damage to crops. No mention was made of land acquisition or evictions. The villagers only realised what was happening when, in 2011, Myanmar Wanbao began construction on part of their farmland. Again, the government used provisions in the Criminal Code to restrict people’s access to their farms. Although Myanmar Wanbao offered people some additional compensation, the company has not addressed the loss of livelihoods, which is a long-term problem. Moreover, thousands more people are at risk of forced evictions as Wanbao continues to develop the Letpadaung