tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12203028564412692012024-03-12T16:58:11.579-07:00Business & Human Rights in VancouverA blog from the Amnesty International Business and Human Rights (BHR) group in Vancouver, documenting events and issues that interest us. Please also use our extensive list of BHR links.Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.comBlogger217125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-25029038963580317512011-01-20T15:52:00.000-08:002011-01-20T16:11:47.756-08:00Amnesty criticizes UN Framework on CSR<span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >I've been following the debate between John Ruggie, the UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights, and Amnesty International regarding the proposed principles for a UN framework on corporate social responsibility. Below is a <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/629fbcd0-2361-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1BcjF5HiI">letter Ruggie submitted</a> to the Financial Times, followed by a <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/a3101700-2439-11e0-a89a-00144feab49a,Authorised=false.html?_i_location=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.ft.com%2Fcms%2Fs%2F0%2Fa3101700-2439-11e0-a89a-00144feab49a.html&_i_referer=#axzz1BZxOCRWY">response from Amnesty</a>.<br /></span><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Sir, Hugh Williamson reports that Amnesty International and some other pressure groups fear that adoption of a proposed set of guiding principles for implementing the United Nations “protect, respect and remedy” framework in the area of business and human rights “risks undermining efforts to strengthen corporate responsibility”, and that “the current draft should not be adopted by the Human Rights Council” (“Amnesty criticises UN framework for multinationals”, January 17). This is bizarre on several counts.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">First, these same organisations keep telling the world that there are currently no global standards in the area of business and human rights, causing both governments and business enterprises to fall far short of desired practices. In contrast, the UN framework and guiding principles elevate standards of conduct significantly.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Second, these same organisations use the UN framework constantly as a basis for criticising the performance of companies, governments and international agencies – so how inadequate and unacceptable could its implementation possibly be?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Third, Amnesty and the others would have a lot to answer for if they actually were to oppose Human Rights Council endorsement of this hard-won initiative. In 2004, they heavily promoted a scheme for regulating companies that had no champions among governments and triggered the vehement and unified opposition of the business community. What was the result?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Victims of corporate-related human rights harm, for whom these organisations claim to speak, got nothing. Now, seven years later, we have a proposal on the table that enjoys broad support from governments, business associations, individual companies, as well as a wide array of civil society and workers’ organisations.</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Do Amnesty and the others really urge its defeat – delivering “nothing” to victims yet again? How much longer will they ask victims to wait in the name of some abstract and elusive global regulatory regime when practical results are achievable now?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">John <span class="il">Ruggie</span>,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">UN Special Representative for Business and Human Rights,</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:100%;">Cambridge, MA, US</span></p></blockquote><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" >Here's the response from Amnesty:<br /></span><p style="font-family: arial; color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"></p><blockquote style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><p><span style="font-size:100%;">Sir, <a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/629fbcd0-2361-11e0-8389-00144feab49a.html#axzz1BFKlWz1R" title="FT - Bizarre response by human rights groups to UN framework plan" target="_blank">John <span class="il">Ruggie</span>’s letter</a> (January 19) in response to Hugh Williamson’s article “<a href="http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/36f72370-2226-11e0-b91a-00144feab49a.html#axzz1BEr92t2g" title="FT - Rights groups slam UN plan for multinationals" target="_blank">Amnesty criticises UN framework for multinationals</a>” (January 17) is surprising on several counts.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">At Amnesty International our researchers regularly investigate human rights abuses committed by corporations. We work with victims – from the Niger Delta to India, Netherlands to Papua New Guinea. We campaign for their rights and work with them to seek reparations. We do not believe the draft guiding principles effectively protect victims’ rights or ensure their access to reparations.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">Let’s be frank – the real opposition to effective guiding principles does not come from Amnesty International but from business interests. The draft guiding principles enjoy broad support from business, precisely because they require little meaningful action by business.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">Prof <span class="il">Ruggie</span> has acknowledged that governments often fail to regulate companies effectively, and that companies working in many countries evade accountability and proper sanctions when they commit human rights abuses. The fundamental challenge was how to address these problems. His draft guiding principles fail to meet this challenge. Amnesty International believes they must be strengthened.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;">We have offered constructive advice, based on years of investigative experience, to help the process. We will continue to do so.</span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span>Widney Brown,</span></span></p><p><span style="font-size:100%;"><span>Senior Director for International Law and Policy,</span></span></p><div style="border-width: medium medium 3pt; border-style: none none dotted;"><p style="border: medium none; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span>Amnesty International</span></span></p></div></blockquote><div style="border-width: medium medium 3pt; border-style: none none dotted; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: arial;font-family:arial;"><p style="border: medium none; padding: 0cm;"><span style="font-size:100%;"><span></span></span></p></div><span style=";font-family:arial;font-size:100%;" ><br /></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-61665983796328884612010-06-12T22:28:00.001-07:002010-06-12T22:35:31.087-07:00DRC article in The Guardian<span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(51, 51, 51); line-height: 15px; font-family:arial, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">I came across an <a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2010/jun/12/cancer-atrocities-congo-violence?showallcomments=true#end-of-comments">article about the DRC</a> today in The Guardian. Very interesting article by the way, written by a woman battling cancer, and her determination to heal herself mentally and physcially at least partly by advocating for people living in the DRC. Anyway, I came across a comment that i just had to respond to, stating that there is no corporate complicity in the atrocities committed there. I've pasted below my response. </p><blockquote><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">I'm glad I stumbled across this thread. As a volunteer with Amnesty International's Business & Human Rights Campaign, I can assure you that there is a ton of evidence of corporate complicity in human rights in the atrocities in the DRC over the last several years. Here are just a few reports I found after searching for an hour.</p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "><a shape="rect" href="http://www.cpt.org/work/africa_great_lakes/corporate_complicity" rel="nofollow" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">http://www.cpt.org/work/africa_great_lakes/corporate_complicity</a><br /><a shape="rect" href="http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/937/en/dr_congo_ex_rebels_take_over_mineral_trade_extortion_racket" rel="nofollow" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/937/en/dr_congo_ex_rebels_take_over_mineral_trade_extortion_racket</a><br /><a shape="rect" href="http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/928/en/metals_in_mobile_phones_financing_brutal_war_in_congo%20" rel="nofollow" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/928/en/metals_in_mobile_phones_financing_brutal_war_in_congo%20</a><br /><a shape="rect" href="http://www.international-alert.org/pdf/Natural_Resources_Jan_10.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">http://www.international-alert.org/pdf/Natural_Resources_Jan_10.pdf</a><br /><a shape="rect" href="http://allafrica.com/download/resource/main/main/idatcs/00011978:17c4c25efdfdc56890bdb2c7b581aefb.pdf" rel="nofollow" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">http://allafrica.com/download/resource/main/main/idatcs/00011978:17c4c25efdfdc56890bdb2c7b581aefb.pdf</a><br /><a shape="rect" href="http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/11/25/briefing-un-security-council-situation-democratic-republic-congo" rel="nofollow" style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; color: rgb(0, 86, 137); text-decoration: none; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">http://www.hrw.org/en/news/2008/11/25/briefing-un-security-council-situation-democratic-republic-congo</a></p><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; ">Western governments are complicit as well, because they have the ability to legislate mandatory standards that would hold to account companies from their country, but they by and large have been hesitant to do so.</p></blockquote><p style="padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: 0px; border-collapse: collapse; font-family: arial, sans-serif; background-repeat: no-repeat no-repeat; "></p></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-29453219065507869212010-05-04T15:21:00.001-07:002010-05-04T16:08:07.610-07:00Introducing CSR Tube<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">You've heard of You Tube. Well, here's <a href="http://www.csrtube.net/">CSR Tube</a>. From their 'About' page: <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(6, 6, 6); line-height: 13px; font-family:Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"></span></span></span></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(6, 6, 6); line-height: 13px; font-family:Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">CSRtube is the first global media platform dedicated to Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) issues. CSRtube is an initiative of the Dutch </span></span><a href="http://www.mvoplatform.nl/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(6, 6, 6); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">MVO Platform</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"> (CSR Platform) and </span></span><a href="http://www.lokaalmondiaal.net/" style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; color: rgb(6, 6, 6); font-weight: bold; text-decoration: underline; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">lokaalmondiaal</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;">. To inspire and discuss.</span></span></span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(6, 6, 6); line-height: 13px; font-family:Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><br />The aim of CSRtube is to increase the impact of the work of civil society organizations, research institutions, governments, and companies dealing with CSR issues. CSRtube intends to contribute to the debate around CSR, and to inform people about its developments. Citizens and civil society organizations from all over the world are invited to upload and share their video material on CSRtube. Get inspired by initiatives that promote CSR. Learn to make videos and be able to contribute with your CSR initiatives. Tell your story to a wider audience, share it, and contribute to changing the world. See it, film it, share it.</span></span> </span></div></blockquote><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" color: rgb(6, 6, 6); line-height: 13px; font-family:Tahoma, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><br /></span></div>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-70993422549432884482010-01-25T17:56:00.000-08:002010-01-25T18:28:34.127-08:00assorted links related to Bill C-300<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here are a few links I've gathered over the last couple of weeks.<br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.canadianlawyermag.com/Bill-C-300-A-road-to-redemption-for-mining-companies.html"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Canadian Lawyer's Magazine supports Bill C-300</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/750564--no-crackdown-on-mining"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Toronto Star on the Canadian government's weak CSR plan, which critics refer to as 'insufficient.'</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/article/750564--no-crackdown-on-mining"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Vancouver Sun covers the debate on Bill C-300.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/tanzania-01-20-2010"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Embassy: Tanzanian foreign minister wants Bill C-300 adopted.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> <br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.embassymag.ca/page/view/tanzania-01-20-2010"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Peace, Earth, Justice News examines Bill C-300 and how it relates to what's going on in the ground in other countries.</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /><br /></span></span><a href="http://towardfreedom.com/home/content/view/1832/1/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Similarly, Toward Freedom describes our 'Long Road to Mining Reform.'</span></span></a>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-88426480078288021582009-12-11T17:38:00.000-08:002009-12-11T17:41:28.737-08:00Georgia Straight article on Bill C-300<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 10px; line-height: 17px; "><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">From the <a href="http://www.straight.com/article-273182/vancouver/mps-bill-attempts-improve-human-rights">Straight</a>:</p><blockquote><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Simon Child has never been to Africa, but that hasn't stopped the Grade 11 student at Semiahmoo secondary school from trying to improve the human-rights situation on the continent. Child, director of outreach and advocacy with the nonprofit Africa Canada Accountability Coalition, says one way to accomplish this is to force Canadian corporations to act more responsibly in Africa. In a phone interview with the<em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">Georgia Straight</em>, Child said this is particularly true in the war-torn <a href="http://www.straight.com/article-172374/african-advocates-say-canada-owes-congo" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">Democratic Republic of Congo</a> where several Canadian mining companies operate.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Human-rights groups have tried to draw attention to massive human-rights violations of women in two eastern provinces of the DRC, where warring government and rebel forces have been involved in mass rape. Child pointed out that minerals from the DRC are key components of cellphones, iPods, and other electronic gadgets used by youths, and that the Congolese people will benefit if those resources are mined in the most ethical manner possible. “The first step to doing that is getting our government to make sure they're keeping an eye on these mining companies working in a place that has been called the rape capital of the world,” he said.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">This is one reason why ACAC and other human-rights groups are strongly supporting Bill C-300, a private member's bill introduced by Liberal MP John McKay. The bill has passed second reading and is now being studied by the Commons foreign affairs and international development committee. If it becomes law, mining and oil-and-gas companies will be required to act in a manner that is consistent with international human-rights standards to qualify for assistance from Export Development Canada, which is a Crown corporation. In addition, the bill would prohibit the Canada Pension Plan Investment Board from investing in mining and oil-and-gas companies that don't respect human rights.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">“Mining companies do not like having this reputation of being human-rights abusers,” Child said. “So if we get this bill, we can know who is doing good and who is doing bad. We could clear the air.”</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Alex Neve, secretary general of Amnesty International's Canadian office, told the<em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">Straight</em> in a recent interview that governments and companies have long maintained that voluntary standards are the best way to deal with corporate human-rights violations in other countries. “We've always said that voluntary isn't enough,” he said.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Neve noted that in 2006, the federal government launched a consultation process involving industry officials, academics, and human-rights organizations to address corporate conduct abroad. He said that it produced a “remarkable consensus report”, which proposed several steps to enhance human rights. He said the groups waited two years for the government's response, which he described as a “profound disappointment”.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">“We need to get some clear human-rights standards developed,” Neve added. “We need to have a meaningful complaint process that would oversee this, and we need to have some real sanctions to ensure that when companies are acting out and not complying with these human-rights standards, there are sanctions—whether that is losing certain forms of government financial assistance or other measures.”</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Pierre Gratton, president and CEO of the Mining Association of B.C., told the <em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">Straight</em>in a phone interview that his industry supports the creation of an ombudsman's office to review corporations' human-rights records. However, he said that an ombudsman should also have authority to investigate nongovernmental organizations. He added that the consensus report proposed an ombudsman's office to provide more discreet oversight than what McKay's bill calls for. “The ombuds' function was to provide a mechanism into looking into matters and attempting to provide solutions,” Gratton said, adding that punitive actions should only be considered as a last resort.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; "></p></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-77880325922530796342009-11-24T10:44:00.000-08:002009-11-24T10:50:55.829-08:00Toronto Star editorial on Bill C-300<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The <a href="http://www.thestar.com/opinion/editorials/article/729719--canada-s-miners-abroad">Toronto Star</a> has come out in support of Bill C-300: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 15px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Canada's mining, oil and gas firms think of themselves as good offshore citizens. Certainly, they are a rich source of overseas jobs, wages, royalties and social benefits. Barrick Gold Corp., for example, ploughed $8 billion back into host communities in 2008, employing 19,000 people at mines in Canada, the United States and a half-dozen other countries. It built roads, schools, clinics and more.</span></span><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But Canadian firms in Mexico, El Salvador, Ecuador, Congo, India, the Philippines and Papua New Guinea have come under fire since 2000 for violent clashes with anti-mining activists, for allegedly damaging the environment, for uprooting small-scale farmers and for other shortcomings, as the </span></span><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Star'</span></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">s Brett Popplewell has reported.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">This is notoriety the industry doesn't need.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In Ottawa today, the Commons foreign affairs committee will meet to consider a private member's bill introduced by Toronto Liberal MP John McKay that would have Ottawa tighten scrutiny of mining companies' offshore operations.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">McKay's bill would put offshore firms on notice by empowering Ottawa to set corporate social responsibility standards and to create a complaints mechanism. A study group commissioned by the previous Liberal government went further and urged the naming of an ombudsman to police the sector. These are ideas Parliament has good reason to examine.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The industry opposes stricter oversight, warning that it may create friction with host governments, generate "legal uncertainty," put our firms at a disadvantage, and deter investment. That argues for commonsense in drafting standards and weighing performance.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">But companies that behave as good corporate citizens should have little to fear from McKay's bill, or from an ombudsman. Getting an official Ottawa stamp of approval would certify that a firm is doing its best to manage inevitable social and environmental risks. That would enhance its stature abroad, and put critics on the defensive. It's hard to see how that would be bad for business.</span></span></p></blockquote><p style="margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 21px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; line-height: 21px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></p></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-35183882094312867412009-11-11T18:23:00.000-08:002009-11-11T18:34:49.663-08:00AI Film Festival - VancouverThe Amnesty International Film Festival in Vancouver starts with a gala tomorrow night, featuring <a href="http://theyesmenfixtheworld.com/">The Yes Men Fix the World</a>, where a group of men dress up in suits to parody certain corporate executives with no sense of social responsibility. Please find the entire festival schedule <a href="http://www.amnestyfilmfest.ca/AIFF%20Program%202009.pdf">here</a>.Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-69083053084229165852009-11-11T18:15:00.001-08:002009-11-11T18:20:31.903-08:00Graham Allen: Bill offers Canada chance to deal with concerns raised by mining abroad<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's an <a href="http://www.straight.com/article-267548/graham-allen-bill-offers-canada-chance-deal-concerns-raised-mining-abroad">article in the Georgia Straight</a> by fellow Vancouver AI BHR volunteer Graham Allen: </span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Canadian </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica;font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Georgia, serif; font-size: 16px; line-height: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica;font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; line-height: 17px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; ">government, in a March 2009 report, acknowledged it has a problem: “Within the wider community, increasing concerns have been raised about the human rights impacts of the activities of Canadian extractive companies with respect to their operations abroad.”</span></span></span><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica;font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; line-height: 17px; "><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Liberal MP <strong style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">John McKay</strong>, on the day which his private member’s bill, <a href="http://www2.parl.gc.ca/HousePublications/Publication.aspx?DocId=3658424&Language=e&Mode=1" class="ext" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">Bill C-300</a><span class="ext" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; background-image: url(http://www.straight.com/modules/extlink/extlink.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 12px; zoom: 1; background-position: 100% 50%; "></span>, passed second reading, was more specific: “There are examples of Canadian corporations behaving badly in places like the Philippines and Guyana and as many as 30 other countries.”</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">If this is all true, what is Canada doing about it?</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">In a nutshell, the Canadian government started off well, then dropped the ball, and now has one good chance of doing the right thing.</p><h3 style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.125em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.125em; ">Starting off well?</h3><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">The governmental activity of recent years started with the June 2005 report of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Trade entitled <em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">Mining in Developing Countries – Corporate Social Responsibility</em>. This was followed by the momentous convening of four National Roundtables on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), “organized by a Steering Committee of Government of Canada officials working closely with an Advisory Group comprising persons drawn from industry, labour, the socially responsible investment community, civil society and academia”. This remarkable process culminated in the <a href="http://www.mining.ca/www/media_lib/MAC_Documents/Publications/CSRENG.pdf" class="ext" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">Advisory Group Report</a><span class="ext" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; background-image: url(http://www.straight.com/modules/extlink/extlink.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 12px; zoom: 1; background-position: 100% 50%; "></span> of March 29, 2007. Its central recommendation concerned the development of a Canadian CSR Framework:</p><blockquote style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; padding-left: 0em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; list-style-position: outside; margin-left: 2em; "><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Advisory Group members urge the Government of Canada, in cooperation with key stakeholders, to adopt a set of CSR Standards that Canadian extractive sector companies operating abroad are expected to meet and that is reinforced through appropriate reporting, compliance and other mechanisms.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">There followed a series of recommendations, within six major components, in support of this objective. It was a golden moment for those concerned about Canada’s reputation in the developing world.</p><h3 style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.125em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.125em; ">Dropping the ball?</h3><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">In its March 2009 paper entitled <em style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; "><a href="http://www.international.gc.ca/trade-agreements-accords-commerciaux/ds/csr-strategy-rse-stategie.aspx" class="ext" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">Building the Canadian Advantage: A Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Strategy for the Canadian International Extractive Sector</a><span class="ext" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; background-image: url(http://www.straight.com/modules/extlink/extlink.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 12px; zoom: 1; background-position: 100% 50%; "></span></em>, Canada laid out its response to the national roundtables. It sought to promote what it called “widely-recognized international CSR performance guidelines with Canadian extractive companies operating abroad”. And it proposed setting up two new institutions: an Office of the Extractive Sector CSR Counsellor and a CSR Centre of Excellence “to encourage the Canadian international extractive sector to implement these voluntary performance guidelines by developing and disseminating high-quality CSR information, training and tools”. It was the word “voluntary” that was the problem.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">In comparing Canada’s CSR strategy with the six components of the Advisory Group Report, professor <strong style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">Richard Janda</strong> of the faculty of law at McGill University found it to be “partially consistent” with three components and “not consistent” with three others—a disappointing outcome.</p><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Again, McKay was more specific in his criticism of Canada’s response; he complained that the CSR counsellor is appointed by government, not independently, and could only investigate incidents with the approval of all parties, an obvious flaw. Moreover, voluntary guidelines had not proven to be adequate in the past. He was reported as saying: “Let’s be clear here. Canada has a choice. It can legislate a response, which would put Canada at the head of the class. Or it’s more business as usual, see no evil and hear no evil.”</p><h3 style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 1.125em; margin-left: 0px; font-size: 1.2em; line-height: 1.125em; ">Doing the right thing?</h3><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Bill C-300, mentioned above, explains its purpose in the following summary:</p><blockquote style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; padding-left: 0em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; list-style-position: outside; margin-left: 2em; "><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">The purpose of this enactment is to promote environmental best practices and to ensure the protection and promotion of international human rights standards in respect of the mining, oil or gas activities of Canadian corporations in developing countries. It also gives the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Minister of International Trade the responsibility to issue guidelines that articulate corporate accountability standards for mining, oil or gas activities...</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Despite the significant limitation of a private member’s bill, that it cannot provide for the expenditure of public funds, Bill C-300, in Janda’s analysis, was “consistent” with two of the Advisory Group Report’s components, “partially consistent” with two others, and “not consistent” with two, thus being closer overall to the national roundtables. Professor Janda hence spoke favourably about Bill C-300, but concluded:</p><blockquote style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; padding-left: 0em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; list-style-position: outside; margin-left: 2em; "><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Indeed, if Bill C-300 were adopted, the CSR Counsellor’s role could be expanded and altered to fulfill functions under the legislation. Bill C-300 would then provide a legislative footing for that role.</p></blockquote><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">Bill C-300 is presently at the committee stage before facing its third reading. If the government could be persuaded to support this bill—instead of claiming that its own CSR strategy is sufficient—Canada would be well-served. As said by Liberal MP<strong style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; ">Michael Savage</strong> in the House debate on Bill C-300:</p><blockquote style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; padding-left: 0em; line-height: 1.5em; margin-bottom: 1.5em; list-style-position: outside; margin-left: 2em; "><p style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; font-size: 12px; ">As an international player, I am afraid we are not the gold standard anymore, but we can do better. We should do better. We should live up to the expectations that the people in this country have for us, and we should go beyond them.</p></blockquote></span></span></div></span>If you are interested in supporting Bill C-300, you can take action via Amnesty International Canada’s <a href="http://amnesty.ca/urgentappeal/2009/CorpAcct/index.php" class="ext" target="_blank" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(153, 0, 0); ">Web site</a><span class="ext" style="font-family: Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica; background-image: url(http://www.straight.com/modules/extlink/extlink.png); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-attachment: initial; -webkit-background-clip: initial; -webkit-background-origin: initial; background-color: initial; padding-right: 12px; zoom: 1; background-position: 100% 50%; "></span>.h</span></span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial, sans-serif, Helvetica;font-size:85%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 10px; line-height: 17px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 12px; "></span></span></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-56308817163125581262009-11-11T18:04:00.000-08:002009-11-11T18:14:09.155-08:00AI Press Release: Cote d'Ivoire: Authorities must ensure toxic waste compensation reaches victims<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">From <a href="http://www.amnesty.ca/resource_centre/news/view.php?load=arcview&article=4979&c=Resource+Centre+News">Amnesty International</a>:</span></span> <span class="Apple-style-span" style=" line-height: 16px; font-family:Verdana, Helvetica, sans-serif;font-size:12px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Amnesty International today urged the authorities in Côte d’Ivoire to ensure that $45 million compensation paid by the oil trading company Trafigura to victims of one of the worst toxic dumping scandals in recent years reaches the people to whom it is owed.</span><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The compensation was agreed in the context of a court action brought by some 30,000 people against Trafigura in the High Court of England and Wales.<br /><br />The organization has also written to UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw, urgently asking him to contact his counterpart in the Côte d’Ivoire and press for swift action to prevent a potentially massive fraud being perpetrated.<br /><br />The call came as thousands of the victims of the illegal dumping of toxic waste in Abidjan, the capital of Côte d’Ivoire, wait anxiously to receive their money.<br /><br />“There is a real risk that the victims of this waste dumping will never see the compensation they have been waiting so long to receive,” said Widney Brown, Senior Director at Amnesty International.<br /><br />“The governments of Côte d’Ivoire and the UK must do everything in their power to ensure that this money is paid to the claimants listed in the court order – and prevent its misappropriation by corrupt figures.”<br /><br />The $45 million compensation has been frozen in the bank account of the law firm representing the victims in the court case against Trafigura, the company accused of dumping the waste.<br /><br />The freezing order was made after a man claiming his organization – the National Coordination of Toxic Waste Victims of Côte d’Ivoire (CNVDT-CI) – represents the “real victims” said the money should be transferred into that organization’s bank account instead. This claim appears entirely false and has been refuted by the victim’s UK lawyers, as well as in a petition that is before the Ivorian courts by the other representatives of claimants in the UK court case.<br /><br />The CNVDT-CI appears nowhere in any court documents related to the case or the settlement.<br /><br />On 23 September, the High Court of England and Wales approved a settlement agreement between the victims of the toxic waste dumping, UK law firm Leigh Day & Co, and Trafigura. The agreement was that $45 million would be distributed by Leigh Day to the nearly 30,000 victims who had agreed to the deal, with each receiving about $1,600. The funds were transferred to an account in Côte d’Ivoire set up by Leigh Day for distribution to the victims.<br /><br />On 22 October, Claude Gohourou, who claims his organization represents the victims, applied to a court in Abidjan to have the funds in the Leigh Day account frozen, which the court agreed to. Soon after, on 27 October, he applied for the money to be transferred to an account held by his own association.<br /><br />Tomorrow, the Abidjan court is due to rule on his application.<br /><br />“If the court in Côte d’Ivoire transfers the money into Mr Gohourou’s account, there is a very good chance that it will never be seen again,” said Widney Brown.<br /><br />“We need an urgent intervention to prevent the victims of this tragic case from a double disaster. To have fought for three years for some measure of compensation for the terrible events of 2006, and then to see it stolen would be a travesty.”<br /><br /></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Note to editors</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">:<br />In August 2006, toxic waste was brought to Abidjan in Côte d’Ivoire on board the ship Probo Koala, which had been chartered by Trafigura. This waste was then dumped in various locations around the city, causing a human rights tragedy. More than 100,000 people sought medical attention for a range of health problems and there were 15 reported deaths.<br /><br /></span></p><center><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">***************************<br /><br /></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">For further information, please contact</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">:<br />Beth Berton-Hunter, Media Relations<br />416-363-9933, ext. 332<br /><br />***************************</span></center></blockquote><center><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></center></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-71384353100918565572009-10-13T09:45:00.000-07:002009-10-13T09:47:02.719-07:00No More Rape in the Congo<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; border-collapse: collapse; "><div>From the <a href="http://www.drc.moonfruit.org/#/campaign-launch-event-oct-14/4535993198">Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition</a>:</div><blockquote><div>The Africa-Canada Accountability Coalition announces the launch of a new campaign <a href="http://drc.moonfruit.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); ">NO MORE RAPE</a>.</div><br />The eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) is the worst place in the world to be a woman or a girl. Over the last decade, a complex and ongoing series of conflicts, described as the world’s “deadliest crisis since World War II,” has unleashed unprecedented violence on the bodies of women and girls in this region. The brutality is extreme: three-month-old babies to eighty-year-old women have been raped. Women and girls are raped with such frequency that the Congolese invented a new word to describe the phenomenon: révioler, to re-rape.<br /><br />This campaign is an urgent call out to Canadians: <b>ABSOLUTELY NO MORE RAPE</b> in the Congo. It features a new report on how Canada must respond, a video call for action, and a website with all the tools you need to stop the on-going crisis. Our corporations, our government and we ourselves have a specific, long-standing and often exploitative relationship with the DRC. We can do better – it is time we started.<br /><br /><b>JOIN US</b> at our launch at 7pm on <b>October 14</b>, at the multi-purpose room of the Liu Institute of Global Issues at UBC (6476 NW Marine Drive Vancouver, V6T 1Z2), to learn more about how you can get involved and to see a moving film about a Congolese rape survivor "Lumo". We will also share an initiative to pass Bill C-300, aimed at promoting socially responsible policies among Canadian mining, oil and gas companies in the DR Congo and other developing countries.<br /><br /><b>Visit</b> our website at <a href="http://www.acacdrcongo.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); ">www.acacdrcongo.org</a> or reach us at<a href="mailto:contact@acacdrcongo.org" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); ">contact@acacdrcongo.org</a>. </blockquote><br /></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-16451414498984008552009-10-13T09:38:00.000-07:002009-10-13T09:40:38.794-07:00Business Ethics Mappng Workshop<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Arial; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); "><h1 style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(47, 47, 47); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: small;">From the <a href="http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/dialogue/events/225.html">Canadian Business Ethics Research Network</a>:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; "></span></span></h1><blockquote><h1 style="font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(47, 47, 47); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: 16px; font-weight: bold; ">CBERN Pacific Region Hub: Business Ethics Mapping Project & Workshop, Vancouver, BC</span></span></h1><b>Friday, November 20, 2009<br /></b><p>Mapping the Business Ethics research interested parties and their areas of interest in British Columbia and the Yukon in natural resources and other sectors.</p><div width="100%" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; "><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; ">Date: November 20, 2009<br />Location: The Atrium, BCIT Downtown Campus, 555 Seymour St., Vancouver, BC<br />Information: <a href="mailto:pacific@cbern.ca" target="" name="" class="link" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(110, 141, 162); font-size: 10pt; ">pacific@cbern.ca</a></p><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; "><b>OBJECTIVE:</b> Mapping the Business Ethics research interested parties and their areas of interest in British Columbia and the Yukon in natural resources and other sectors.</p><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; ">This 4-month project aims to identify, characterize and link with the research groups who are actively engaged or interested in supporting research related to Business Ethics, (Corporate Social Responsibility) in B.C. and the Yukon. This will be useful not only to identify group/(individual) activity and interests in natural resources development ethics (mining, fisheries, forestry, agriculture, energy sectors) but also in other domains. These groups are at the scale of individuals, organizations or established networks/centers, Corporations or their representative Associations, as well as government, aboriginal, academic and NGO organizations.</p><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; "><b>Characterization of groups includes</b>:</p><ul></ul><ul><li style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 7px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); list-style-image: url(http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/_designs/standard/imgldycCWrglh.gif); margin-left: -10pt; ">contact details;</li><li style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 7px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); list-style-image: url(http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/_designs/standard/imgldycCWrglh.gif); margin-left: -10pt; ">terms of reference;</li><li style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 7px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); list-style-image: url(http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/_designs/standard/imgldycCWrglh.gif); margin-left: -10pt; ">areas of interest,</li><li style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 7px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); list-style-image: url(http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/_designs/standard/imgldycCWrglh.gif); margin-left: -10pt; ">scope and details of research activity;</li><li style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 7px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); list-style-image: url(http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/_designs/standard/imgldycCWrglh.gif); margin-left: -10pt; ">interest in collaboration;</li><li style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; margin-bottom: 7px; color: rgb(52, 52, 52); list-style-image: url(http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/_designs/standard/imgldycCWrglh.gif); margin-left: -10pt; ">synergies.</li></ul><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; ">One of the project deliverables will be a database representing the aggregated results of the survey. It will form the basis for future communications planning and partnerships for collaborative research. The information will be integrated with CBERN’s database.</p><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; ">The results of the survey will be discussed at a workshop at the Atrium, BCIT downtown campus, 555 Seymour Street, Vancouver, November 20, 2009. <b>This workshop is conveniently scheduled after a one-day <a href="http://www.businessethicscanada.ca/dialogue/events/226.html" target="" name="" class="link" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(110, 141, 162); font-size: 10pt; ">MSBC meeting</a> on mining and sustainability at the same location and the CIM Annual Student Dinner </b>(November 19, 2009).</p><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; ">Anyone interested in attending the CBERN workshop please send an email with “Workshop” in the subject line to <a href="mailto:pacific@cbern.ca" target="" name="" class="link" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(110, 141, 162); font-size: 10pt; ">pacific@cbern.ca</a>.</p></div></blockquote><div width="100%" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); overflow-x: hidden; overflow-y: hidden; "><p class="standard" style="font-size: 10pt; font-family: Arial; font-style: normal; font-variant: normal; text-decoration: none; text-transform: none; color: rgb(63, 63, 63); clear: both; "></p></div></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-66612683909169676352009-10-01T16:14:00.000-07:002009-10-01T16:41:50.517-07:00Make your voice heard on Bill C-300<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">From </span></span><a href="http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post.php?id=1159"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">Fiona at Amnesty</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">. Here's more </span></span><a href="http://www.amnesty.ca/blog_post.php?id=1197"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">info on Bill C-300</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">:<br /></span></span><blockquote><span style="font-weight:bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Support Bill C-300</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Amnesty International is deeply concerned about human rights violations committed directly or indirectly by Canadian mining, oil and gas companies in developing countries.<br /><br />To ensure that Canadian companies respect human rights in developing countries, we need mandatory human rights standards and stronger regulations to hold transnational companies accountable. The status quo won't do.<br /><br />This fall, the Canadian Government is considering adopting a bill on corporate accountability (Bill C-300).<br /><br />Amnesty International supports this bill. But to ensure that the bill passes into law, we need everyone who cares about human rights to express their support.<br />Take Action!<br /><br />Between now and October 16th we urge you to phone, email, fax or write to the members of the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development, to express your support for the bill. Please contact as many of the following committee members as you are able:<br /><br />Bob Rae (Liberal MP)<br />514 Parliament St<br />Toronto, ON<br />M4X 1P4<br />(Tel) 416-954-2222<br />(Fax) 416-954-9649<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:raeb@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">raeb@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Glen Douglas Pearson (Liberal MP)<br />768 Maitland St,<br />London,ON<br />N5Y 2W3<br />(Tel) 519-663-9777<br />(Fax) 519-663-2238<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:pearsg@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">pearsg@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Bernard Patry (Liberal MP)<br />3883 Saint-Jean Blvd, Suite 303,<br />Dollards-des-Ormeaux, QC<br />H9G 3B9<br />(Tel) 514-624-5725<br />(Fax) 514-624-5728<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:patryb@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">patryb@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Paul Dewar (NDP MP)<br />1306 Wellington St, Suite 304<br />Ottawa, ON<br />K1Y 3B2<br />(Tel) 613-946-8682<br />(Fax) 613-946-8680<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:dewarp@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">dewarp@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Lois Brown (Conservative MP)<br />206-16600 Bayview Ave,<br />Newmarket, ON<br />L3X 1Z9<br />(Tel) 905-953-7515<br />(Fax) 905-953-7527<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:brown.l@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">brown.l@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Jim Abbott (Conservative MP)<br />125D Slater Rd,<br />Cranbrook, BC<br />V1C 4M4<br />(Tel) 250-417-2250<br />(Fax) 250-417-2253<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:abbotj@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">abbotj@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />James Lunney (Conservative MP)<br />6894 Island Hwy N, Suite 6,<br />Nanaimo, BC<br />V9V 1P6<br />(Tel) 250-390-7550<br />(Fax) 250-390-7551<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:lunnej@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">lunnej@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Deepak Obhrai (Conservative MP)<br />Suite 225, 525-28th St SE,<br />Calgary,AB<br />T2A 6W9<br />(Tel) 403-207-3030<br />(Fax) 403-207-3035<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:obhrad@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">obhrad@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Peter Goldring (Conservative MP)<br />9111-118 Ave NW,<br />Edmonton, AB<br />T5B 0T9<br />(Tel) 780-495-3261<br />(Fax) 780-495-5142<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:goldrp@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">goldrp@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Kevin Sorenson (Conservative MP)<br />4945-50th Street,<br />Canmore, AB,<br />T4V 1P9<br />(Tel) 780-608-4600<br />(Fax) 780-608-4603<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:sorenk@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">sorenk@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Francine Lalonde (Bloc Quebecois MP)<br />11975 Victoria St, Suite 101,<br />Montreal, QC,<br />H1B 2R2<br />(Tel) 514-645-0101<br />(Fax) 514-645-0032<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:lalonf@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">lalonf@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />Johanne Deschamps (Bloc Quebecois MP)<br />45 St. Antoine St,<br />Sainte-Agathe-des-Monts,QC<br />J8C 2C4<br />(Tel) 819-326-5098<br />(Fax) 819-326-8262<br /></span></span><a href="mailto:deschjoh@parl.gc.ca"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;">deschjoh@parl.gc.ca</span></span></span></a></blockquote>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-52864511626909366542009-09-01T15:56:00.000-07:002009-09-01T16:11:14.521-07:00Vancouver event - Canada as Global Citizen: Is Bill C-300 the Answer<span class="Apple-style-span" style=" ;font-family:'Times New Roman';"><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="border-collapse: collapse; font-family:arial;font-size:13px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica-Bold;"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Helvetica-Bold;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:Arial;font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:13px;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">Amnesty International - Business & Human Rights Presents:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Canada as Global Citizen:</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-large;">Is Bill C-300 the Answer?</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:medium;">Tuesday September 8th, 2009 / 6pm</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: medium;">SFU Harbour Centre – 7000 Earl & Jennie Lohn Policy Room</span></p><p class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In our rapidly globalizing world, Canadians are increasingly concerned with corporate, social and environmental responsibility, and demand that the activities of corporations operating abroad do not violate basic human rights.</span></span></p></span><p></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><u1:p></u1:p></span><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=" font-weight: normal;"></span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size:100%;"><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Liberal M.P. John McKay will speak about Bill C-300, an Act designed to hold Canadian companies accountable for their activities in resource extractive industries (Mining, Oil or Gas) in Developing Countries. This evening event will allow expert panelists to discuss the issues in-depth and take questions that test the strength, breadth and effectiveness of the Act.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Learn about what </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">YOU</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> can do today to ensure that Canadian companies receiving support from the Government of Canada (Canadian Pension Plan / Export Development Canada) respect and promote international environmental best practices and human rights standards.</span></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Presentations and Panel Experts representing:</span></b></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><ul><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> John McKay - Liberal MP, author of Bill C-300</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Fiona Koza - Amnesty International Canada</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Jennifer Coulson – Northwest & Ethical Funds, Shareholder Action Program</span></span></li><li><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-weight: normal;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Graham Allen – Lawyer, EDC Policy Analyst</span></span></li></ul><p></p><p class="MsoNormal"></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Date:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> Tuesday September 8th, 2009</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Time:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 6pm to 8pm</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Location: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">SFU Harbour Centre – 7000 Earl & Jennie Lohn Policy Room</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Address:</span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> 515 West Hastings Street, Vancouver BC</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Cost: </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">By donation</span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">RSVP </span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">with any questions to </span><a href="http://www.blogger.com/karr.stephen@gmail.com"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">karr.stephen@gmail.com</span></a></p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p></p></span><p></p></span></span></span></span></b></span></span></div></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-71369433170177974622009-08-15T14:15:00.001-07:002009-08-15T14:18:09.533-07:00NDP resolution on extractive industries.This is unofficial, but I have it from a good source (Liz Blackwood, the co-chair of this group) that the NDP has unanimously passed a resolution at their convention for regulating the overseas operations of Canadian extractive industries. If anybody's wondering, this is good.Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-26130848700843468952009-07-23T16:50:00.000-07:002009-07-23T17:57:24.916-07:00Pictures from the protest of Goldcorp's support for the military coup in Honduras<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">I took these pictures today at a protest of Goldcorp's support of the military coup in Honduras, in front of their head office at 666 Burrard. For more info, check out </span></span><a href="http://www.rightsaction.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rights Action</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="white-space: pre-wrap; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> For broader human rights documentation on Honduras, also see <a href="http://www.amnesty.org">amnesty.org</a> or <a href="http://www.hrw.org">hrw.org</a>. </span></span></span></div><div><br /></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj8OW6ajcI/AAAAAAAAAJw/OV65IIM-Jes/s1600-h/IMG_0662.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 300px; height: 400px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj8OW6ajcI/AAAAAAAAAJw/OV65IIM-Jes/s400/IMG_0662.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361812679983533506" /></a><br /><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><br /></span></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj8O6K40FI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/MkRTrWSmbDQ/s400/IMG_0666.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361812689447866450" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj7et1ep3I/AAAAAAAAAJo/0bE_ImYgPV4/s1600-h/IMG_0665_1.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj7et1ep3I/AAAAAAAAAJo/0bE_ImYgPV4/s400/IMG_0665_1.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361811861503125362" /></a><div><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5yGjbvZI/AAAAAAAAAJQ/FBVanrZR06U/s400/IMG_0668.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361809995532582290" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5y5dCq8I/AAAAAAAAAJg/LAZA5XB8ctg/s1600-h/IMG_0676.JPG"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: none;"><br /></span></span></a></div><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5yh9VZ-I/AAAAAAAAAJY/np5brsM1y0w/s1600-h/IMG_0673.JPG" style="text-decoration: none;"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5yh9VZ-I/AAAAAAAAAJY/np5brsM1y0w/s400/IMG_0673.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361810002888976354" /></a><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style=""><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#000000;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><br /></span></span></span></div></span></span></div><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color:#0000EE;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="text-decoration: underline;"><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5y5dCq8I/AAAAAAAAAJg/LAZA5XB8ctg/s400/IMG_0676.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361810009195981762" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span></span></div><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5xILDipI/AAAAAAAAAJA/nTcnHwufVZ8/s1600-h/IMG_0677.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 400px; height: 300px;" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj5xILDipI/AAAAAAAAAJA/nTcnHwufVZ8/s400/IMG_0677.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361809978787334802" /></a><br /></div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(0, 0, 238); -webkit-text-decorations-in-effect: underline; "><img src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_oWfvF76JGLw/Smj9MTkcuUI/AAAAAAAAAKA/9my9qxnFYrk/s400/IMG_0678.JPG" border="0" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5361813744237984066" style="display: block; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: auto; margin-bottom: 10px; margin-left: auto; text-align: center; cursor: pointer; width: 400px; height: 300px; " /></span><br /></div>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-34174412917298852532009-07-17T16:31:00.000-07:002009-07-17T16:32:12.340-07:00Protest the Honduran military coup at Goldcorp's Vancouver office<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'New York'; border-collapse: collapse; font-size: 13px; "><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">No to the Coup!</span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /><br />The Canadian government must demand the return of President Zelaya and refuse to recognize the military regime! Canadian mining companies out of Honduras! Reparations for the communities in the Siria Valley!<br /><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Protest Picket at Goldcorp's head office:<br />666 Burrard Street<br />Thursday July 23 - 12pm<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Bring your banners!<br /></span></i><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span><span style="font-size:180%;"><span style="font-size: 18pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Join us in our continued efforts to denounce the coup!<br /></span></span></span><span style="font-size: 12pt; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />Since the June 28 removal of the president of Honduras, grassroots solidarity organizations throughout the world have protested the overthrow of Honduran democracy. Meanwhile, the Canadian government and mining companies are complicit in the military coup in Honduras because of their continued silence and at times direct participation in supporting the defacto regime lead by Roberto Micheletti.<br /><br />Goldcorp, a Vancouver based mining giant, operated the controversial cyanide leaching, open pit "San Martin" gold mine in the department of Francisco Morazón in Honduras until 2008. Today, many residents of the Siria Valley, where the mine is located, are sick and unable to work because of illnesses linked to Goldcorp's operations. The company still has a skeleton crew of employees in the country, who according to community members were bussed to pro-coup rallies sponsored by the corporate backed "Movement for Peace and Democracy."<br /><br />It's a lie that Goldcorp doesn't get involved in politics: in Guatemala, they launched a constitutional challenge against Indigenous People who organized to say NO to the company's Marlin mine, and in Argentina, Goldcorp has supported legal actions against tax increases.<br /><br />The coup in Honduras suits the interests of Canadian mining companies. Michelletti's military regime promises more profits for the corporate sector, and lower wages and less rights for workers.<br /><br /> <</span><a href="http://www.mediacoop.ca/group/1670" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">http://www.mediacoop.ca/</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><wbr>group/1670</span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">> </span><br /></span></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-48391131657222817972009-07-09T17:40:00.000-07:002009-07-09T17:44:51.491-07:00Goldcorp supports military coup in Honduras<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; "><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Here's an <a href="http://www.rightsaction.org/Alerts/Honduran_coup_alert19_070809.html">update from Rights Action </a>about Goldcorp's support of the military coup in Honduras. The whole alert follows: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></div><blockquote><div style="border-top-width: 0px; border-right-width: 0px; border-bottom-width: 0px; border-left-width: 0px; border-style: initial; border-color: initial; margin-top: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; padding-top: 3px; padding-right: 3px; padding-bottom: 3px; padding-left: 3px; width: auto; font: normal normal normal 100%/normal Georgia, serif; text-align: left; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">July 8, 2009</span></span></div> <p class="MsoBodyText"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="font-weight: normal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">GOLDCORP INC. (ENTREMARES) BUSES WORKERS TO PRO-COUP MARCHES</span></span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><b><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">FOR INFORMATION FROM HONDURAS, CONTACT</span></span></span></b></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">: Grahame Russell (Rights Action co-director):</span></span></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><a href="mailto:info@rightsaction.org"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">info@rightsaction.org</span></span></span></a></span></span><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">, [504] 9630-9507 & 9507-3835</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Yesterday, tens of thousands of pro-democracy Hondurans again marched pacifically, demanding the return of President Zelaya and an end to this illegal regime. Amongst other destinations, the march passed by COHEP (Honduran Council of Private Enterprise) to denounce the role of the elite business sector in the coup.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">OF NOTE: the march was led by Honduran First Lady Xiomara Castro de Zelaya, who came out of hiding for the first time since soldiers burst into the presidential home, on the morning of June 28, fired off bullets, and forced President Zelaya out of the house and country, at gun-point, in his pijamas.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">OF NOTE: the U.S. government, yesterday, formally ended the diplomatic recognition and privileges of Honduran ambassador to the United States, Roberto Flores Bermudez. After the military coup of June 28, Bermudez defended the coup regime. The U.S. government has said they will only recognize an Ambassador named by President Zelaya.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <p><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">TODAY: more pro-democracy marches are planned.</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* * * * * * * </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">GOLDCORP WORKERS BUSSED TO PRO-COUP MARCHES</span></span></b></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since the June 28 coup, the private sector - grouped in an umbrella group the "Movement of Peace and Democracy" - has been organizing pro-coup marches. Some Hondurans have recently given public information that buses are coming into poorer neighborhoods and that Movement organizers are paying people between 100 and 200 lempiras ($5 - $10) to participate in the pro-coup rallies.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: black; "> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Since 2003, Rights Action has been involved in work to document and denounce the environmental and health harms and human rights violations being caused by Goldcorp Inc' open pit, cyanide leeching "San Martin" mine, in the Siria Valley, department of Francisco Morazan, an hour and a half north of Tegucigalpa.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: black; "> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From our partner group, the Committee for the Defense of the Environment in the Siria Valley, Rights Action has learned that Entremares employees (Entremares being Goldcorp’s wholly owned subsidiary) from the “San Martin” mine have been taken, on a number of occasions since the June 28 coup, to participate in pro-coup regime marches in Tegucigalpa organized by the “Movement for Peace and Democracy”. Goldcorp (Entremares) pays for the transportation and at least one meal for the workers to attend.</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">More information to come ... </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">* * * * * * * </span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">WHAT TO DO</span></span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> </b><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In addition to the “demand” list, below, Canadians should denounce Goldcorp’s actual support of the illegal military coup to their members of parliament and media.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: black; "> <span class="apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">FUNDS ARE NEEDED FOR EMERGENCY RESPONSE IN HONDURAS</span></span></b></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> </b><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Rights Action staff in Honduras are providing emergency relief funds, every day, to community development, campesino, indigenous and human rights organizations for: food and shelter, transportation and communication costs, urgent action outreach and human rights accompaniment work.</span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: black; "> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Make tax deductible donations to Rights Action and mail to:</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">UNITED STATES: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">CANADA: 552-351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span> <span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">CREDIT-CARD DONATIONS:</span></span></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="apple-style-span"><span style="color: rgb(255, 102, 0); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><a href="http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm" style="text-decoration: none;">http://rightsaction.org/contributions.htm</a></span></span></span></span></span></p><p><span style="color: black; "> <span class="apple-style-span"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">AMERICANS AND CANADIANS SHOULD CONTACT YOUR OWN MEDIA, MEMBERS OF CONGRESS, SENATORS & MEMBERS OF PARLIAMENT, TO DEMAND:</span></span></b></span></span><span style="color: black; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></span></p> <ul type="disc"> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">unequivocal denunciation of the military coup</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">no recognition of this military coup and the ‘de facto’ government of Roberto Michelletti and the unconditional return of the constitutional government</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">increasing economic and military sanctions against the coup regime</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">respect for safety and human rights of all Hondurans</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">the application of international and national justice the coup plotters, and</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li> <li class="MsoNormal" style="color:black;mso-margin-top-alt:auto;mso-margin-bottom-alt: auto;mso-list:l0 level1 lfo1;tab-stops:list 36.0pt"><span class="apple-style-span"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">reparations for the illegal actions and rights violations committed during this illegal coup</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></li> </ul> <p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></p></blockquote><p class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><o:p></o:p></p></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-17396785981293159482009-07-06T19:28:00.000-07:002009-07-06T19:33:42.704-07:00Pictures from the tragic events in Hnduras.Please see photojournalist James Rodriguez's <a href="http://mimundo-jamesrodriguez.blogspot.com/2009/07/tragedy-at-toncontin-army-shoots-and.html">photo essay</a> an the tragic events that occurred in Honduras yesterday when President Zelaya tried to land.Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-19190059186472324462009-07-05T11:14:00.000-07:002009-07-05T11:20:29.682-07:00Amnesty: Oil industry has brought poverty and pollution to Niger DeltaAmnesty International has recently released a <a href="http://amnesty.org/en/news-and-updates/news/oil-industry-has-brought-poverty-and-pollution-to-niger-delta-20090630">report documenting environmental damage and poverty</a> brought to Nigeria by the oil industry. They also document how the government is not holding these companies to account.Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-45909327505492526852009-07-04T18:23:00.000-07:002009-07-04T18:35:37.644-07:00Watch Blood Dimaond movie Sunday night.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">If you are concerned about human rights, and haven't yet seen the 2006 movie </span></span><a href="http://www.blooddiamondaction.org/"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Blood Diamond</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> with Leonardo Dicaprio. </span></span><a href="http://www.cbc.ca/television/sunday.php"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">CBC is showing it</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> tomorrow (Sunday) at 9:00 PM. Set in Sierra Leone, it does a pretty good job of examining the ethical issue of diamonds that are extracted to fund conflicts, especially in Africa, while remaining entertaining and action-packed.</span></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-13468982045760200812009-06-28T21:13:00.000-07:002009-06-28T21:18:25.120-07:00Petition to Obama: Call for reinstatement Honduran president ZelayaPlease <a href="http://salsa.democracyinaction.org/o/727/t/3823/campaign.jsp?campaign_KEY=27531">sign this petition calling for the reinstatement of Honduran president Manuel Zaleya</a>. The European Union and other Latin American leaders have all called for a reinstatement, but Obama's statement fell short of such a call.Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-3666217552437269082009-06-28T21:02:00.000-07:002009-06-28T21:13:22.531-07:00Al Jazeera: military coup in Honduras.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">From the Al Jazeera, here's their report of the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/ext/share.php?sid=222834140509&h=_q87G&u=BcryU&ref=mf">miltary coup</a> in Honduras:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: Verdana; font-size: 12px; "><span class="DetaildSuammary" id="Htmlphcontrol1" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></span><blockquote><span class="DetaildSuammary" id="Htmlphcontrol1" style="font-weight: normal; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); text-decoration: none; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Manuel Zelaya, the president of Honduras, has called for "peaceful resistance" after the country's military forced him to leave the country.</span></span><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">After arriving in Costa Rica on Sunday, Zelaya said that he had been a "victim of kidnapping" when Honduran soldiers raided his home earlier in the day.</span></span></p></span><span class="DetaildSuammary" id="Span1" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; text-decoration: none; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The military made its move after Zelaya vowed to go ahead with a referendum on constitutional changes, which the Central American nation's supreme court and attorney-general had declared illegal.<br /><br />"They came to my house in the early hours of the morning and firing guns they broke the doors with bayonets and threatened to shout me," Zelaya told Venezuela's Telesur television station.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"I don't think that the whole army supported this interruption of the democratic system by capturing a president elected by the people. <br /><br />"I think that this has been a plot by an elite whose only wish is to keep the country isolated and in total poverty."</span></span></p><p><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">New president<br /></span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />Congress named Roberto Micheletti, the current speaker, as the country's new president.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Earlier, Zelaya's supporters gathered outside the presidential palace, shouting insults at the soldiers inside and setting fires in the street, after news of his arrest emerged.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"They kidnapped him like cowards," Melissa Gaitan, an employee of the official government television station, said, referring to Zelaya.</span></span></p><p></p><table border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" align="right" border style="width: 33px; border-collapse: collapse; color:#ffffff;"><tbody><tr><td><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></td></tr><tr><td align="center"><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><strong></strong></span></span></td></tr></tbody></table><p></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"We have to rally the people to defend our president."</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Al Jazeera's Mariana Sanchez, reporting from Tegucigalpa, said that people had set up barricades around the building.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"A lot of people are wielding sticks and steel batons and they are very angry. At one point they tried to push their way into the gates of the palace, but the army inside resisted," she said.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"There are some people among the protesters who are trying to calm people down.<br /><br />"They have come with loudspeakers and they are telling people that they are too few to go into the presidential palace."</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Many union, labour and farm movements support the non-binding referendum, which Zelaya says is aimed at improving the lives for the nearly three-quarters of Hondurans who live in poverty.</span></span></p><p><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Protest warning<br /></span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br />Oscar Hendrix, a youth movement leader in the northwestern city of San Pedro Sula, said that the military had burned the ballot papers that had been distributed in defiance of the supreme court ruling. </span></span></p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"This is inconceivable. This is one of the fundamental rights of the people," he told Al Jazeera.</span></span><p></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Hendrix said that there would be protests against the military's actions.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"We are analysing right now whether we are going to do something here or whether we are all going to mobilise to the capital city," he said. "We will stand up for our rights."</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The referendum, which was due to take place on Sunday, would have asked Hondurans whether they approved of holding a poll on constitutional change alongside general elections in November.</span></span></p><p><strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Court statement<br /><br /></span></span></strong><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">The supreme court, which last week ruled that the vote could not go ahead because the constitution bars changes to some of its clauses, such as the ban on a president serving more than one term, said it ordered the military to remove Zelaya.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"Today's events originate from a court order by a competent judge," it said in a statement.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"The armed forces ... acted to defend the state of law and have been forced to apply legal dispositions against those who have expressed themselves publicly and acted against the dispositions of the basic law."</span></span></p><p></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Mark Weisbrot, co-director of the Washington-based Centre for Economic and Policy Research, said that it seemed the military, with the backing of the court, had used the referendum as a "pretext" to overthrow the government.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"This was a fight over a non-binding referendum, nothing more than a poll of public opinion, so no one can really make the argument that there was some kind of irreparable harm that would take place if the president got his way," Weisbrot said.<br /><br />Zelaya was elected for a non-renewable four-year term in 2006 as a member of one of Honduras's established conservative political parties.<br /><br />However, since taking power Zelaya has moved to the left, aligning himself with Hugo Chavez, Venezuela's president.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">Colin Harding, an expert in Latin American politics, told Al Jazeera that Zelaya had apparently overestimated his own power in pushing for the referendum.</span></span></p><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;">"He has no support in within his own party, he is opposed by congress, he is opposed by the judiciary and the military, who are not the power they used to be but have lined up against Zelaya ostensibily in defence of legality," he said.<br /><br />Chavez has threatened military action in Honduras if Patricia Rodas, Venezuela's ambassador in Tegucigalpa, is harmed. He said that she had been abducted by soldiers and beaten earlier in the day.<br /><br />"This military junta that is now there would be entering a de facto state of war," he said.</span></span></p></span></blockquote><span class="DetaildSuammary" id="Span1" style="font-weight: normal; font-size: 13px; color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-family: Verdana; text-decoration: none; "><p><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"></span></span></p></span></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-54614353817376723462009-06-28T14:44:00.000-07:002009-06-28T14:50:59.654-07:00HRW: Diamonds in the Rough.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Human Rights Watch reports on </span></span><a href="http://www.hrw.org/node/83960"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">human rights abuses in the diamond fields of Zimbabwe</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">. Here's the summary from the full report:</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(66, 33, 11); font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; "></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: rgb(66, 33, 11); font-size: 13px; line-height: 22px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Zimbabwe's armed forces, under the control of President Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwe African National Union–Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), are engaging in forced labor of children and adults and are torturing and beating local villagers on the diamond fields of Marange district. The military seized control of these diamond fields in eastern Zimbabwe after killing more than 200 people in Chiadzwa, a previously peaceful but impoverished part of Marange, in late October 2008. With the complicity of ZANU-PF, Marange has become a zone of lawlessness and impunity, a microcosm of the chaos and desperation that currently pervade Zimbabwe.</span></span><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The military's violent takeover of the Marange diamond fields in October 2008 occurred one month after ZANU-PF agreed to share power with the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), the opposition party that won the March 2008 elections. The contested vote precipitated a political crisis and period of rampant human rights abuses by ZANU-PF against members of the opposition.</span></span><a href="http://www.hrw.org/en/node/83957/section/4#_ftn1" name="_ftnref1" style="text-decoration: underline; color: rgb(51, 153, 204); "><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="width: 0px; "><span style="width: 0px; "><span class="MsoFootnoteReference" style="width: 0px; "><span style="width: 0px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">[1]</span></span></span></span></span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> The seizure of the diamond fields took place amidst a major economic crisis in Zimbabwe, caused largely by the failed policies of ZANU-PF, which resulted in astronomical inflation, rampant unemployment, the unchecked spread of disease, and massive food insecurity.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In this context, army brigades have been rotated into Marange to ensure that key front-line units have an opportunity to benefit from the diamond trade. Soldiers have bullied and threatened miners and other civilians into forming syndicates so that the soldiers can control diamond mining and trade in Marange. The enrichment of soldiers serves to mollify a constituency whose loyalty to ZANU-PF, in the context of ongoing political strife, is essential. The deployment of the military in Marange also ensures access to mining revenue by senior members of ZANU-PF and the army. Human Rights Watch believes that money from illegal diamond trading is likely to be a significant source of revenue for senior figures in ZANU-PF, which has either failed to or decided not to effectively regulate the diamond fields while exploiting the absence of clear legal ownership of the gemstones.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Diamonds were discovered in Marange in June 2006, and ZANU-PF effectively encouraged a diamond rush by declaring the fields open to anyone to mine. By November 2006, however, a nationwide police operation was launched to clamp down on illegal mining across the country, including in Marange. Police assumed control of the diamond fields; but, rather than halt illegal mining and trade, they exacerbated and exploited the lawlessness on the fields. Police officers were responsible for serious abuses-including killings, torture, beatings, and harassment-often by so-called "reaction teams" deployed to drive out illegal miners. Miners described colleagues being buried alive. A police officer working with a reaction team told Human Rights Watch of orders from senior officers to "shoot on sight" miners found in the fields. Villagers described arbitrary arrests, beatings, and harassment that by May 2008 had swamped a local prison with 1,600 prisoners, 1,300 more than its capacity.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With policing disintegrating into anarchy, the army operation called Operation Hakudzokwi (No Return), which started on October 27, 2008, appears to have been designed both to restore a degree of order and to allow key army units access to riches at a time when inflation in Zimbabwe was astronomically high and the country teetered on the verge of bankruptcy. Military operations over a three-week period involved indiscriminate fire against miners at work and people in their villages. Between November 1 and November 12, 107 bodies, many with visible bullet wounds, were brought from Marange to the morgue at Mutare Hospital. Overcrowded, the hospital eventually had to turn away trucks carrying more bodies. One man described to Human Rights Watch the extrajudicial execution of his brother on November 14-shot in the back of the head by soldiers who had accused him of being an illegal miner. Scores of miners and diamond traders were tortured and beaten, and at least 80 villagers from Muchena were beaten by soldiers demanding to know the identities and whereabouts of local illegal miners.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">With control established, the army rapidly turned to forming syndicates, often using forced labor, including of children. A miner described to Human Rights Watch how his syndicate was cheated by the soldiers who formed it-when the men decided to abandon work, soldiers shot them, leading to the death of one man and the maiming of another. Children describe being made to carry diamond ore, working up to 11 hours per day with no reward. One local lawyer has estimated that up to 300 children continue to work for soldiers in the diamond fields.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">While Zimbabwe's new power-sharing government, formed in February 2009, now lobbies the world for development aid, millions of dollars in potential government revenue are being siphoned off through illegal diamond mining, smuggling of gemstones outside the country, and corruption. The new government could generate significant amounts of revenue from the diamonds, perhaps as much as US$200 million per month, if Marange and other mining centers were managed in a transparent and accountable manner. This revenue could fund a significant portion of the new government's economic recovery program, which would benefit ordinary villagers like the residents of Marange.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Human Rights Watch calls on the power-sharing government of Zimbabwe to remove the military from Marange, restore security responsibilities to the police, and ensure that the police abide by internationally recognized standards of law enforcement and the use of lethal force. The power-sharing government should appoint a local police oversight committee consisting of all relevant stakeholders, launch an impartial and independent investigation into the serious human rights abuses committed there, and hold accountable all those found to be responsible for abuses. Members of the army and police who have committed abuses should also face disciplinary action for their crimes. The new Zimbabwe government should strengthen resource accountability by allowing greater transparency in how mining revenues are derived, permitting public scrutiny of the allocation of that revenue, and protecting the basic civil and political, as well as economic and social, rights of its citizens.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">As a formal participant in the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS)-an international scheme governing the global diamond industry-Zimbabwe has a responsibility to immediately end the smuggling, corruption, and abuses that are taking place in Marange and ensure effective internal control over its diamond industry. Members of the KPCS should demand that Zimbabwe comply with the scheme's minimum standards, which include stopping the smuggling of diamonds from Zimbabwe, bringing Marange diamond fields under effective legal control, and ensuring that all diamonds from Marange are lawfully mined, documented, and exported with relevant valid Kimberley Process (KP) certificates. The KPCS should take urgent measures to audit the Zimbabwean mining sector, ensure that individuals involved in smuggling return their ill-gotten gains, and act to prevent any further abuse in both the extraction and onward sales of Marange diamonds.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">The Kimberley Process emerged out of a concern that rebel groups in West Africa in the 1990s were engaged in the mining and trade of conflict diamonds, which provided the groups with revenue and permitted them to commit abuses against civilians. Human rights concerns are implicit in the KPCS mandate, but that mandate has been too narrowly construed by its members. Human Rights Watch calls on the KPCS to broaden its remit to include serious and systematic abuses, not only by rebel groups in conflict, but also by other agencies, including governmental bodies. The abuses committed by Zimbabwe's police and army did not occur in armed conflict, but they are as serious as those the Kimberley Process was designed to address; for that reason, KPCS members should classify Marange diamonds as "conflict diamonds."</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Human Rights Watch recommends that the KPCS suspend Zimbabwe from participation in the Kimberley Process on account of the horrific human rights abuses in Marange and the lack of effective official Zimbabwean oversight of its diamond industry. It should also place an immediate, temporary halt on the extraction and trade of Marange diamonds. The KPCS should bar Zimbabwe from exporting Marange diamonds and ban the importation of Marange diamonds by its members until the government of Zimbabwe has ended human rights abuses in Marange and has regulated the diamond fields in ways that stop smuggling. Regulation of the diamond fields should include settling the question of legal title and ensuring that only those properly licensed are allowed to mine diamonds.</span></span></p><p style="margin-top: 0.5em; margin-right: 0em; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 0em; width: 638px; "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Finally, as a member of the KPCS and as a regional political power, South Africa also has an important role to play. Its own huge diamond industry is at serious risk of being tainted if illegal diamonds from Marange are indeed being sold alongside South Africa's domestically produced diamonds. Human Rights Watch calls on South Africa, both individually and as a member of the KPCS, to prevent the entry of tainted precious stones from Zimbabwe and to encourage the transparency and accountability of Zimbabwe's diamond industry.</span></span></p></span><div><div></div></div></blockquote><div><div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><br /></span></div><div><br /></div></div>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-64742182326072649212009-06-22T18:05:00.000-07:002009-06-22T18:08:55.108-07:00URGENT: Vancouver-based Canadian mining company Continental Minerals is on the verge of starting mining production in Tibet.<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">E-mail from <a href="http://www.sftcanada.org/">Students for a Free Tibet</a> that was forwarded to me: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: 'New York'; border-collapse: collapse; "><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span></b><blockquote><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Join Tibetans and supporters in Vancouver, BC June 24th and say NO! to Canadian mining in Tibet.<br /><br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">In the past few months, Continental Minerals has received over 1,200 faxes from Canadians and faced protests in Vancouver, Calgary, Toronto and New York City <</span></span><a href="http://www.stopminingtibet.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.stopminingtibet.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr>com/</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">> calling on them to pull out of Tibet. Now as they hold their Annual General Meeting with shareholders and executives in Vancouver BC, join Tibetans and supporters in saying NO! to Canadian mining in Tibet.<br /><br />After five years of exploratory drilling, if Continental Minerals is successful in starting production, this would mean:<br /><br />1) Potentially irreversible environmental damage to Tibet's fragile ecosystem.<br /><br />2) Human rights violations and forced displacement, as Tibetans have no say whether mining occurs or not.<br /><br />3) A dangerous precedent for foreign mining exploitation of stolen Tibetan land. Continental would be the first producing foreign mine in the Tibet Autonomous Region.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">JUNE 24: TELL CONTINENTAL MINERALS AND ITS SHAREHOLDERS TO STOP MINING TIBET!<br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Action: Continental Minerals' Annual General Meeting: Protest Continental Minerals‚ operations in Tibet<br />Time: 1pm to 4pm, Wednesday June 24<br />Location: Outside the AGM of Continental Minerals<br /> Metropolitan Hotel, 645 Howe Street, Vancouver<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Students for a Free Tibet (</span></span><a href="http://www.sftcanada.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.sftcanada.org</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><</span></span><a href="http://www.sftcanada.org/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.sftcanada.org/</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">> ) Contact: Tsering Lama 647-637-1810<br />Canada Tibet Committee (</span></span><a href="http://www.tibet.ca/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.tibet.ca</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> <</span></span><a href="http://www.tibet.ca/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.tibet.ca/</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">> ) Contact: Mati Bernabei 778-999-4578<br /><br />BACKGROUND<br /><br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Under Chinese government occupation, Tibetan people have no opportunity for free, prior, and informed consent, and receive little if any benefit from these operations. All mining operations in Tibet take place in collusion with the Chinese government, and corporate taxes and fees are paid to the Chinese government. Environmental concerns are extreme. In the race to exploit Tibetan mineral resources, Tibetan people and the environment have been disregarded.<br /><br />Canadian corporations are part of the problem. Corporations expect to benefit financially from these operations, as does the Chinese government, but the local Tibetan people will reap a substantial net loss to their way of life. Tibetans who dare to protest mining projects do so knowing that they risk arrest, imprisonment, torture, and death. Since March 2008, as a result of the severe and ongoing Chinese government crackdowns against protests, thousands of Tibetans have been imprisoned or disappeared. Tibet remains a conflict zone, with armed forces patrolling towns and monasteries. Foreign journalists continue to be denied access to Tibetan areas.<br /><br /></span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Despite the fact that a climate of fear and oppression persists in Tibet,</span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span><b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">seven Canadian companies are actively mining in Tibetan regions, or are poised to begin digging soon. Five of those companies have head offices in Vancouver (Continental Minerals/Hunter Dickinson, Eldorado Gold Corp, Maxy Gold Corp, Silvercorp Metals Inc. and Sterling Group Ventures Inc.).<br /><br /></span></span></b><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">Under Chinese government law, Canadian mining companies are under no legal obligation to take Tibetan views, rights, traditions, or long-term welfare into account. Canada Tibet Committee and Students for a Free Tibet are deeply disappointed that, rather than adhering to Canadian legal and ethical standards, and serving as a positive example of Corporate Social Responsibility, the Canadian mining companies operating in Tibet are effectively cashing in on the fact that Tibetan people are severely oppressed.<br /><br />For more information on the issues, refer to:</span></span><a href="http://www.stopminingtibet.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.stopminingtibet.com</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> <</span></span><a href="http://www.stopminingtibet.com/" target="_blank" style="color: rgb(51, 51, 204); "><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.stopminingtibet.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr>com/</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">><br /><br />--<br />Tsering Lama<br />National Director<br />Students for a Free Tibet Canada<br />109 -358 Dufferin Street<br />Toronto, ON M6K 1Z8<br />p.647.722.2350<br />f.647.722.8410</span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><br /></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1220302856441269201.post-10969072099423907822009-06-22T17:56:00.000-07:002009-06-22T18:01:06.074-07:00Picket June 27 at MP Mario Silva's Toronto Office<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">For those of you in the Toronto area -- message I received from the <a href="http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=63866861305">Facebook group Stop the Canada-Colombia Trade Agreement</a>: </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span><blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">On Saturday, June 27th, the Colombian Action Solidarity Alliance, CASA, will be picketing outside the Toronto office of Liberal MP Mario Silva and providing information to local residents. CASA is asking Mr. Silva and the Federal Liberal Party to oppose Bill C-23 and demand that an independent comprehensive Human Rights Impact Assessment, HRIA, be performed and any concerns arising from such an assessment be satisfactorily addressed, before any further consideration of an FTA between Canada and Colombia occurs.<br /><br />Location: Mario Silva’s Office - 1674 St Clair Ave W, Toronto<br />Time: Saturday, June 27th, 11:00 a.m.<br />Contact: jphpbarber@hotmail.com<br /><br />Implementation of the Canada-Colombia free trade agreement, FTA, has been stalled but not defeated. Both the NDP and Bloc Parties have officially opposed the FTA while the Liberal Party appears to be undecided at this point. Key Liberal Party members such as Party Leader Michael Ignatieff and Trade Critic Scott Brison have rejected calls to oppose the FTA, while other Liberal Party members, largely due to public pressure expressed through extensive letter writing campaigns, have supported the call for an independent Human Rights Impact Assessment prior to implementation of the FTA.<br /><br />Human rights violations continue to be rampant in Colombia. Almost 500 workers have been murdered since President Uribe came to power in 2002. The situation is not improving. In 2008, extrajudicial executions, forced displacement, disappearances and killings of trade unionists all increased over 2007. The Colombian state has been shown to be closely tied with these violations. The United Nations’ High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay reported in November 2008 that Colombia’s security forces are engaged in “widespread and systematic” killings of civilians that could constitute crimes against humanity. There is growing evidence of ties between paramilitary groups and the Colombian government – 20% of Congress is currently under investigation for collaboration with paramilitaries. Implementing an FTA under these conditions will only serve to provide legitimacy to the current regime of human rights violations and actually serve to worsen the situation.<br /><br />For further information on Colombia and the FTA please see;<br /></span></span><a href="http://www.ccic.ca/e/docs/making_a_bad_situation_worse_long_version.pdfhttp://www.canadianlabour.ca/sites/clc/files/shared/tenreasonsEnfinal.pdf" onmousedown="return wait_for_load(this, event, function() { UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "e36202f1d3c95312b35ed2c44c50709f", event) });" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.ccic.ca/e/docs/</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">making_a_bad_situation_wor</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">se_long_version.pdfhttp://</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">www.canadianlabour.ca/site</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">s/clc/files/shared/tenreas</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">onsEnfinal.pdf</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.killingtrain.com/node/701" onmousedown="return wait_for_load(this, event, function() { UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "e36202f1d3c95312b35ed2c44c50709f", event) });" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.killingtrain.co</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">m/node/701</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></span><a href="http://www.amnestyusa.org/countries/colombia/demobilization/index.html" onmousedown="return wait_for_load(this, event, function() { UntrustedLink.bootstrap($(this), "e36202f1d3c95312b35ed2c44c50709f", event) });" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="cursor: pointer; color: rgb(59, 89, 152); text-decoration: none; "><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">http://www.amnestyusa.org/</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">countries/colombia/demobil</span></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"><wbr></span></span><span class="word_break" style="display: block; float: left; margin-left: -10px; padding-top: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; "></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;">ization/index.html</span></span></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"> </span></span></blockquote><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family:arial;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: small;"></span></span>Stephen Khttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15645889989231723542noreply@blogger.com0