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- Paper Pulp Mills - Uruguay
- Corporate Accountability and Human Rights
- Climate Change and Human Rights
Prosecutor Admits Criminal Case and Open Investigations of Company Executives in Uruguayan Cellulose Case
19th of January – Entre Ríos, Argentina. The Argentine Federal Prosecutor admitted the case and initiated criminal investigation following a criminal complaint filed by the Center for Human Rights and Environment (CEDHA) against company executives of ENCE and Botnia, the Spanish and Finish companies constructing two controversial papermills on the Argentine-Uruguayan border.
The complaint is the first ever complaint filed on the intent to commit an environmental crime, and was presented by CEDHA on its own behalf and in representation of the Governor and Vice Governor of Entre Rios Province, the province adjacent to the portion of the Uruguay border to be affected by the plants.
The acceptance of the complaint by the federal prosecutor opens the door for criminal indictment of the high level executives of Botnia and ENCE. The Argentine judiciary must now evaluate evidence presented by CEDHA to determine if company executives are knowingly and intentionally causing environmental and social harm. If the judiciary moves to indictment, the company executives would have to present themselves before an Argentine judge to give testimony and possibly be detained in Argentina.
The complaint is against nine high level directors of the two companies, for violation of Article 55 of the Criminal Code, including the criminal intent to violate national Argentine legislation with respect to dangerous substances (Law 24.051) for actions that will endanger the health of some 300 000 Argentine inhabitants residing in the zone of direct environmental impact of the plants located in Fray Bentos Uruguay, near Gualeguaychú, the Argentine community that has mobilized against the mills.
Article 55 of Law 24051 establishes that persons affecting the health of others by contaminating water, land and the atmosphere of the environment in general, by way of listed substances, will be reprimanded.
The complaint incorporates evidence which is already widely available in the public domain, such as the great magnitude of impacts the plants will have on the health of the local population during production (caused by contaminants such as dioxins and furans released into the air, water and surrounds), on fisheries resources, tourism, on the water's of the River Uruguay and on the general state of the environment.
The company officers involved are Mr Fernando García Rivero, the Director General of Celusas de M'Bopicuá, an Uruguayan afiliate of ENCE (already convicted for environmental offences in Pontevedra, Spain); Rosario Pou, Vice-President of ENCE Uruguay; José Luis Méndez, President of ENCE (imputed for environmental offences in Pontevedra); Pedro Blanquer Gelabert, Director of the ENCE group (imputed for environmental offences en Pontevedra); Ronald Beare, General Manager of Botnia S.A.; Kaisu Annala Gerente of BOTNIA S.A. Projects; Carlos Faropa of BOTNIA Fray Bentos S.A., both Uruguayan affiliates of Metsa-BOTNIA (Finland); Erkki Varis, President y General Manager of Metsa-Botnia; and against all members of the board of directors of both companies and against any other responsible parties that may arise during investigations.
It is the first time in Argentina that company officers have been subject to a criminal charges resulting from environmental contamination.
More Information
For more information contact:
Romina Picolotti
romina@cedha.org.ar
Center for Humans Rights and Environment
Cel. Tel. 54 9 351 625 3297;
CEDHA: 0351 425-6278
http://www.cedha.org.ar
