This week the World Bank Inspection Panel announced that it would not hear a complaint filed by six Haitian civil society organizations who are concerned about plans for mining in at least five of Haiti's central and northern departments.

The World Bank, since 2013, has been involved in helping the Haitian Government rewrite a 1976 mining law that would, in effect, make mining a more attractive investment for the American and Canadian companies that have been exploring Haiti's soil for the past several years.

View of landscape in Haiti's northeastern department. (Photo credit: Ted Oswald)

The Haitian Government has been divided over plans for mining activity. In early 2013, after hearing that 15% of Haitian land was already under contract with foreign mining companies without their proper approval, the Haitian parliament placed a moratorium on all mining.

[Read: Haitian Groups Wary of “Attractive” Mining Law]

It was at this time the executive recommended revamping the old law with the help of the World Bank, in order to help prospects for mining to move forward. Indeed, the current administration is looking to mining as one of the essential industries in helping Haiti "build back better."

Sampling over the past five years have revealed that Haiti has gold worth up to $20 billion, which doesn't include other valuable minerals such as copper and silver.

Yet local communities and the six civil society groups that make up the Justice in Mining Collective (Koleftif Jistis Min) are concerned about the new law and the way they see things proceeding.

Thus far, the new law has been drafted in consultation with mining experts, World Bank staff, and the Haitian government. Civil society has been notably absent, or rather, uninvited to the decision-making table. On one occasion, a few members of civil society were invited to a mining forum at one of Port-au-Prince’s fanciest hotels, but were not afforded an opportunity to speak.

It is feared that, in Haiti’s current political crisis where President Martelly is ruling “by decree,” the draft mining law could be passed by executive order, without even parliamentary approval.

 Patrico in Haiti's northern department. Many communities have reported mining companies coming
uninvited onto their land to dig for soil samples over the past several years. In most cases the communities
don't clearly understand what it is the companies are doing there. (Photo credit: Ted Oswald)

[Read: As Haiti's Parliament Dissolves, Oversight in Billions in Gold Mining Could Be Axed]

In January, the Justice in Mining Collective, with the help of the Accountability Counsel and NYU Global Justice Clinic filed a complaint to the Inspections Panel of the World Bank, over the high risk of environmental and social impacts of mining as well as the lack of information and participation available to communities over mining plans.

One particularly troubling clause in the new draft law allows for a ten-year confidentiality period for all documents pertaining to ongoing mining in Haiti.

Despite these concerns, which could affect tens of thousands of individuals in Haiti’s northern departments, the World Bank denied hearing the complaint filed by the Justice in Mining Collective on technical grounds.

[Read Press Release: World Bank Refuses to Consider Haitian Communities' Complaint about New Mining Law]

The Pueblo Viejo gold mine in neighboring Dominican Republic is one of the ten largest in the world
and is an example of open pit mining. It is part of the same Massif du Nord Metallogenic Belt as Haiti.
(Photo credit: Pulitzer Center)

According to the Panel, the transparency and public involvement typically required of World Bank-sponsored projects does not apply to projects funded by the “Bank-Executed Trust Fund,” such as the rewriting of Haiti's mining law, though the Panel admits that it ought to and recommends that reform take place in the World Bank system.

The Panel also conceded that there are significant risks associated with mining, and acknowledged the legitimacy of the Collective’s concerns.

Though the Bank is a key actor in the rewriting of the law and regularly touts the importance of public involvement and local participation, it is acting in this case as yet another exclusionary force that bars Haitian voices in matters that concern their own livelihoods. The Bank must realize that in Haiti's current context, where the government is generally closed off to local opinion, local populations have no audience with decision-makers.

As international backers of the new mining law and investors in the industry, the World Bank must heed Haitians' concerns over mining.

Haiti this week

It could be said that our blog posts up till now haven’t been very informative but have given you a glimpse of some fun pictures and stories from our near 11 weeks in Haiti.

Now that it’s Friday evening and I’m sitting in our living room while my poor husband lays sick in our bedroom (stomach bug perhaps?) I think I will take this opportunity to share about some of the important events from Haiti this week and our work. Within these updates, I think you will find some specific ways you can be praying for us and for Haiti.

'Baby Doc' Duvalier

Last Saturday, Haiti’s infamous dictator from 1971 – 1986, “Baby Doc” Duvalier died of a heart attack. He returned to Haiti in 2011 and almost immediately was charged with crimes against humanity, though he has been allowed by current President Michel Martelly to “roam free” even with serious charges pending. Public anger here and abroad mounted as word leaked from the National Palace that President Martelly was considering giving the ex-President a national funeral. Baby Doc Duvalier is charged with having stolen hundreds of millions of dollars from the State and having up to 30,000 of his opponents tortured and killed during his reign. How could the State consider spending more funds to “honor his memory” in such a public way? The Palace decided to not fund the funeral – which will take place tomorrow morning.

Ex-President Aristide

Meanwhile, ex-President Aristide – who was the first democratically elected President in Haiti in 1991 – has faced charges of corruption and embezzlement of government funds during his Presidency. A couple of months ago, a judge with a questionable record summoned Artistide to court. When he did not show up, the judge placed him under house arrest. Two weeks later, the armed guards protecting Aristide’s house were “secretly” ordered to move, thereby leaving Artiside’s home unguarded. Outcry came from Haiti and the U.S., from big names such as actor Danny Glover and Congresswoman Maxine Waters. Today, crowds gathered outside of Aristide’s home again as the judge ordered Aristide’s immediate arrest.

Many people saw this as President Martelly’s attempt to “get rid” of Aristide, and also to distract from the biggest political news in Haiti, which has been the government’s failure to hold important elections for the past 4 years. A bipartisan group from the U.S. Congress has urged President Martelly to ensure that elections are held before the end of this year, but this does not seem likely to happen. Six opposition senators in Haiti are refusing to vote for a new electoral law, which would allow elections to go forward. Many people here feel that President Martelly is corrupt and has a vested interest in not holding senatorial elections, which could allow him to consolidate power in early January 2015 as the senate would be rendered ineffective.

MINUSTAH troops in Haiti

In 2004, after President Aristide was ousted from power a second time, the UN’s peacekeeping force established a mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), and they have been here ever since. There is much public discontent over MINUSTAH’s presence. Their mission is costly (it is about to be renewed for $500 million for another year), and there has not been a recognized conflict in Haiti for the past 75 years. In addition, MINUSTAH’s troops, over the years, have faced hundreds of allegations of sexual abuse and exploitation. There is no formal complaint mechanism established for victims to file claims. Most drastically, MINUSTAH’s Nepalese troops were responsible for introducing cholera to Haiti in 2010; the epidemic has killed over 8,500 Haitians since, and the UN will not claim responsibility. 

Photo credit: theguardian.com

MINUSTAH’s mandate is up for renewal again this coming October 15^th.

On top of this, October 19^th is the 4 year anniversary of Haiti’s cholera outbreak. The outbreak started when sewage leaked from the UN Nepalese soldier’s base camp into Haiti’s main river and water source – the Artibonite. Various scientific reports have concluded that MINUSTAH’s base camp was the source of the epidemic.

On October 23^rd, a court in NY will hear oral arguments concerning the UN's "immunity." This is one success in a long-standing effort by human rights groups to hold the UN accountable and seek reparations for families who lost loved ones due to the cholera outbreak.

Photo credit: theguardian.com

All this to say, people are sad and tensions are running high. It’s easy to feel the outrage in the public discourse, both here and in the U.S. Yesterday, the UN held a donor conference in Washington DC, to plead for funding for their 2.2 billion dollar Cholera Eradication and Sanitation plan for Haiti. The results of the conference were not promising. Only ten percent of their plan has been funded to date. Many people balk at the large sums being spent to keep MINUSTAH in Haiti, while funds are lacking to actually improve health and sanitation systems in the country. 

As you can see, there is a lot going on this week. And this doesn't touch even touch on other issues we are engaged in such as: mining in the north of Haiti, and Haiti's housing crisis, around which we are working on planning a conference in Washington DC. 

It would mean a lot to us if you took note, and took the time to pray over some of these areas, as well as our presence and work here.

(I am happy to report, that by the end of my writing this blog post, Ted is feeling much better.)

A taste of our work

I had a good friend share the other day that she wanted to know more of what we're doing here. Fair enough! I think we are still trying to get our feet wet and figure that out ourselves, though we certainly would like to be sharing more at the same time.

On Thursday we sent out our first monthly Media Alert, which includes links to recent articles on some of our core advocacy issues areas. Our roles as Advocacy Coordinator and Policy Analyst are to work with MCC's partners to better understand and advocate for just solutions to many of these pressing policy issue areas. This will give you a good taste of what we are working on.

Please click above for the full newsletter and article links. You can "like" our MCC Haiti Advocacy page and feel free to sign up for this monthly newsletter yourself. Also, do not forget to watch Baseball in the Time of Cholera, and let us know what you think.

This one's for you, Joy! :)