Fellowship of Reconciliation

Urgent Action:
Copper Mine Imposed on Affected Indigenous Communities

On February 29, the Panamanian government authorized the Canadian mining company Panacobre (owned by Tiomin Resources) to begin exploration and then copper exploitation at the Cerro Colorado mine, in Remedios, Chiriquí, thought to be the third largest porphyry copper reserve in the world.

But the area where the mine is located is inhabited by Ngobe indigenous people. The Ngobes have worked for more than 20 years for legal recognition of their Constitutional right to demarcation of their lands - that is, for the Ngobe-Buglé Reserve (or comarca) law.

The Ngobe-Buglé people number 123,000 (about 60% of all Panama's indigenous population), distributed between Chiriqu', Bocas del Toro and Veraguas provinces. They were not consulted when the mining concession was made, although there is a Inter-governmental Commission for writing the demarcation bill, which includes Ngobe-Buglé representation and to which the government had committed itself. The Ngobe General Congress has also demanded that the government not go ahead with the concession before the Comarca is defined.

There are also serious concerns about the social, political and ecological effects that the mining concession will have on the indigenous people. The National Coordinating Body of Indigenous Peoples of Panama, the Catholic Church, human rights and environmental organizations have sought the annulment of the mining contract. Ecologists say that mining projects in Panama lack environmental impact studies and that cyanide spills have recently resulted from the Remance Mine.

Moreover, the Kuna General Congress, the highest decision-making body of the Kuna people, (located in the Kuna Yala comarca on the Caribbean coast, population 52,000), declared in March that they had not been consulted about five mining concession made by the government to the Canadian mining company Wester Keltic Mines for the exploration and mining of gold in Kuna Yala. They also denounced the activities of Wester Keltic in penetrating and buying off people to divide and weaken Kuna institutions.

The Panamanian Constitution establishes fundamental rights for indigenous peoples, including: Special Regime for Indigenous Comarcas; recognition and respect for ethnic identity, collective property and the prohibition against private acquisition of indigenous lands. Article 11 of the International Labor Organization's Accord 107, ratified by Panama, recognizes the collective and individual ownership by indigenous people of property they traditionally occupy.

Request for Letters

We ask that you write to the following officials and appeal for:

The immediate suspension of the mining concessions to national and international companies on lands traditionally inhabited by indigenous peoples, until they have been consulted through their organizations and representatives, and

Guarantees of territorial demarcation for those peoples claiming their Constitutional right to indigenous comarcas.

Write to:

Oliver Lennox-King, President
Tiomin Resources, Inc.
1 Toronto St., Suite 709, Box 22
Toronto, Ontario M5C 2V6
Canada
Fax: (416) 865-1792
Tel: 1-800-555-0863

Se-or Excellentíssimo Ernesto Pérez Balladares
Presidente de la Repœblica
Fax: (507) 227-0073
Panamá 2, Panamá

Lcdo. Raœl Montenegro
Ministro de Gobierno y Justicia
Panamá, Panamá
Fax: (507) 262-7877 4.

Carlos Ramón Alvarado
Presidente de la Asamblea Legislativa
Panamá, Panamá
Fax: (507) 262-5165

Please also send a copy of your letter to:

COONAPIP
Apartado 4473
Panamá 5, Panamá
TEL/FAX. (507) 262-8772

SERPAJ-Panamá
Apartado 872518
Panamá 7, Panamá
TEL/FAX. (507) 224-0618