Holding transnational
corporations
accountable for human
rights violations
An analysis for a global
policy
Presentation
• Context
• Transnational corporations
(TNC) are not held accountable
for violating human rights
Context
• Content
• Making a legally binding UN
treaty to hold TNC accountable
• Process
• Ratification and
implementation
Actors
• Actors
• Stakeholder map
Content
Process
Context and problem
• 51 of the worlds largest economies are corporations
• TNC are seldom held accountable for exploiting often weak
states and violating human rights
• Examples:
• Chiquita paying AUC – a paramilitary group in Colombia
– killing and targeting labor unions in Colombia
• Former child slaves have sued Nestlé USA and Cargill for
using child slaves in their supply chain
• Chevron/Texaco polluting Ecuador with oil spills and
wastewater through decades
• TNC work hard to have cases dismissed claiming that they
are not responsible for their subsidiaries or suppliers, or if
the violations have occurred in countries outside their
headquarters
TNC and
health
• Depending on the actions and
violations on human rights
from TNC, they can affect
several layers regarding
health outcomes
• Oil spills in Ecuador
• Affecting the environment
• Associated with increased
abortions, skin myosis,
tiredness, ear pain, diarrhea,
gastritis, headaches, red eyes,
itchy nose, cancer.
Content and
proposed
solution
• “UN Guiding principles on Business and
Human rights” do exist, but is voluntary and
not binding
• A legally binding UN treaty that can hold TNC
accountable for violating human rights
• Victims of human rights violations should have
the right to bring their cases to courts in the
country where the violation has occurred, where
the TNC are based or operate, or the origin of
the victim
• States should ensure that TNC do human rights
due diligence
• UN must establish an institution to help monitor
and implement the treaty
• Alternative, or supplement, is a world court
Process and implementation
• UN Human Rights Council, Open-ended governmental working group is currently working
on a draft to a treaty holding TNC accountable for human rights violations
• States must involve themselves in the process, give support before the draft is finalized
• The treaty must be ratified by sovereign states (most important major countries where
TNC resides)
• Each state would be responsible to implement laws to abide the treaty
• States are responsible for monitoring TNC operating within their borders
Actors
Consumers
Labor unions
Civilians
Civilians
affected by
TNC
TNC
examples:
Chiquita
Nestlé
Cargill
Rainforest
Alliance
EarthRights
International
NGO
examples and
other
organizations
National state court
systems
Sovereign
states
UN
Center for
International
Environmental Law
International
court
systems
European
UN Human Union
Rights
Council
Nike
Human Right
Lawyers
(International
Rights
Advocates)
Conclusion
• Transnational corporations are not held
accountable for their actions when
violating human rights
• A legally binding UN treaty could give
victims more power and hold TNC more
accountable
• A treaty must be agreed upon and
ratified by enough major states to have
an effect
References
•
Amnesty International. (2022). Corporations. Retrieved from https://www.amnesty.org/en/what-we-do/corporate-accountability/
•
EarthRights International. (2021). DOE V. CHIQUITA BRANDS INTERNATIONAL. Retrieved from https://earthrights.org/case/doe-v-chiquita-brandsinternational/
•
BBC News. (2021). US Supreme Court blocks child slavery lawsuit against chocolate firms. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-uscanada-57522186
•
BBC. (2018). Chevron wins Ecuador rainforest 'oil dumping' case. Retrieved from https://www.bbc.com/news/world-latin-america-45455984
•
United Nations. (2011). Guiding principles on business and human rights: United Nations.
•
Coronel Vargas, G., Au, W. W., & Izzotti, A. (2020). Public health issues from crude-oil production in the Ecuadorian Amazon territories. Science of the
Total Environment, 719, 134647. doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2019.134647
•
San Sebastián, M., & Hurtig, A. K. (2004). Oil exploitation in the Amazon basin of Ecuador: a public health emergency. Revista Panamericana de Salud
Publica, 15(3), 205-211. doi:10.1590/s1020-49892004000300014
•
Anaf, J., Baum, F., Fisher, M., & London, L. (2019). The health impacts of extractive industry transnational corporations: a study of Rio Tinto in Australia
and Southern Africa. Globalization and Health, 15(1), 13. doi:10.1186/s12992-019-0453-2
•
Baum, F. E., & Margaret Anaf, J. (2015). Transnational Corporations and Health: A Research Agenda. International Journal of Health Services, 45(2),
353-362. doi:10.1177/0020731414568513