Bulyanhulu Gold Mine related links:

The Council of Canadians: New evidence links Canada to death of Tanzanian miners
[http://www.canadians.org/media/
media-010927.html]

Response from MiningWatch Canada and the Council of Canadians to the National Post article of Dec. 29, 2001 re: Barrick Gold's Bulyanhulu project [http://www.miningwatch.ca/publications/
NP_response.html]

Sutton Resources, Barrick Gold and Bulyanhulu: Statement from MiningWatch Canada November 23, 2001 [http://www.miningwatch.ca/publications/
Bulyanhulu_statemt.html]

BBC News: Tanzania's pot of gold [http://news.bbc.co.uk/hi/english/world/
africa/newsid_1448000/1448948.stm]

Background Information on Companies and Events in 1996 Bulyanhulu Area, Tanzania [http://www.miningwatch.ca/publications/
Bulyanhulu_backgnd_edit.html]

The Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) [http://www.miga.org/]

MIGA Statement on Bulyanhulu Mine in Tanzania [http://www.miga.org/screens/news/
press/092601.htm]

Export Development Canada (formerly the Export Development Corporation) [http://www.edc.ca/index_e.asp]

Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) for the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) [http://www.cao-ombudsman.org/ev.php]

Stills from police video obtained by LEAT and the Council of Canadians. Excerpts of the video in RealAudio format are available from the Council of Canadians website at http://www.canadians.org/media/media-010927.html.

Bulyanhulu Gold Mine

LEAT represents a group of small-scale miners that were forcibly evicted from their mines in 1996 by the Tanzanian Police. The evictions took place despite an injunction issued by the High Court of Tanzania restraining the Tanzanian government and the Kahama Mining Corporation, Ltd., a subsidiary of a Canadian company. The evictions were to make way for the development of the Bulyanhulu mine. According to LEAT, the area was legally designated a small-scale mining concession area. Without the proper license and little notice to the miners, the Tanzanian government and the mining company took control of the mine sites.

Buried Alive?

In the course of the eviction, it has been estimated up to 400,000 small-scale miners were forced from their land. These miners and their families have never been properly compensated or resettled. During the forced eviction roughly 65 miners are alleged to have been buried alive. The Tanzanian government refused to investigate the alleged atrocities when they were reported, despite a legal obligation under the Inquests Act of 1980 to do so. No compensation for loss of property or life was ever issued. Despite evidence to the contrary, the Tanzanian government and Barrick Gold, the Canadian company that now owns the mine, have vigorously denied claims of injury and death.

The mining incident has received international attention, and many people and organizations have called on the Tanzanian government to allow an independent international investigation. To date, no independent investigation has been initiated and the claims of LEAT's clients remain unresolved.

Timeline: Investigating Bulyanhulu

Jan-13-2003 LEAT presented a submission to the World Bank Extractive Industries Review making the case "that the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine is a premier example of all that is wrong with the World Bank Group’s support of the corporate mining investment in Africa and elsewhere in the world."

Dec-02-2002 LEAT issues a comprehensive response (pdf) to the CAO Summary Assessment Report and states that LEAT "is deeply saddened" by the report as it "contains material inaccuracies, factual errors, unsupported claims, and unsubstantiated conclusions."

Oct-21-2002 In response to LEAT's complaint the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO) issues a Summary Assessment Report (pdf) criticizing LEAT's handling of the Bulyanhulu investigation. The CAO states the the CAO "does not believe that the project merits a compliance audit" and the CAO "does not believe that it can play any further useful role in this case." The Summary Assessment Report is also available in Swahili.

May-10-2002 The leader of an opposition party and two LEAT lawyers are charged with sedition over their persistent claims that at least 50 artisanal miners were buried alive at Bulyanhulu, Tanzania’s biggest gold mine, in 1996. These charges are expected to be levied on May 31, 2002. The UN's IRIN news service quotes LEAT's Rugemeleza Nshala as saying, "Basically it is a campaign to try and silence us, but we think that the facts will come through in the case."

Apr-02-2002 LEAT responds to the Minister for Home Affairs' press statement regarding what he claimed was "deliberate contravention by LEAT of laws of the land and immigration laws" during a LEAT-sponsored international NGO fact-finding mission that travelled to the Bulyanhulu area to meet with the communities affected by the Bulyanhulu Gold Mine. LEAT's statement is made with the hope that it will set the record straight as well as deal with the numerous falsehoods, half-truths and innuendoes that have been spread in relation to the international NGO fact-finding mission's trip to Tanzania.

Mar-06-2002 One of Tanzania's most respected legal figures, Judge Mark Bomani, calls for an independent commission into the alleged killings of small-scale artisanal miners at Bulyanhulu, Tanzania’s biggest gold mine, in 1996.

Jan-15-2002 LEAT submits a complaint to the IFC/MIGA Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman over alleged human rights violations at Bulyanhulu.

Jan-09-2002 LEAT responds to Brian Hutchinson's National Post story criticizing the Bulyanhulu allegations.

Dec-29-2001 Canada's National Post runs a story by Brian Hutchinson belittling human rights activists investigating the Bulyanhulu evictions.

Dec-05-2001 LEAT delivers a letter regarding Bulyanhulu illegalities (pdf) to the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency.

Nov-30-2001 The EDC responds to LEAT's request for an independent international investigation into Bulyanhulu allegations.

Nov-24-2001 Tanzanian police raid LEAT's offices in Dar es Salaam and search the homes of two LEAT attorneys following LEAT's call for an independent investigation into alleged killings of artisanal miners at the site of the Bulyanhulu gold mine.

Nov-14-2001 LEAT delivers a letter, "RE: BULYANHULU GOLD MINE, KAHAMA, TANZANIA" (pdf) to the Export Development Corporation requesting the suspension of political risk guarantees issued to Barrick Gold Corporation pending an independent international investigation of alleged human rights abuses at Bulyanhulu.

Jul-16-2001 LEAT delivers an open letter to the President of Tanzania (Kiswahili).

Aug-21-1996 The Tanzanian Inspector General of Police issues a statement that "there is no sufficient evidence to substantiate the allegations that have been, and continue to be, reported in the press concerning the deaths of small-scale gold miners at the Bulyanhulu mines."