Rio Tinto failed to apply human rights principles before destruction of Juukan Gorge
The Human Rights Law Centre has made a submission to the parliamentary inquiry into the destruction of 46,000 year old caves at the Juukan Gorge in the Pilbara region of Western Australia.
The destruction of Juukan Gorge by Rio Tinto has been devastating in particular for the Puutu, Kunti Kurrama and Pinikura Traditional Land Owners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and has deprived the world of a uniquely valuable cultural heritage site.
The Human Rights Law Centre submits that there appear to have been serious failures by the company to apply the human rights standards to which it claims to be committed.
The destruction has rightly attracted international condemnation, and calls for a thorough examination of the company’s actions and the broader legal and political framework that allowed this to happen.