7. Conclusions 1. While the First Section of the Administrative Court’s decision was praiseworthy for its courage and uprightness, the slowness of the procedures described above in the aforementioned judicial institutions is a major contributory factor in perpetuating violations of fundamental human rights of affected communities. This case is a clear example of this. 2. The aforementioned judicial institutions are insensitive to deadline breaches and to the urgency of cases concerning human dignity and fundamental rights on community land, which is the sole and primary source of their survival. 3. Although communities complain that the water and food they consume are contaminated by dust from coal mining operations, no government intervention to reverse the situation has occurred yet. 4. It is worrying that, although there is sufficient evidence of violations of the rights of communities affected by JINDAL, the State, through its executive, the Public Prosecutor’s Office and the Legal Aid and Sponsorship Institute (Instituto do Patrocínio e Assistência Jurídica – IPAJ), does nothing to protect the rights of those communities. This conduct of the State is contrary
Jindal A Classic Example of Corporate Impunity
to the law and leaves the citizen in a very vulnerable position. 5. The aforementioned Judgments of the Administrative Court of the Province of Tete acknowledge that the peasant families in question have not been resettled and that they live within the mining concession in which JINDAL operates. However, at the same time, these same judgments argue that JINDAL is carrying out the resettlement and compensation of the affected families, despite not demonstrating the criteria and deadline for their implementation. Strangely and curiously, the same judgments deny the existence of any violations of the fundamental rights of these families, which is a frightening and worrying nonsense, since this is a court whose function is to guarantee and strengthen legality as a factor of stability, to ensure the respect of laws and to ensure the rights and freedoms of citizens. In short, practice reveals that the legal terms defined to improve the living conditions of the communities affected by the extractive industry, especially the mining industry, are not being implemented in a correct and transparent manner, which has had a negative impact on the satisfaction of the rights 37
