A/HRC/42/42 projects. There have also been allegations of extrajudicial killings, enforced disappearances, torture and ill-treatment, and sexual and gender-based violence, particularly in certain Latin American, Asian and African countries.37 In other reports, in two mines, one in Asia, the other in Africa, of rocks being thrown at men, women and children, and of large rocks being pushed down on villagers, particularly in pits.38 In some instances, the injuries sustained were aggravated by a lack of access to medical care, which was either not affordable or too distant. For example, in 2015, the Working Group documented the alleged beating, abduction and murder of environmental human rights defenders by private security guards hired by a subsidiary pulpwood supplier company in Indonesia. 39 54. Global Witness, a non-governmental organization that tracks killings of land and environmental defenders, concluded that 2017 was the most dangerous year on record, when 207 community defenders were allegedly killed by State forces and non-State actors, of which eight killings were attributed to private security. Agribusiness and mining were the most dangerous sectors.40 C. Right of peoples to self-determination 55. Private military and security companies and other security actors provide the conditions that allow extractive companies to operate. Therefore, in situations where extractive companies fail to respect the right of peoples’ to self-determination, such companies may be considered to be complicit in those abuses. This includes cases where indigenous peoples have been denied free, prior and informed consent in the awarding of concession contracts on their territorial lands, or when the extraction of natural resources prevents them from having access to their land, thus depriving them of their traditional means of livelihood. This is particularly noticeable in cases of forced displacement and evictions and of violence against environmental and other human rights defenders whose access to resources and the means necessary to sustain their livelihood is barred, with a significant impact on living standards and potential to exacerbate inter- and intra-community conflicts over the scarce resources that remain available. The loss and erosion of land, coupled with environmental pollution caused by the extractive operations and in some cases burning of homes in villages in and around the mine lease area, have in cases led to severely overcrowded and unhealthy living conditions. D. Complicity in violations by State security forces 56. Some forms of cooperation between extractive private security personnel (in-house or private companies) and State security forces raise particular concerns from a human rights perspective. In addition to the elements described above, the Working Group is aware of several cases in which private security personnel allegedly assisted and supported State security forces in forcibly removing people or communities from their lands in the vicinity of an extractive site. For example, both public and private forces have been accused of concerted harassment, violence and destruction of property and possession of property of a local family near the Yanacocha mine in Peru.41 In other instances, private military and security companies have contributed to violations by State security forces by providing logistical support, such as vehicles or intelligence obtained through video surveillance installed around the mine site.42 E. Sexual and gender-based violence 57. Allegations of widespread sexual violence, including rape and gang rape, have been reported around extractive projects, in particular those located in remote areas. Around the 37 38 39 40 41 42 See for example the submission by the University of Denver. Submission by Mining Watch Canada. See https://spcommreports.ohchr.org/Tmsearch/TMDocuments, IDN 3/2015 and OTH 3/2015. Global Witness, “At What Cost? Irresponsible business and the murder of land and environmental defenders in 2017”, 2018. Joint communications JUA PER 1/2016 and JUA PER 3/2015. See also www.frontlinedefenders.org/en/case/case-history-maxima-acuna-de-chaupe. Submission by Rights and Accountability in Development. 15