We have just launched our new Corporate Accountability blog.
Over the next couple of months, the blog will feature actions and updates related to Bill C-300, the Responsible Mining Bill.
The House of Commons will be voting on Bill C-300 in late October, so this autumn is a critical time to build support for the bill.
So visit our new corporate accountability blog now, post a comment, and sign up to our feed to receive regular updates.
Business and Human Rights
Amnesty’s Business and Human Rights program is about making sure companies respect human rights. This blog draws attention to issues of corporate accountability, human rights violations, and the need for legislation to hold Canadian companies accountable. We focus primarily on Canadian mining, oil and gas companies, as well as other areas of Business and Human Rights. For more information and opportunities to take action, we encourage you to join AI-Canada’s Business and Human Rights email list serve. To join, send an email to aices_business_and_hr-subscribe@yahoogroups.com
New blog!
26 August 2010 2:09 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
URGENT ACTION: Bangladesh: Workers and Activists at Risk
24 August 2010 2:52 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
In recent weeks, police have detained at least 21 garment factory employees and labour rights activists following violent street protests in and around the Bangladeshi capital, Dhaka. They are at risk of torture or other ill-treatment. Some workers and activists have gone into hiding. Several others have said that they or their relatives have received death threats from security forces.
At least six female garment workers detained in early August, including a pregnant woman, have been beaten by police officers during interrogation. One is reportedly badly injured but has not received medical attention.
Indian government rejection of Vedanta bauxite mine a “landmark victory” for Indigenous rights
24 August 2010 12:26 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE 24 August 2010
Amnesty International today described the Indian government’s decision to reject the bauxite mine project in Orissa’s Niyamgiri Hills as a landmark victory for the human rights of Indigenous communities.
India’s Ministry of Environment and Forests today rejected the mine project proposed by a subsidiary of UK-based Vedanta Resources and the state-owned Orissa Mining Corporation, after finding that the project already extensively violates forest and environmental laws and would perpetrate abuses against the Dongria Kondh adivasi and other communities on the Hills.
Nigeria: UN must not use flawed data on cause of oil spills
24 August 2010 12:25 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL PRESS RELEASE 23 August 2010
Amnesty International today challenged the credibility of data cited by a senior UN official investigating oil-impacted sites in Ogoniland in the Niger Delta.
A United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) official is reported to have said that 90 per cent of oil spills in Ogoniland were due to sabotage and criminal activity, and just 10 per cent due to equipment failure and negligence by companies such as Shell.
Amnesty International has challenged UNEP’s reliance on these figures, which were produced by Nigerian regulatory agencies that are known to depend heavily on the oil companies themselves when it comes to spill investigations.
STOP ACTION: INDIA: Abducted Indigenous Campaigners Released
12 August 2010 1:49 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
Lado Sikaka, a leader of the Dongria Kondh Indigenous communities in India, was released on 12 August, two days after being abducted. Sana Sikaka, another leader who was abducted at the same time, was released on 11 August.
Amnesty International thanks all who sent appeals. No further action is requested from the UA Network.
URGENT ACTION India: Gunmen abduct Indigenous anti-mine campaigner
11 August 2010 2:51 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
Lado Sikaka, a leader of the Dongria Kondh community in Orissa state, was heading to Delhi for a protest against a bauxite mining project when he was abducted. Help Amnesty International locate him.
GUATEMALA: ONE MINING ACTIVIST SHOT, ANOTHER THREATENED
9 August 2010 7:01 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
On 7 July, a Guatemalan human rights defender campaigning against mining in her Indigenous community was shot. Another activist campaigning locally against mining has been threatened.
click for more...Trafigura found guilty in toxic waste dumping tragedy
9 August 2010 5:09 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
Press Release: Amnesty International today [Jul 23] welcomed the guilty verdict by a Dutch court against the multinational company, Trafigura, for delivering hazardous waste to Amsterdam while concealing the true nature of the waste, and for exporting the waste to Cote D’Ivoire.
Today’s verdict is the first time the company has been held criminally accountable for its involvement in exporting the hazardous waste to Cote d’Ivoire.
“This judgement appears damning given Trafigura’s previous denials of any wrongdoing. The waste, which was ultimately dumped in Cote d’Ivoire, had a huge impact on the lives of tens of thousands of people,” said Benedetta Lacey, a special advisor at Amnesty International who has visited Côte d’Ivoire and met victims of the dumping.
India: Seek free, prior, informed consent of Dongria Kondh on the Niyamgiri bauxite mine project
9 August 2010 1:42 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
Amnesty International Public Statement
Authorities in India need to establish a process to seek the free, prior, informed consent (FPIC) of Dongria Kondh adivasi (indigenous) communities on the proposed bauxite mine project in Niyamgiri, Orissa, and respect their decision, Amnesty International said today, on the occasion of the United Nations’ International Day of the World's Indigenous Peoples.
Several adivasi communities in mineral-rich states including Orissa, Chhattisgarh, Jharkhand, Bihar, Andhra Pradesh and West Bengal have been protesting over the potential negative impacts of mining projects on their traditional forest lands and habitats on which they have been completely dependent for centuries. The Indian authorities have often failed to consult the communities to seek their consent or provide them with prior information on the projects. These protests are occurring even as India is considering new legislation aimed at expanding its mining sector.
Urgent Action: Zimbabwe (update 1)
30 June 2010 3:08 pm
Posted by: Fiona Koza
Human rights defender Farai Maguwu was arrested on 3 June after passing on information about human rights abuses to an independent monitor of the diamond trade. Farai Maguwu is being held in Harare Central Remand Prison. He is a prisoner of conscience, held for carrying out his human rights work.
