Privatized Remedy and Human Rights: Re-thinking Project-Level Grievance Mechanisms

Both the Porgera Mine in Papua New Guinea (PNG) and the North Mara Mine in Tanzania have a long history of excessive use of force by mine security and police that guard the mines. This excessive use of force regularly results in deaths and maiming by gunshots of local men, beatings, and rape of local women and in Porgera gang rape of local women. Both mines have Memorandum of Agreements/Understanding with the state allowing PNG and Tanzanian police, to be used to help guard the mines. Both PNG mobile police and Tanzanian police have well-documented reputations for excessive and unreasonable use of force. At both mines, documented cases of excessive use of force against both men and women implicate both mine security and police forces guarding the mines.