All too often we hear about big transnational companies (TNCs) that violate human rights and about their victims lacking access to justice in their own countries. Most of the time, these crimes remain unpunished. But what if a UN Treaty on business and human rights would address this system of impunity and enable us to hold companies to account? Global Policy Forum and some European NGOs are supporting the call by the Treaty Alliance, a coalition of over hundreds of NGOs pushing for the UN treaty, to all states to constructively and proactively engage in the negotiations of the treaty. Please support this call and sign the new statement of the Treaty Alliance.
June 30, 2017 | Global Policy Forum et al.
Support a Treaty on Business & Human Rights: Sign the new Statement of the Treaty Alliance!
All too often we hear about big transnational companies (TNCs) that violate human rights and about their victims lacking access to justice in their own countries. Through joint national and international campaigning, naming and shaming of perpetrating companies and direct action in the home and host country of these TNCs, it is sometimes possible to seek justice with and for the affected people. But most of the time, these crimes remain unpunished.
But what if a UN Treaty on business and human rights would address this system of impunity and enable us to hold companies to account?
Since 2014, a UN open-ended intergovernmental working group has been mandated by the Human Rights Council to “elaborate an international legally binding instrument to regulate, in international human rights law, the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.” In October 2017 the UN Human Rights Council will start negotiations on a binding treaty for business in relation to human rights that could prove an invaluable tool for communities facing human rights abuses from TNCs. This treaty can make a difference to millions of people around the world who now often have nowhere to turn to.
Sadly, the EU is not proactively supporting this initiative, nor are its individual member states. It is therefore important that we make sure that the EU and its member states support the negotiations and a binding treaty to hold businesses to account for their human rights abuses.
As European NGOs, we are supporting the call by the Treaty Alliance, a coalition of over hundreds of NGOs pushing for the UN treaty, to all states to constructively and proactively engage in the negotiations of the treaty. Please support this call by going to the website and sign the petition: https://treatyalliance.squarespace.com/statement
Join the movement! We need to be more numerous to make the voices of the victims heard and to put an end to TNCs impunity. Please share this petition in your network and sign!
- Alberto Martínez - Attac Spain
- Alejandro González - Amigos de la Tierra/Friends of the Earth Spain
- Andrea Söderblom - Tay, Friends of the Earth Sweden
- Anne van Schaik - Friends of the Earth Europe
- Denise Auclair - CIDSE
- Femke Wijdekop - IUCN National Committee of the Netherlands
- Giosuè De Salvo - Manitese
- Hélène Capocci - Entraide et Fraternité
- István Farkas - MTVSZ / Friends of the Earth Hungary
- Jerome Chaplier - ECCJ
- Juliette Renaud - Les Amis de la Terre / Friends of the Earth France
- Karolin Seitz - Global Policy Forum
- Lydia de Leeuw - SOMO
- Maddelena Neglia - FIDH
- Michel Cermak - CNCD
- Morten Thaysen - Global Justice Now
- Noora Oajala - Friends of the Earth Finland
- Petr Mares - Nazemi
- Petter Slaatrem Titland - Attac Norway
- Pia Eberhardt - Corporate Europe Observatory
New Statement of the Treaty Alliance
We call States to participate actively in upcoming negotiations of the international treaty to ensure protection of human rights from the activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises
We welcome the two successful sessions (2015 and 2016) of the United Nations open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights exploring the nature, scope, and elements that could be included in a “legally binding instrument on transnational corporations and other business enterprises with respect to human rights”. The OEIGWG will hold its next session in October 23-27, 2017, to begin negotiating the content and scope of the new instrument.
Globally, corporations are engaged in operations that result in environmental pollution and degradation, land grabbing, use of slave labor, threats to access to medicines and public health services, disrespect of labor standards, and cases of violence against people and human rights defenders, among others. For these abuses, corporations must be held accountable. Currently, there are a series of regulatory gaps, some due to the fact that corporations operate internationally, while the laws regulating them have a national character. In this context of impunity, business corporations more easily capture international as well as national institutions. Trade and investment agreements signed by States guarantee corporations ample rights and privileges and profit making, but there is no corresponding international regulation by States to ensure that the operations of corporations are conducted without incurring human and environmental rights abuses. The introduction and regulation of corporations’ liabilities nationally and internationally is needed so that States finally start meeting their obligations to protect human rights and the environment against harmful activities of transnational corporations and other business enterprises.
We believe that the rich debate that has taken place at the OEIGWG so far has shown the need for an international, legally binding instrument to (1) enhance the protection of affected individuals and communities against violations related to the operation of transnational corporations and other business enterprises, and (2) provide them with access to effective remedies, in particular through judicial mechanisms. The sessions included exchanges and debates between representatives of affected communities, experts, jurists, activists, and parliamentarians from different regions and sectors, with State representatives. The sessions have contributed to the identification of a common ground for further progress in the elaboration of the treaty based on the primary obligation of States to protect human rights, including extraterritorially.
The mobilization of movements and national and international civil society organizations has significantly grown. Their constant, constructive advocacy at national level and presence in the United Nations deliberations has been key to supporting the process and shown the importance of the prospective treaty for the struggles for social justice and human rights in the world.
The new legally binding instrument should be a step forward in the promotion and protection of human rights, building on previous efforts, and establishing a complementary framework to the existing international human rights instruments. A set of binding obligations and enforcement mechanisms is the next necessary and logical step in the process that started several decades ago. The treaty must stipulate the primacy of human rights law over corporate rights and privileges which are enshrined in the biased and unfair framework created in trade and investment agreements. It must also establish a strong international framework for corporate legal accountability to ensure access to justice for affected individuals and communities and thus put an end to business impunity. International cooperation among States must be strengthened to address these global regulatory challenges.
To be successful, the third session of the OEIGWG should encourage: (1) A substantive, cooperative, and constructive negotiation between States about concrete and detailed elements of the treaty concerning its content and scope, (2) A participatory approach to ensure diverse civil society perspectives, and (3) The establishment of a road map for the completion of the negotiations within a short period of time.
We underline our strong commitment to the process, urging all States to focus on the negotiation of the content of the treaty at this occasion. We call on the public to pay attention to this critical process and actively mobilize in support of it at the national, regional and international level.
See all signatories and sign the statement here.
This statement is also available in Spanish, French, Arabic, Portuguese, Chinese, Bahasa, Hindi, German and Italian.
