BUSINESS AND HUMAN RIGHTS

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Last updated on July 11, 2023

PROFIT AT WHAT PRICE?

Privatization and economic globalization have given companies unprecedented access to new territories, and expanded their reach across national borders.

But all companies, no matter where they are, have a direct responsibility to respect human rights in their own operations.

Amnesty International believes that the business community also has a wider responsibility – moral and legal – to use its influence to promote respect for human rights.

  • Corporate Accountability: Governments bear the primary responsibility for ensuring that companies respect human rights. But companies must also uphold human rights in their operations. Join Amnesty International in its call for more effective regulation of business to prevent human rights violations, better practices by companies and accountability and access to justice.
  • International Financial Institutions: Amnesty International’s evolving interest in the field of trade, investment and human rights reflects a wider critical focus on the human rights implications of international trade and investment agreements.
  • Internet Censorship: Amnesty International is concerned that foreign corporations, in their pursuit of new and lucrative markets, are providing technology to censor and control the use of the Internet in China.
  • Oil, Gas and Mining Industries: The oil industry is abusing the human rights of hundreds of thousands of people in Nigeria’s Niger Delta region. So far, the Nigerian government can’t or won’t hold oil companies accountable.
  • Private Military and Security Companies: Amnesty International USA strives to ensure that private, military and security companies complicit in human rights violations are brought to justice and seeks to put adequate regulations and laws in place to improve oversight and accountability of the industry.

Note: The Business and Human Rights Group is a resource for AIUSA members and supporters interested in learning more about AIUSA’s corporate accountability work. Contact the BHRG at [email protected] with any questions or comments regarding AIUSA’s corporate accountability work, or connect with us using the resources listed below.