ABSTRACT
The question of human rights compatibility within the region’s mining sector is far from new. Several mine-affected communities have claimed that their human rights have been diminished by mining activities. These claims, as Ballard and Banks (2003) have noted, typically relate to negative impacts on traditional culture and social structure, pollution or damage to the physical environment, and/or disruption to livelihoods. Given the high proportion of land-dependant people living within the region, the acquisition, use and management of natural resources are contentious issues in each of the ASEAN member states. Both human rights defenders and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have brought claims against mining companies on behalf of some of the world’s poorest people. Emblematic cases from the region include PT Freeport Indonesia’s Grasberg mine (Ballard and Banks, 2009; Rifai-Hasan, 2009) and the Marcopper tailings disaster on the island of Marinduque in the
Philippines (Macdonald and Southall, 2005). Newmont’s now closed Minahasa Raya mine in the North Sulawesi province of Indonesia found itself in the international media in its final year of operation after becoming embroiled in a multi-stakeholder conflict over allegations of impacting the health of local villagers living in the nearby Buyat Bay (Kemp et al., 2008).
