BETTERCOAL PUBLIC STATEMENT ON THE DEVELOPMENTS IN THE LEGAL PROCEEDINGS AGAINST DRUMMOND

Bettercoal has been following the legal proceedings which have been brought against Augusto Jiménez, former president of Drummond Ltd., and José Miguel Linares, current president, and have noted with concern the decision by the Attorney General’s Office in Colombia to bring forward charges against the executives for allegedly financing and backing the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia (AUC) between 1996 and 2001. Bettercoal and its Members consider this development with seriousness and re-emphasise our belief in due process and not commenting on legal proceedings.

Drummond was the first producer to undergo a Bettercoal Assessment in 2014 and was re-assessed in 2019. Since then, Drummond has been working to make improvements identified in their Continuous Improvement Plan to meet the standards of the Bettercoal Code and submitting evidence for the Lead Assessor to review. Improvements have been made across a range of issues, including overall safety systems and emergency drills, revegetation procedures, oversight of contractor working conditions, and active implementation of stakeholder engagement and social investment plans with local communities. Drummond underwent a CIP site verification visit in 2022 to verify items that could only be closed via a site visit from the Lead Assessor.

Bettercoal’s Colombia Working Group (CWG) organised an in-person engagement programme in Colombia in September 2022, where we met with a range of stakeholders, including victims’ groups, labour unions, local government and institutions, ambassadors, producers, and business organisations. The group met with Drummond and on the topic of peace building and reconciliation, requested updates on legal proceedings and discussed Drummond’s contribution to the Truth Commission.

Bettercoal will continue to monitor the proceedings.