Hacking group Anonymous has claimed it has hacked mining company Anglo American under its “Operation Green Rights” initiative.
Anglo American, previously headquartered in South Africa but now based in London, is the world’s largest primary producer of platinum with a large number of its platinum mines in the North West province of South Africa.
Anonymous say they hacked the mining company as a result of its “greenwashing” to avert human rights complaints.
In a statement on their website,Operation Green Rights said greenwashing is a process that allegedly involves multinationals raising “funds from people declaring to protect mining war-areas and they use this money in order to get a better control of public opinion and mining areas”.
To prove they did hack the Anglo American sites, Anonymous made publicly available on their website links to some data and files obtained from the websites and databases.
Another reason for the attack is because “Anglo American Platinum filed SLAPPs (Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation) against a South African (public interest) lawyer Richard Spoor, who represented indigenous communities affected by platinum mining on tribal land.
“Actions included: an application in the High Court for a so-called gagging order, ostensibly to prevent him further injuring the good name and reputation of the corporation; the lodging of complaints with the Law Society of unprofessional behaviour; and the lodging of a civil action for damages for $500,000.”
Furthermore, the company’s platinum business Anglo American Platinum also managed to obtain an ex parte (without notice) order to interdict two tribal chiefs from “interfering with their mining operations and had them arrested with charges of intimidation and trespass.”
This interdict resulted in community members where these two chiefs ruled protesting, with some of the protesters shot, beaten and arrested for protesting the mine’s presence on the tribal land.
