Massacre victims to sue mining company
June 7, 2005 - 3:04PM
Victims of violence in central Africa in which up to 100 people were killed, plan to sue an Australian mining company whose vehicles were used in the incident.
Perth-based mining company Anvil Mining Ltd has admitted its vehicles were used in a military attack on rebels in a village near its mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo's south-east last October.
But the company has denied any responsibility in the deaths of up to 100 people.
Australian lawyer Richard Meeran today said law firm Slater & Gordon would act in a civil case for at least three "devastated" Congolese citizens, including a woman who lost two sons and a former police commander who alleges he was tortured for several days.
Anvil operates the Dikulushi copper and silver mine in Congo, which evacuated some staff last October because of rebel activity in the village of Kilwa, 50kms away.
A UN report says at least 28 people could have been summarily executed by government troops brought in to quell the rebellion, and witnesses say others were tortured and beaten to death.
The law firm is calling for the Australian Federal Police to investigate the killings, which it says could lead to criminal charges being laid against the company.
But Mr Meeran, who recently returned from the Congo, today indicated the civil case could be mounted before the conclusion of a police investigation.
He said the case would hinge on whether the company knew what the military planned to do with the vehicles, which he said included transporting the corpses of people executed.
"I think the company ought to have known, because it's a matter of record of the reputation of the Congolese military in terms of brutality," he said.
"It's important that companies that get involved in this type of thing should be held to account."
Mr Meeran said an investigation would include an examination of company documents and interrogation of employees.
He said it was not yet clear in which court the case would be run.
The firm is acting for 48-year-old mother Mwayuma Farai Adele, former police commander Kunda Musopelo Pierre, 60, and Kitenege Kalonda Mireille, 36.
Ms Adele alleges her family fled the village but two of her sons were shot when they returned to collect family belongings.
She said her sons were buried by Anvil mining vehicles driven by Anvil mining drivers.
Mr Pierre said the Congolese army knocked him unconscious after accusing him of assisting the rebels.
He said a plane hired by Anvil took him to military headquarters where he was whipped up to 50 times a day for up to a week.
Ms Mireille said she was struck in the face and shot at by soldiers brought to the town by Anvil vehicles.
Slater & Gordon last night wrote to the Federal Police on behalf of two human rights organisation, the UK-based Rights and Accountability in Development (RAID) and the Congolese ASADHO, to ask them to investigate whether Anvil had committed crimes against humanity by aiding and abetting the Congolese military.
"Certainly primary responsibility for what happened must rest with the Congolese military," Mr Meeran said.
"But that does not in any way enable a company which is known to have aided and abetted a military regime carrying out these kinds of atrocities, and knew about the likely consequences of assistance, it doesn't enable them to escape liability."
In an interview with the ABC's Four Corners program aired last night, Anvil chief executive Bill Turner said the offensive had nothing to do with his company.
"We were not part of this. This was a military action conducted by the legitimate army of the legitimate government of the country," Mr Turner said.
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