Monday, October 22, 2018 • 6:15-7:30 pm •
78 Queen’s Park Cres.• Jackman Law Building • Room: J130
Members of the Indigenous Mayan Q’eqchi’ population from El Estor, Guatemala are pursuing three related precedent-setting lawsuits in Canadian courts against Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals over severe human rights abuses. These cases are the first of their kind in Canada.
Angélica Choc is a Mayan Q’eqchi’ leader and Indigenous rights activist from Guatemala. She is the widow of Adolfo Ich Chamán, a respected community leader and school teacher who was brutally murdered by mine company security personnel on September 27, 2009. She will be speaking about her struggle for justice for the murder of her husband both in Canada and in Guatemala.
Cory Wanless and Murray Klippenstein have been Angélica Choc’s lawyers for over nine years. They will be speaking about the current status of the lawsuits against HudBay and the future of litigation in Canada against Canadian companies for human rights abuse abroad. Grahame Russell, Director of Rights Action, will speak about the key role of NGOs in international solidarity work.