Check against delivery
10 May 2012
Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational
corporations and other business enterprises
Second Session
7-11 May 2012
Amnesty International intervention at the open consultation with stakeholders regarding the first annual Forum on Business and Human Rights
Thank you MadamChairperson,
Amnesty Internationalwelcomes the Annual Forum as an opportunity to developbroader agreement on how to tackle the major challenges faced in the field of business and human rights. The Forum should be a platform for advancing practically the implementation of existing standards on business and human rights and for identifying areas where standard-setting is needed. To ensure that the Forumfulfils its promise, each discussion should have clearly-defined objectives directed to specific outcomes, including recommendations for the Working Group and other stakeholders.
Following the thematic priorities outlined in our December 2011 submission to the Working Group, Amnesty International has three recommendations forthemesfor the first Forum.
First, improving access to justice for victims of corporate abuse, particularly for vulnerable groups, is a priority. Robust recommendations are required to respond to the real challenges currently being faced by individuals and communities who are seeking legal redress for business-related abuses. Cases like Union Carbide and Dow in Bhopal, where environmental contamination continues to affect water quality and livelihoods 28 years after the disaster, clearly illustrate that both governments and business are failing to live up to international standards on the right to an effective remedy. The implications for access to justice of the new Legal Aid Act in the UK and the pending decision on the Alien Tort Statute by the US Supreme Court demonstrate the urgency of this issue.
Second, the human rights impacts of the extractive industries should be a priority due to the particularly invasive nature of their operations and the environments in which they often operate – these carry high risks of adverse effects on human rights. Attention should be given to the particular impact of the extractive industries on women, indigenous peoples and human rights defenders.
Third, we support the proposal by other NGOs to address public finance and human rights. Helping to ensure that the Framework and Guiding Principles are properly embedded in the policies of international finance institutions is a clear fit with each of the Working Group’s proposed work streams. There is still much to be done in this area – despite the recent update to its Sustainability Framework, the International Finance Corporation’s policies still do not adequately reflect existing business and human rights standards.
The work of the Forum must be grounded in real-world examples of business-related human rights abuses. The Forum can effectively “identify trends, challenges and good practices in the implementation of the Guiding Principles” only on the basis of an analysis of actual situations and emblematic cases.
The Working Group should issue a public call for emblematic casesto inform the Forum’s discussion.The Forum should discuss the key challenges and lessons learned within each case study with the expressobjective of generating useful and practical recommendations.
The inclusion of real-world case studies will also promote the participation of affected individuals and communities. Rights-holders are more likely to engage in a discussion if it has a clear resonance with their own situation. It is essential that representatives from governments and businessesarealso present and able to put forward their points of view on the case studies under discussion.
Our final recommendation is that each year the location of the Forum moves to a different geographic region including Asia, Africa and the Americas.This will contribute to ensuring a more inclusive and global consideration of the issues before the Working Group.
Thank you.