Berlin/Brumadinho, 23 January 2020 – German certifier TÜV SÜD continues to deny all responsibility for the fatal dam breach at an iron ore mine near Brumadinho (Brazil). The dam burst on 25 January 2019, killing 272 people, destroying the environment and contaminating drinking water. Four months earlier, TÜV SÜD confirmed the dam’s stability on behalf of mine operator Vale S.A. Those affected by the breach filed criminal charges against TÜV SÜD in October 2019 in Munich. On 21 January 2020, the Brazilian public prosecutor’s office charged TÜV SÜD and Vale with environmental crimes. Sixteen employees are also accused of homicide, including a German manager of TÜV SÜD. Alongside the indictments in Brazil, the public prosecutor in Munich must continue its investigations to fully clarify the German company’s role in dam failure.
“TÜV SÜD and Vale have been blaming each other for the dam burst for a year,” said Marcela Nayara Rodrigues, whose father, like most of those who lost their lives, was a Vale employee. “I am convinced that my father’s death, as well as the 271 others’, could have been prevented. Thanks to our criminal complaint, the public prosecutor in Munich is investigating TÜV SÜD’s role. I hope that those affected will see justice soon. A human-made catastrophe like this must not be allowed to happen again.”
Rodrigues and four others who lost close family members filed the complaint together with the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and MISEREOR. The accusations against TÜV SÜD and one employee include negligent homicide among other crimes. The complaint was prepared with the NGOs Articulação International de Atingidas e Atingidos Pela Vale, and Associação Comunitária da Jangada, which also support Brazilian authorities’ investigations into the dam breach.
Those affected want to see policy change in Germany. They support the human rights due diligence law initiative, which demands that the German government pass a law requiring companies to undertake human rights and environmental due diligence in their supply chains and operations abroad. This would make it easier to hold companies accountable for human rights violations and damaging the environment in the future.
“My sister and many others lost their lives to benefit Vale and TÜV SÜD’s bottom lines,” said Angélica Amanda Andrade, whose sister was killed in the dam burst. “Global companies should no longer be able to profit off human rights and environmental abuses. If Germany had a good supply chain law, companies would finally be required to operate abroad without endangering people or nature.”
ECCHR and MISEREOR found that engineers from TÜV SÜD’s Brazilian subsidiary noticed drainage problems at the dam in spring 2018, but declared the dam stable in September 2018 nonetheless. The system of privatized safety certifications is highly controversial, as it allows companies to avoid accountability. Vale references the dam’s safety certification and denies all responsibility for the breach.
