Defend Children's Health in Peru

In late 2021, after more than 23 years of AIDA working to help bring justice in La Oroya, and almost 15 years after we filed our initial complaint in the Interamerican System, the Inter-American Commission finally referred the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

The case relates to the international responsibility of a State for harms caused to its citizens as a result of extreme toxic contamination that the government should not have allowed, specifically harms suffered by the people in La Oroya because of the contamination allowed at the Doe Run smelter. The report issued by the Commission is very promising in making strong recommendations in favor of our side, and brings an opportunity for setting tremendous precedents related to the need for control of industrial facilities, the duty of the State to protect the rights to life and health, and the rights of communities in the hemisphere generally.

Thus, after years of waiting patiently and maintaining contact with our clients in La Oroya, we have once again ramped up our efforts. We presented, on February 3, after a month of hard work, a multi-hundred page brief required by the Court, and worked to identify experts and witnesses who will provide testimony. That day, I flew to Peru for a month-long visit to La Oroya together with an expert anthropologist/psychologist who is helping us interview our clients to document and tell the story of the impacts suffered over the past two decades.

On my trip, I visited La Oroya, Lima, and other places where several of the families ended up living after being displaced by the contamination. Although there have been some improvements, and the company does not operate as before, La Oroya remains a hostile place that has never truly remedied the contamination problem. The families still living there continue to suffer from the lack of quality medical care and the frustration of so many years of neglect by the State authorities. In spite of everything, we were able to have an assembly in which the majority of families participated (many of them had not been together for years due to the pandemic). The meeting was very emotional because the news of the Court case has renewed their hope.

As we wait for the Court, in this last phase of the case we are working to ensure that we can:

·       Guarantee the participation of our partners in the community of La Oroya, so that their voice can truly be heard in the hearing to be convened by the Inter-American Court in summer-fall 2022, including ongoing dialogue with our clients to ensure that they are informed about the process and able to contribute their perspective;

·       Strengthen the litigation strategy by working with lawyers, expert witnesses, key organizations and individuals presenting friend of the court briefs, and other allies in Peru and internationally; and

·       Lead a multi-faceted communications strategy in Peru and internationally regarding the environmental problems associated with toxic metals, to make sure we fully take advantage of the opportunity this case brings to highlight the dire need for improved human protections related to toxic contamination and extractive activities in the region.

Because this landmark case is the first situation of environmental contamination in an urban context to come before the Court, it has the potential to set a favorable precedent not only in Peru but in the region, and also to strengthen standards internationally for the protection of the right to a healthy environment.

More than fifteen years after the case of environmental contamination in the city of La Oroya began, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights finally established the Peruvian State’s responsibility for the violation of the affected population’s rights to life, integrity, health and a healthy environment. In October 2021, the Commission referred the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights.

This decision represents an important opportunity to restore the rights of affected residents. It’s the first time that a case of air pollution caused by business activities in an urban context has been brought before the Court.

AIDA and our partners from the Pro Human Rights Association (APRODEH) have represented the communities affected in the case, and we welcome the Commission's decision as it puts an end to several years of waiting and constitutes a great opportunity to restore the rights of the affected people.

"My sisters and I suffered exposure to heavy metals since we were children, having to migrate with our parents to an area far away from the contamination," said one of the victims, whose identity has been withheld due to the risk of reprisals for their role as environmental defenders.

“We are thrilled to take one more step in this long process, in which so many of us have been involved. We are hopeful this will shine a ray of light on our path, and that our case will come to an end for the wellbeing of our health, so we can say 'Yes we could' in spite of so many falls.”

The case originated with a petition, filed in 2005 supported by AIDA, by a group of La Oroya residents who, in the absence of responses at the national level, turned to the Commission to request precautionary measures. They subsequently denounced the violation of their rights resulting from chronic exposure to heavy metals (lead, cadmium and arsenic) from the metallurgical complex run by the company Doe Run Peru.

The affected people appealed to the Inter-American Human Rights System because, although the Peruvian Constitutional Court ordered urgent measures for the protection of their rights in 2006, the State failed to comply with them.

In an official communication on its decision, adopted on September 30 2021, the Commission emphasized that "the State failed to comply with due diligence in its duties to regulate, supervise and oversee the behavior of the companies with respect to the rights they could affect, nor with its duty to prevent violations of these rights.”

"We are happy for the news, so many years of waiting, frustration and fear. We are finally at the end,” said a mother whose parents and siblings were also affected by the contamination. “It’s a joy for all those who are present and for those who have left. We also thank the group of petitioners who have continued despite everything."

It is a milestone for the Inter-American System because it is the first case to document a situation of environmental contamination, particularly air pollution, caused by business operations in an urban context.

The contamination suffered by the inhabitants of La Oroya, many of them minors, particularly those who have come before the Commission, has had serious negative effects on their health with consequences that continue to this day. Although the metallurgical complex has implemented environmental management instruments, given the legal requirements at the national level aimed at mitigating and remediating the contamination caused, the State has granted extensions for their implementation without Doe Run Peru fully complying with its obligations.

"I was very affected by the loss of my loved ones due to a lack of adequate healthcare, which lead to death. We’ve lost many people,” said one of the inhabitants of La Oroya, who has been affected since she was a minor and had to migrate to Lima with her mother. “We want to be treated well when we go to the doctor. I’ve lost my sisters and my father; we are all affected. I remember as I child I used to get spots from the arsenic.”

She requests that the Court focus on the Peruvian health system when hearing the case and learning about its impacts.

In all these years, the Peruvian State has failed to oversee, regulate and remedy the damage caused by the metallurgical complex. Its actions and omissions continue to violate human rights, to the detriment of the families of La Oroya.

Members of the La Oroya community who have defended their right to a healthy environment have also been subjected to harassment and accusations. In this regard, the IACHR concluded that the State did not carry out "serious and effective criminal or administrative investigations to guarantee access to justice for the victims who were subjected to threats, harassment or reprisals by Doe Run Peru workers, as a result of the complaints made about the contamination."

The first week of February we will present the initial documents of the legal claim before the Court, and we have been working hard coordinating with the affected members of the communities and setting up the legal strategy with our partners.

AIDA reiterates our commitment to the victims of La Oroya, to the defense of human rights, and the right to a healthy environment.