Mr. M Cutifani Chief Executive Officer Anglo Gold Ashanti PO Box 62117 Johannesburg 2107 Gauteng, South Africa March 31, 2012 Johannesburg, South Africa Dear Mr Cutifani, Greetings from Proceso de Comunidades Negras (Process of Black Communities, a national afro- Colombian organization), The North-South Institute (a think tank based in Canada), Dejusticia (a legal clinic based in Colombia) and all other participants from Latin America and Africa coming together here in South Africa and Zimbabwe (from March 19-April 1) to learn about the impacts of the extractive sector and how we can work together more closely to catalyze change to protect the environment and human rights. This route is funded by the Ford Foundation and organized by Procasur. In September 2011 Anglo-Gold Ashanti participated in one of the activities of the first such tour on extractive industry impacts to Peru and Colombia in Latin America. Mr. Rafael Herz, President of your company in Colombia, addressed the learning route delegation in a panel on mining in Colombia that took place in Bogota, alongside other relevant actors, such as the ministry of the interior and other analysts. The delegation of diverse Latin American and African organizations also visited La Toma (in the Department of Cauca), the ancestral territory of Black Communities, and an area where AGA has significant interests and concessions. Among other impacts, we saw first-hand the impact of the armed conflict on the Black and Indigenous communities living in this area. Since then, the situation of armed conflict has intensified, with illegal armed actors not only involved in small- and medium-scale mining as a means to finance their activities and launder money, but also making new and strong threats to the lives of the social leaders in this area. The situation is extremely tense, and the communities find themselves in the crossfire and the subject of threats by actors who want to control the area, including the ancestral territories. We would like to take advantage of being here in the home country of your company to continue the communication that was started by AGA s participation in the first learning tour in 2011; to highlight several issues that are coming out of our discussions; and to make several requests. Background and Context By way of further background, Proceso de Comunidades Negras, The North-South Institute and The Resguardo Indígena Cañamomo Lomaprieta, an Embera Indigenous Reserve representing 32 Indigenous
communities, have been leading a project examining standards to hold companies to account in Colombia, and strengthening communities so they are on a more equal and informed footing engaging with the extractive sector and making decisions concerning their territories. We have also been collaborating closely with Dejusticia, who provide legal support to affected communities. The ancestral territories of Black communities in Northern Cauca, and the Indigenous communities of the Resguardo, are both areas where Anglo-Gold Ashanti has significant interests. These communities, and others across the country where AGA has concessions or has requested concessions, are extremely concerned that decision-making take place appropriately, with clear respect for their constitutionally guaranteed rights including when concessions are issued. They are also concerned that they have the right to continue with their own forms of ancestral mining, which in the case of La Toma, dates back to 1636. In this regard, the Black communities of La Toma, Cauca, have made significant inroads in domestic law pertaining to the rights of ethnic communities. In December 2010, Colombia s Constitutional Court issued judgment T-1045A recognizing the Black Communities of La Toma s rights to prior consultation before concessions are issued. This judgment suspended all concessions granted in this ancestral area until such time that adequate processes take place upholding Black communities rights to participation, life and cultural integrity. The Colombian Constitution, national jurisprudence and international commitments make explicit the need to ensure that development takes place respecting the ethnic and cultural diversity of the nation, which requires free, prior and informed consultation that is undertaken in good faith. Further, drawing on jurisprudence of the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, the Constitutional Court has ordered that the right to free, prior and informed consent be upheld for those projects that could put at risk the physical and cultural integrity of indigenous peoples and black communities, as is the case in La Toma. Free, prior and informed consent means communities have the right to determine what does and what does not --take place on their lands. It means they can say yes or no to activities affecting their lands; and if they say yes, communities have a right to determine under what conditions such activities take place. In this learning tour to South Africa and Zimbabwe, participants from the Americas and from Africa are deeply concerned that there is no recognition or implementation of the internationally recognized rights to participation, consultation and free, prior and informed consent. While the state should be the guarantor of these rights, companies have an obligation and responsibility to respect international standards concerning human rights.
Requests Given this background and the significant interest that Anglo-Gold Ashanti has in ancestral territories all over the world, but specifically in Colombia, we, participants on the learning tour, respectfully request that Anglo-Gold Ashanti: 1. Give back the concessions that overlap with ethnic territories where processes of consultation and consent have not taken place. According to an AGA representative who participated in a national workshop in Bogota, Colombia in August 2011, organized jointly by Proceso de Comunidades Negras, the Resguardo Indígena Cañamomo Lomaprieta and The North-South Institute, AGA was undertaking internal deliberations on this possibility. Further, while this is a specific request made by communities in Colombia, this could become a policy the company commits to across its global operations. 2. Given the intensifying armed conflict in Cauca, the continuous threats, the invasions of illegal heavy equipment, the presence of different illegal armed actors and the situation of public order, that AGA accept that this area is temporarily a no-go zone for concessions, exploration projects or mining development until such time that there are appropriate conditions of peace and respect for fundamental ethnic rights (identity, culture, territory, well-being, participation and selfdetermination). And that it commit to undertaking free prior and informed consultation and consent processes for all concessions it has already obtained that overlap with ethnic territories, even if these territories do not have collective title but individual title, where there are Black communities and community councils. 3. Provide all relevant and requested information to communities potentially affected by AGA s activities, including activities it undertakes through joint ventures. In the case of Colombia, Anglo- Gold Ashanti has provided the Black Communities in the Cauca and the Indigenous communities of the Resguardo Indígena Cañamomo Lomaprieta information on their concessions in these areas, including maps. The company has further participated in a national workshop on environmental, social and human rights impact assessment (August 2011), and has agreed to meet with project members on several occasions. However, more recent requests for clarifications on specific issues have gone unanswered, including: Clarification regarding AGA s involvement in flyovers over the Resguardo Indígena Cañamomo Lomaprieta in 2008, and the company s possible connections with Colombia Goldfields. What was the nature of the relationship between AGA and the company that engaged in these flyovers? Did AGA provide the helicopters? Did it agree to partner with another company for these flyovers, without first obtaining the consent of the Resguardo for this activity? Clarification of these questions is critical to clear up potential misinformation. We also very much hope we can get ongoing updates from AGA on their activities and interests in these and other areas, as we know exploration activities by this company will have large investments in the coming year.
In closing, last month the African media reported the following about you: Mark Cutifani leads AngloGold Ashanti, a gold company that has a presence in 25 countries. It is the most globally spread and balanced gold company in the world, with approximately 63 000 employees, half of whom are in South Africa. The company generates about $9 billion (R69bn) in revenue a year, with about $3bn cash with which to pay dividends, capital, and so on. What the company does is technically complex, as it mines some of the deepest mines in the world. There are challenges like safety, environmental management, community relationships, and a whole range of other complexities. Yet, management aims to grow the business by about 25 percent over the next three years and to be one of the top five mining companies in the world. So, people will have to be the most important assets at AngloGold, or not? 1 (emphasis added) We join the Resguardo Indígena Cañamomo Lomaprieta, and the La Toma community and its leadership, and call upon you to make good on your promises to put people first, and to respect communities rights to development and self-determination of their future. Sincerely, Jose Santos Caicedo Proceso de Comunidades Negras (Colombia) Viviane Weitzner The North-South Institute (Canada) Natalia Orduz DeJusticia (Colombia) Andressa Caldas Justicia Global (Brazil) Henk Smith Legal Resources Centre (South Africa) Silas Olang Tanzania 1 http://www.iol.co.za/business/business-news/cutifani-leads-by-putting-people-first- 1.1235375?showComments=true
Maria Jose Araya Chile Pilar Albarede Canada Franklin P. de Carvalho New Social Cartography Project (Brazil) Dina Townsend Centre for Environmental Rights (South Africa) Abiodun Baiyewn Global Rights (Nigeria) Carla Garcia Zendejas Environmental Lawyer (Mexico) Camilo Nhancale Kuwuka Jda Fatoumata Toure Pan African Movement Adalberto Padilla Honduras cc. Anthony Hodge, President, International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM); Rafael Herz, President, Anglo-Gold Ashanti Colombia