Toxic justice
toxicjustice.org is an open source archive inspired by the films Toxic Playground and Arica.
The court case
Arica Victims v Boliden was a lawsuit in which the limited partnership Arica Victims represented 796 Chilean citizens who were injured by the wetland sludge from Rönnskärsverken in Sweden containing high levels of arsenic, shipped by Boliden to Arica, Chile, during 1984-1985.
The District Court chose to apply Chilean law in the case, but did not find that the plaintiffs showed sufficient evidence to connect the injuries with the waste from Sweden.
The case went to the Swedish Court of appeal, who decided that Swedish law should be applied, meaning that the injuries, having occurred more than 10 years after the initial incident, could not be tried under Swedish Law.
In 2021, a group of UN experts examined the case, and wrote to the Swedish and Chilean governments, along with the managing director of Boliden, asking them to resolve the ongoing ‘violations of human rights’ in Arica.
Court decisions
UN
Background
In 1984, the Swedish mining company Boliden had toxic waste shipped to Chile, where it was supposed to be properly processed. In reality, some of the waste was dumped on the outskirts of the desert town of Arica. The consequences were severe: in the years that followed, residents developed cancer and many babies were born with birth defects.
The film
Filmmakers William Johansson Kalen and Lars Edman have covered the case since their first film Boliden (2010). In their following film Arica (2020) we get an insight look inside the powerful case brought upon the mining company responsible.Filmmakers William Johansson Kalen and Lars Edman have covered the case since their first film Boliden (2010). In their following film Arica (2020) we get an insight look inside the powerful case brought upon the mining company responsible.Filmmakers William Johansson Kalen and Lars Edman have covered the case since their first film Boliden (2010). In their following film Arica (2020) we get an insight look inside the powerful case brought upon the mining company responsible.
Filmmakers William Johansson Kalen and Lars Edman have covered the case since their first film Boliden (2010). In their following film Arica (2020) we get an insight look inside the powerful case brought upon the mining company responsible.
Read more at www.aricafilm.com
Community
They’re Everywhere! Big Companies in Legal Scrapes Turn to Science-for-Hire Giant Exponent The Fall of Icarus is the Greek myth about a youth who gets a pair of wax-and-feather wings but soars…
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Documentary maker William Johansson Kalén is upset about Bolidens complaints against the lawyers of Arica Victims. The documentary Arica recently premiered and the film deals with the lawsuit following Bolidens dumping of…
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In a debate in Swedish Parliament, the Swedish Minister of Environment suddenly changed the Swedish position towards supporting Chile in cleaning up the contaminated areas in Arica, Chile. In a non-scripted part…
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The Senate demands that President Sebastián Piñera instruct the Ministry for Foreign Affairs to ask the Swedish government to take back toxic waste from the Scandinavian country that is currently located in…
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They defend toxic emissions in the rainforest, have questioned the benefits of seat belts and deny that passive smoking causes cancer. Exponent, the American consulting company that Boliden hired to defend itself…
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769 Chileans sued the Swedish mining company Boliden for the toxic waste that left outside the town Arica. The sludge was polluted with chemicals like arsenic, lead and mercury. The Swedish Court…
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UN letters include harsh criticism of Swedish government and Boliden mining company Over 30 years after Swedish mining company Boliden shipped almost 20,000 tonnes of toxic mining waste to the Chilean city…
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Anna Lindh Response to written question from Eva Zetterberg (v) June 30th 2000 Eva Zetterberg has asked me, referring to the health problems affecting the population in…
With nearly 100 countries on board, an international agreement which bans the exporting of toxic waste from developed to developing countries has entered into force. While this landmark move will help protect…
The Court of Appeal for northern Norrland announced on March 27th the ruling in the case about Boliden’s deliveries to Arica, Chile in the mid 1980’s. The court found, like the district…
The tide is turning against the global toxic waste trade, as an appeal court in Sweden considers the plight of nearly 12,000 victims. The Swedish mining conglomerate Boliden began shipping toxic waste…
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