Seven years after the dam burst in a retention basin for toxic mining waste in Brumadinho, Brazil, the criminal trial against employees of the mining company Vale and the certifier TÜV-Süd is now beginning in Brazil, while the Munich public prosecutor's office has still not decided whether to bring charges.
On 27 January 2019, 272 people lost their lives in the man-made disaster and the livelihoods of the local population were significantly destroyed. A Brazilian subsidiary of TÜV Süd had certified the stability of the dam just four months earlier, even though the risks of a breach were known.
In Brazil, 16 employees of Vale and TÜV Süd have been charged with 272 counts of murder and crimes against the environment, among other offences. The trial begins today, 23 February, with the arraignment in Belo Horizonte. Witnesses will also be heard on the same day.
"The Brumadinho dam collapse is a crime of enormous proportions and global scope, involving large companies with considerable economic power. The trial is therefore of enormous importance for the bereaved families of the dead, especially as there is a huge imbalance between the powerful corporations with highly remunerated law firms on the one hand and the relatives of the victims and those affected by environmental destruction on the other," explains their lawyer Danilo Chammas from Misereor's partner organisation Instituto Cordilheira.
People bear the consequences for the greed of companies and certifiers
"The opening of this trial is an important step towards accountability for one of the most serious industrial disasters of recent decades involving powerful multinational corporations," says Cannelle Lavite, Co-Director of the Business and Human Rights Programme at ECCHR. "At the same time, the significant delay in the German criminal proceedings highlights a structural problem in the certification industry of the mining sector: organised irresponsibility. A lack of accountability perpetuates systemic failures and makes it difficult for those affected to access justice and prevent future harm."
In October 2019, Misereor and the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), together with bereaved families, filed criminal charges against TÜV Süd and one of its employees with the Munich public prosecutor's office. More than six years later, the Munich public prosecutor's office has still not concluded the investigation and has not decided whether to press charges.
"In order to prevent man-made disasters like the one in Brumadinho and to provide compensation to those affected, it is essential that the German Supply Chain Act is maintained, consistently implemented and improved. Against the backdrop of the immeasurable suffering of the victims, the renewed call by business organisations for its abolition is a moral indictment," says Armin Paasch, expert on business and human rights at Misereor. "It is unacceptable for corporations to disregard environmental and human rights standards and pass the consequences on to people and society with impunity in order to secure growth and profits," says Paasch.
