Human Rights Protections and the Private Sector: The Case Study of the Marlin Mine

Abstract

Human rights violations are becoming a matter of growing concern in areas where extractive industry development is occurring. The problem is especially acute in the Global South, particularly in Latin America where there has been a mining boom occurring since the late 1990s, and is leading to escalating conflicts between mines and the communities hosting them. Corporate social responsibility (CSR) has become an increasingly applied norm in the extractive industry in recent years as companies have faced growing criticisms regarding human rights violations. The thesis will examine one tool of CSR – a human rights impact assessment (HRIA) and examine the effectiveness of the HRIA conducted by Goldcorp to address the communities’ allegations of human rights violations at its Marlin mine in Guatemala.