"Innovative Tech Tools Changing Modern Slavery Risk Perception", 13 Apr 2017
[C]hanging expectations of business on human rights risk management require a significant shift in its current due diligence process, specifically in the way risk is identified...Liberty Asia, in partnership with Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, have created a Legal Case Map, providing...a detailed understanding of past cases and the cost to society and to the corporations of human rights violations including modern slavery and trafficking. The map plots and describes ways businesses have been held legally accountable...this tool is a key resource for business and human rights risk...
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Commentary: The Legal Case Map, a key resource for firms' human rights & modern slavery risk management
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Vietnam: Farmers demand compensation & detain police officers after violent clash over land seizure said to benefit military-run telecom firm Viettel
"Vietnam Farmers Hold Policemen Amid Standoff Over Land Dispute", 17 April 2017
A group of farmers in...Hanoi... continued to detain at least 20 people—including riot police—in a situation sources described as “heated,” after a land dispute led to a rare incident of violence between residents and authorities...
...Police clashed with residents of Dong Tam commune, in Hanoi’s My Duc district, who say the government is seizing 47 hectares (116 acres) of their farmland for the military-run Viettel Group—the country’s largest mobile phone operator—without compensating them.
Police arrested several farmers for allegedly causing social unrest, and other farmers responded by detaining at least 20 police officers and threatening to kill them if security personnel attack again...
Hanoi’s government has demanded that the farmers release the detainees and gradually increased a security presence around Mieu Mon village, where they are being held...
The farmers want authorities to release those who have been arrested and for the government to give up its plan to take their farmland without compensation...
...A land activist named Trinh Ba Phuong who had advised farmers in Dong Tam...was forcibly taken from his home... and questioned by police in connection with the land dispute.
While all land in Vietnam is...held by the state, land confiscations have become a flashpoint as residents accuse the government of pushing small landowners aside in favor of lucrative real estate projects, and of paying too little in compensation to those whose land is taken.
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Indonesia: Foreign ministry officer outlines steps govt. could take to promote human rights in business, including creation of a natl. focal point
"Embracing business and human rights", 3 April 2017
...The ongoing negotiations on business and human rights (BHR)...have triggered national discourse on how Indonesia should respond to it...
Currently, no regulations specifically regulate the human rights aspect of business conduct.
With its economy and foreign direct investment inflows growing at a promising rate, BHR will only become more relevant for Indonesia. The implementation of the UNGP principles could be beneficial to ensure that economic development does not come at the expense of human rights.
Discourse on...BHR...identifies several challenges for the government, but I will outline the way forward...
First...the BHR issue transcends beyond sectors: labor, environment, security, health, among others. The focal point is the first step toward mainstreaming BHR policy...and it is also essential to produce a coherent policy...The Office of the Economic Coordinating Minister seems to be the most suitable institution to become a focal point in promoting UNGP provisions because the ministries under its coordination interact directly with business actors.
Second is the importance of continued dissemination of UNGP provisions to all stakeholders in Indonesia, particularly business actors (including small and medium enterprises) to raise their awareness, encourage its implementation and prepare them for further development of the BHR issue...
Third is the need to start developing a BHR framework in Indonesia...
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Rép. dém. du Congo : Le syndicaliste et défenseur des droits de l'homme Jean Pierre Muteba arrêté puis libéré
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El Salvador: Reflexión sobre el papel de las mujeres en la prohibición histórica de la minería metálica por sus impactos al agua y ambiente
“Las mujeres detrás de la histórica victoria ambiental en El Salvador”, 11 de Abril de 2017
…En un fallo reciente, que constituye un hito porque sienta un precedente mundial, el país latinoamericano prohibió la minería de metales en todo su territorio…Finalmente fueron escuchadas las voces de las comunidades, de las organizaciones y de numerosos sectores de la población…La prohibición es la culminación de más de 11 años de activismo comunitario. Durante este tiempo, las mujeres rurales y urbanas han liderado la educación comunitaria, las movilizaciones, los cortes de calle y las marchas en defensa de sus territorios, sus derechos y sus comunidades…“La minería es una muerte irreversible», observa Recinos. «Las experiencias en otros países donde se desarrollan proyectos mineros evidencian que la mayor afectación es para los cuerpos y las vidas de las mujeres”… “Han sido las mujeres las que mayoritariamente se han movilizado a nivel local y nacional para ejercer presión sobre quienes tienen poder de decisión, aunque no sean los rostros visibles ni mediáticos. Aun siendo mayoría, han sido invisibilizadas por los hombres, en su mayoría los compañeros de lucha”...
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Brasil: Líder do quilombo Charco é assassinado em terra com histórico de conflitos agrários prestes a ser titulada, afirma advogado da Comissão de DHs da OAB
“Polícia investiga o assassinato de líder quilombola no Maranhão-Raimundo Silva, 57 anos, liderava o quilombo Charco em São Vicente Férrer”, 13 de abril de 2017
A Polícia Civil investiga o assassinato do líder quilombola Raimundo Silva, 57 anos, conhecido como Humbico, morador do quilombo Charco, em São Vicente Ferrer (MA). Ele foi morto com um tiro de espingarda...[em 12 de abril]...A Comissão de Direitos Humanos da Ordem dos Advogados do Brasil (OAB) acompanha o caso...O crime aconteceu por volta das 7h30...Raimundo saiu de casa para buscar a aposentadoria da mãe em outro povoado. Quando estava retornando ao Quilombo do Charco foi emboscado e alvejado com um tiro nas costas. O líder quilombola morreu no local. O advogado Rafael Silva, integrante da Comissão de Direitos Humanos da OAB, revelou que o histórico de conflitos por terra na região é antigo. Em 2010, Flaviano Pinto Neto foi executado com sete tiros na cabeça. O caso teve repercussão nacional, teve inclusive outra liderança que ficou acompanhada pela Força Nacional durante um ano... “O quilombo do Charco tem um histórico de violência muito grande. Uma situação como essa, preocupa a Comissão da OAB e as diversas entidades como Pastoral da Terra, Sociedade Maranhense de Direitos Humanos e outras que acompanham de perto a questão do quilombo, que deve ser titulado como território quilombola ainda este ano”, afirmou. A família suspeita que tenha sido um crime por encomenda...
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Weekly Update - 19 Apr 2017: Protecting workers' rights in the gig economy
Our run down of this week's top stories and breaking news about business & human rights. Includes company responses, the latest jobs; and events announcements.
READ THE FULL UPDATE
Archive of past Weekly Updates since 2005
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U.S. says Iran complies with nuke deal but orders review on lifting sanctions
The Trump administration said on Tuesday it was launching an inter-agency review of whether the lifting of sanctions against Iran was in the United States' national security interests, while acknowledging that Tehran was complying with a deal to rein in its nuclear program.
In a letter to U.S. House of Representatives Speaker Paul Ryan, the top Republican in Congress, on Tuesday U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Iran remained compliant with the 2015 deal, but said there were concerns about its role as a state sponsor of terrorism.
Under the deal, the State Department must notify Congress every 90 days on Iran's compliance under the so-called Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA). It is the first such notification under U.S. President Donald Trump.
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New briefing on legal accountability: Corporate impunity is common & remedy for victims is rare
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Corporate Legal Accountability Annual Briefing - Corporate impunity is common & remedy for victims is rare
This year’s Annual Briefing highlights the rising impunity of companies’ involvement in human rights abuse...Unscrupulous companies are increasingly targeting activists, using the justice system to hold them accountable, with repression and lawsuits. Individual companies and governments may win these cases but the costs are high to wider society, including to a business environment built on respect for open societies, civic space, human rights and the rule of law.
It is a vicious circle; growing impunity sees unscrupulous companies emboldened to pursue profit at any cost, even targeting their critics, and attacks on advocates and lawyers chill efforts to hold companies accountable, driving impunity. Fortunately, a few governments and companies have taken steps and some courts have issued decisions that can break this cycle, and deserve to be learned from and built on. Leading global experts, including at the United Nations, have identified additional practical measures that would increase victims’ access to remedy and counter impunity.
This Annual Briefing has two key sections:
The impunity of unscrupulous companies regarding human rights abuses is increasing
Opportunities to tackle impunity are emerging
We conclude with recommendations for governments, which have a critical role in protecting human rights defenders and advocates, and for companies and their lawyers.
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China: Executives say complaining may have led to China's relenting on tougher internet security rules
"As Zeal for China Dims, Global Companies Complain More Boldly", 19 Apr 2017
…In late March, a group of more than 50 American lawmakers sent a letter to the Chinese ambassador to the United States, Cui Tiankai, taking direct aim at China’s restrictions on cloud computing. They wrote that current and draft regulations would force the transfer of valuable intellectual property to Chinese companies and effectively bar foreign cloud service providers “from operating or competing fairly in China.”…James McGregor, chairman of the greater China region for…APCO Worldwide [said]... “Foreign businesses here used to be very excited about China...Now, it’s kind of a grind and a battle.”…
Still, executives say complaining can have an impact. Earlier…Mr. Obama publicly criticized proposed Chinese rules that would require technology companies to turn over encryption keys to Chinese authorities. His administration had also expressed concern about Chinese draft regulations that would require China’s financial sector buy only from “secure and controllable” suppliers, which trade groups said effectively meant Chinese companies. In both cases China relented, temporarily scrapping the banking laws and tempering the language in the antiterrorism law… [mentions Alibaba, Amazon, Microsoft & Qualcomm]
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Corporate Legal Accountability Annual Briefing: Corporate impunity is common & remedy for victims is rare
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Commentary: Big pharma sends powerful message to stop its drugs being used for executions in the US
"Can big pharma stop the Arkansas mass executions?", 16 Apr 2017
[A] judge in Arkansas halted the state’s plans to carry out America’s largest mass execution since the civil rights era...The judge’s stay order was a response to a lawsuit by the healthcare giant McKesson [which] alleges that Arkansas deliberately and duplicitously misled the firm to obtain its medicine for use in executions...McKesson does not stand alone...[McKesson, Hikma, Pfizer and Fresenius Kabi] have crossed swords with Arkansas this week over the state’s attempts to undermine lawful contracts designed to prevent the misuse of their medicines in executions...as two of the companies wrote in their amicus last week: “The use of their medicines for lethal injections […] creates a public-health risk because it could result in the denial of medicines from patients who need them most.”... [B]ig pharma has sent a powerful message...
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Actualización Semanal del 19 de abril 2017 : Nuevo portal sobre Empresas, Derechos Civiles y Defensores/as de Derechos Humanos | Otras noticias
Acá están las principales noticias sobre empresas y derechos humanos de esta semana. Se incluyen respuestas de empresas y anuncios relevantes.
Lea la Actualización completa
Archivo de Actualizaciones Semanales anteriores
Suscripción a las Actualizaciones
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US jury deliberates in lawsuit against DynCorp alleging damage to land & health caused by chemical spraying in Colombia
"Were peasant farmers poisoned by the U.S. war on drugs? A jury has the case.", 19 Apr 2017
After a 15-year legal battle, a U.S. jury will begin deliberations Wednesday over whether a U.S. security contractor must pay damages to as many as 2,000 Ecuadoran farmers who say they were poisoned by the U.S. and Colombian governments’ years-long, coca-eradication campaign...“This is a historic case,” said plaintiffs attorney and International Rights Advocates Director Terrence P. Collingsworth. “A jury will finally [decide whether] DynCorp aerially sprayed a toxic poison . . . on thousands of Ecuadoran farmers and killed their crops, their animals, and caused untold misery for the farmers and their families.”...DynCorp spokesmen have said that health problems experienced by farmers were because of other causes...Company attorneys...denied that anyone acted recklessly or intentionally to spray the farmers...[Also refers to Monsanto]
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"The next frontier: the concept of 'corporate human rights defenders'”, Dutch Min. for Foreign Trade & Development
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"The next frontier: the concept of corporate human rights defenders”, Dutch Min. for Foreign Trade & Development
"Speech minister Ploumen on international business and human rights", 19 April 2017
I’d like you to think about where the following quote comes from: ‘We will […] petition governments, alone or in concert with other actors, where we feel the rights and freedoms of human rights defenders with whom we are engaged have been impinged by the activities of the State.’...[It] comes from a statement by Adidas...Adidas is striving to be what I like to call a ‘corporate human rights defender’.
In the past few years, business and human rights have been at the core of my ‘aid and trade’ agenda...sustainable development without respect for human rights is an illusion...We were one of the first countries with a National Action Plan on business and human rights. Dutch companies should uphold the same high human rights standards wherever they operate...[W]e concluded groundbreaking agreements with the garment and banking sectors, and recently we added the vegetable protein and timber sectors to the list. These voluntary agreements enable companies to conduct proper due diligence, with the help of the government and civil society...That brings us to the next frontier of business and human rights: the concept of corporate human rights defenders. Let me offer a few examples of both the best and the worst of corporate human rights conduct...
Being a human rights defender is a dangerous business – many activists meet a fate worse than Andy Hall’s in Thailand, or Rafael Marques’ in Angola...In 2016 at least 281 people were killed worldwide, often for protesting peacefully against new business projects in their communities. All too often, companies are complicit in the persecution of these human rights defenders...Indeed, the business case for human rights is increasingly clear. Last month we saw the launch of the Corporate Human Rights Benchmark...With Dutch backing, the first steps have been taken towards the creation of a strong network of multinationals willing to collectively raise their voices in support of human rights defenders. This network is maintained by the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre. Today, I am delighted to announce that ABN AMRO has become the first Dutch member of this network. And I expect many more to follow...
[also refers to S Group, Tiffany’s, IBM, General Electric, Nike, Unilever]
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Informe Anual de Responsabilidad Legal Empresarial - La impunidad corporativa es común y el remedio para las víctimas es inusual
El Informe Anual de este año evidencia el aumento en la impunidad de las empresas en abusos a derechos humanos...Las empresas sin escrúpulos están, crecientemente, volviendo un blanco a los/las activistas, que utilizan el sistema judicial para demandar que éstas rindan cuentas, con represión y demandas legales. Empresas y gobiernos pueden llegar a ganar estos casos, pero con un alto costo para la sociedad en general, incluyendo al ambiente empresarial construido sobre el respeto de sociedades abiertas, el espacio cívico, los derechos humanos y el Estado de derecho.
Es un círculo vicioso: la creciente impunidad alienta a empresas sin escrúpulos a buscar ganancias a cualquier costo, incluso transformando en un blanco a sus críticos, y los ataques a activistas y abogados/as desincentivan los esfuerzos para que las empresas sean responsables, fomentando la impunidad. Afortunadamente, algunos, aunque pocos, gobiernos y empresas han dado pasos y algunas cortes han emitido sentencias que pueden romper este ciclo y sobre las cuáles podemos aprender y construir. Expertos/as líderes a nivel global, incluyendo aquellos/as en las Naciones Unidas, han identificado medidas prácticas adicionales que aumentarían el acceso de las víctimas a remedios y contrarrestarían la impunidad. Este Informe Anual tiene dos secciones clave:
1. La impunidad en la que permanecen abusos a derechos humanos de empresas sin escrúpulos está en aumento
2. Las oportunidades para atacar la impunidad están emergiendo
Concluimos con recomendaciones para los gobiernos, quienes tienen un papel fundamental en la protección de defensores/as y activistas; y para las empresas y sus abogados/as.
El Informe completo está disponible aquí (solamente en inglés).
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Bulletin Annuel sur la Responsabilité Juridique des Entreprises - L'impunité des entreprises est devenue une banalité et peu de recours sont offerts aux victimes
Le Bulletin de cette année met en exergue l'impunité grandissante des entreprises impliquées dans des violations des droits de l'homme...Des entreprises peu scrupuleuses ciblent de plus en plus les activistes, en faisant usage du système judiciaire pour les tenir responsables, par le biais de la répression et des procès. Des entreprises individuelles et gouvernements peuvent gagner ces procès, mais les coûts sont élevés pour la société au sens large, notamment sur le climat des affaires fondé sur le respect de sociétés ouvertes, l'espace civique, les droits de l'homme et l'état de droit.
C'est un cercle vicieux; l'impunité grandissante fait que des entreprises enhardies et sans scrupules cherchent le profit à n'importe quel prix, allant jusqu'à cibler ceux qui les critiquent; et les attaques perpétrées contre les militants et les avocats freinent les efforts pour tenir les entreprises responsables ce qui favorise l'impunité. Heureusement, quelques gouvernements et entreprises se mobilisent et certains tribunaux ont pris des décisions qui peuvent briser ce cycle, et cela mérite de s'en inspirer et de miser sur elles. Des experts mondiaux de grande envergure notamment aux Nations-Unies ont déterminé des mesures pratiques supplémentaires qui permettraient d'améliorer l'accès des victimes au recours et de lutter contre l'impunité.
Le bulletin annuel comprend deux parties :
1. Augmentation de l'impunité d'entreprises sans scrupules concernant les violations des droits de l'homme
2. Des occasions de s'attaquer à l'impunité se présentent
Nous concluons par des recommandations adressées aux gouvernements qui ont un rôle essentiel de protection des défenseurs et militants des droits de l'homme, et aux entreprises et à leurs avocats.
Le bulletin complet est disponible ici (uniquement en version anglaise).
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الملف السنوي عن المسؤولية القانونية للشركات شيوع إفلات الشركات من العقاب، وندرة حصول الضحايا على سبل التعويض
يسلط الملف السنوي لهذا العام الضوء على تزايد إفلات الشركات المتورطة في انتهاكات لحقوق الإنسان من العقاب. في سياق تزايد النزعة القومية في
الاقتصاد، يزداد خطر تفاقم هذه الحالة؛ خاصة حين يكون باستطاعة مصالح الأعمال التجارية أن تستغل السياسات الشعبوية القومية لكي تحصل على نفوذ أكبر يتيح لها تحصين أنفسها من المساءلة بخصوص الانتهاكات التي ترتكبها. ويتزايد استهداف الشركات الأسوأ للنشطاء الحقوقيين الذي يحاولون تحميلها المسؤولية القانونية، وهي تستخدم نظام العدالة لقمعهم وملاحقتهم قضائيًا. قد تكسب الشركات والحكومات تلك القضايا وتحقق أرباحًا فردية، إلّا أن ثمن ذلك يكون باهظًا على المجتمع في مجمله، ويشمل ذلك إفساد بيئة العمل المفترض بناءها على احترام المجتمعات المفتوحة والمجال المدني وحقوق الإنسان وسيادة القانون.
إنها حلقة مفرغة؛ حيث أن حالات إفلات الشركات عديمة المبادئ من العقاب في تزايد، وهي تسعى بمنتهى الجرأة نحو تحقيق المكاسب بأي ثمن، وهي أيضًا تقوم باستهداف من ينتقد ممارساتها، وتشن الهجوم على المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان وعلى المحامين مما يؤدي إلى تقليل فرص خضوع تلك الشركات للمساءلة القانونية، ويؤدي في النهاية إلى إفلاتها من العقاب. لحسن الحظ، هناك بعض الحكومات والشركات التي اتخذت خطوات إيجابية في هذا الشأن، وأصدرت بعض المحاكم قرارات -جديرة بأن نتعلم منها ونبني عليها- يمكن لها أن تعطل ذلك المسار الفاسد. حدد خبراء رائدون على مستوى العالم –ومن ضمنهم خبراء لدى الأمم المتحدة- تدابير عملية يمكن لها المساهمة في زيادة فرص الضحايا في تحقيق الانتصاف، وتمكينهم من مواجهة مشكلة إفلات الشركات من العقاب.
ينقسم هذا الملف السنوي إلى قسمين.
１- تزايد إفلات الشركات الأسوأ من العقاب فيما يتعلق بارتكابها لانتهاكات لحقوق الإنسان
２- ظهور فرص التصدي لظاهرة إفلات الشركات من العقاب:
نختتم الملف بتوصيات للحكومات بما لها من دور أساسي في حماية المدافعين عن حقوق الإنسان.
يمكنكم الاطلاع على الملف الكامل من خلال هذا الرابط.
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