A/HRC/11/11 page 11 37. The Special Rapporteur visited the Kori Kollo gold mine operated by the Inti Raymi company and received information from its management concerning measures taken to reduce the effects of pollution. However, organizations consulted by the Special Rapporteur reported that the relevant authorities do not effectively oversee or penalize the companies responsible for damaging the environment, as required under the mining and environmental legislation. 38. The altiplano communities in the southwestern part of Potosí have complained of various plans to award concessions for groundwater exploitation to mining companies in northern Chile that require large volumes of water for their operations. Act No. 2267 of November 2001 calls for priority to be given to studying the region’s hydro potential, precisely with a view to exporting water on the basis of a call for tender from foreign companies. Act No. 2074 of May 2004, which was promulgated following the mobilization of the region’s indigenous organizations in favour of the comprehensive development of the southwestern area of Potosí, expressly prohibits the export of groundwater and surface water. 39. The representatives of the ayllus of Quila Quila, Chuquisaca, have lodged a complaint for failure to be informed and consulted in the award to a joint venture company of the concession for a limestone deposit. The administrative and legal proceedings filed by indigenous representatives have not been effective, and the latter have allegedly been the target of attacks and have had their legal personality annulled by the municipality and the prefecture, which supported the interests of the company over those of the affected communities. 40. The impact of hydrocarbon extraction in various indigenous territories in the Amazonian and Chaco regions has been thoroughly documented. Among the specific cases submitted to the Special Rapporteur may be noted the construction of the San Miguel-Cuaibá binational gas pipeline between Bolivia and Brazil, which has led to the destruction of large swathes of the Chiquitano dry forests and has contributed to the encroachment on and appropriation of indigenous lands. 41. The Assembly of the Guaraní People undertook an independent review of the transnational mining industry, including the consortium to exploit Campo Margarita - one of the largest gas fields in the country located in the Itika Guasu TCO in Tarija and the Tentayapi TCO in Chuquisaca. This review documented the failure of the consortium, and of others, to comply with the measures set out in environmental impact studies, the lack of transparency and consultation with the indigenous communities and the State’s failure to provide proper oversight of the consortium’s activities. An ILO tripartite committee found the lack of an appropriate legal framework in the case of 27 forestry concessions in the indigenous territories of Yaminahua-Machinery, Guarayo and Monte to be in violation of ILO Convention No. 169. 42. The impact of resource extraction in the indigenous territories is not limited solely to large hydrocarbon exploration and extraction projects but also includes the contamination of aquifers and fauna by artisanal alluvial gold mining and illegal logging in parts of the Amazonian region, such as Pando or Beni. In many cases, these are transnational phenomena that involve citizens and companies of neighbouring Peru or Brazil and have a highly detrimental environmental impact on the indigenous peoples. The State has shown itself incapable of controlling the extensive environmental pollution caused by these activities.

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