Press Release: Rights groups join former Inter-American and UN officials in urging Inter-American court to establish standards on industrial pollution

On Friday, November 4, former commissioners of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (Inter-American Commission, or IACHR), current and former United Nations (UN) experts, leading environmental law scholars, and civil society organizations joined the University Network for Human Rights in calling on the Inter-American Court of Human Rights (Inter-American Court, or IACtHR) to protect victims of pollution. Last week, the groups presented two separate amicus briefs before the Court in the case of Community of La Oroya v. Peru. Today, they submitted final public versions with the signatures of 40 leading human and environmental rights experts and NGOs.

The small Peruvian town of La Oroya is one of the most polluted places in the world. A massive metal smelting facility currently run by the U.S.-based Doe Run Company has exposed the community to toxic contaminants, causing cancer, damage to vital organs, infertility, and irreversible harm to respiratory systems. Ninety-nine percent of the town’s children have had heavy metals in their blood at levels substantially higher than the guidelines established by the World Health Organization. 

The Peruvian government’s failure to regulate the facility led the community to seek justice within the inter-American human rights system. The Inter-American Commission granted precautionary measures in favor of the residents of La Oroya in 2007 and found the State of Peru responsible for violations of their rights in a 2020 merits report. In 2021, after Peru failed to implement the IACHR’s recommendations to contain the contamination and safeguard the residents of La Oroya, the Inter-American Commission filed an application with the Inter-American Court.

“La Oroya is a tragic example of a ‘sacrifice zone,’ one of many communities in the hemisphere that live in the shadow of concentrated heavy industry that subjects them daily to a toxic cocktail of chemicals,” said Jacob Kopas, a senior attorney on EarthJustice’s International Program team. “The decision of the Inter-American Court could create a monumental precedent that will help communities like La Oroya fight for their right to breathe clean air and raise their families in a toxic-free environment.”

This case brings the question of what States must do to uphold the human right to a healthy environment in the face of industrial pollution squarely before the IACtHR for the first time. The two amicus briefs emphasize the importance of this question while providing practical guidance on the scope and content of the right to a healthy environment.

In one of the amicus briefs, international experts draw on international law and best practices to urge the Inter-American Court to adjudicate this case in accordance with global standards on the right to a healthy environment. These experts include Juan Mendez, former president of the Inter-American Commission; John Knox, the inaugural UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to a Healthy Environment; and James Anaya, former UN Special Rapporteur on the Situation of the Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People. They are joined by four former commissioners of the IACHR, as well as environmental law scholars from around the world.

“It is essential that the Court recognize the substantive and procedural obligations  necessary to give effect to the right to a healthy environment,” said James Cavallaro, former IACHR Commissioner, Executive Director of the University Network for Human Rights, and signatory of the international experts brief. “Without clearly defined State obligations, the right to a healthy environment will ring hollow for the people of La Oroya and others across the region similarly affected by environmental destruction.”

In the other amicus brief, 23 civil society organizations highlight the need for urgent action by the Inter-American Court to protect the community of La Oroya, as well as the many communities facing similar rights violations throughout the Americas and the Caribbean. The brief details instances of industrial contamination from across the region and reiterates the obligations of States to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to a healthy environment.

“La Oroya is an emblematic case that represents the tragedy that thousands of people throughout the Americas experience as a result of mining,” said Juliana Bravo Valencia, Amazon Program Director at EarthRights International, signatory to the civil society brief. “The Court’s decision will not only send a message to the victims in the case of La Oroya, but also to all the communities and peoples who have experienced continuous exposure to heavy metals and other chemical substances in Peru and in the region.”

The University Network for Human Rights, in collaboration with Yale Law School’s Lowenstein Project and Columbia Law School students, provided support in the drafting of both amicus briefs.

“We are confident that these amicus briefs, together with the advocacy of the petitioners and the support of the Inter-American Commission, can help set a new standard for pollution regulation,” said Declan O’Briain, a J.D. candidate at Yale Law School, one of the Lowenstein Project’s Student Directors, and a contributor to the international experts brief. “If the Court acts decisively, it will not only deliver justice for the people of La Oroya, but also improve the protection of the human right to a healthy environment across the Americas.” 

The international experts brief can be read here in English and here in Spanish. 
The civil society brief can be read here in English and here in Spanish.