CIPÓ is one of 23 civil society organizations that have signed a Amicus Curiae highlighting the need for urgent action by the Inter-American Court to protect the community of La Oroya, Peru, as well as the many communities facing similar rights violations in the Americas and the Caribbean. The amicus details cases of industrial pollution across the region and reiterates States’ obligations to respect, protect and fulfill the right to a healthy environment.
“The case of La Oroya is emblematic and represents the tragedy that thousands of people are experiencing across the American continent as a result of mining exploitation,” said Juliana Bravo Valencia, director of the Amazon Program at EarthRights International, an organization that also signed the presented amicus. “The Court’s decision will not only send a message to the victims of the La Oroya case, but also to all communities and towns suffering chronic exposure to heavy metals and other chemical substances in Peru and the region.”
The essay was submitted by the University Network for Human Rights, in collaboration with the Lowenstein Project at Yale Law School and students at Columbia Law School.
“We are confident that this amicus, along with the Petitioners’ advocacy and the Inter-American Commission’s support, can help set a new standard for pollution regulation,” said Declan O’Briain, of Yale Law School, one of the student directors of the Lowenstein Project and contributor to the amicus presented by international experts. “If the Court acts decisively, it will not only bring justice to the people of La Oroya, but it will also strengthen the protection of the human right to a healthy environment in the Americas.”
