Un recouvrement des avoirs pétroliers et miniers du Sénégal annoncé, 8 mai 2017
Collectif citoyen pour le recouvrement des avoirs pétroliers et miniers du Sénégal - telle est la structure qui se chargera de la transparence sur la gestion du pétrole et du gaz. Le collectif est créé par des membres de la société civile, des hommes politiques et des citoyens. Sur ce, le lancement est prévu mardi 09 mai. [fait référence à Petro Tim, Timis Corporation, Ovidiu Tender (Tender Oil & Gas, filiale de Tender Group), DAT Consultancy FZE
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Sénégal : Un collectif de la société civile lancé pour le « recouvrement » des avoirs pétroliers et miniers
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USA: Environmental NGOs criticise banks' funding of Dakota Access Pipeline, concerned about pollution, indigenous rights
Through the controversy over the Dakota Access Pipeline, NGOs have questioned the role of banks in financing the pipeline's construction and the companies developing it. In February 2016, after the US Government issued final permits for the pipeline's construction, Rainforest Action Network said, "Disbursement of this project loan is a key test of the seriousness of these banks’ commitments to human and Indigenous rights."
We invited the banks named by Rainforest Action Network to respond. Citigroup's response is below. We will indicate here whether Wells Fargo and TD Bank respond.
For further details regarding the Dakota Access Pipeline; concerns over environmental impacts, indigenous peoples' rights, and rights of protesters; and the perspectives of companies and other stakeholders, see our In-depth area on human rights concerns regarding the pipeline.
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“Vicepresidente de Inpasa explica conflicto con indígenas en Itakyry”
El vicepresidente de la Industria Paraguaya de Alcoholes SA (Inpasa), Enzo Olmedo, explicó el conflicto con la comunidad indígena en Itakyry, departamento de Alto Paraná. Negó que se haya desalojado a los nativos y habló sobre intereses de por medio…Olmedo mencionó que entre los años 2011 y 2012 se adquirieron unas 800 hectáreas en la zona de la colonia Itakyry. "Desde entonces existe una superposición de títulos con el Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena (INDI)", explicó…A raíz de esa situación, recordó que se formó una comisión para el estudio de los títulos con la escribana mayor de Gobierno y se determinó que los títulos de la Industria Paraguaya de Alcoholes SA (Inpasa) son anteriores a los del INDI…Sin embargo, el vicepresidente de la empresa aclaró que nunca se llegó a judicializar el caso y se logró un acuerdo entre la compañía y el cacique de la comunidad Ava Guaraní en Itakyry, Luciano Villalba…Aprovechó ese momento para negar que la empresa tenga guardias de seguridad armados y que realicen desalojos sin una orden judicial.
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“Ningún detenido por atropello a comunidad indígena en Itakyry”
La Fiscalía busca a los responsables del atropello a la comunidad Avá Guaraní en Itakyry, pero también intenta determinar a quién pertenecen las tierras en disputa entre los nativos y la Industria Paraguaya de Alcoholes SA (Inpasa) en dicho distrito. Hasta el momento, no se registran detenidos…El fiscal Adolfo Santander refirió que no se pueden descartar hipótesis en el caso del atropello y la quema de viviendas de indígenas de la parcialidad Avá Guaraní…Tanto la empresa como la comunidad se declaran propietarios de las tierras. Esto hizo que el Ministerio Público pida las documentaciones respectivas a la empresa y al Instituto Paraguayo del Indígena (Indi) para determinar a quién realmente pertenecen las hectáreas en disputa. Hasta el momento no se presentaron estos informes…
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Paraguay: Violencia contra indígenas por disputa de tierras e Industria Paraguaya de Alcoholes; incluye declaraciones de la empresa
Una escuela y varias viviendas destruidas y la comunidad de la parcialidad Avá Guaraní en Itakyry, Alto Paraná, atropellada supuestamente por guardias de seguridad de la empresa Industria Paraguaya de Alcoholes SA (Inpasa). La comunidad denuncia ataques, pero la empresa niega las acusaciones.
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Argentina: Después de una década, justicia condena a dos empresas de cereales por daños en la salud en acción de clase
“Rosario: condenan a dos cerealeras por contaminación” – 3 de mayo de 2017
A más de diez años de la demanda presentada por un grupo de 150 familias rosarinas, la Justicia hizo lugar al planteo: condenó a dos cerealeras por contaminación ambiental en un barrio ubicado cerca de la costa del río Paraná y habilitó el reclamo de un resarcimiento por parte de los vecinos afectados…“La cuantificación se hará en base a una prueba para ver dónde hubo daño a la salud…”, comentó el letrado ante la consulta de la emisora LT3 sobre la indemnización. No obstante, aclaró que hasta el momento “la sentencia los alcanza a ellos como reclamantes” y el resarcimiento por el daño moral “está garantizado” en esos casos…El fallo del juez Horacio Allende Rubino condena a las empresas Agroexport y Servicios Portuarios. Ambas firmas solían operar cerca de lo que hoy se conoce como Puerto Norte, un sector de la costa ribereña donde luego se construyeron complejos residenciales y comerciales que incluyen torres de alta gama como Forum, Ciudad Ribera y Maui…
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Bangladesh: Phulbari protesters give ultimatum to meet 6-point demands
Leaders of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports have demanded immediate implementation of their six-point demands regarding the clash between police and people who protested the proposed Phulbari open pit coal mine in Dinajpur in 2006. They also asked the government to withdraw false cases filed against the protesters following the 2006 incident... The committee threatened to take to the streets and stage demonstrations if their demands were not met by August 26...Phulbari locals staged a protest on August 26, 2006 against coal extraction from an open pit in the area proposed by Asia Energy Corporation (Bangladesh) Pvt Ltd. The protest turned violent when law enforcement agencies intervened, resulting in the death of three protesters and injuries to dozens more....The six-point demands are: cancellation of the agreement between the government and Asia Energy and a government declaration that no coal mining projects will be undertaken in the area, compensation for those injured and killed on August 26, 2006, the bringing of law enforcement members responsible for the deaths and injuries under investigation, return of the bodies of the protesters that could not be found, construction of a monument by the Phulbari bridge in memory of those killed in the protest, and compensation for the shopkeepers and rickshaw pullers who suffered damages by the law enforcement members during the clash.
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Ghana: Govt. orders subsidiary of China Gold Resources Group to suspend operations over death of small-scale miners within company's concessions; company denies responsibility
Lands Ministry Directs Mining Company To Suspend Operations, 6 May 2017
The Ministry of Lands and Natural Resources has temporarily suspended the operations of Shaanxi Mining Ghana Limited at Gbane in the Talensi District in the Upper East Region. This followed reports received by the ministry to the effect that the operations of the company had allegedly caused the death of some residents in the area. Consequently, the company has asked its 500 workers to go home...Meanwhile, workers of the company are not happy with the ministry’s decision, describing it as "unfair and giving undue advantage to illegal miners to continue their illegal mining activities."… The aggrieved workers alleged that it was rather those engaged in galamsey who had been straying onto the concessions of Shaanxi and had been blasting unprofessionally, thereby causing their own deaths…The Underground Mine Manager, Mr Thomas Yenzanya, said the company had successfully carried out its blasting without any problems only to learn that seven people had died elsewhere. "We have 18 professional and experienced blastmen who know the blasting procedures. These blastmen had worked in places like AngloGold Ghana before they joined the Shaanxi Mining Company," he said.
[Background to the death of small-scale miners is here]
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France: NGO asks future govt. to implement recommendations in Natl. Action Plan on business & human rights, incl. civil society suggestions
"Public Response by Sherpa to the National Action Plan for the Implementation of UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights", 11 May 2017
Sherpa welcomes the publication, on April 26th 2017, of a National Action Plan (NAP) for the implementation of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. We now call upon the next government to take the steps set out in the NAP, and remain attentive to the expectations of civil society which were not included...
Sandra Cossart, co-reporter of the draft NAP at the national CSR platform, also in charge of the Globalisation and Human Rights Programme at Sherpa, regrets the almost systematic refusal of regulatory constraints by members of the economic sector, such as certain business organizations.
The French NAP nevertheless contains encouraging provisions. It includes a mechanism for monitoring and evaluating the recommendations by the National Consultative Commission for Human Rights (CNCDH), and a number of steps to be implemented such as granting appropriate operating funds to the OECD’s National Contact Point, or facilitating access to the French and European markets to goods and services produced in compliance with human rights...
Sherpa therefore calls upon the next government to implement the measures set out in the NAP and to take into account civil society recommendations.
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Cuestionario para los Estados sobre el acceso a recursos en cuento a los abusos relacionados con los derechos humanos relacionados con las empresas
Este cuestionario se centra en el deber de los Estados de proporcionar acceso a mecanismos de reparación eficaces para los titulares de derechos afectados por violaciones de los derechos humanos relacionados con las empresas...El Principio 25 de los Principios Rectores establece que "los Estados deben tomar medidas a propiadas para garantizar, por las vías judiciales, administrativas, legislativas o de otro tipo que correspondan, que cuando se produzcan ese tipo de abusos en su territorio y/o jurisdicción los afectados puedan acceder a mecanismos de reparación eficaces."...Las contribuciones a este cuestionario contribuirán al próximo informe del Grupo de Trabajo sobre las Empresas y los Derechos Humanos que se presentará a la Asamblea General de la ONU en octubre de 2017. El cuestionario cubre una gama de temas relevantes para el informe y conexas al acceso a los recursos. Por favor envíe su respuesta a wg-business@ohchr.org antes del15 de junio de 2017, indicando “A2R QUESTIONNAIRE” en el título del mensaje...
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Questionnaire for states & other stakeholders
Survey for report on access to effective remedy for business-related human rights abuses. The report aims to articulate what an effective remedy means under the UNGPs, develop a framework to realise effective remedies for the rights-holders, and elaborate the concept of reparations in the context of business-related human rights abuses. Responses to the questionnaire will inform the report, which is to be presented to the General Assembly in October 2017. Please email your response (maximum 2,000 words) to wg-business@ohchr.org by 15 June 2017, indicating “A2R QUESTIONNAIRE” in the subject line.
Questionnaire for States:
English version
Questionnaire for other stakeholders:
English version
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UN Working Group invites states & other stakeholders to participate in survey on access to remedy (due 15 Jun)
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Brasil: Cons. Nacional dos Direitos Humanos vê reformas da previdência & trabalhista do Presidente Temer como ameaças a direitos humanos
“Os direitos humanos e o mundo do trabalho-Para Conselho Nacional dos Direitos Humanos, as reformas trabalhista e previdenciária são uma ameaça de retrocesso social”, 9 de maio de 2017
…Trabalhadores e trabalhadoras estão sujeitos às mais variadas formas de violações de direitos humanos: jornadas exaustivas em condições precárias e tratamento degradante são exemplos, assim como a negação do direito humano à seguridade social…Criado há 50 anos…, o Conselho Nacional dos Direitos Humanos é um órgão de caráter autônomo e de composição paritária…[F]oi criada a Comissão Permanente Direito ao Trabalho, à Educação e à Seguridade Social...[para]…receber e examinar denúncias de violações dos direitos humanos no mundo do trabalho e propor aperfeiçoamento das políticas públicas relacionadas a esses direitos…O CNDH compreende a Proposta de Emenda à Constituição (PEC) 287/2016, a chamada reforma da Previdência, como uma ameaça de violação dos direitos humanos…[R]eforça a recomendação…ao presidente da República…para que retire a referida proposta, e ao presidente da Câmara dos Deputados…para que suspenda a tramitação da proposta no Congresso Nacional até que haja…escuta ampla e democrática da sociedade…[O]… CNDH também aprovou recomendação sobre a reforma trabalhista (PL 6787/2016), que promove mais de 100 alterações na Consolidação das Leis Trabalhistas (CLT)…direcionada ao presidente da República, para que retire o projeto, e aos presidentes da Câmara, do Senado, da Comissão Especial da Reforma Trabalhista e ao Relator do PL, para que o projeto tramite em rito ordinário…[A]s…propostas constituem…conjunto de medidas que violam direitos humanos dos trabalhadores brasileiros e consubstanciam atroz retrocesso social, ao dificultar o acesso ao pleno exercício da seguridade social e ao retirar e/ou enfraquecer inúmeros direitos fundamentais trabalhistas…[A]…posição do CNDH está dentro do contexto de…preocupação…de outras instituições…[:]…Procuradoria Federal dos Direitos do Cidadão (PFDC),…Ministério Público Federal,…emitiu nota técnica que revela a incoerência normativa e o retrocesso social…, e…Organização das Nações Unidas (ONU)…, por meio do Alto Comissariado das Nações Unidas para os Direitos Humanos (ACNUDH) na América do Sul, alertou que as discussões sobre alterações da legislação brasileira têm desconsiderado os compromissos internacionais assumidos pelo Brasil…
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Brasil: ONU, Cons. Nac. dos Direitos Humanos e Min. Público Federal são contrários às reformas da previdência & trabalhista de Temer por ameaçarem direitos humanos
Instituições internacionais, como o Relator Especial da ONU para extrema pobreza e direitos humanos, Philip Alston, e nacionais, como o Conselho Nacional dos Direitos Humanos e a Procuradoria Federal dos Direitos do Cidadão (PFDC) do Ministério Público Federal, têm se manifestado contrariamente às reformas da previdência e trabalhista propostas pelo Presidente Temer. Tais instituições assim como movimentos sociais e muitos academicos acreditam que as medidas ameaçam gravemente a proteção dos direitos humanos no país, principalmente direitos sociais, previdenciários e trabalhistas. Muitas organizações da sociedade civil têm alegado que tais propostas atendem a demandas do setor corporativo e não verdadeiramente ao interesse público.
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Japan: Govt. urged by Malaysian indigenous leader to stop using deforestation-linked timber for Olympic Stadium
A village leader from Borneo...handed a petition of 140,000 signatures to Tokyo's embassy in Bern, Switzerland, demanding it halt use of deforestation-linked tropical timber in its Olympic venues. Japan is hosting the games in 2020 with a wooden latticed stadium, now under construction, as the dramatic centerpiece..But last month, a group of charities said some timber came from a Malaysian logging giant that is accused of deforestation and human rights violations, in breach of Japan's pledge to hold a sustainable Olympics ...Oyoi told the Thomson Reuters Foundation he hoped Japanese officials would understand that by using cheap timber, they were contributing to the death of traditional life for indigenous groups....Japan's Sport Council (JSC), the government body in charge of building Olympic venues... said tropical timber was being used but that it met certification standards agreed by Japan's Olympic organiser....Rights groups have demanded an overhaul of procurement and an investigation into the legality and sustainability of tropical wood.
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Workshop: Syrian refugees in Turkey: reception, economy and governance
The Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) and South East European Studies (SEESOX) host the 13th workshop by the Turkish Migration Studies Network (TurkMiS). Speakers will include Sebnem Koser Akcapar (Koç University, Istanbul), Fulya Memisoglu (University of Oxford), Eren Korkmaz (University of Oxford) and A. Zafer Sagiroglu & Sezin Tuna (Ankara Yildirim Beyazit University).
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Business and Human Rights in the Age of Trump
What role will business play in ensuring corporate responsibility in the era of Donald Trump? Have businesses traveled sufficiently down the road to embedding human rights – or sustainability – into operations that they will not turn back? Or is the opposite the case – that human rights are inadequately rooted in companies and that broad deregulation will propel a race to the bottom? What should the response of the business and human rights movement be?
During this discussion we will hear from panelists working directly with companies, on policy advocacy, and from the media who will provide insight on the new and evolving relationships between government, civil society, business, and media based upon their own experience and observations of the first five months of the Trump administration.
Panelists: Laura Gitman, BSR
Michael Hudson, International Consortium of Investigative Journalists
Amol Mehra, International Corporate Accountability Roundtable
Moderator: Joanne Bauer, School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
RSVP: Randi Aho, Human Rights Institute, Columbia Law School rla2129@columbia.edu
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Response by Tahoe Resources
Tahoe Resources and Minera San Rafael (MSR) are committed to operating the Escobal Mine at the highest standard of social, environmental, safety and technical performance. We are committed to respecting the human rights of all...Regarding Mr. Pivaral’s death, Tahoe condemns all forms of violence, threats to human wellbeing, or intimidation and we call for a thorough and independent investigation of any acts of violence within and amongst the communities of the Department of Santa Rosa and beyond. We stand ready to support local investigations to find and bring legal action against the perpetrators. We are committed to the search for truth, strengthening the rule of law, and the fight against impunity in Guatemala. We urge the Ministerio Publico to conduct a thorough investigation to determine what really happened in this case and other violent crimes that have occurred in the Department.
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Hima Cement's reponse to allegations of child labour in its supply chain
"Response to Report on Child Labour in the Supply Chain of LafargeHolcim in Uganda"
LafargeHolcim takes any allegations related to human rights seriously, which is why...[LafargeHolcim] commissioned an independent investigation by an international independent qualified auditor. The investigation found out that although children work routinely alongside their parents in agriculture, there was no material evidence that Hoima Cement or its suppliers used, or were aware of the use of child labour within the supply chain.
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Conference: Opportunism or Altruism? Global Health in China-Africa Relations
The Oxford University China-Africa Network (OUCAN) is an academic, multi-dimensional organisation that seeks to forge cross-disciplinary and trans-regional links between researchers, practitioners, and officials around the phenomenon of Chinese engagement with Africa. Today, global health is a multibillion-dollar enterprise. It is driven by growing recognition of the interconnectedness of the world’s populations; fears that deadly diseases like Ebola or avian flu can rapidly spread around the globe; the threat of bioterrorism; a desire to reduce global inequalities in health; efforts to promote economic development; and the political and economic interests of donor countries. Academic and policy discourses in global health increasingly recognise China as a major player in the field. It is argued that China’s approach to global health is distinctive: based on its unique history, comparative strength, and policies driven by several governmental ministries. Such received wisdom should not be taken at face value but should be scrutinised rigorously. The current scale and complexity of China’s global-health assistance may be unprecedented, but the central motivations, organising principles, and modes of operation that characterise it are not. This one-day conference is an effort to engage critically with the manifold ways in which health features in China-Africa relations.
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