Torture of Kyrgyz environmental activists
The Kyrgyz government has largely ignored local grievances, prompting
affected communities to stage acts of civil disobedience and encouraging
widespread enmity towards Centerra Gold.
In one episode, environmental activists from the village of Saruu quietly
travelled to a guarded gold mine in July 2013 and documented the destruction
of the Davidov glacier. Sweeping arrests
followed during and after the protest in
October 2013. Scores of community
activists have been arrested and
tortured by Kyrgyz law enforcement
agencies.
In light of these disturbing reports,
Kyrgyz state ombudsman Bakyt
Amanbayev visited mistreated
activists in the prison and compiled
video evidence of torture. The
ombudsman confirmed that torture
had taken place and added that a
complaint was filed with the Kyrgyz
courts calling for an official
investigation into the matter.
Despite the strides Kyrgyzstan has Ulan Chibutov was detained alongside
made on basic freedoms in Central 10 other Saruu village community
Asia over the last two decades, the UN activists on October 7, 2013. He was
HumanRights Committee remains tortured in the Kyrgyzstan State
”concerned about widespread practice Security (GKNB) prison facility. Saruu
of torture and ill-treatment, in village and nearby townships are the
particular for the purpose of extracting communities affected by Kumtor gold
confessions.” The Committee Against mine operations.
Torture meanwhile highlighted “the
failure of Kyrgyzstan to investigate
fully the many allegations of torture and ill-treatment.”
Out of twelve activists, four were sentenced to prison terms (4-8 years), four
were given probation, and the rest were released on bail. The Kyrgyz
government has failed to investigate torture cases, further degrading the
country’s human rights record.
Centerra’s
Kumtor
Mine
An overview of some of the
untold human rights and
environmental impacts
The Kumtor Mine is causing serious and irreparable damage to glaciers
The Kumtor mine sits at an altitude of 4,000 meters above sea level, in the Tien
Shan mountain range and among some of Kyrgyzstan's - and the region's most important glaciers. These feed into the Naryn (Kyrgyzstan) and Syrdarya
(Uzbekistan) rivers. Kumtor's main gold-bearing ore lies under glaciers
adjacent to Kyrgyzstan's Sarychat-Ertash state reserve.
Centerra Gold has consistently dismissed as untrue that operations at Kumtor
have had negative implications for the glaciers. Nonetheless, local and
international environmentalists have been ringing alarm bells over the glaciers'
melting ice sheet at Kumtor, as well as over Centerra's withholding information
related to the effects of mining operations on the Davydov and Lysyi glaciers.
The Kumtor mine has been dumping waste illegally, and has failed to obtain
any permits for waste disposal
In 1994, the government of the Kyrgyz Republic approved Environmental
Impact Assessment study for Kumtor mine. The study specifically referred to
the removal of the waste rock and seized ice from the mining site, which
should be placed in the valley below, downstream from the Lysyi and Sarytor
glaciers. This is in line with domestic environmental legislation, such as the
1991 law "On the protection of nature", as well as the 1994 law "On Water".
Local environmentalists have long opined that operations at Kumtor mine
violate Kyrgyz law. From its part, the State Commission on Kumtor found in a
2012 probe that since the beginning of operations at the mine, the guidelines of
the waste rock and ice recycling plan were not followed and that the company
had instead chosen the option of dumping tailings onto the surface of the
glaciers.
Kumtor Operating Company produces 13 different kinds of waste. Since the
time it started operations in 1997, however, it has not acquired the necessary
permits for waste disposal. In an August 27, 2012, letter to Dinara
Kutmanova,member of the Kyrgyz Republic's State and Parliamentary
Commission on Kumtor mine operations, KOC president Michael Fisher himself
admits to this breach: "Concerning the permission to dispose of waste, we
would like to inform you that the sites allocated for the disposal of domestic
and industrial waste are currently operating without
the relevant documentation."
Moran’s report on
the Kumtor mine
The Kumtor mine is polluting local waters with
echoes issues
chemical elements that exceed international water
raised about
standards and blocking efforts at testing water
Barrick’s Pascua
Centerra's refusal to allow independent gold mining Lama mine, an $8.5
expert and geologist Robert Moran to inspect the billion gold-silver
mining site in 2012 has led to increased public scrutiny p r o j e c t , w h i c h
on this issue. Mr Moran reported then that "water Barrick has been
testing has shown numerous chemical pollutants have forced to shelve
high concentrations around the mine area, sometimes because of political
exceeding international water quality standards". opposition to glacier
Reports have indicated a number of troubling findings, d e s t r u c t i o n a n d
including that local fish populations have been C h i l e a n c o u r t
decreasing since mining began, that Kumtor Gold has decisions.
produced 89 million tons of tailings, some of which
are deposited in unstable conditions potentially
causing a hazard in case of an earthquake, and that, yearly, the company uses
about 3650 tons of cyanide whose concentration in the waters released from
the mine is unstudied.
Access to information for the public is restricted while state authorities do not
have the means to properly monitor the company. “Kumtor Operating
Company controls the mine like a private fiefdom, restricting access only to its
close associates,” says Robert Moran. “Despite claims by Centerra and the
European Bank for Reconstruction and Development – which is financing
Centerra and should be monitoring its practices – the company does not truly
allow open access to outside technical experts with respect to water quality
testing.”