On 7 July 2010 in Amsterdam, the International Federation of Human Rights launched a highly enriching and resourceful guide NGOs and victims on how to address abuse of human rights by the corporate world. The Corporate Accountability for Human Rights Abuses: A Guide for Victims and NGOs on Recourse Mechanisms provides practical tools for NGOs as well as victims on how “to seek justice and obtain reparation for victims of human rights abuses involving multinational corporations.”
Corporate injustices have led to wide scale abuse of human rights in various parts of the world. For example, “In Latin America, union leaders are being shot for publicly claiming their rights in many countries such as Mexico, Colombia, Guatemala and El Salvador. From the Philippines to Peru, indigenous peoples’ right to be consulted in relation to investment projects in the extractive industry continues to be ignored. Twenty years after the Bhopal tragedy, in which toxic gases leaked from a pesticide plant owned by the Union Carbide Corporation, thousands of surviving victims are still awaiting fair compensation and the plant site has still not been cleaned up.”
The guide provides information about various options, approaches and strategies available for human rights activists to fight such injustices. There are “intergovernmental mechanisms, legal options, mediation mechanisms such as the OECD national contact points, complaints mechanisms stemming from financial support received by companies and mechanisms that can be explored according to voluntary commitments taken by companies.”
The guide can be downloaded from this link.
