In Mexico, supreme court withdraws mining concessions for lack of indigenous community consultations

In an unprecedented ruling, the Supreme Court (SCJN) on Wednesday revoked two mining concessions in Puebla because the federal government failed to consult with the local indigenous community before granting them. The Economy Ministry granted concessions in 2003 and 2009 to a Mexican subsidiary of the Canadian company Almaden Minerals. In 2015, a group of Nahua residents concerned about contamination and overexploitation of local water sources filed a challenge against the concessions. Their lawsuit passed through lower-level courts before reaching the Supreme Court. [...] However, the SCJN didn’t rule that four articles of the federal mining law are unconstitutional, as the plaintiffs had hoped it would. [...] However, the SCJN did declare that, in accordance with the constitution and Convention 169 of the International Labour Organization’s Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, which Mexico ratified on September 5, 1990, the government should have consulted with indigenous residents of Tecoltemi before granting the concessions.
Read the full article here: Mexico News Daily