By the A.M.
Costa Rica staff
The U.S. government through the
Department of the Interior, in
cooperation with the Network of
Observance and Application of the
Wildlife Regulations of Central
America and the Dominican Republic
(ROAVIS), sponsored the Central
American and Caribbean Council of
Public Ministries focusing on
environmental crimes.
The two-day council that will
conclude today is being held at the
Real
Intercontinental Hotel*, with
the participation of 11 prosecutors
representing Costa Rica, El
Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras,
Panama, and the Dominican Republic.
Participants at the opening of the
Council on Tuesday included: Sharon
Day, the United States ambassador in
Costa Rica, Hefer Morataya, the
representative of the
Secretary-General of the Central
American Integration System (SICA)
and Melissa Flynn, the
representative in Panama of the
United Nations Office on Drugs and
Crime (UNODC).
"We are pleased to hear that this
Council will focus on environmental
conservation crimes. Wildlife
trafficking is a very serious
transnational crime that threatens
the environment, fuels corruption
and robs communities of a licit way
to make a living. According to the
United Nations Organization and
Interpol, illegal wildlife trade is
worth between seven and $23 million
annually," said Ambassador Day.
According to Emilia Navas, Costa
Rican Attorney General, the
institutions of the region that
pursue crime must maintain close
relations to fight together against
crime.
"There are no limits or borders, it
does not have to be among the
institutions that we must fight
against all criminal phenomena, with
a single vision for the
circumstances we have in common, for
being in the same region," said
Attorney Navas.
Navas went on to say that among the
priorities are crimes against the
environment. In order to pursue
these crimes, a very rigorous
Criminal Prosecution Policy is
required against those who commit
crimes against the environment,
which are always accompanied by acts
of corruption by those that allow
these crimes to happen.
"Organized crime generates sums that
affect the financial systems of
countries, through money laundering,
for example, which translates into
high profits and high risk for
victims. Through corruption,
organized crime penetrates and
infiltrates the public and private
sectors," said Melissa Flynn of
UNODC.
Attorney General Navas announced
that in May, Costa Rica will host
the ninth Latin American Congress of
the Public Ministry of the
Environment, called "Environmental
Justice in Latin America."
In order to file a confidential
complaint about a crime against the
environment, the Ministry of the
Environment provides the telephone
numbers: 22571839 extension 212 or
2233 0356 extension 212.
Related to environmental cases on
the Prosecutor's Office is the
well-known Las Crucitas*
case.
As A.M. Costa Rica reported on
February 25, the judge Carla
Bonilla Ballestero of the Criminal
Court of the Treasury issued a
final dismissal in favor of former
President Óscar Arias Sánchez, for
the crimes of malfeasance and
bribery case linked to Crusitas
open-pit mining project in Cutris,
San Carlos.
Judge Bonilla’s ruling, "declared
inadmissible complaints made by
the Attorney General of the
Republic and the Preservation
Association Wild Flora and Fauna,
as well as the civil action
against Oscar Arias Sánchez for
the crimes of malfeasance for
finding the prescribed facts. A
definitive dismissal was ordered
by prescription for the accused
Óscar Arias for the two crimes of
malfeasance, as well as a crime of
improper bribery accused in the
summary. The application is
rejected to eliminate facts of the
complaint made in the summary."
In response to the resolution,
Rodolfo Brenes, Arias’ lawyer,
said that "the criminal case whose
acts were prescribed for a long
time and where clearly there is no
crime. The Criminal Court agrees
with us and confirms that the
facts are well prescribed, so this
case should never be reopened."
Despite the fact that the trial is
over for Arias, trial processes
will continue for Roberto Dobles,
former Minister of the Environment
and six senior government
executives surnamed
Cavallini-Chinchilla, Cruz
Ramírez, Corrales Aria, Lezama
Fernández, Boza Quesada and
Espinoza- Valverde.
According to the case, those
people are suspected of
malfeasance after being involved
in the issuance of an executive
decree authorizing the opening of
mining work in Las Crucitas*,
San Carlos.
Once the decision in the Arias
case was announced, the
Prosecutor's Office confirmed that
it will appeal the ruling.
General Prosecutor
Navas said, "we studied the
resolution and have made the
decision to file an appeal
because we know that the
criminal action is not
prescribed."
According to Navas, although
the team in charge of the
case respects the
resolution, " we do not
agreed with the criteria on
the facts for which the
former president was accused
were prescribed, since the
preliminary statement was
taken on November 8, 2017,
almost a month before the
deadline expired, which
automatically extended that
term for six years."
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Public
Ministry courtesy
photo
"According to the
United Nations
Organization and
Interpol, illegal
wildlife trade is
worth between seven
and $23 million
annually," said
Ambassador Day.
The thesis
of the General
Prosecutor's Office is
that the court made
procedural errors in
its timing of
procedures in the Las
Crucitas* case.
Those errors mean that
the current case can
continue.
The Prosecutor's
Office said that, in
the case of the crime
of malfeasance for
which Arias was
accused, according to
the Law Against
Corruption and Illicit
Enrichment, this
period is interrupted
when an act is
declared null or
ineffective by the
administrative or
judicial authority.
That means, the
resolution confirmed
on Nov 30, 2011,
reactivated a new
period on the case.
The case involves
official actions in
favor of the Canadian
firm Infinito Gold
Ltd. Arias, in his
capacity as president
signed a decree in
2008 that said the Las
Crucitas*
open-pit mining
project was in the
national
interest. Former
Ministry Dobles is
involved because he,
too, signed off on the
measure.
The open pit mine had
been praised by
officials as a major
economic development
in northern Costa
Rica.
Environmentalists and
activists condemned
the project for being
a potential source of
pollution. Hundreds of
students rallied for
months against the
project. One activist
even walked from San
Jose to the site to
attract media
attention.
Officials of the
Canadian firm
estimated that there
were billions of
dollars of gold in the
ground that could be
extracted by a
leaching method.
The decree by Arias
provided certain
bureaucratic benefits
to the firm to
expedite development
of the project.
The case has been in
and out of the
courts and appeals
panels for nearly
nine years.
According to the
allegation of the
prosecution, the
defendants committed
irregularities in
issuing the decree
of national
convenience in 2008.
In 2010 the
Contentious Court
annulled the decree,
which allowed an
accusations to be
opened against the
suspects.
In January 2015
Dobles was judged
and found guilty.
The former minister
was sentenced to
three years in
prison for the fault
of malfeasance.
However in November
of that year an
appeals panel
annulled the
sentence.
The Public
Prosecutor's Office
requested the
dismissal of the
case against Arias
in 2014, and a
criminal court
accepted the
request. For that
reason, there was
never a trial.
The former attorney
general, Jorge
Chavarria, that year
had created two
different files to
make two trials
despite being the
allegations being a
single case. It was
then that a
file was made
for Arias and
another for Dobles
and the rest of the
suspects.
In November 2017,
the new attorney
general, Emilia
Navas, announced the
reopening of the
cases and requested
a judge to combine
all the allegations
against all the
suspects. Last
November a judge
accepted the
request.
The gold mining
company was hit with
environmental
allegations and its
concession was
canceled. Among
other crimes alleged
were the cutting of
mountain almond
trees that are
favored by the great
green macaw. The
company cut some of
the trees to prepare
for the mining pit,
in part due to the
decree by Arias.
After the government
annulled the
concession, Infinito
Gold opened a claim
for $321million for
compensation before
the International
Center for
Settlement of
Investment Disputes
of the World Bank.
That action
generated protests
here and in Canada.
The arbitration is
under the
Canadian-Costa Rican
trade agreement. The
company since
lowered its request
even though the
international price
of gold has soared
since the firm
announced the
project.
The arbitration
center's website
still listed the
case as pending,
meaning no decision
has been made.
The last action was
Jan. 8 when the
three-arbitrator
panel considered the
production of more
documents.
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Have you
heard of any crime
against the environment
in your community? We
would like to know your
thoughts on this story.
Send your comments to news@amcostarica.com
*Link to
reach the place map.
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