Government fails to act on corporate human rights abuse
Monday, March 8th, 2010
Today a coalition of leading UK NGOs criticised the government for failing to take action to ensure corporate responsibility overseas. Responding to government’s statement on the findings of the Joint Committee for Human Rights, Hannah Ellis, Coordinator of The CORE Coalition said:
“The Joint Committee for Human Rights was damming of the Government’s failure to address corporate wrongdoing overseas. The Government has in no way answered the JCHR’s criticisms and instead has signaled business as usual for companies whose concern for profit is put way ahead of the interests of the communities and environment in which they operate.”
She continued…
“Only by offering coherent guidance to companies and allowing proper access to redress for overseas victims of corporate abuse will this problem be resolved. By failing to take the JCHR’s criticisms seriously, the government has lost an opportunity to make Britain a global leader on corporate responsibility.”
The Enquiry, commissioned in spring 2009, involved a major review of human rights impacts of UK companies. It concluded that UK companies operating overseas often have no incentive to prevent their operations from leading to human rights abuses, leaving them open to risks such as litigation or damaging public campaigns. This is often the case in developing countries where enforcement of human rights standards is less stringent than in the UK. The Committee also found that the UK Government’s current approach to business and human rights is incoherent and letting business down by failing to provide enough guidance to companies on how to avoid abusing human rights.
The CORE Coalition believes the Government’s response to the Enquiry today has been disappointing. Although the Government acknowledge, in their response, that there is a need for greater clarity for companies on the distinction between respecting human rights and acts of general philanthropy, they fail to commit to taking any concrete action to improve accountability mechanisms that would ensure human rights standards are respected by UK companies, such as through the introduction of a UK Commission for Business, Human Rights & The Environment.
The Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition – a group of NGOs, ethical businesses and trade unions – are calling on the Government to put in place a new UK Commission on Business, Human Rights and the Environment to oversee the conduct of British companies operating overseas. This Commission would be mandated to ensure UK companies adhere to international human rights and environmental standards and have a duty to provide remedy to victims to whose rights have been violated.
Evidence submitted to the Committee by The CORE Coalition included the following examples of UK company abuses overseas:
- Bangladeshis paid far less than a living wage making clothes for Tesco, Asda and Primark.
- indigenous communities’ livelihoods threatened by mining giant Vedanta’s operations in India
- communities in the Niger Delta forced to endure Shell’s hazardous gas flaring despite a legal ban.
Find out more about The JCHR enquiry here
Further Information:
Hannah Ellis, Coordinator, The Corporate Responsibility (CORE) Coalition
Tel: +44 (0) 207 566 1601
www.corporate-responsibility.org
The Committee Report and Governments Response is available here http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/jt/jtrights.htm