Goldman Prize winners stand with Máxima Acuña

September 27, 2016

The Goldman Prize winner community has joined together to issue the following statement in solidarity with fellow Prize recipient Máxima Acuña, following an attack on her earlier this month, allegedly by security forces of the mining company that she is bravely standing up to:

We demand respect and the safety of Máxima Acuña, a Member of our Family.

We are the recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize and come from all corners of the world with the same goal: protect Earth, a vital duty for the well being of all living creatures and humanity alike.

We are outraged at the latest attack on Máxima Acuña and members of her family from security contractors hired by the U.S. Colorado-based Newmont Mining Corporation and/or its subsidiaries or partners in Peru, who trespassed into her property to destroy their crops.  This is just the most recent attempt to harass and force them to leave her home in Tragadero Grande, located in the northern Peruvian highlands of Cajamarca, in order to try to develop the proposed Conga mine.

We denounce any acts of violence that have been carried out against Ms. Acuña and her family, and strongly request Newmont and its subsidiaries to immediately withdraw its security contractors encircling Ms. Acuña’s property and its immediate vicinity.  Likewise, we ask Newmont and its subsidiaries to cease any further harassment or intimidation, including any legal action against Máxima, the Chaupe family, or other community members.

Newmont, as a member of the International Council of Mining and Metallurgy (ICMM), must uphold each of the Council’s 10 principles.  Of the 10 principles, Principle 1 stands out: Apply ethical business practices and sound systems of corporate governance and transparency to support sustainable development.

We also urge the Peruvian government to take all necessary measures to guarantee Máxima Acuña and her family’s safety, including their right to live on their land.  Their human rights must be respected and upheld, as guarantee under the Peruvian Political Constitution, the precautionary measures granted by Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) on May 5, 2014, the United Nations Universal Declaration on Human Rights, and as supported by the latest determination of the International Criminal Court in The Hague to prosecute company executives, politicians and other individuals under international law for crimes linked to land grabbing and environmental destruction.

Máxima Acuña de Chaupe and her family have the right to live peacefully on their property. As fellow recipients of the Goldman Environmental Prize and human beings, we stand with Máxima and her family in their right to defend Cajarmarca’s páramos, water supplies, and the people of Peru from irresponsible mining operations.