First modification:
This Thursday continues the hearing in Montevideo before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, of a group of inhabitants of the Andean community of La Oroya, in Peru, who for decades have been exposed to heavy metals from a mining company that has existed for 100 years. years in the industry.
“Year after year I get sick three or four episodes a year of paralysis in my body,” says Maricruz Aliaga, one of the 80 people admitted by the Inter-American Court of Human Rights as alleged victims of pollution caused by a mining company.
Maricruz lived in La Oroya, in the Peruvian Andes. That community was exposed for decades to heavy metals.
“Especially lead, cadmium and arsenic. They are polluting agents that have a strong impact on health and even cause sequelae, ”explains Cristian Way Linos, from the Association for Human Rights, who accompanies the group of those affected, to RFI.
“Although it is a very important business activity, we want the Court to know how the State has not only failed to take actions to prevent contamination from reproducing in Oroya, but, on the contrary, adopted legislative measures and promotion in this contamination,” he says.
The inhabitants of La Oroya are also accompanied by the Inter-American Association for the Defense of the Environment. “There was a case presented in 2006 and the Commission took all this time to process it and only a few months ago did it refer us to the Court,” explains the lawyer, Liliana Ávila.
The Court will determine the responsibility of the Peruvian State in the case, the State’s legal team insists that the health problems could not be directly linked to the contamination.
The closure of the metallurgical complex is not requested
“The State can be condemned internationally, it can be declared responsible. We hope that there is an environmental remediation plan that manages the environmental impacts generated by the operation of the complex. In addition, this is a case of a very serious context where the victims suffered threats for denouncing. They also deserve to be compensated”, explains Ávila.
For Cristian Way Linos, the closure of the metallurgical complex has never been requested. “What we have always asked for is that the unrestricted respect for environmental quality standards and the promotion and protection of health in La Oroya be guaranteed,” he says.
The sentence of the Court will be known in 2023.
