How We Won the Landmark Hudbay Minerals Lawsuits in Canada & Mynor Padilla Criminal Trial in Guatemala & At What Cost!
October 3, 2024: The plaintiffs, their lawyers and key supporters in the Hotel Las Americas, Guatemala City, after a day of signing the final documents that settled the Hudbay lawsuits. Back: Carmela Caal Quib, Amalia Cac Tiul, Santos Alicia Caal Choc (daughter of Elena Quib Choc, deceased), Lucia Caal Chun, Angelica Choc, Luisa Caal Chun, Murray Klippenstein, Rosa Elvira Choc Ich, Elvira Choc Chub, Olivia Asig Xol, Margarita Caal Caal, Irma Yolanda Choc Quib, Irma Yolanda Choc Cac. Front: Grahame Russell, German Chub Choc, Cory Wanless, Luis Adolfo Ich Choc (son of Adolfo Ich and Angelica Choc). Photo: Winston Scott
On October 7, 2024, thirteen Maya Q’eqchi’ plaintiffs from Guatemala, their lawyers in Canada, and Rights Action, announced a settlement, after 15 years of legal battles, of the landmark lawsuits against Canadian mining company Hudbay Minerals.
The plaintiffs had sued Hudbay in civil court for negligently operating its Fenix mine in eastern Guatemala, resulting in the killing of Adolfo Ich, the shooting-paralyzing of German Chub, and the gang-rape of eleven campesina women during the forced eviction and wholescale destruction of their village Lote Ocho.
Since 2004, Rights Action has worked in support of mining-harmed Q’eqchi’ communities in this region. Beginning in 2010, Rights Action provided comprehensive, integral support over the course of the Hudbay lawsuits in Canada and an overlapping criminal trial in Guatemala to hold Hudbay’s former head of security, Mynor Padilla, accountable for the murder of Adolfo Ich and attempted murder of German Chub.
We are honored to have been part of this Global North - Global South justice struggle and deeply thankful for the trust and financial support we received from many individual donors and some foundations, across Canada and the U.S., as well as England.
After a “quiet period” agreed upon in the October 7, 2024, final settlement, the plaintiffs, lawyers and Rights Action, can now openly discuss the challenges, obstacles and setbacks confronted in Canada and Guatemala, their successes in overcoming them, the lessons learned from this justice and reparations struggle, and how the lawsuits changed Canadian law for the better.
We are pleased to have published this 13 Brave Giants report that - in easy reading fashion - summarizes the backstory and context of the Hudbay lawsuits and Padilla trial, and then the 15 years of legal struggles and challenges, both in Canada and Guatemala.
Listen to Blueprints of Disruption Podcast episode with Grahame Russell, hosted by Jessa McLean and Santiago Helou Quintero:
Canadian Mining Imperialism: Guatemala's 13 Brave Giants
Backdrop of this struggle
In most ways, the Hudbay-linked violence addressed in the lawsuits and trial was predictable and logical given the historical and current context in Guatemala, and its history of political, economic and military relations with Canada and the U.S.
What was not predictable were the precedent-setting Hudbay lawsuits and ensuing 15 years of legal struggles for justice.
Centuries of imperialism and colonialism are the real backdrop to this particular Global North – Global South justice struggle. Indigenous peoples of “the Americas,” including Mayan peoples in a place that became known as Guatemala, have suffered repeated genocides, and loss of lands, property and way of life.
From 1944 to 1954, known as Guatemala’s “democratic spring”, elected governments were introducing long-overdue political, economic and land reforms. In response, the U.S. government orchestrated a military coup, code-named PBSuccess, in the name of “fighting communism.” The coup ousted the government of President Jacobo Árbenz and brought back to power repressive, “open for global business” military regimes dominated by the elites who had been in power before 1944.
The many phases of the Fenix mine
The global mining industry’s role in Guatemala, in the modern era, begins soon after 1954, and it begins right in the Q’eqchi’ territories of eastern Guatemala. Soon after the 1954 coup, the Canadian government openly supported the entry of INCO (International Nickel Company) into Guatemala. Ever since the arrival of INCO and establishment of the Fenix mine operation, through to today, the Fenix mine has been characterized by corruption, forced evictions and land theft, environmental and health harms, and human rights violations including killings, rapes, lawfare (criminalizing community defenders). The Fenix mine has also been characterized by almost complete impunity and immunity from any accountability not only in Guatemala but in the home countries of the companies (primarily Canada, and also Switzerland).
Brief Timeline of Events
1954 : U.S.-backed coup ends ten years of democratic governments in Guatemala
1960s-70s : Canadian government formally recognizes and establishes full diplomatic relations with the post-coup military governments, and supports entry of INCO (International Nickel Company) into Guatemala. INCO and its subsidiary EXMIBAL establish Fenix mine operation on Q’eqchi’ lands and territory
1978 : Infamous Panzos Massacre of some 140 Q’eqchi’ campesinos on May 29 by Guatemalan soldiers, supported in part by INCO–EXMIBAL personnel and vehicles
1999 : Final “Memory of Silence” report of the United Nations Truth Commission includes serious cases of political violence linked to INCO–EXMIBAL
1981 : INCO-EXMIBAL suspends Fenix mine, in the middle of the U.S. and Western-backed genocides being carried out across Guatemala
2003 : A former INCO director incorporates Skye Resources
2004 : INCO sells the Fenix mine operation and its ill-gotten concession to Skye Resources
2004 : Skye changes name of EXMIBAL to Guatemala Nickel Company (CGN)
2004 : Rights Action begins community support work and activism in the Q’eqchi’ region
2004-2008 : As Skye-CGN try to restart the Fenix mine operation, repression against Q’eqchi’ people and communities begins all over again
2007 : Two violent raids occur in the remote village of Lote Ocho on January 9 and 17. Skye-CGN security guards headed by Mynor Padilla, together with Guatemalan police and soldiers, completely destroy some 100 humble homes, and steal belongings and livestock. During the January 17 raid, roving security guards, police and soldiers also gang-raped 11 villagers (who will become plaintiffs in the lawsuits)
2008 : Hudbay Minerals buys out Skye Resources for US$451 million, and takes over CGN and Fenix mine
2009 : On September 27, hundreds of Q’eqchi’ people protest Hudbay’s mining operation due to the attempted eviction of the nearby Las Nubes community. That afternoon, company security guards led by Mynor Padilla kidnap and kill community leader Adolfo Ich, and shot and left paralyzed German Chub, a 21-year-old Q’eqchi’ campesino witness to the company repression
2009-2010 : Lawyers Murray Klippenstein and Cory Wanless reach out to Grahame Russell, and over the next year a partnership is formed to help file three separate lawsuits in Canada against Hudbay Minerals:
Caal v. Hudbay: Seeking remedy for gang-rapes of 11 women in Lote Ocho village
Choc v. Hudbay: Filed by Angelica Choc, seeking remedy for killing of her husband Adolfo Ich
Chub v. Hudbay: Seeking remedy for shooting and paralysis of German Chub
2011 : Hudbay sells its interests in the Fenix mine and CGN to Swiss mining giant Solway Investment Group for US$170 million
2010-2013 : Hudbay files a pre-trial motion to have the lawsuits dismissed before they can even begin
2012 : Three years after an arrest warrant was issued, Mynor Padilla was finally captured on September 28 on criminal charges of murder (Adolfo Ich) and attempted murder (German Chub)
2013 : In a historic, precedent-setting ruling, an Ontario court rules on July 22 that Canada is the proper jurisdiction in which to hear the three over-lapping lawsuits against Hudbay for negligently causing or failing to prevent human rights abuses at the Fenix mine in Guatemala
2015 : The criminal trial finally begins in Guatemala in April. Padilla faces charges of murder for the death of Adolfo Ich, and attempted murder for shooting-paralyzing of German Chub
2016 : On September 16, soon before the trial court Judge was to rule on the Padilla criminal charges, shots are fired into the home of Angelica Choc in El Estor while she slept inside with her youngest children
2017: On April 6, in an extraordinarily flawed ruling, Judge Ayala Peña aquitts Padilla of all charges
2017 : On September 14, an appeals court overturns all aspects of the borderline preposterous Padilla acquittal ruling and orders a re-trial before a new judge
2017 : In three groups, the 11 women from Lote Ocho travel to Toronto in November for depositions (examinations for discovery)
2018 : On March 30th, unidentified men beat and kill Hector Choc, the nephew of Angelica Choc, on the outskirts of El Estor
2018 : German Chub and Angelica Choc travel in July to Toronto for depositions
2019 : A hearing (a ‘mini-trial’ within the lawsuits) is held to decide if Hudbay could be held accountable in a Canadian court not only for the actions of their security guards but also the actions of Guatemalan soldiers and police
2020: On January 20, the Ontario Superior Court ruled against Hudbay on all points, concluding that Hudbay can be held accountable for the gang-rapes, whosoever committed them – company security guards, Guatemalan police or soldiers
2020 : On January 23, Hudbay’s CEO suggests that Hudbay is ready to settle the lawsuits. Two weeks later, Hudbay’s lawyers do an about face and appeal the January 20 ruling of the Ontario Superior Court
2020 : In 2020, Guatemala’s highest court, the Constitutional Court, ordered the suspension of the Fenix mining operations, ruling that there never was a valid licence to operate the Fenix mine
2020 : Elena Quib Choc, one of the plaintiff’s from Lote Ocho, dies of cervical cancer on October 18
2020 : In November, an Ontario appeal court fully rejects Hudbay’s appeal of the January 20, 2020 ruling
2021 : On January 6, a Guatemalan court accepted guilty pleas from Mynor Padilla for the killing of Adolfo Ich and shooting-paralyzing of German Chub
2021-2024 : Long, complicated settlement negotiations in Canada, that were ultimately successful
2024 : On October 3, the settlement agreement is signed at the Hotel Las Americas in Guatemala City
