The Mirador Mine in Ecuador, owned by Ecuacorriente S.A. (ECSA), poses a significant threat to human life, livelihoods, and biodiversity due to the imminent collapse of its tailings dams.
The Ecuadorian government and ECSA have failed to disclose critical information about the safety and construction of the dams, and indigenous communities’ rights have been violated as a result. The lack of transparency makes it difficult to hold mining companies and government officials accountable.
UN Expert on Earth Jurisprudence David F. Dene has filed an urgent complaint with the Initiative for the Transparency in Extractive Industries (EITI) to investigate Ecuador’s non-compliance with EITI standards and call for an urgent moratorium and remediation of the Mirador Mine’s dams.
The alleged victims, and some as petitioners, allege that the State is responsible for the violation of their rights due to the lack of protection and control of a mining project which would have caused the irreversible deterioration of the environment and effects on the decent life of eight populated centres and ten communities in the area3.
Approved by the Commission on 9 March 2022.
Accepted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights based in Costa Rica.
David Dene and Julio Prieto, experts recognized by the Harmony with Nature program of the United Nations, presented the request based on a rigorous technical report prepared by Dr. Steven H. Emerman, who is an internationally recognized expert on tailings dams and their structural integrity.
The potential for imminent danger to human life and the
environment from the Mirador open-pit copper mine in south-
eastern Ecuador” submitted by E Tech International to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights August 2022.
WITH A PRODUCTION OF 46.2 MTPA MIRADOR 1 CUMULATIVE CONCESSION (CODE 500807), CURIGEM 18 (CODE 4768) AND CURIGEM 19 (CODE 4769)
The alleged victims, and some as petitioners, allege that the State is responsible for the violation of their rights due to the lack of protection and control of a mining project which would have caused the irreversible deterioration of the environment and effects on the decent life of eight populated centres and ten communities in the area3.
Approved by the Commission on 9 March 2022.
Accepted by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights based in Costa Rica.
David Dene and Julio Prieto, experts recognized by the Harmony with Nature program of the United Nations, presented the request based on a rigorous technical report prepared by Dr. Steven H. Emerman, who is an internationally recognized expert on tailings dams and their structural integrity.
