A Canadian mining firm has apologized after reaching an agreement with demonstrators shot and wounded while protesting the company’s Guatemalan gold and silver mine, according to statements Tuesday from both sides.
The agreement marks the first time that foreign complainants have received restitution for a human rights violation by a Canadian company in a Canadian court, the protesters’ lawyers said in a statement.
This “landmark conclusion,” the details of which are confidential, was made between a group of injured protesters, who sued the mining company Tahoe Resources Inc in British Columbia province in 2014, and the Pan American Silver Corp, which bought Tahoe in February.
The protesters’ lawyers said a group had assembled at Tahoe’s Escobal mine in southeastern Guatemala in April 2013 to demonstrate against the “lack of community consultation on the project” when mine security shot at the group in an effort to break up the gathering.
Several protesters were injured, the lawyers said. In a separate statement, Pan American Silver acknowledged protesters’ human rights had been violated. “Pan American, on behalf of Tahoe, apologizes to the victims and to the community,” the statement said.
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