For the first time ever, an international human rights abuse lawsuit against a Canadian mining company will be heard in a Canadian court.

Angelica Choc, widow of slain Guatemalan community leader and anti-mining activist Adolfo Ich and plaintiff in the Choc v Hudbay Minerals lawsuit, will share her testimonial of resistance, repression, and resilience at Dalhousie University Schulich School of Law. 

Choc is a Mayan Q’eqchi’ woman from El Estor, Guatemala and widow of Adolfo Ich, a local community leader who was shot to death in 2009 by security forces employed by Canadian mining company HudBay Minerals' Fenix Mining Project. Adolfo had long lobbied against the damaging effects the mining project exacted on his community.

Seeking accountability for her husband's death, Angelica launched a lawsuit in Ontario courts in 2010 against HudBay MInerals, HMI Nickel and their Guatemalan subsidiary. Recent precedent-setting developments in the case ensure it will proceed to trial. With this, the case marks the first time a Canadian mining company will be tried on Canadian soil for crimes committed abroad in the name of resource extraction and development