Mollohuanca Cruz & Association of Livestock Producers of Huinipampa-Espinar v. Ministry of the Interior of Peru, et al (amicus curiae brief)

Abstract

This amicus curiae brief offers the Constitutional Court of Peru information about some of the instruments of international law and policy that are relevant to the adjudication of a case that raises serious questions regarding the constitutionality of a series of “extraordinary and complementary” services contracts formed between mining company Xstrata Tintaya (now Antapaccay Mining) and the Peruvian National Police Force (“PNP”) with the objective of providing security services to the infrastructure and personnel associated with Tintaya Mine (now Antapaccay), located in Espinar Province in the Department of Cusco. This case is important because the terms of the Tintaya-PNP contract are very similar to a number of other contracts that the amicus authors have personally examined between foreign resource companies and the PNP.

The Peruvian Constitution protects values such as the rule of law, equality, non-discrimination and the community’s rights to security. In this amicus, we present international statements of law and policy that establish the importance of the principle of police impartiality and its critical relationship to the principles of equality, non-discrimination and rule of law in a democratic society. Referring to these international statements, we argue that the contracts between the PNP and the transnational mining companies, are inconsistent with the well established principle that the state must provide security services to its citizens in a manner that is impartial and responsive to the special needs of society’s most vulnerable members.