Weekly Update - 24 Jun 2015

(Photo credit: Maina Kiai)

• white paper: Prof. Douglass Cassel & Prof. Anita Ramasastry outline possible options for proposed treaty, including on structure & content
• Institute for Human Rights and Business encourages intergovt. working group to build on UN Guiding Principles successes & assess implementation challenges
• Treaty Alliance publishes recommendations for intergovt. working group on process, form, scope & content of proposed binding treaty
• UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of assembly calls for binding human rights treaty & implementation of UN Guiding Principles to be pursued in parallel
• commentary: "Regulatory initiatives on business & human rights: Where are the victims?"

• also new on climate justice: Court ruling requires Dutch govt. to adopt more stringent climate policies in landmark case on responsibilities for climate impacts
• South Pacific states to sue fossil fuel companies over contribution to climate change & resulting human rights impacts

Danish Institute for Human Rights

• open source database of 1,000 indicators
• case studies from Barrick Gold, BHP Billiton Petroleum, Human Rights Commission of Sierra Leone, twentyfifty

Just Security (USA)

•  decision & case profile available on our Corporate Accountability Big Issue

Environmental Rights Action/Friends of the Earth Nigeria; Science Daily

• we invited Wilmar Intl. to respond - response provided
• letter by community committee also provided

Centre for Environmental Rights; Earthlife Africa;  Science Daily

• we invited Engie to respond - it did not

Standard Digital (Kenya)

Fórum Suape, CPT, Centro das Mulheres do Cabo and Action Aid

• we invited the company to respond - response provided (only in Portuguese)

Asamblea por el Agua del Guasco Alto

• we invited Barrick Gold to respond - response provided

National Human Rights Commission (Komnas HAM) & Institute for Policy Research and Advocacy (ELSAM)

Irrawaddy (Myanmar); Voice of America

• we invited Snowy Mountains Engineering Corp. (SMEC) to respond - response provided

• we invited Gräf Granit to respond - response provided (only available in German)

Danish Institute for Human Rights; Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research

Fair Wear Foundation

• includes legal opinion from Arnold & Porter

Novinite (Bulgaria)

Living Wage Foundation

Guardian (UK)

Today's Zaman (Turkey)

Julia Neiva, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, in El Pais

Mauricio Lazala & Joseph Bardwell, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, on Open Global Rights

• with examples from adidas, BP, Brilliant Earth, Coca-Cola, Columbia, FIFA, Formula One Group, Gap, Goldman Sachs, Google, H&M, Inditex, Leber Jeweler, Levi Strauss, Microsoft, Morgan Stanley, Puma, Tiffany, and Visa Group

Cheng Qian, Wuhan University & Lowell Chow, Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, in China Development Brief

International Service for Human Rights; Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

International Service for Human Rights; Business & Human Rights Resource Centre

• seminar on community consultations & mega-projects (London, 24 Jun)
• conference: "Business and International Labor Rights" (Hague, 25 Jun)
• workshop on a treaty on business & human rights (Madrid, 26 Jun)
• event on protecting land rights in Colombia (London, 26 Jun)
• UN General Assembly Climate Change event (New York, 29 Jun)

• Open Society Foundations (Program Officer)
• Business & Human Rights Resource Centre (Communications Intern)
• Central European University (Passion Project Program Director)
• Deighton Pierce Glynn (Paralegal in Human Rights)
• Fair Trade Advocacy Office (Communications Intern) 
• International Alert (Senior Programme Design & Assessment Officer, Africa)