The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal opened its session on transnational corporations in sub-Saharan Africa on 16 and 17 August 2016 in Mbabane, Swaziland, with the aim of examining the consequences of the extractive industry and land grabbing in southern African countries. The cases presented, the testimonies and the expert analyses documented serious and systematic violations of the fundamental human rights of numerous African communities. The research and testimonies from the communities, supplemented by the experts’ reports, clearly highlighted the impact of the extractivist model and the negative role of multinationals on the fundamental rights to life, dignity, justice and self-determination of local communities.
On 17 and 18 August 2017, the Tribunal reconvened in Johannesburg for the second session of public hearings, during which seven new cases were examined. Further expert analyses reconstructed the legal, political and social context within which the numerous violations documented and presented to the PPT Panel of Judges had occurred.
During the third and final session, held in Johannesburg from 9 to 11 November 2018, the Tribunal received further detailed reports on the 18 cases presented during the hearings in Manzini in 2016 and Johannesburg in 2017. The process, which took place between 2016 and 2018, required intense commitment and the active participation of local communities, grassroots movements, trade unions and non-governmental organisations from Southern Africa.
The Tribunal’s aim was to provide a free and independent forum, ensuring visibility and a voice for the communities representing those most directly affected by the policies and actions of transnational corporations. The Tribunal documented the crimes committed by extractive mining companies against communities, crimes perpetrated in a context of widespread impunity made possible by the complicity of the states in question.
Requesting organisations:
Documentation:
Download the PPT Statement, August 2016).
Download the PPT Decision – August 2017).