31 October 2013

UN Working Group: States and corporations need to do more to prevent the violation of indigenous peoples’ rights

Pavel Sulyandziga, Chair of the United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, said that states and corporations need to do more to prevent the violation of indigenous peoples’ rights as a result of business-related activities.

Sulyandziga presented the report of the Working Group in the Third Committee of the UN General Assembly. The report highlights how the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights can clarify the roles and responsibilities of states, business enterprises and indigenous peoples in addressing violations of indigenous peoples’ rights.

Source: UN News Centre | UN expert body urges action to prevent violation of indigenous rights due to business activities

8 September 2013

Foreign states and companies helped Syria to amass chemical weapons

The New York Times reports that over the past decades, Syria amassed stockpiles of chemical weapons with the help from the Soviet Union, China, Czechoslovakia and Iran, as well as Western European and American suppliers.

Source: The New York Times | With the World Watching, Syria Amassed Nerve Gas

1 February 2013

Fact Finding Mission of the UN Human Rights Council calls on states to act in relation to Israel’s violations of international law in the occupied territories

States should not recognise an unlawful situation resulting from Israel’s violations of international law in the occupied territories, and states should take appropriate measures to make sure that business enterprises that are domiciled in their territory – that conduct activities in or related to the settlements – respect human rights. These are some of the recommendations in the advance copy of the Report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

The report also calls on private companies to assess the human rights impact of their activities, and to take all necessary steps to ensure they are not adversely impacting the human rights of the Palestinian People, in accordance with international law, as well as the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Source: Human Rights Council | Report of the independent international fact-finding mission to investigate the implications of the Israeli settlements on the civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights of the Palestinian people throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem