A little known provision routinely included in trade deals that allows Foreign Investors to bring investment disputes before an International Arbitration tribunal and multinational corporations to sue sovereign states for billions of dollars. But what are these tribunals who handles their cases and who represent the interests of the people after all its taxpayers who foot the bill. To get a clearer picture we delved deeper into in a pick system that circumvents National Court and effectively hands Foreign Investors the power to dictate the policies of democratically elected governments every nation is one rouble whether its an Industrial Power or a developing country. Investor lawsuits against states impact everything from human rights and health to public finances and the environment this report sheds light on the extraordinary power of. International arbitration tribunals are and. Close 2 2. In colombia deep inside the amazon rain forest the Canadian Mining Company because ego was set on extracting gold along the a porous river. It singled out a sacred site on the Ancestral Lands of 7 indigenous groups. But as part of Environmental Protection measures the colombian government designated the region as a National Park in 2009 that put a stop to cacique those plants. For years the company tried to negotiate with the colombian government then in 2016 im just rendell because he gets chief operating officer moved the dispute to the International Arena together with because he gives us part not to be Mining Energy he filed suit against columbia in a court of arbitration i personally did not know of the option of International Arbitration where it will always heard of the world court but we do know of my time i dont believe that was between 2 governments that were debating things. But the ability to take our case to the interNational Court of arbitration was a welcome relief for our shareholders to know that we dont have to depend on maybe some emotional sentiment by a judge in some rural location who is being pressured by his local. Mayor. Undress rendell found a suitable attorney to represent his company in paris chef. A corporate lawyer specialized an arbitration ringback. Somewhere in the middle of course. Your attrition. There is igniting all of the 3 or big critters that will constituent to your Arbitration Panel this should still take 2 weeks at least from 0 i believe columbia well challenge the jurisdiction of the courts of the court below through. Make decision on this were confident and and then we will really move to z. Yes thats the case yeah hopefully hopefully theyre crossing fingers theyll be productive would be nice. To see goals starts to face difficulties with this debate going on between the ministry of mines and energy and the ministry of environment we found ourselves with the inability to work or whatever because shareholders from texas the mining and energy motivated the company to seek. Arbitration as a way of solving this dispute of this difficulty between the colombian government as a whole and the company. Just continue to keep you down i think whats noteworthy about this case is that cosequin had already been granted a mining from a by the state mining or farm. And suddenly from one day to the next the company is told the area is now closed you were allowed to conduct ground exploration for 10 years but now your license is no longer valid and on the scene he knew going to. Colombia should have been a mature country and because colombia signed big league free trade agreements colombia need to understand that they had to respect the agreements so that investors money would not be lost or stolen. There was a lot of money and a lot of effort and a lot of motivation from small investors getting together small investors to combine their resources and work under the colombian government regulation and help the ministry of mines find assets for the colombian people. Move along can you show me the contract to kill. As on direct and in direct expropriations again. These are the rules of arbitration to fight more of the war of course the state has the right to change its policies it can even nationalize assets if it wants to. These trade agreements dont rule such measures out. The agreements laid out clear rules that must be taken into account. This afternoon on. Most free trade agreements include the provision of investor state to speak settlement. This clause is designed to protect Foreign Investors and allow them to seek redress from a country when its business interests are expropriated or otherwise unfairly harmed by a countrys laws or policies. He says he discoveries in the trade agreements are designed to Foster Economic Development to that end investors need to be given reassurances and the agreements need to be deep a little. In the event of a dispute between an investor and a state the power of the participating state cannot dominate proceedings it must be possible to call upon a judge the International Arbitrator between tennis and. These arbitrators are not judges and National Courts their private sector attorneys who wear different hats on a 3 member panel alternatively in the role of presiding arbitrator counsel for the state counsel for the investor. These are highly paid lawyers often belong to elite law firms that have much to gain from a lucrative investment arbitration business. They operate in strict secrecy and often side with investors even in cases where investors seem entitled to compensation are such prohibitive payouts in the interest of the affected population. When we were beginning to enter the area the northern native tribes wanted to develop the might of this other group who was not in the might was not on the area were motivated by the n. G. O. S of foreign n. G. O. S named big guy and they were voted to go against the might so they tried to set up sacred sites on a map. By discussing with certain spiritual leaders that they were motivating to declare sacred sites but none of the sacred sites that they had identified are anywhere near the proposed might say. We dont understand what the big deal is why dont we just come to a conceived as they said in spanish why dont we just agree because if that mind could be developed all the 1st nations people would have employment by having their own salaries can provide a lot better Economic Conditions because then you can search planning things and you conserving refrigerators then you dont have to waste your meat you dont have to keep going out every day and replenishing your food and women can then start considering education. What they all want to do is have an increased selfreliance and not depend on the white man and the nonindigenous government to come into. The middle east of that and yet line came 3 times yet on the response came to drop their reports joel much is 6 by only chips if you get a bill to look at your local even the b. Came. And with. It here. And there then. We were all assigned different tax parts to guide them around the area some accompanied biologists i guided a geologist that i put we followed the path and every 100 meters hed pick up a rock smash it and put it in his pocket. That he got here on we discover that there really is gold in the region come up with another i guess. What did they suggest. That they told us if they could mine gold in this area we would get one percent of the profits. That is there now i dont know what nobody from crecy ago talked about the projects drawbacks but if you go down the road you said they would only cut down trees on an area of 2 square metres. Or drill a hole install their machine. Again and then plant new trees. I said but out of this. The National Park that protects the ancestral territories of indigenous groups was established with the assistance of the ngo guy amazon us nelson ortiz is a member of the organization and regularly visits local communities to support them and their fight against the exploitation of their land. They can kill him. But they told us this company would help our communities and that if they said it would bring us many benefits that. Bad economy that by working in the mine we could and so much that we could buy how colombia you know as you know news of this area wed read many rewards yet. And you were also in the area of choco think youre going to do it yes and i learned one thing we must never again allow a Multinational Company to exploit the area that. The lungs of our planet in the world. Our ancestors described the water there as bryce and clear today its a garbage dump yeah theres no life left in the water and there are unused machines everywhere and huge excavator still in operation and lets not forget the mine is going a little. If. This is the center of wisdom science and the power of this country and the men. When there wasnt mass. Little birth of a child we celebrate a kind of baptism all of these places are essential for this ceremony this think because its their power and wisdom that promotes the growth and intelligence of a newborn child he said sit see if i see the energy of these places strengthens the childs connection to nature not even better is why these holy sites are of great importance to us but they are the source of our songs and dances from there the place where we are healed from disease because you are youth day by day are you. Indigenous communities who live here in the forest belong to a dozen different ethnic groups but they all share the same beliefs about the origin of the world. Save you the numerous sacred sites of that im just as after living organisms in a ceremony the shaman mentioned tools a line that connects all of these sites its the path of healing and it must remain intact and never be said that. You have to have waited to hear that benefit our ancestors described the earth as a small sphere of floating on water and i said by this wonder jungle is a rock floating on the water that it can sink very quickly. Said weapon this place is like the hardest phone or 4th pillar that maintains equilibrium of the earth filled it filled it full to do that if we allow this place to be exploited he said c. C. C. To the help we move one step closer to the end of the world and was put on the. Across the mouth in mice miles from our cottage and. Youre good. The. Members of the local communities were not always united in their rejection of the mine. And just rendell promised them financial advantages and a better life. Some Indigenous Leaders mostly elderly opposed mining from the outset but others were tempted to accept rental small gifts. Today amazing has been called representatives of different tribes are gathering in the Traditional Assembly house theyre concerned about a lawsuit filed by casey go on to preparing a statement addressed to the colombian government. In it they confirm their determination to resist attempts to mine gold on their territory. Theyre not yellow welcome i want to talk about the gold and give my opinion from a woman standpoint and i get the time to take. Him out now should we work in the mind of a bigot and by that i would have been a monica anybody why should we dig for all time. To get back to what it looked well it to us certainly i think the am i looking at it. A little with the territory although you already heard this one is our home our origin. And this land harbors Raw Materials that we call gems theyre not disgusted and agree this land must not be exploited i think a little more than he does you are a model newark and better why we are the ethnic groups of this region have come together. This is where you have decided together. Yeah there we will not work in the mind and then look at it and then we will defend our territory we dont need anyone now says he i know you think. That the only way. That they can recall. The indigenous communities worldview is diametrically opposed to that of the mining company. And the former want to protect their intangible Cultural Heritage and right to selfdetermination the latter a focus on their profit and how they can extract gold from the depths of the amazon rain forest. Demanding yeah here is a dent other than the one i bet with the socalled pleasures charcoals are already goes to bed so if you dont like it. This is called d. M. We can do what we want but i got us a super stand it you solicited us she said yes you did but we decided to park on there and its your loss. Is it gender standers were targeted recently received for 60000000000 because thats the biggest iron ore coal mine buying in all of the a copy in all of Us South America i very positive economy is going to loose the issue by car out is it going to be 60 bathers they got a decent number 3 updated 60 im betting its closer to 8 or you when its all said. 16000000000. 00. For a few studies and expeditions into the amazon even 16000000. 00 a some 1000. 00 times smaller would be a huge compensation figure or is columbia being asked to pay for the loss of expected profits either way it smacks of speculation. It is the will of the un to the colombian government helping them to all citizens. It needs to sound meaningful. Yeah we have to get it right before we send it. To the secretary will check over everything in atlanta. This is a big letter this is our declaration it is to the colombian government to all citizens that media and all interested parties at home and abroad we hereby declare manifesto that we debate any kind of mineral extraction on our territory this practice does not correspond to our customs and traditions our lives are governed by the laws of our ancestors and by the spiritual and cultural agreements between our communities to be disputed and it is fairly serious and they look to workers. Who have time to hit the road together with the other indigenous communities. One colors party out of their representatives that are core chapeau chorus resign i will present the declaration at a forum of Indigenous Peoples organized by the government and local town. Alongside Indigenous Community members the meeting is also being attended by University Experts n. G. O. S and government representatives. The forum aims to support south americas indigenous communities and both of their rights that includes the right to being heard about any plans for projects that affect their lives. More than a 1000 delegates are attending a forum. You can look at but this is a Corporate Responsibility that is not an option that here. Juan carlos professor urges all communities to stand together to strengthen their autonomy and ward off mining and tourism projects. Ek that complying with the rules of conduct also cannot be optional were talking there about the right to be heard about Corporate Responsibility and the minimum standards of ethics that Companies Must abide by his idea. That he had to once this information to reach a wide audience that. Is. All the more. In the offices of the ngo gaia he meets mark over last kess a lawyer specialized in International Corporate law and human rights. A company cant just say the colombian state which we were going to help build schools and other things owes a 16500000000. 00 in the year to do it makes all their plans look like just an excuse to get rich from the outset it was probably on the basis of our partners is that no one can verify their say they cant put a price tag on their assumed profits because they simply dont know what those profits would have been but. They use consumers can not go on a risky they know very well then never get 16500000000. 00. I just put that some out there and then wait and see how much they can get out of it because a good opening business this year is the opposite would have been the lead in so i would suggest the following is that we need to present information at the arbitration that neither the company nor the colombian state can provide a list of youre going to be victim. Of alaska is alarmed by the lawsuits brought against his country by Foreign Companies hes published numerous articles and this writing a book on the subject. In toronto he meets up with his former p. H. D. Supervisor gus van heartened to discuss the upcoming proceedings. Just one hearten as an expert on International Investment law and a prominent critic of the system of investor state dispute settlement hes been warning of its dangers 50 years. Ago in fact the last weeks have been like a roller coaster in colombia and in these claim. The one i wanted to talk to you about the one there is a process go yet of ignoring case yes 16 belittle us i would say 20 percent of colombias National Public budget it was quite surprising because public authorities were saying that the agreements negotiated were positive for the current 3 and that Foreign Investors would never start a claim in the contrary in these very moment but this is what happened at the end why is that colombian law is not good enough for these Foreign Investors it is not the case that colombia has a weak date or ships were trying to solve our problems were trying to become a more stable country and we have the means to do it but with these type of cases all our efforts to reach durable peace. Put into question if its not the 1st country to be surprised by a foreign investor claims these treaties are like a ticking time bomb for taxpayer sooner or later they so theres not a lot of public discussion of these cases and no i dont like weiss i have a column in the newspaper and i try to open the bait but the only thing i got from them was a. Permanent ignorance thats because its embarrassing to the trade department to see these treaties that they negotia