Company Engagement
New Delhi, INDIA: An Indian victim of the 1984 Bhopal gas tragedy wears a mask and shouts anti-government and anti-Union Carbide slogans during a protest in New Delhi, 24 July 2006. The protestors demanded justice for victims of the Bhopal gas tragedy which took place in December 1984 when a cloud of noxious gas emitted from a Union Carbide Factory and killed more than 8,000 people and injured in the region of 200,000. Manan Vatsyayana/AFP/Getty Images
"At Amnesty International, we begin with the belief that no Canadian corporation wants a dollar tainted by the misery of a fellow human. We call on Canada's business leaders to embrace respect for human rights as a cardinal business principle."
Alex Neve, Secretary General, Amnesty International Canada (English Section)
All companies have an obligation to promote and respect human rights. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights calls on, "every individual and organ of society" to pay its part in the respect for human rights. But all too often we hear about companies that are directly or indirectly contributing to human rights abuses. It is dismaying that many of these companies are Canadian trans-nationals.
Amnesty believes that companies should cooperate in creating an environment where human rights are understood and respected. The silence of powerful business interests in the face of injustice is not neutral and Amnesty believes that companies can play a powerful and positive role in upholding human rights.
AI-Canada meets with Canadian companies to discuss their actual or potential human rights impact and give advice on appropriate policies. We contact companies when we have concerns, and sometimes we raise those concerns with the government, investors and the general public. When appropriate, we ask Amnesty members and other stakeholders - including shareholders - to put pressure on companies too. Where relevant, AI-Canada also works with Amnesty's international movement to address human rights issues facing companies that are not Canadian. And there are examples of successful engagement with companies which has resulted in companies improving their human rights performances.
When human rights violations do occur, Amnesty works with our international movement to ensure that the victims of these violations are not forgotten and that their demands for justice are heard.
Human Rights Principles for Companies
Amnesty International is calling on Canadian companies to:
- Develop a detailed human rights policy and ensure that compliance with this policy is regularly verified by an independent third party;
- Clearly communicate human rights values to their partners, suppliers, contractors and security personnel;
- Ensure that their operations or investments do not directly or indirectly contribute to human rights abuses;
- Be a voice for increased respect for human rights by creating opportunities to discuss human rights with political leaders and government agencies.
- Uphold the rights of Indigenous peoples including the principles of meaningful consultation and free, prior and informed consent.
Examples of Amnesty's Company Engagement
DOW CHEMICAL: On the night of 2 December 1984 in Bhopal, India, tons of toxic gases leaked from a pesticide plant owned by the US-based multinational Union Carbide Corporation (now owned by Dow Chemical). In the 22 years since then, at least 22,000 people in Bhopal have died from illnesses resulting from their exposure to the gas. Amnesty is helping to defend the rights of the people of Bhopal.
GOLDCORP: In 2006, Glamis Gold was purchased by Vancouver-based Goldcorp in 2006. Goldcorp operates the Marlin Mine through its subsidiary, Montana Exploradora de Guatemala SA in the province of San Marcos in Guatemala's western highlands. There has been wide-spread opposition to the mine among the mainly Maya-Mam inhabitants of the region. In 2005, one person was killed and others injured in protests against the mine. Also in 2005, residents of Sipakapa held a community referendum and voted overwhelmingly against the mine. The company challenged the results in the Guatemalan courts and won. Residents of San Miguel Ixtahuancan, another municipality affected by the mine, claim that seismic explosions at the mine have damaged houses in the community. There have been reports that acid drainage from the mine is releasing heavy metals into the nearby river. In March 2007, Amnesty reported on threats made against an Italian chemist working with a local environmental NGO after he released a report which attributed local water contamination to the mine. Amnesty has met with Goldcorp to discuss these issues and is working with socially responsible investors and pension funds to pressure the company to improve its human rights performance.
IVANHOE MINES: Ivanhoe Mines, a Vancouver-based mining company, operated a copper mine in Myanmar (Burma) under joint ownership with a Myanmar government-owned mining company for nearly a decade. Royalties, rents and the sharing of profits were paid to the military government, a brutal regime that routinely denied citizens their basic human rights. In 2007, the company announced it would divest itself of its stake in the Monywa Copper mine and focus resources instead on developing the Oyu Tolgoi copper mine in the South Gobi, Mongolia. In 2007, Ivanhoe Mines announced its partnership with the Rio Tinto Group, which has a 42.2% stake in Oyu Tolgoi. An Investment Agreement between the Mongolian government and Ivanhoe Mines is currently awaiting parliamentary approval. In 2007 Amnesty supported a shareholder resolution asking the company to take a proactive position on human rights by developing a human rights policy to guide its operations in Mongolia. Amnesty is currently in dialogue with the company, which has been more open to speaking with Amnesty than in previous years.
WEYERHAEUSER: Weyerhaeuser, a US forestry company based in Federal Way, Washington, is a key purchaser of wood fibre from Abitibi Consolidated, a company that has been granted licenses to log areas of the Whiskey Jack Forestry Management Unit on land traditionally belonging to the Asubpeeshoseewagong (Grassy Narrows) First Nation in north-western Ontario, Canada. The people of Grassy Narrows have denounced clear-cut logging as incompatible with traditional ways of life. In December 2002, youth from Grassy Narrows, frustrated over the lack of response from government, initiated a blockade of the main logging road nearest the community. In 2007, a US investor filed a human rights resolution with the company which Amnesty supported. In April, Amnesty conducted an international research mission to Grassy Narrows. At the same time, Amnesty staff attended Weyerhaeuser's shareholder meeting in Washington State to share our human rights concerns with the Board of Directors and shareholders. Amnesty met with Weyerhaeuser's Canadian division senior management in 2007. Amnesty is calling on the company to establish alternative sources of wood fibre for its operations and to adopt policies consistent with the requirement of consultation and consent in international and national law. Amnesty is calling on Weyerhaeuser to develop a human rights policy to guide its global operations and to review its Aboriginal Policy Framework. Amnesty is pleased that the company is making a consistent effort to address our concerns.
Take Action
For a list of additional letter-writing actions to companies, click here.
Share Power
AI-Canada also uses shareholder activism to engage with companies. Read more about our Share Power program.
The Canada Pension Plan
Every person in Canada over the age of 18 who earns a salary or is self-employed must pay a percentage of their salary into the Canada Pension Plan (CPP) (or the Quebec Pension Plan if you work in Quebec ). The CPP Investment Board, an investment corporation that invests surplus CPP contributions and operates independently of the CPP, has a pot worth over ninety billion dollars. It invests over fifty billion dollars in companies (equities). The main duty of the CPP Investment Board is to maximize investment returns without undue risk.
Amnesty International believes that all working people in Canada who contribute to the CPP have a right to ask the CPP Investment Board to use their influence as investors on our behalf to improve the human rights performance of Canadian oil, gas and mining companies. The CPP Investment Board holds shares in all of the companies on the Share Power Company List.
Even if you don't own a penny of stock, you still have a voice! You can call on the CPP-IB to ensure it uses its influence to improve human rights!
Updated: 18 December 2007