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Almost three years after the murder of well-known Indigenous rights and river defender Berta Cáceres in Honduras, there are finally some bittersweet steps towards justice. They are half steps, fraught with troubling omissions and violations of due process. But important steps forward none the less.
In a unanimous verdict, a three-judge tribunal of the National Criminal Court convicted seven men of involvement in the murder of the beloved human rights defender who was awarded the prestigious Goldman Environmental Prize for her tireless, courageous efforts to stop the Agua Zarca dam because of its impacts in Lenca Indigenous territory.
Thanks you so much to those of you who sent letters and postcards to the President of Microsoft Canada urging the company to investigate whether child labour and other human rights abuses are found in their cobalt supply chain.
Thanks to you and our supporters around the world Microsoft is beginning to bow to pressure.
The company released a report in October 2018 setting out the steps they’ve taken to map their cobalt supply chain. While this is progress, Microsoft has a long way to go to meet our concerns and international standards.
The company has yet to tell us exactly how they’re identifying, preventing and addressing potential human rights abuses in their cobalt supply chain.
We’re halting our action for the moment, but we won’t let Microsoft rest until they follow up on their commitments, and there is real evidence of change on the ground in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
This weekend, CBC-TV will broadcast a special documentary about courageous Guatemalan villagers who are taking a Canadian mining company to court.
Watch the 3 minute trailer
Airs: Friday, November 30 at 9 p.m. (9:30 NT) on CBC, the CBC TV streaming app, and https://watch.cbc.ca/. Repeating on News Network Sunday, December 2nd at 8 p.m. ET/PT, and Thursday, December 6th at 10 p.m. ET/PT.

On December 10, 2018, the world will celebrate the 70th anniversary of the adoption of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. In 1948, this historic moment signalled the beginning of new era founded on respect for human dignity and the belief that all people worldwide should be able to exercise their rights in full equality. Seventy years later, the increasing impacts of climate change are undermining these values.
Preserving the vision of a shared future where all people can live in peace and dignity now requires decisive action by all governments. To remain true to their commitment to protect human rights for all, governments must urgently tackle the disastrous impacts of the fossil fuel industry on our planet; protect those speaking up for the rights of their communities and for their supporting ecosystems; promote gender equality; provide adequate support to vulnerable countries and impacted communities; and guarantee that projects implemented in the name of climate action do not reinforce existing abuses or create new ones.
Today is the final day of the 2018 UN Forum on Business and Human Rights - the world's largest annual gathering on BHR.
Among the 2,000 participants at this 3-day meeting in Switzerland are Angelica Choc and Joycelyn Mandi, who traveled from their communities in Guatemala and Papua New Guinea respectively and are asking “Where is Canada’s Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise?”
(The Canadian government committed to create an Ombudsperson more than ten months ago but has yet to appoint anyone to the post).
How much longer must mining-affected communities wait? Amnesty International, MiningWatch Canada and the Canadian Network on Corporate Accountability are drawing attention to this issue at the UN Forum on Business and Human Rights this week.
Read our press release
Want a job at Google?
(To apply you’ll need good coding skills… and absolutely no morals).
watch video
In 2010, the largest search engine in the world made a promise not to support China’s censorship of the internet. But it was recently revealed that Google is preparing to break its promise.
Google has been working on a secretive program to re-launch its search engine in China code-named Google Dragonfly - even if it means cooperating with the Chinese government’s repressive online censorship and surveillance.

Anielle Franco is an English teacher, former competitive volleyball player, parent of an energetic toddler, and a powerful grassroots advocate for the rights of black women in Brazil.
She also happens to be the sister of renowned Brazilian women human rights defender and politician Marielle Franco, who was murdered in Rio de Janeiro earlier this year. Jackie Hansen, Amnesty’s Gender Rights Campaigner, reports on Anielle’s human rights work including her ongoing campaign for justice for Marielle.

Women human rights defenders experience harassment and violence because of what they’re advocating for and because of their gender.
People who advocate for freedom, justice, and equality often do so in an environment where they are demonized and restricted in their work. Many human rights defenders are smeared, threatened, physically attacked, criminalized and sometimes even killed, just for daring to stand up to those in power.
Imagine now how much harder your life as a human rights defender must be if you were targeted not only for what you do but also for who you are: welcome to your life as a woman human rights defender.

Alisa Lombard is an associate with Maurice Law, Canada’s first national Indigenous-owned law firm, and the lead on a proposed class action law suit in Saskatchewan brought by two women who claim having been forcibly or coercively sterilized between 2000-2010. Over 60 women have reached out reporting they were sterilized without proper and informed consent, most from Saskatchewan, and also from Alberta, British Columbia, Manitoba, and Ontario.
We spoke with Alisa the week the issue of the ongoing practice of forced and coerced sterilizations of Indigenous women and girls in Canada became headline news, prompting calls for urgent action to end this human rights violation and provide justice for the survivors.