|
|
FINANCE: Audit Finds World Bank Partly to Blame for Abuses
By Emad Mekay
WASHINGTON, Feb 2, 2006 (IPS) - An investigation into a World Bank-backed mine in Africa has found that the Bank needs to more rigorously screen its operations and monitor the Australian company that allegedly provided logistical support to an army offensive that took the lives of dozens of civilians.
The Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), an internal audit body at the Washington-based lender, released its report on the Dikulushi copper and silver mining project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) Thursday after receiving clearance from the office of World Bank President Paul Wolfowitz.
The report was the subject of a furor by a number of advocacy and environmental groups who, until Wednesday, had complained that the report was being withheld by Wolfowitz's office. Many suggested that the Bank was reluctant to disclose its contents for fear of implicating the institution in bloodshed.
In their report, investigators steered clear of assigning blame for the massacre that took place in October 2004 when the Congolese army suppressed a small-scale uprising by the Mayi-Mayi militia fighters in Kilwa, a town near the Dikulushi mine, reportedly killing as many as 100 people.
The incident raised questions about the role of the Australian company, Anvil Mining, in giving logistical support to the army. In an investigative report, the Australian Broadcasting Corporation found that Anvil's trucks were used to transport troops to repress the uprising, and then to allegedly take away corpses of the victims of summary executions.
But in the face of repeated denials by the company, uncertainties remained about whether this logistical support violated international law, and whether Anvil Mining managers should have anticipated the risk of human rights abuses by the army.
In its report, the CAO said that it is "not in a position to bring greater clarity to these remaining areas of uncertainty in the context of this compliance audit". However, the report gave a mixed review of the Bank's role.
It urged the Bank's political risk guarantee arm, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA), which provides insurance for private companies against instability in developing nations and was the insurer for the Dikulushi mine, to follow more meticulous safeguards that take security, human rights and the environment into consideration.
"(MIGA's) core business processes provide only a partial framework for addressing conflict and security issues, insofar as they represent insurable risks to a project," according to the findings of the audit.
"These weaknesses may stem from the absence of specialist social expertise input into the Dikulushi project by MIGA and the overall low risk MIGA had assigned to social impacts," it added.
The report called on MIGA to take steps to prevent Anvil's equipment from being used by any armed groups at risk of committing human rights abuses in the Dikulushi/Kilwa area.
The report also said that MIGA should adopt the so-called Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, which guide relationships between international companies and public security to ensure respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms.
"Neither MIGA nor Anvil recognised the critical distinction between conventional security, which deals with securing the safety and well-being of personnel and assets, and the Voluntary Principles, which recognise that conventional security provision can, in and of itself, present risks to the well-being of communities," CAO said.
MIGA responded in a statement Thursday by saying that it was already acting on the recommendations made in the audit report of its due diligence. It reported that its client, Anvil Mining, has hired an international security company and a law firm to regulate its contacts with the government on security-related issues.
"MIGA will continue to monitor the progress being made to ensure Anvil fulfills the commitments it has made," it pledged.
Watchdog groups that were instrumental in bringing global attention to the issue say the CAO report echoes previous findings on MIGA operations. They said the findings should be viewed as one more reason why the Bank and companies should scrutinise their work in oil, mining and gas projects, especially in conflict or weak governance zones.
"The report found systemic problems in the way that MIGA assess social risk and social issues - essentially problems in the way that MIGA does its business that can ultimately contribute to dire consequences for people on the ground," said Nikki Reisch with the Washington-based Bank Information Centre, a clearing house of information on the international financial institutions.
"MIGA's due diligence doesn't mandate addressing social issues including conflict security and human rights and it doesn't necessarily have the capacity to assess its own clients' ability to implement things such as the voluntary principles on security," she said.
Another group that has monitored the controversy surrounding the DRC mine, the British-based Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID), welcomed the report but said the question remained whether the company would comply with its recommendations.
"We await Anvil's reaction to the report with interest, particularly what measures its has or will put in place to eliminate the risk of its equipment being used for human rights abuses by either the Congolese military or rebel groups," RAID said in an email message to IPS.
(END)
|
|
|
|
|
| |
|
|
What is RSS?
