Human Rights

The United Nations (UN) negotiations for a Binding Treaty to regulate human rights violations perpetrated by transnational corporations and enable victims to access justice “have taken a qualitative leap forward,” declared the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power and Stop Impunity . Following the seventh round of negotiations hosted by the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva from 25-29 October,…

“What we see at the international level and often at the national level is an imbalance between the rights of peoples and the rights of corporations,” warned environmental activist Sam Cossar-Gilbert, speaking about the Investor-State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) mechanism in a recent webinar. ISDS is “a biased justice system, organised by private lawyers, not by judges, and it's a tool…

On 17 August 2021, the third revised draft of the Binding Treaty on human rights and transnational corporations was published- as part of the seven years of negotiations at the United Nations. As the negotiations develop and new drafts are presented, what has been agreed is becoming further removed from the demands of civil society. This latest draft is no…

“Asia is drowning in plastic,” says a new report from the Centre for Environmental Justice/Friends of the Earth Sri Lanka, launched in the wake of the 15th UN COP to the Basel Convention, which was held online from 26 to 30 July. The report, entitled “Breaking the Plastic Cycle in Asia”, exposes the reality of plastic waste dumping for people…

It has been a month since police opened fire on a workers peaceful demonstration at the under-construction Banshkhali Coal Power plant in Bangladesh. They were defending their worker's rights and payment of their overdue salary. "They were protesting because of their underwages, disgusting working conditions and also because they want to reduce a few working hours during Ramadan month", summarized…

“Today high income countries are vaccinating 25 times faster than the lowest income countries,” warned the Coordinator of the Development and Intellectual Property Programme at Third World Network (TWN), Sangeeta Shashikant, on Thursday. “Intellectual property waivers are a must in the context of a pandemic,” she added in an interview with Real World Radio. This Friday, the World Trade Organisation…

The African Peoples Tribunal, organised in Lagos and online by Friends of the Earth Africa, saw testimonies on cases from 10 African countries. The 24-28 November event ended with a call on governments to urgently ensure that human rights are respected and protected. It also denounced the collusion between governments and transnational corporations as objectionable and unacceptable. “This was probably…

“The world is currently facing a series of existential and interlocking crises… But as we know from the long history of inequality that exists in the world, people won’t suffer these crises equally, some are already bearing the brunt much more than others, and it is predominantly those in the Global South who are the ones at the forefront of…

Mama Fikile Ntshangase was shot dead at her home in Mtubatuba, KwaZulu-Natal province, by four gunmen on 22 October. She was Vice-Chairperson of a sub-committee of the Mfolozi Community Environmental Justice Organisation (MCEJO) and actively opposed the expansion of the Tendele coal mine near her home. “We feel that she was actually the target, and in killing her, the aim…

The Open-Ended Intergovernmental Working Group that is negotiating a Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights at the United Nations Human Rights Council ended its sixth round of negotiations on 30 October in Geneva, Switzerland. According to the social movements and organizations from all continents that are working for its adoption, the Binding Treaty should seek to ensure access to justice…