AI report on the killing of trade unionists in Columbia

An Amnesty report on the death of trade unionists in Columbia released at the beginning of July is also relevant to Stephen Harper's trip to Latin America:

You can find a summary to the report here. Here is an excerpt:

More than 2,000 trade unionists have been killed and more than 180 have been victims of enforced disappearance in Colombia over the last two decades. In more than 90 per cent of cases, those responsible have not been brought to justice. Despite a reduction in recent years in the number of trade unionists killed, Amnesty International (AI) considers that the human rights situation facing trade unionists remains serious. The Colombian authorities have taken some steps to improve their safety. However, more decisive action must be taken to ensure that freedom of association rights are respected, in practice as well as in law.

Despite the supposed demobilization of army-backed paramilitary groups, trade unionists continue to be threatened and killed by paramilitaries who have ostensibly been demobilized. The security forces have also been directly responsible for killing trade unionists and instigating arbitrary criminal proceedings against them. AI considers that a co-ordinated military-paramilitary strategy designed to undermine the work of trade unionists continues to be pursued both through their physical elimination and by seeking to discredit the legitimacy of trade union work. Guerrilla forces have also been responsible for killings of trade unionists.

It is not always possible to determine the motivation behind killings or death threats against trade unionists. In the context of Colombia’s long-running internal armed conflict, trade unionists have often been targeted for human rights abuses because of their political affiliation or motives other than their trade union activities. However, there is a pattern of human rights abuses against trade unionists taking place in the context of labour disputes which indicates that trade unionists are targeted precisely because of their trade union work.

AI considers that the international community has an important role to play in efforts to guarantee the right to freedom of association in Colombia. The decision of the International Labour Organization (ILO) in 2006 to appoint a permanent representative to Colombia to observe freedom of association rights provides a welcome opportunity for the international community to monitor closely the human rights crisis faced by trade unionists and to call on the Colombian authorities to take decisive action to ensure their safety.

Power of a Signature

As my first post on this blog, I thought I'd share a little inspiration with an Amnesty video that recently won a Gold award at the Cannes Lion 2007. It reminds us of the power of our signature: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QCWClsk0u5g. It's well worth the 2min 19secs.

For ideas on where your signature can make a difference right now relating to Business & Human Rights, go to http://www.amnesty.ca/campaigns/sharepower/.

Following Stephen Harper in Latin America

There are are a variety of human rights concerns that Stephen Harper ought to raise during his visit to Latin America, not the least of which are those related to the activities of Barrick Gold in Chile. The Toronto Star reports that

The most controversial stop on the trip could come Wednesday in Santiago, Chile. There, Harper will visit the offices of Barrick Gold, whose proposed Pascua Lama gold and silver mine in the Andes on the Chile-Argentine border has become a rallying point for critics of multinational mining operations.

Reports that the company's explorations have eroded the size of three glaciers by more than half have some Chilean lawmakers calling for a halt to planned operations and a probe into the environmental effects of Barrick's activities.

Prior to the trip, a BHR activist stated clearly what her expectations are:

Karen Keenan, of the Halifax Initiative, which keeps an eye on Canadian investment in developing countries, said corporate responsibility standards should guide behaviour in areas of environmental performance, human rights, public reporting and transparency. She said an oversight body should be created to conduct independent investigations and resolve conflicts.

Further to this, here is a release from the New Democratic Party on the issue. Here's an excerpt:

On the eve of the Prime Minister’s visit to Colombia and Chile, the NDP is demanding that Stephen Harper end his government’s stonewalling on proposed Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) legislation to fight human rights and environmental abuses by Canadian extractive companies doing business in South America.

“If Harper is serious about a constructive role for Canada in this part of the world, let him prove it to citizens here in Canada and communities across Central and South America through concrete actions,” said NDP Foreign Affairs Critic Alexa McDonough. “He should start by implementing new and robust standards of Corporate Social Responsibility for Canadian companies operating in the developing world.”

We will follow events as they unfold.

Irene Khan on the Global Compact

This from an address by Amnesty International Secretary-General Irene Khan at the Opening Plenary of the Global Compact Leadership Summit 2007, in which she suggests ways of improving the Global Compact:

The Global Compact needs to find ways to hold participants accountable for upholding its principles. The delisting process that has come into operation recently is a step towards integrity -- but it is based largely on technical and procedural grounds, and is not being applied to ensure substantive compliance. Experience shows that voluntary approaches that incorporate compliance elements have much greater public credibility than those that are simply exhortations.

As a peer learning forum, all Compact members have an obligation to push each other to higher levels of performance. Amnesty International would encourage participants to consider a robust peer-review mechanism. The best performing companies can help to raise the bar by holding each other to account. It is time to scale up on compliance.

The UN is a valuable brand, and both the UN and companies has a responsibility to make ensure that there are no free-riders in the Compact.

The Global Compact is a voluntary initiative. Voluntary approaches are important, but no matter how good they are, they have some inherent limitations by their nature of being voluntary: by definition they involve an "opt-in" approach (and therefore the possibility also of "opting-out" by companies). They do not -- and cannot -- deal with the so-called "laggard" companies, who will not join.

Looking at it from the perspective of human rights, voluntary initiatives have a limitation -- they offer some protection, for some human rights, for some people. This is problematic because human rights, by their very nature, are universal guarantees -- they apply to all people, in every part of the world at all times.

This is why Amnesty International, while supporting voluntary initiatives, is pressing for UN global standards on business and human rights that will apply across borders to all companies, whether they operate in China or Canada, Malawi or Switzerland. Such global standards will provide governments with clear, common guidelines on how to address corporate behaviour on human rights. It will help to create a level playing field, set some common expectations, and build trust among customers, shareholders, investors and the community.

Governments have the primary responsibility for human rights -- and global standards on corporate responsibility for human rights will also help clarify and strengthen their responsibilities towards companies and towards people.

That is why Amnesty International hopes that while the Compact itself is a voluntary initiative, the Compact as such and its members as individual companies will support binding global standards and contribute to their development in the United Nations.

Unfortunately, the final declaration falls far short of expectations, according the International Federation of Human Rights:

The declaration adopted by participants is supposed to establish a roadmap for the future of the initiative and deepen their commitment. In fact, the commitments of corporations remain extremely weak. Businesses merely commit “to advance the implementation of the UN Global Compact and its ten principles” and to “give concrete meaning to a principle-based approach in (their) strategy, operations and culture”, and to seek to mobilise business units, and business partners to commit to the UN Global Compact its 10 principles.

The most important commitment taken by corporations is to report on their activities through annual communications on progress on their environmental and social performances. This demand had been made previously by the Global Compact. Companies that have not reported on their practices, two years after joining the Global compact and every year thereafter have now been listed as “non-communicating”. For the first time this year, the Annual Review of the Global Compact provided an insight into the actions of business participants to implement the ten principles. These are important first steps, but they remain largely insufficient.

Indeed, after 7 years, no mechanism has been set up within the Global Compact to monitor the commitments made by corporations. As a result, corporations that directly violate or are complicit of violations of human rights, labour, anti-corruption and environmental standards would still remain members of the initiative, and publicly benefit from this adherence.

FIDH hopes that UN Secretary General’s warning will be heard and that the activities of corporate participants to the Global Compact will be seriously monitored, and that members found not complying with the principles will- at a minimum - be excluded from the initiative.

(hyperlink added by this blog author).

Business & human rights: Weekly Update - July 11, 2007

From the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre:

Weekly Update: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre - 11 July 2007

CLICK THIS LINK FOR ALL TOP STORIES added past 7 days /
Principales noticias / Articles de premier plan:
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Topstories?date=2007/07/11

The top stories include / Las noticias incluyen / Les articles
incluent:

* "Business and Human Rights - the Evolving International Agenda", by
John Ruggie
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/644668

* John Ruggie questionnaire for national human rights institutions
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/322450

* Indonesia: Friends of the Earth calls on major banks to withhold
further loans from Lapindo Brantas gas project until it compensates people
displaced by Sidoarjo mud volcano disaster
- Responses by Barclays, Credit Suisse, Fortis, Santos
- Medco Energi indicated it has sold its interest in the project
- Natixis, Energi Mega Persada have not yet responded
- Merrill Lynch declined to respond
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Documents/Sidoarjomudvolcano

* UN Global Compact Leaders Summit: Speeches, reports & new initiatives
- Includes webcasts of speeches by Ban Ki-moon, Irene Khan, Neville
Isdell; Bernard Kouchner; others
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/792480

* Israel: Volvo bulldozers photographed in destruction of Bedouin Arab
villages - US church group urges divestment
- Volvo Group response
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/553890

* Nigeria: Chinese bakery owners arrested after their Nigerian workers
found caged near oven
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/886554

* France: Adecco and L'Oréal subsidiary Garnier found guilty of racial
discrimination in recruitment campaign
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/112658

* "Human Rights and Business Learning Tool": Office of the High
Commissioner for Human Rights & UN Global Compact
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/160324

* Goldman Sachs publishes investment framework incorporating Global
Compact principles on human rights, labour, environment, corruption, &
says "leadership on these issues is crucial"
- Includes list of 44 firms Goldman Sachs believes will outperform,
partly for environmental/social reasons
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/939156

* CAFOD calls on Argos, Goldsmiths to sign 12 "Golden Rules" to reduce
harmful social & environmental impacts of gold mining
- Argos response
- We have not yet received a response from Goldsmiths - if we do we
will include it in a future Update
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/748087

* "Beyond monitoring: A new vision for sustainable supply chains"
(Business for Social Responsibility)
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/412451

* Español: Ecuador: En continuación a la actualización de la semana
pasada, la Fundación Regional de Asesoría en Derechos Humanos (INREDH) le
contesta a Ecuavital Biox
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/426938

* Español: Amnistía premia a periodista hondureña amenazada después de
investigar abusos laborales por parte de empresas de seguridad
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/370729

* Español: EE.UU.: Comienza juicio contra Drummond por su presunta
colaboración en el asesinato de sindicalistas en Colombia - caso sentaría
precedente
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/696079

* Español: Brasil: Liberan a más de 1000 trabajadores en condiciones de
"esclavitud"
- Pará Pastoril e Agrícola (Pagrisa) niega todo; Petrobras suspende
compras a Pagrisa
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/554934

* Español: En cumbre del Pacto Mundial, presidente de Repsol dice que
reto de empresas es hacer más extensivo el desarrollo económico y social
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/958315

* Español: Cuestionario de John Ruggie para las instituciones
nacionales de derechos humanos
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/105413

* Français : France : Garnier, filiale de L'Oréal, et Adecco condamnés
pour discrimination raciale à l'embauche
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/268310

* Français : Bernard Kouchner, ministre français des Affaires
étrangères, dit que Total ne fait pas assez pour pousser la Birmanie à libérer
les prisonniers politiques
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/468727

* Français : Discours d'Irene Khan, secrétaire générale d'Amnesty
International, au sommet du Pacte mondial
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/358270

* Français : Rép Dém du Congo : Perenco mise en cause dans la pollution
- la société a mis à pied d'oeuvre une équipe pour débarrasser les
sites touchés du pétrole
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/936918

* Français : "Chaîne d'approvisionnement : pour dépasser la
surveillance" - Business for Social Responsibility propose 4 piliers
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/870445

* Français : Questionnaire de John Ruggie à l'attention des
institutions nationales des droits de l'homme
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/550482

Business & human rights: Weekly Update - July 3, 2007

From the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre:

Weekly Update: Business & Human Rights Resource Centre - 4 July 2007

CLICK THIS LINK FOR ALL TOP STORIES added past 7 days /
Principales noticias / Articles de premier plan:
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Categories/Topstories?date=2007/07/04

The top stories include / Las noticias incluyen / Les articles
incluent:

* Report on meeting between UN Special Representative John Ruggie &
other UN human rights mandate holders
- Mandates represented include: housing; disappearances; health;
indigenous peoples; mercenaries; torture; toxic waste
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/197063

* Brazil: Authorities free over 1000 "debt slaves" working in
"horrendous" conditions on sugar plantation
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/374926

* Dem. Rep. of Congo: Military court acquits 3 Anvil mining employees
of complicity in war crimes
- Global Witness, RAID, raise concerns about trial process
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/901172

* UN Global Compact summit, Geneva, 5-6 July
- Survey of Compact participants finds "much room for advancement" in
business' approach to human rights
- Also provided: China Daily on Chinese participation; NGO position
(Amnesty Intl., ActionAid, Greenpeace, Berne Declaration); Intl. Chamber
of Commerce position; Save the Children survey of Swedish companies;
Goldman Sachs investment framework incorporating Compact principles
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/280783

* So. Africa: Farmworkers make the decisions in social, educational &
health initiatives funded by Waitrose
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/100732

* Are biofuels causing more harm than good? (BBC radio debate)
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/699410

* China: New labour law enacted - labour activists welcome law but
express concerns on implementation
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/944686

* Colombia: Amnesty Intl. highlights "systematic" attacks against trade
unionists
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/682874

* Interview with Al Gore and David Blood: "Investing in sustainability"
- Refers to positive steps by Wal-Mart, General Electric, Novo Nordisk,
Johnson Controls
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/170148

* Save the Children: "Corporate Social Responsibility and children's
rights in South Asia"
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/641812

* Español: Ecuador: Acusan a guardias de empresa remediadora de
reprimir a defensores de derechos humanos
- Respuesta de Ecuavital Biox: "Los funcionarios no fueron
agredidos...hemos pedido el reporte a la empresa Jara Seguridad sobre el suceso"
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/476705

* Español: Perú: Acusan a minera Miski Mayo (filial de Companhia Vale
do Rio Doce, CVRD) de formar "cuadros de defensa" armados
- CVRD declina comentar; Sociedad Nacional de Minería, Petróleo y
Energía "conversará" con Miski Mayo para que responda
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/586188

* Español: Colombia: Informe de Amnistía Internacional destaca
agresiones "sistemáticas" contra sindicalistas
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/887903

* Español: Kohl's retira prendas de Daisy Fuentes de sus tiendas luego
de alegaciones de abusos contra trabajadores en Guatemala
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/984960

* Español: Premian a las 15 empresas "más responsables socialmente" en
Chile
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/555189

* Français : Dém Rép du Congo : 3 employés d'Anvil Mining sont
acquittés de complicité dans des crimes de guerre
- Des organisations des droits de l'homme disent que la Cour a violé
les principes d'un procès juste et équitable
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/273060

* Français : Chine: Gouvernement demande à la Banque mondiale de
censurer son étude pour cacher 750 000 morts à cause de la pollution
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/528098

* Français : Rapport d'Amnesty International décrit les "attaques
systématiques" contre les syndicalistes en Colombie
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/553801

* Français : Classement de Greenpeace « Pour une high tech responsable
» - Dans la dernière édition, Nokia est en tête, Apple s'améliore, LG &
Sony en dernières places
http://www.business-humanrights.org/Links/Repository/642827

new links

I have added the following links to the sidebar:

Organizations:
Global Exchange: Democratizing the Global Economy
Social Accountability International
Realizing Rights: The Ethical Globalization Initiative
International Labour Organization
Caux Roundtable

Resources:
Report of the World Commission on the Social Dimension of Globalization
Human Development 2000
Framework for Responsible Mining

Guidelines:
Caux Roundtable Principles for Business
Global Sullivan Principles