Seven years after the collapse of a tailings dam containing toxic mining waste in Brumadinho, Brazil, criminal proceedings are now commencing in Brazil against employees of the mining company Vale and the German certifier TÜV Süd. In contrast, the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office has still not decided whether to bring charges in the related proceedings in Germany.
On 27 January 2019, the dam collapse killed 272 people and caused extensive environmental damage, permanently affecting the livelihoods of the local population. Only four months earlier, a Brazilian subsidiary of TÜV Süd had certified the dam’s stability, despite documented indications of significant structural risks.
In Brazil, 16 employees of Vale and TÜV Süd are facing charges, including 272 counts of homicide and environmental crimes. The trial will begin on 23 February in Belo Horizonte with the reading of the indictment. The court is expected to hear witness testimony from the outset.
“The Brumadinho dam collapse is a crime of enormous scale and global significance, involving large corporations with immense economic power,” says Danilo Chammas, lawyer for the victims’ families and members of the Instituto Cordilheira. “For the relatives of those who were killed, this trial is of immense importance, especially given the stark imbalance between powerful corporations backed by high-profile law firms on the one hand, and the families of the victims and those affected by environmental destruction on the other.”
“The opening of this trial is an important step toward accountability for one of the gravest industrial disasters of recent decades involving powerful multinational actors,” says Cannelle Lavite, co-director of the Business and Human Rights program of ECCHR. “At the same time, the significant delay in the German criminal proceedings exposes a broader pattern of organized irresponsibility in the certification industry in the mining sector. The lack of accountability allows systemic failures to persist, ultimately undermining victims’ access to justice and prevention of future damages.”
In October 2019, Misereor and ECCHR, together with relatives of the victims, filed a criminal complaint against TÜV Süd and one of its employees with the Munich Public Prosecutor’s Office. More than six years later, the Munich authorities have still not concluded their investigation or decided whether to bring charges.
Safeguarding, Enforcing, and Strengthening Supply Chain Law Is Essential
“To prevent man-made disasters like Brumadinho and to enable those affected to obtain compensation, it is absolutely essential to safeguard, rigorously enforce, and further strengthen Germany’s Supply Chain Due Diligence Act,” said Armin Paasch, expert on business and human rights at Misereor. “Renewed calls by business associations to abolish the law are, in light of the immeasurable suffering of the victims, a moral disgrace. It cannot be acceptable for corporations to disregard environmental and human rights standards and shift the costs onto people and society with impunity in order to secure growth and profits.”
