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(Mitchell Gilbert para AIDA)
Press Release: Victory March 22, 2024

Fallo de la Corte IDH en Caso de La Oroya Sienta Precedente Clave para la Protección del Ambiente Sano

El tribunal estableció la responsabilidad del estado peruano en la violación de derechos de residentes de La Oroya, afectados por décadas de contaminación tóxica

A smelter in La Oroya, Peru has polluted the small Andean city for generations. (Mitchell Gilbert for AIDA)
Press Release: Victory March 22, 2024

Inter-American Court Ruling on La Oroya Case Sets Key Precedent for the Protection of a Healthy Environment

The Court found Peru responsible for violating the rights of residents of La Oroya, who have been exposed to unsafe levels of toxic contamination for generations

In the News: KRBD February 27, 2024

Alaska Tribes accuse Canada of human rights violations, request international hearing on mining

Mae Manupipatpong, Attorney, International Program: “Toxic water pollution doesn’t stop at the Canadian border. And human rights obligations don’t either.”

View of the Tulsequah River, looking east towards the confluence with Taku River.
(Photo courtesy of Chris Miller / Trout Unlimited)
Press Release February 19, 2024

Alaska Tribes facing BC mining threat ask for international hearing

SEITC briefs the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights on Canada’s violations

document February 19, 2024

SEITC Observations on the Merits of BC Mines Case

A group of Alaska Tribes with roots along Canada’s transboundary rivers, the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), submitted a brief to the Inter-American Commission for Human Rights requesting a hearing on the looming threats of several risky and under-regulated gold mines in British Columbia.

In the News: KRBD February 2, 2024

Alaska Native Tribes pressure Canada for rights in Unuk River mining project

Ramin Pejan, Attorney, International Program: “The ownership of the Unuk River and the territory and the use of that river is integral to their culture, to their subsistence. It goes back thousands of years before these borders were in place.”

Unuk River is one of the transboundary watersheds of southeast Alaska. (USGS)
Press Release January 30, 2024

Alaska Native Tribes Press B.C. for Rights Amid Reckless Gold Rush

Tlingit Tribes originating along the Unuk River want a say in risky mining proposals

document January 30, 2024

Map: Sàanyàa Ḵwáan Traditional Territory in Unuk River Watershed (Jòonax̱)

Prepared for Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) as part of a petition submitted to Canadian environmental regulators affirming their historic presence along the Unuk River, which is threatened by rapidly expanding transboundary mining.

View of the Tulsequah River, looking east towards the confluence with Taku River.
(Photo courtesy of Chris Miller / Trout Unlimited)
case January 10, 2024

Defending Watersheds in Southeast Alaska and British Columbia from Impacts of Mining

The Taku, Stikine, and Unuk rivers flow across the Canada-United States border, from headwaters in the Coast Mountains of British Columbia through Southeast Alaska to the sea. These watersheds are some of the largest and most productive salmon habitats remaining in the world. Alaska Native and First Nations peoples have harvested salmon and caribou from…

Stikine River (Michael Penn)
Press Release September 21, 2023

Transboundary Mining in British Columbia May Violate Human Rights, Says Inter-American Commission

Petition from the Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC) addresses Canada’s failure to regulate and prevent threats from large-scale mining operations in British Columbia

document September 18, 2023

IACHR Report on Admissibility for SEITC Petition

Decision by the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) to admit a petition from Southeast Alaska Indigenous Transboundary Commission (SEITC), alleging that Canada’s failure to regulate and prevent threats from large-scale mining operations in British Columbia constitutes a violation of SEITC member Tribes’ internationally recognized human rights.

A reef and island off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico.
 (Cesar Morales / Getty Images)
Press Release August 2, 2023

Mexican environmental authority violates Mexico’s highest court and international obligations when reissuing a permit for a port expansion that threatens the Veracruz Reef System

In a legal brief, AIDA and Earthjustice argue the Secretary of the Environment failed to properly evaluate the environmental impact of the project to the reef, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as required by Mexico’s highest court

A reef and island off the coast of Veracruz, Mexico.
 (Cesar Morales / Getty Images)
Press Release August 2, 2023

Autoridad Ambiental Mexicana Vulnera Obligaciones Internacionales con Nuevo Permiso para Ampliación Portuaria que Amenaza al Sistema Arrecifal Veracruzano

En un escrito legal, AIDA y Earthjustice evidenciaron cómo la Secretaría de Medio Ambiente no reevaluó adecuadamente el impacto ambiental del proyecto en los arrecifes, declarados Patrimonio de la Humanidad, de acuerdo con los términos dispuestos por la Suprema Corte

President Joe Biden delivers remarks at the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, September 21, 2021, in New York. (Adam Schultz / White House)
Press Release July 20, 2023

Right to a Healthy Environment Global Coalition Wins UN Human Rights Prize

This is the first time the UN Human Rights Prize has been awarded to a global coalition

staff March 3, 2023

Lisa Nessan

Based in San Francisco, Lisa is the legal practice manager for the International Program.

document March 1, 2023

Position Statement on the Updated Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage: Climate Action Goal 3 – Climate Mitigation

This Position Statement comments on World Heritage Climate Action Goal 3 – Climate Mitigation in the “Updated Policy Document on Climate Action for World Heritage” (WHC/21/23.GA/INF.11). We appreciate the efforts of the World Heritage Advisory Bodies, state parties, experts, civil society, and other stakeholders in this work and make the following recommendations.

staff February 21, 2023

Sadhana Abayasekara

Sadhana Abayasekara is a senior attorney with the International Program.

Demonstrators protest for climate justice, human rights, and the end of fossil fuels during the 2022 United Nations Climate Change Conference, in Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt.
(Chris Jordan-Bloch / Earthjustice)
feature November 18, 2022

COP27: At the Climate Justice Pavilion, Finally a Home

First-ever environmental justice presence in the UN climate conference’s official “Blue Zone”