The Urgent Need for Compulsory Human Rights Due Diligence in African Mining

Mining in Africa is a vital economic sector that generates revenue and employment opportunities for many nations. However, recent reports of human rights violations in the mining industry have raised concerns about the impact on local communities, indigenous peoples, and vulnerable populations. These violations include displacement by force, land appropriation, hazardous working conditions, child labor, and environmental degradation.

To address these concerns, mandatory human rights due diligence is urgently required in the African mining industry. This systematic process involves identifying, preventing, mitigating, and accounting for potential adverse impacts on human rights. It requires mining corporations to conduct comprehensive assessments and audits of their operations, identifying potential risks and detrimental effects on local communities, laborers, and the environment. Companies must take measures to prevent and mitigate these risks, such as establishing robust grievance mechanisms, ensuring fair compensation for communities impacted by mining activities, and prioritizing worker health and safety.

The implementation of mandatory human rights due diligence would have significant benefits for all involved parties. It would guarantee respect for human rights and provide adequate protections against violations, advance social equity, safeguard vulnerable populations, and pave the way for more inclusive and sustainable development in mining-affected regions. It would also improve the reputation and global competitiveness of the African mining industry, attract responsible investors, and foster trust between companies, governments, communities, and civil society. Multiple stakeholders must collaborate to realize the maximum potential of mandatory human rights due diligence in African mining. Governments should enact legislation mandating human rights due diligence and establish effective regulatory enforcement frameworks, while companies must accept their responsibility to respect human rights and incorporate due diligence procedures into their operations.

Mining operations often occur in remote and disadvantaged communities, where regulatory supervision and access to justice are limited.

Forcible displacement and land appropriation are primary concerns, as mining operations disrupt communities' lives and livelihoods by severing their ties to ancestral lands, cultural heritage, and traditional practices. Inadequate health and safety standards pose a significant threat to miners' rights and safety, leading to accidents, injuries, and fatalities. Child labor is another issue, as poverty and restricted access to education force children into exploitative work environments.

Environmental degradation and pollution caused by mining operations negatively impact nearby communities and ecosystems, particularly Indigenous peoples who rely on land and natural resources for survival and cultural practices. Inadequate access to justice further exacerbates these human rights issues.

To resolve these issues, governments must strengthen their legal and regulatory frameworks, enforce labor laws, implement strict environmental regulations, and improve access to justice for affected communities. African-based mining corporations have a responsibility to respect human rights throughout their operations, conduct thorough human rights due diligence, engage with local communities, implement health and safety measures, and provide fair land acquisition compensation.

International partnerships and collaborations are also essential to address human rights issues in African mining. By fostering collaborative efforts, commitment to responsible mining practices, and enforcement of robust legal frameworks, a mining industry in Africa that respects human rights, promotes sustainable development, and empowers local communities can be established.

Considerations regarding mandatory human rights due diligence

The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has developed guidance on mandatory human rights. The Guidance distinguishes three types of legislative approaches:

• Category 1: regimes that require companies to prevent harm through the exercise of human rights due diligence (for which the occurrence of harm is a key element of the breach);

• Category 2: regimes that require companies to carry out human rights due diligence (i.e. liability arises from the failure to exercise human rights due diligence, and whether or not that failure has resulted in actual harm is immaterial to establishing non-compliance); and

• Category 3: regimes that contain no explicit requirement to carry out human rights due diligence but which create strong incentives in that direction (e.g. regimes that permit the company to use the fact that it had carried out human rights due diligence as a defence to legal liability for causing harm, or which permit levels of compliance with human rights due diligence standards to be taken into account “in mitigation” in deciding on an appropriate sanction for a legal breach).