Natural Resources, Conflict & Human Rights

Assessing the response of Dutch banks to severe human rights abuses in the extractive industry

09-10-2018This report lists which Dutch banks have extended loans to five companies in the extractive industry that caused or contributed to severe human rights abuses.

Sociedad civil bajo amenaza

Violencia paramilitar en la zona minera del Cesar 2012-2016

20-10-2016Spanish translation of the report 'Civil society under threat'. Violence and threats are an everyday occurrence in Cesar, the Colombian mining region where European energy companies purchase blood coal for our power supply.

Civil Society Under Threat

Paramilitary violence in the Cesar mining region 2012-2016

15-09-2016Violence and threats are an everyday occurrence in Cesar, the Colombian mining region where European energy companies purchase blood coal for our power supply.

Scorched earth and charred lives

Human health and environmental risks of civilian-operated makeshift oil refineries in Syria

05-09-2016Many Syrian civilians have begun refining oil due to the drastic decline in production by professional oil refineries in Syria. The conditions in these makeshift refineries are causing enormous health and environmental pollution problems in the region.

Democracia vale más que el oro

El proyecto minero La Colosa y el derecho ciudadano a la participación

24-08-2016This report deals with the historical struggle of local civil society organizations in Tolima (Colombia) for their right to participate in decision making on a large-scale gold mining project (La Colosa, of Anglogold Ashanti).

The balance of five years of efforts against blood coal

Analyzing the Dutch process

01-12-2015Over the last five years, several European NGOs have focused on the mitigation of human rights violations in the coal mine region of Cesar (Colombia) and have strived for remedy for the thousands of victims of violence in that area.

Exploiter (dans) le désordre

Cartographie sécuritaire du secteur aurifère à Mambasa occidental

07-10-2015Chronic unsafety reigns in the west part of the Mambasa district in Ituri province, DRC. Between militias and semi autonomous troops of the Congolese army the civil population depends on artisanal mining of gold as a major source of income. The mining activities are hemmed in between the national reserve 'Réserve de Faune Okapi', where mining is prohibited and the concession of Canadian gold mining company Kilo Goldmines. This results in ruthless exploitation and severe violations of humans rights. PAX advocates demilitarisation of the zone and proper governance by the Congolese state. Regulating small scale mining activities of inhabitants and establishing local security committees in cooperation with religious and women's organisations will lead to radical improvement.

Exploiter (dans) le désordre - résumé exécutif

Cartographie sécuritaire du secteur aurifère à Mambasa occidental

07-10-2015Executive summary

Géant minier Kibali

Oter les impuretés pour que l’or soit pur

26-08-2015This report focusses on the safety and human rights situation within the concession of goldmining company KibaliGold Mines in the north-east of DR Congo. It describes serious violent incidents and safety management of the company. It turns out strong informal ties exist between the company, the government and security organisations. PAX calls on KibaliGold Mines to publicly repudiate actions of disproportional violence by army and police against civil protest against the company’s mining. The Congoles authorities are urged to investigate violations of human rights by the army and police and to initiate court cases concerning two specific incidents.

Le potentiel de l'Or

Y a-t-il potentiel de conflit dans le secteur aurifère dans la concession 40 en Province Orientale?

02-12-2014"Le Potentiel de l'Or", is a report on PAX’ study into the risks to human security and conflict in gold concession 40 in Ituri, DR Congo, where South African-held AGK has an exclusive industrial mining license. The study finds inter alia that to prevent violent conflicts it is necessary that the government and the AGK offer a perspective to the artisanal sector. The risks of violent conflict inherent to this sector did not show from our research.