Mr. Quelvin Otoniel Jiménez Villalta:

I thank the members of the parliamentary committee on foreign affairs. In Guatemala, the Maya, Garífuna and Xinca peoples are those who have suffered most from the irresponsibility and impunity with which many transnational corporations operate. Since the arrival of Canadian transnational mining corporations in our territories in 2003, we have been dispossessed of our land and suffered environmental degradation, fragmentation of the social fabric, repression, criminalisation, water grabbing, water contamination and migration. The threat that mega-mining poses to our peoples has forced us to defend our territory and demand respect for our rights. The companies' response has been to attack her legally, verbally and physically, leaving dozens of people injured and hundreds of men and women subjected to legal proceedings over the years, many of whom have been imprisoned. These companies have even kidnapped and killed our sisters and brothers.

Throughout our struggle for respect for our human rights, we have seen that the Guatemalan state has neither the will nor the capacity to prevent or sanction these violations. We have experienced at first hand the impossibility of achieving or obtaining justice in a country as small as Guatemala and with institutions as weak as they are. They are subject to the interests of rich and powerful transnational corporations.

On 27 April 2013, the head of security of a Canadian mining company, who is also a shareholder, fired shots and ordered shots to be fired at a peaceful demonstration in which the Xinca people demanded that our right to consultation be guaranteed. Several people were injured, six of them seriously. However, unable to find justice in Guatemala, we had to turn to the Supreme Court of British Columbia in Canada, where the company was finally prosecuted. Cases such as this are common around the world in countries with conditions similar to Guatemala, where many companies violate the rights of indigenous and peasant communities with total impunity.

The committee may wonder what this has to do with Ireland. The answer is simple. As long as there is no legally binding mechanism on companies in human rights at a global level, patterns such as the one I have described will continue to produce legal uncertainty, injustice and inequality in the world. One of the constant practices of transnational corporations is the failure to exercise due diligence in protecting the environment and human rights, especially the right to consultation and free prior and informed consent. This not only puts human rights at risk but also the company’s own investments, as their projects could be suspended in the future. For this reason, based on our experience, it is essential to approve the binding treaty on business and human rights in order to prevent thousands of conflicts and human rights violations around the world. The treaty is very important for all countries in the world because it could generate legal certainty, equity, equality and global justice by preventing large transnational corporations from evading their responsibility for human rights.