-------- Original message --------
From: Emmanuel Muganda <emuganda@gmail.com>
Date: 12/07/2013 12:53 PM (GMT+03:00)
To: TANZANET Mailing List <list@tanzanet.org>,mabadilikotanzania@googlegroups.com,wanabidii@googlegroups.com
Subject: [Mabadiliko] Barrick loses case on Nyamongo
December 7, 2013
National
Barrick to drop case against villagers
The North Mara mine sits in the midst of seven villages in northern Tanzania. Desperately impoverished villagers often attempt to gather rocks at the mine in the hope of finding tiny amounts of gold. PHOTO|FILE
In Summary
The judge ordered ABG and NMGML to pay the costs incurred by the claimants in having to respond to their pre-emptive strike.
Dar es Salaam.The UK High Court has ordered the London-based African Barrick Gold (ABG) to withdraw its lawsuit against Tanzanian villagers in Tanzania and compensate them.
This is a setback to ABG, which was sued in the UK High Court by 12 villagers living near the North Mara Gold Mine in Tarime District over the deaths of six of their relatives who were shot by police in 2011.
In the case filed by the villagers, through the law firm Leigh Day, ABG and its subsidiary, North Mara Gold Mine Limited (NMGML), were sued for allegedly being liable for the deaths. The claimants include relatives of the six men who were killed within the mine area and one man who has been paralysed.
But even though the proceedings against the two companies commenced on March28, 2013 in the UK, in July 2013 NMGML instituted proceedings in Tanzania, asking a local court to declare that the company could not be liable for the actions of the police.Mr Richard Meeran from Leigh Day, who is representing the villagers, said: "The first time we were aware of these legal proceedings in Tanzania was when, out of the blue, our clients were served with legal papers on their doorsteps.
"These papers demanded that our clients, who do not have Tanzanian lawyers, promptly appear before a court that is some 1200 kilometres and a two-day bus ride away from where they live."
Mr Meeran clarified that upon learning of the companies' pre-emptive strike; Leigh Day sought the assistance of the English Court and successfully obtained an anti-suit injunction that stopped ABG and NMGML from taking forward their legal action in Tanzania.
The order was made in the absence of the companies. It was this order, which was maintained in yesterday's hearing.
In judgment passed yesterday, Mr Justice Green found that there was no need for the companies to have launched their pre-emptive strike, which he termed a "Tanzanian Torpedo", when they did and without notice to either the claimants in the English action, Leigh Day, or the English Court.
The judge ordered ABG and NMGML to pay the costs incurred by the claimants in having to respond to their pre-emptive strike.
"We are very pleased that the English Court has shown its disapproval of the efforts of ABG and its subsidiaries to try and obtain an unfair advantage over our clients," said Mr Meeran.
The legal action against ABG was the subject of a recent debate in the House of Lords. On November 26, 2013, Baroness Kinnock of Holyhead asked Conservative Peer, Lord Ahmed of Wimbledon, whether the Government was "aware that African Barrick Gold, which is a British company, has continued to rely on the Tanzanian police to provide security at the North Mara goldmine, despite the shocking number of gunshot deaths and injuries to local people".
Several other members of the House of Lords also questioned the Government about its response to the human rights situation at the mine. More detail here:
The North Mara mine sits in the midst of seven villages in northern Tanzania. Desperately impoverished villagers often attempt to gather rocks at the mine in the hope of finding tiny amounts of gold. It is alleged that police are an integral part of the mine's security and that they shoot at the villagers using tear gas and live ammunition. The claims relate to incidents occurring over the last three years, including one in which five young men were shot and killed on 16 May 2011. The claimants allege that the mine and NMGML are controlled by ABG and that ABG failed to curb the use of excessive force at the mine, including deadly force used by police on a regular basis over a protracted period of time.
ABG is majority-owned by the world's largest gold producer, Barrick Gold Corporation, which has faced allegations of extreme violence, including gang rape, at its mining operations in Papua New Guinea. Allegations of sexual assault at the North Mara Mine in Tanzania have also surfaced.
Two years ago, Barrick announced that ABG had launched a full investigation into what it called "credible" allegations of sexual assault at the North Mara mine. The results of the investigation have never been released.
ABG's website states "we must guide our conduct by the highest standards of honesty, integrity and ethical behaviour".
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