if you've just joined us here's a recap of the top story that we're following feel the u.s. secretary of state like on bail is in berlin for talks with german leaders on bail met 1st with foreign minister heiko moscow and talks with german chancellor angela merkel after land of the u.s. and germany have clashed on the number of fishes and base of funds. up next the duck went to prison but the power of corporations from me after that she must buy for now brian thomas for have the news feel at the top of the i'll just do join and if you get it. it's all happening much of it. surely news from africa the world your links to exceptional stories and discussions anyone will come to their view suffocating program life from foreign agenda the following years it is easy to our website the depth of clips match africa join us on facebook.

also in 2016 across europe tens of thousands mobilize against planned free trade deals with the u.s. and canada belgium's well only a region is blocking csa a major european pact with canada thrusting the into crisis manager and that anger is focused on a little known provision routinely included in trade deals that allows foreign investors to bring investment disputes before an international arbitration tribunal and multinational corporations to sue sovereign states for billions of dollars. but more are these tribunals who handles their cases and who represent the interest of the people after all it's taxpayers who foot the bill.

to get a clearer picture we delve deeper into an epic system that circumvents national courts and effectively hands foreign investors the power to dictate the policies of democratically elected governments every nation is one rouble whether it's an industrial power or a developing country. investor lawsuits against states impact everything from human rights and health to public finances and the environment this report sheds light on the extraordinary power of international arbitration tribunals. 2 2 in colombia deep inside the amazon rain forest the

canadian mining company because ego was set on extracting gold along the a porous river. it singled out a sacred site on the ancestral lands of 7 indigenous groups. but as part of environmental protection measures the colombian government designated the region as a national park in 2009 that put a stop to cacique as plants 2 . for years the company tried to negotiate with the colombian government then in 2016 undress rendell because he gets chief operating officer moved a dispute to the international arena together with procedures u.s. partner to the mining energy he filed suit against colombia in a court of arbitration i personally did not know of the option of international arbitration where it will always heard of the world court. but we do know in my

time i don't believe that was between 2 governments that were debating things. but the ability to take our case to the international court of arbitration was a welcome relief for our shareholders to know that we don't have to depend on maybe some emotional sentiment by a judge in some rural location who is being pressured by his local. mayor. underspend and found a suitable attorney to represent his company in paris chef and be sure to keep the we have special needs to not a transition. ringback somewhere into the middle of the 1st stage of the our tradition which there's a good mating oh the 3 or b. critters that will continue to your patrician panel which still take

a few weeks at least and from 0 i believe columbia well challenge the jurisdiction of the courts. to who made the decision on this could come from and and and then we will really move to z. yes that's the case yeah hopefully hopefully they're crossing fingers they'll be productive would be nice. let's go see goal starts to face difficulties with this debate going on between the ministry of mines and energy and the ministry of environment we found ourselves with the inability to work or whatever because shareholders from texas took the money and energy motivated the company to seek. arbitration as a way of. solving this dispute of this difficulty between the colombian government

as a whole and the company. scheme in particular i think what's noteworthy about this case is that of course eco had already been granted a mining permit by the state mining authority and suddenly from one day to the next the company is told the area is now closed you were allowed to conduct ground exploration for 10 years but now your license is no longer valid you could only steam he could get on. a lot you know it should have been a mature country every cause of his side big being a free trade agreements colombia need to understand that they had to respect the agreements so that investors' money would not be lost or stolen. there was a lot of money and a lot of effort and a lot of motivation from small investors getting together small investors to

combine their resources and work under the colombian government regulation that helped the ministry of mines find assets for the call of the people of. north carolina who can you show me the contractual clause on direct and in direct expropriations again. these are the rules of arbitration for more of the law of course in a state has the right to change its policies he can even nationalize assets if it wants to mend. these trade agreements don't rule such measures out and it created these about the agreements laid down clear rules that must be taken into account. the known. most free trade agreements include the provision of investor state to speak settlement. this close is designed to protect foreign investors and allow them to seek redress from a country when its business interests expropriations or otherwise unfairly high. to

buy a country's laws policies. says you do federal reserve do trade agreements are designed to foster economic development to that end investors need to be given reassurances and the agreements need to be deep politicized in the event of a dispute between an investor and a state the power of the participating state cannot dominate proceedings it must be possible to call upon a judge the international arbitrator be clinton a sinner. but these arbitrations are not judges and national courts the private sector attorneys who wear different hats on the 3 men the panel alternatively in the role of presiding. counsel for the state counsel for the investor. these highly paid lawyers often belong to elite nor firms that have much to gain from the lucrative investment up attrition business. they operate in strict secrecy and often side with investors even in cases where investors seem entitled to compensation all such prohibitive payouts in the interest of the affected

population. when we were beginning to enter the area the northern native tribes wanted to develop the might of the southern group who was not in the mine it was not on the area were motivated by n.g.o.s afford it geos name their guy and they were voted to go against the might so they tried to set up sacred sites on a map. by discussing with certain spiritual leaders that they were motivating to declare sacred sites but none of the sacred sites that they had identified or.

anywhere near the proposed might say. we don't understand what the big deal is why don't we just come to a concious feeling as i said in spanish why don't we just agree because of that mine could be developed all the 1st nations people would have employment by having their own salaries can provide a lot better economic conditions because then you can start planning things then you can start buying refrigerators then you don't have to waste your meat you don't have to keep going out every day and replenishing your food and women can then start considering education. what they all want to do is have an increased self-reliance and not depend on the white man and the non-indigenous government to come home.

with a little piece of that and yet plane came 3 times yet only spuds came to drop their reports geologists biology etc if you get on a little below go even the big boss came. and would eat out of it on the rest randall. it hit thing and it ended. and then yemen we want to sign different tax pots to guide them around the area some accompanied by only just i got to do geologist am i not that i put we fall a deposit and every 100 meters he'd pick up a rock smash it and put it in his pocket. they could argue that rocks we discovered that there really is gold in the region come up with no they get. what did they suggest they're going to wear the least that day they told us if they. mine gold in

this area we would get one percent of the profits. on the board nobody from crecy go talked about the projects drawbacks but if you go there you know now on the day they said they would only cut down trees on an area of 2 square meters. i would drill a hole and stall their machine. we get them and then plant new trees. at them but out of this. the national park to protect the ancestral territories of indigenous groups was established with the assistance of the n.g.o.s guy amazon us now snotty is a member of the organization and regularly visits local communities to support them and their fight against the exploitation of their land. their thinking is same but they told us this company would help our communities and that if they said it would bring us many benefits. by that and if that led by

working in the mine we could and so much that we could buy how colombia amro as you know news of this area we'd read many rewards. and you were also in the area of choco think you're in your yes and i learned one thing we must never again allow a multinational company to exploit the area that. is the lungs of our planet. of the world. our ancestors described the water there as bright and clear today it's a garbage dump. there's no life left in the water there are unused machines everywhere and huge excavator still in operation and let's not forget the mine and go in there know.

if. this is the center of which. them science and the power of this continent wealthy men. when it wasn't must be only a. little birth of a child we celebrate a kind of about his people all of these places are essential for this ceremony this thing because it's their power and wisdom that promotes the growth and intelligence of a newborn child f.p.c. 6 see if i see the energy of these places strengthens the child's connection to nature event is why these holy sites are of great importance to us if you are the source of our songs and dances from there the place where we are healed from disease the cuts you and i you died by you did i you died back with us you an.

indigenous communities who live here in the forest belong to a dozen different ethnic groups but they all share the same beliefs about the origin of the world. they view the numerous sacred sites of that i'm just as a living organisms and a ceremony the shaman mentally tools a line that connects all of these sites it's the path of healing and it must remain intact and never be separate. so we can have we're going to get that benefit our ancestors describe the earth as a small sphere a floating on water and i said by this wounded i'm going to lose a rock floating on the water that i can sink very quickly.

and this place is like the hardest phone or the pillar that maintains equilibrium of the earth thought it so would it feel to you that if we allow this place to be exploited he said c.c.c. to the help we move one step closer to the end of the world it was but on the. approach the mountain mice miles from. according to him. the. members of the local communities were not always united in their rejection of the

mine. and just rendell promised them financial advantages and a better life. some indigenous leaders mostly elderly opposed mining from the outset but others were tempted to accept rendel small gifts. today a meeting has been called representatives of different tribes are gathering in the traditional assembly house they're concerned about a lawsuit filed by casey go on to preparing a statement addressed to the colombian government. in it they confirm their determination to resist attempts to mine gold on their territory. they're now living in yellow welcome i want to talk about the gold and give my opinion from a woman standpoint and i think it time to take. him out now should we work in the mind of it that way that i would have a headache and my not gonna why should we do expect all the time. to get back to what it could well it was certainly i think am i looking at it. a little bit of

everybody although you already heard this one as are all our origin. and this land harbors raw materials that we call gems they're going to discuss it and agree that all of this land must not be exploited i think a little more than the us you are. the new look into the net is why we are the ethnic groups of this region have come together. on this we have decided together that we will not work in the mines in the middle that is the new and that we will defend our territory look we don't need anyone didn't. think. it will be like that. that. the indigenous communities worldview is diametrically opposed to that of the mining company. the former want to protect their intangible cultural

heritage and right to self-determination the latter a focus on their profits and how they can extract gold from the depths of the amazon rain forest. to haiti yeah began the other. day when i met with the so-called glaciers charge. i read it was just too bad you don't like it so. this is condi and we can do what we want. super stand it you solicit us she said yes she did but we decided to park out there and it's your last. that's it you understand there's we're talking if we see receive for 60000000000 because that's the biggest iron ore gold mine by in all of the a copy of all the south america i very possibly coming loose the issue by car out going to be 60 bathers they got

a decent number 3 updated 68 i bet it's closer to 8 do you want. $16000000000.00. for a few studies and expeditions into the and isn't even $16000000.00 a sum $1000.00 times smaller would be a huge compensation figure or is columbia being asked to pay for the loss of expected profits either way it smacks of speculation. then that is the hope of the end to the colombian government helping them to all citizens. it needs to sound meaningful. yeah we have to get it right before we send it. to you the secretary will check over everything and anything.

this is a big letter this is our declaration that is to the colombian government to all citizens the media and all interested parties at home and abroad we hereby declare manifesto that we debate any kind of the mineral extraction on our territory because practice does not correspond to our customs and traditions our lives are governed by the laws of our ancestors and by the spiritual and cultural agreements between our communities what is being done this will do that this is perilous years and they must work. ready

ready the time to hit the road together with the other indigenous communities. one callous party out of their representatives at that of course chapter porus resign i will present the declaration at the forum of indigenous peoples organized by the government and book a task. alongside indigenous community members the meeting is also being attended by university experts n.g.o.s and government representatives. the forum aims to support south america's indigenous communities and both of their rights that includes the right to being heard about any plans for projects that affect their lives. more than

a 1000 delegates are attending the forum. if you look at but there's a corporate responsibility that is not an option that you. can call us professor urges all communities to stand together to strengthen their autonomy and ward off mining and tourism projects. ek that complying with the rules of conduct also cannot be optional we're talking here about the right to be heard about corporate responsibility and the minimum standards of ethics that companies must abide by his idea. that he had a once this information to reach a wide audience that. it. is. for the board. and the offices of the ngo gaia he meets my coveleski s a lawyer specialized in international corporate law and human rights seems to me. a company can't just say the colombian state which we were going to help build

schools and other things as a $16500000000.00 in the year to do it makes all their plans look like just an excuse to get rich from the outset was a biopic on the basis of our partners is that no one can verify you say they can't put a price tag on their assumed profits because they simply don't know what those profits would have been but you know. they use them on c.n.n. this can go on as you may know very well them never get 16500000000 dollars. i'll just put that some out there and then wait and see how much they can get out of it because the good open a business this year is the opposite we have been the lead in so i would suggest the following is that we need to present information at the arbitration that neither the company nor the colombian state can provide a list of you're going to be victim. of alaska is alarmed by the lawsuits brought against his country by foreign companies he's published numerous articles and this

writing a book on the subject. in toronto he meets up with his former ph d. supervisor gus from hotton to discuss the upcoming proceedings. just on hearten as an expert on international investment law and a prominent critic of the system of investor state dispute settlement he's been warning of its dangers for years. growing 5 of the last weeks have been like a roller coaster in colombia and in this claim. the one i wanted to talk to you about the war there is a process go yet of ignoring case yes 16000000000 us i would say 20 percent of colombia's national public budget it was quite surprising because public authorities were saying that the agreements negotiated were positive for the

current 3 and that for investors would never start a claim in the contrary in these very moment but it is what happened at the end why is that colombian law is not good enough for these foreign investors it is not the case that colonia has a weak date or ships were trying to solve our problems we're trying to become a more stable country and we have the means to do it but with these type of cases all our efforts to reach durable peace. put into question it's not the 1st country to be surprised by a foreign investor claims these treaties are like a ticking time bomb for taxpayer sooner or later they so there's not a lot of public discussion of these cases and no i don't like weiss i have a column in the newspaper and i try to open the gate but they only thing i got from them was. berman and ignorance that's because it's embarrassing

to the trade department to see these treaties that they negotiated being used against the country if you're a foreign investor and you want to leverage against the government of course you would have an interest in many cases to keep it all confidential because if you keep it confidential and the government keeps a confidential then they can do deals and i very much appreciate the research you're doing in colombia because we need people like you in countries all over the world to understand how the system is being implemented not just in the arbitration documents but in the back story. october 2016 europeans take to the streets to protest the lack of transparency in

proposed international agreements specifically teach it the free trade and investment agreement between europe and the u.s. and see set the comprehensive economic and trade agreement between the e.u. and canada both treaties include provisions for investment up a transition critics say the secrecy of the operation system is a threat to democracies everywhere. i've negotiated in good faith we've always said that we're not against a treaty with canada but if you don't want to provide. the tradition under any circumstances we believe such disputes between companies and countries must be settled in public courts in the public interest the leader of belgium small region of wallonia small pertaining merely to its geographic size is singlehandedly blocking the signing of the e.u.'s free trade deal with canada a region with 3500000 inhabitants stonewalling an agreement that affects 500000000 europeans a small european legion standing its ground against the big e.u.

. in the interest of attracting foreign investors europe has agreed to include a provision in the treaty sanctioning the mechanism of investor state dispute settlement or i.s.t.'s. the building block of this mechanism is the assumption that it deters governments from passing moves that could trigger investor lawsuits. if a country privatizers a company that has a clear case of expropriation and warrants compensation. but if a state raises the minimum wage bans genetically modified organisms or and a crime disruptors it's making decisions that can harm the value of a company's investments. that is viewed as indirect expropriation because the company stands to lose profits reason enough to file a suit against the country concerned in a private arbitration tribunal. donald is suing florence i was the

city's refusal to allow to open an outlet on piazza the normal served on also sued the city of florence for damages again for an investment that hasn't even been made yet for novices mucking about. that outrageous. the term indirect expropriation written into cease and most other trade deals opens a pandora's box. it paves the way for corporate litigation against government decisions that even only potentially limit foreign investor profits international arbitration tribunals are weapons used to subvert democratic decision making. i describe these trade agreements as particle accelerators they accelerate certain mechanisms of globalization and ultra liberalization. and who benefits from these

mechanisms the big winners are the multinationals the big losers are the citizens and the environment steve is the spence's again think arbitration proceedings that allow investors to sue is a great risk. if they scared governments out of passing legislation in the public interest. let's say there are plans to pass you legislation banning into growing disrupt is. an investor could threaten estates out you're welcome to pass these laws but we will file a lawsuit against them because rust they'll result in a loss of profits because we use these substances in our products. such threats will be a deterrent to european law makers. and that will lead to an erosion of consumer protection in europe. any decision makers will take certain action out of fear of being sanction on balance is already skewed between very powerful

corporations and weaken states and that asymmetry will only become more exacerbated . they're on the brink of a massive expansion of the war. so what happens when we introduce a couple of new treaties like c. and the other one is the trans-pacific. promoters are biased. like to say well we already have 2 or 3000 of these trainees what's a couple more. the teeth that combined with the seats in the p.p. takes us from still having a minority role in the world to be calming and established global institutions widely foreign investors have their most powerful rights at the international level of any private party in the world most people think about trade they think about goods and services being exchanged between countries and the investment component

the investment chapter of a trade agreement is about something very different is about establishing a special system of international protection for foreign assets it's like creating a new core for the world that protects only the property rights of 4 and the foreigners are of course very easily in effect very big companies or very wealthy individuals. from harkins position is shared by a large community worldwide lawyers know make use n.g.o.s the old moon of the danger these agreements and opera tracing tribunals potence to citizens around the world. and. the advocate is different solutions if an investor feels unfairly hummed which can happen they

should have access to a state cool even. it isn't if there is a position to balance the financial and economic interests of the investor against the general interests of the public who are directly affected by state regulation stickied it's essential to maintain this balance of power. and investment up a trace in proceedings large corporations can assert their will for the most part in utmost secrecy. the secrecy not only obscures the process from the public it's the very foundation of this parallel justice system that forces states to agree to supplement and weight is detrimental to the interests of the public and the environment. to take this case in europe and 2009 swedish energy giant of what in fact one of europe's largest energy producers filed a lawsuit against germany over to spew to the city of hamburg the case was kept

under wraps for years until it was on earth by marcus caiaphas an expert in international law at the university of new york back. on. every tradition are secret because no progress the parties from the goes hitting anything and then in the public hearing they will say whatever they will say but the real negotiations will take place outside. in 2007 hamburg granted button fall a temporary permit to operate the new more coal fired power plant after municipal elections the following year the greens entered government and under pressure from residents and environmental groups imposed strict conditions on operating the plant these regulations aim to limit the plant's use of river water and its impact on fish to get a permanent license fucking fall would have to comply with these new measures.

but involves reaction it immediately sought arbitration seeking 1400000000 euros in damages. so you're making a claim to the public official saying your decision not to grant this permit will cost the taxpayer 1400000000 euros and that that's that's a that's something that public officials think very seriously. the german government and had secret negotiations with vattenfall that lasted until 2011 the monday it was announced a deal had been reached. this is very important the only publicly available information is that they settled. end of the story. marcus k.f.c. has examined the tribunals decision and detail it refers to an epic settlement which vattenfall in the city of hamburg a set of reached beforehand koch. and so that's

what i said well if they reached a settlement in front of domestic court in front of them this is a piece of information that i can request and the federal government refused. but the city of hamburg senator and the city gave the new permit which is less restrictive than the old that's the. button for didn't want money what if i wanted a change in the pump and that's what they got it's hard to believe but hundreds environmental agency headed by the greens lowered the environmental standards it previously imposed. i can just imagine the conversation that took place between the federal government of germany and the city of hamburg so the federal government said well look we signed this treaty we are bound by this internationally germany has international obligations and you have to fulfill that

we can't you cannot become a break international law i mean this is also a powerful argument especially in democracies especially in countries like germany but all over the world so germany has also fallen into the trap laid by arbitration clauses in treaties that itself has ratified and bound to blackmail from corporations. that settlement with vattenfall was signed in secrecy on march the 11th 2011. that same day a devastating earthquake rocked japan. focus in many theaters asked to shock the world and profoundly change policy in

berlin shielded by germany's 5 decade old anti need meant a wave of protests and 450 cities underlined a growing public opposition to nuclear power under pressure chancellor angela merkel made a decision the country's planned phase out of nuclear energy would be brought forward. the matter snidely thing happens and then i engineered it even the traumatic events in japan were turning point for the world and for me personally it . has forced us to acknowledge that the risks of nuclear energy cannot be mastered safely not even in a high tech country such as japan. anyone who acknowledges the situation needs to reassess it and draw the necessary conclusions focus shima changed my attitude toward nuclear energy germany will cease using nuclear energy by 2022 in the thank.

the chancellor's decision to exit nuclear power was written into law 4 months later the bundestag overwhelmingly backed the 15th amendment of the nuclear power act. soon after germany's 7 oldest nuclear reactors were shut down they included the poem's battle and conall plants both operated by the swedish utility vattenfall. involve responded by filing a complaint against the legislation at the constitutional court and caused germany's highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction. as a foreign investor it also had the option of bringing germany to international arbitration. the company had successfully taken this route before why not try again in may 2012 it submitted a separate claim against germany's nuclear phaseout this one at the u.s.

based international center for settlement of investment disputes the i c s id proceedings and that's purely european case were held in washington well they want to listen to them i over here are still hearing dikshit number they are being slashed 12 threshed well. in a matter between one button for a b. claimants and the federal republic of germany as respondents. the presiding arbitrator was arguing from a swedish attorney cuyahoga represented the claimant but in fact and subpoena connor represented the federal repub. of germany. but in thought train 4700000000 euros in damages as a consequence of the 13th amendment claimants lost their production licenses for the criminal plant and for the and drums but the plant there was simply withdrawn.

the dispute does not concern germany's right as such to face up to any rather this dispute concerns the manner in which germany has chosen to implement its face of decision and its failure to prop to protect claimants investments in particular concerns germany is saying or to pay any compensation i don't. know the heart and so most in this for protection treaties is to provide protection against expropriation. the difficulty however when we talk about indirect expropriation is to draw the line between expropriation on the one and legitimate governmental measures on the other. and there is no easy way to draw this line to make this distinction. so of course one could say that the protection that investors enjoy under the treaty is could influence how and what the state

regulates. this. is. that yes that. you. mean. do you know that 77 percent. are younger than 6 of. guts me and me and you. and you know what it's time all voices. of the 77 percent to talk about the issues. this is where you

cut the 77 percent 80 minutes this week at a dollar a d.w.i. . is quite as simple as it seems. to understand the world better we need to take a closer look at. the experience knowledge into. the. job of. her 1st day in school and the job. her 1st clueless and. then doris grand moment to run and join the arena tango on her journey to freedom in our interactive

document shoot or on the running returns home. plate the to play. this is deja vu news live from berlin. president trump's top diplomat is now in the german capital for talks on china and iran mike. has already met with the strawman counterpart tycho moussa missed rising tensions with the united states the secretary of state has also been meeting with german chancellor of all of mackerel .

i'm brian.