Just Earth!
US Responsibility
RIGHTS AT RISK
The human rights situation within the United States has changed following the September 11, 2001 attacks. While the Bush administration has sought international cooperation to fight the "war on terror," it has spurned the global community on a whole range of issues from global warming to proliferation of nuclear and biological weapons to the newly created International Criminal Court.
Call on your Congressional representatives to make corporate social responsibility and accountability a central feature of U.S. foreign policy.
- Let them know that as home to a majority of the largest transnational corporations in the world, the U.S. has a leadership role to play in the global efforts to hold corporations accountable for promoting human rights.
- Schedule a meeting in Washington, DC, or at their home district offices and ask them to take action on one or more of the specific cases of environmental defenders and communities-at-risk highlighted in this report.
Call or write the US State Department to do the following:
- Expand coverage of individual environmental
defender cases in the annual State
Department Country Report on Human Rights.
-
Create a new section in the annual State
Department Country Reports on Human Rights
on the impact of direct foreign investments of
transnational corporations and international
financial institutions such as the International
Monetary Fund (IMF) and the World Bank on
human rights situations in profiled countries.
The annual country report needs to reflect the
changing face of human rights violations in the
21st century where corporations have emerged
as the dominant governance institutions in the
world, with the largest of them exceeding most
governments in financial size and power. This
section should cover four critical areas of monitoring:
- nature of the consultation process that corporations undertake with local affected communities prior to the start of development projects;
- completion of a thorough environmental impact assessment;
- existence of security arrangements with the host government or third parties;
- and human rights training provided for security forces used to protect company assets.
Demand corporate accountability
Corporations rule our contemporary world. Many of the largest transnational corporations generate revenues greater than the gross domestic products of most countries in the world. Transnational corporations often exercise their power and influence in shaping domestic and foreign policies of both home and host countries. In the U.S., companies spend millions of dollars on campaign contributions and lobbying for legislations favorable to them. Governments, especially those in poor developing countries, are under increasing pressure to create conducive conditions for foreign investments. The competition between poor nations for foreign investment, called "the race to the bottom," often leads to the relaxation of environmental, labor, and human rights standards. Amnesty International believes that transnational corporations have a responsibility to promote and respect the broad range of human rights including the right of people to live in an environment adequate to their health and well being. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) makes it obligatory for every organ of society, including transnational corporations, to protect human rights.Through letterwriting or shareholder activism, urge coporations to:
- Uphold the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
- Develop and adopt a comprehensive, transparent and verifiable human rights policy with an explicit commitment to support and uphold the principles of the UDHR.
- Ensure the environmental sustainability of their investments or projects by cooperating with local communities and host governments to undertake independent and verifiable audits to assess the environmental impacts of development projects and develop plans for corrective action.
- Respect the interests, rights and culture of local Indigenous communities to be consulted in a free, fair and impartial manner in order to give free, prior and informed consent before undertaking any development activities on their lands.
- Uphold international standards in their security arrangements with private companies or host government forces, when policing company facilities or responding to community protests.
- Use their considerable influence to intervene on behalf of threatened human rights and environmental advocates and communities at risk.