Charity Ryerson
A New Global Minimum Tax on Corporations and ...

This year, states will begin implementing a global minimum tax rate of fifteen percent on multinational corporations with more than €750 million (about $810 million) in revenues. If these tax reforms succeed in increasing tax revenues across the approximately 140 implementing countries as they intend, these additional funds could be used to advance the social and economic rights of their citizens, especially for the most vulnerable populations, including those whose rights have been abused by corporations historically. However, the coming tax reforms are still so riddled with gray areas regarding form and function that it is too early to call the initiative a victory in corporate accountability.  

A New Global Minimum Tax on Corporations and Human Rights Implications
Charity Ryerson
Un año desde la prohibición del azúcar del ...

Durante los 365 días desde que se bloqueó la entrada de su azúcar a los Estados Unidos por trabajo forzoso, el Central Romana ha optado por implementar sólo cambios superficiales para los cañeros y utilizar estrategias políticas en un aparente intento de hacer desaparecer la WRO.

Un año desde la prohibición del azúcar del Central Romana en mercado EEUU por trabajo forzoso
Charity Ryerson
One year since Central Romana sugar banned from ...

Over the 365 days since its sugar was blocked from entering the United States, Central Romana has chosen to implement only superficial changes for workers while pulling political strings in an apparent effort to make the import ban disappear. 

One year since Central Romana sugar banned from US market for forced labor
Avery Kelly
Enbridge and the Dangers of Extractive ...

Last month, The Guardian revealed that Canadian pipeline company Enbridge has paid Minnesota police more than two and a half million dollars for services including the surveillance and arrest of Water Protectors resisting the company’s construction of a new Line 3 pipeline. This post situates the Enbridge-police agreement in Minnesota and violent crackdown against Water Protectors at Line 3 within a disturbing global context rooted in colonialism.

Enbridge and the Dangers of Extractive Industry-Police Alliances
Main
Avery Kelly
CAL & EarthRights Launch Updated Guide to ...

In 2019, CAL partnered with EarthRights International to update their Guide to the Foreign Legal Assistance statute. Given that the US is an increasingly difficult jurisdiction for transnational human rights cases against companies, this tool provides an opportunity for workers and community members to access key evidence located in the US even where they may not have been able to bring suit there. 

CAL & EarthRights Launch Updated Guide to Foreign Legal Assistance Statute, Allowing Attorneys Suing Companies Access to Discovery Process in the US

Colombia

CAL APORTA MÁS PRUEBAS SOBRE LA COMPLICIDAD DE EMPRESAS EN EL CONFLICTO ARMADO COLOMBIANO A LA JEP

CAL APORTA MÁS PRUEBAS SOBRE LA COMPLICIDAD DE EMPRESAS EN EL CONFLICTO ARMADO COLOMBIANO A LA JEP

El mes pasado, Corporate Accountability Lab presentó un informe a la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz de Colombia ("JEP"). El informe examina el papel que tuvieron las multinacionales bananeras en el conflicto armado colombiano y traslada información y evidencia asociada con litigios en tribunales estadounidenses. Esta información evidencia presuntos acuerdos de financiación que beneficiaron a empresas y grupos armados ilegales, los cuales cometieron crímenes y violaciones a los derechos humanos. Este blog proporciona información sobre el presunto papel de Chiquita y Dole en el conflicto armado por medio de su financiación a grupos paramilitares. Este blog también amplía la presentación anterior de CAL sobre el papel que Drummond y Prodeco tuvieron en el conflicto, abordando y proporcionando recomendaciones sobre temas como la violencia antisindical, una transición justa y alternativa a combustibles fósiles, y una justicia restaurativa.

Print Friendly and PDF

CAL PROVIDES MORE EVIDENCE OF CORPORATE COMPLICITY IN ARMED CONFLICT TO COLOMBIAN PEACE TRIBUNAL

CAL PROVIDES MORE EVIDENCE OF CORPORATE COMPLICITY IN ARMED CONFLICT TO COLOMBIAN PEACE TRIBUNAL

Last month, Corporate Accountability Lab submitted a report to Colombia’s Special Jurisdiction for Peace (“JEP” for its Spanish acronym). The report analyzes the role that multinational banana companies played in the Colombian armed conflict and provides evidence obtained by U.S. courts of financing arrangements benefiting these companies and illegal armed groups that committed widespread human rights abuses. This post provides information regarding Chiquita and Dole’s alleged role in the armed conflict and expands on CAL’s earlier submission by addressing and providing recommendations on the issues of anti-union violence, a just transition away from fossil fuels, and restorative justice.

Print Friendly and PDF

The 2022 CLASP Lab Convening in Bogotá: a Scrapbook

The 2022 CLASP Lab Convening in Bogotá: a Scrapbook

From June 26th to June 28th, 2022, CAL and our partners at the African Coalition for Corporate Accountability, Dejusticia, and the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz held an in-person gathering of the Corporate Liability and Sustainable Peace (CLASP) Lab, a collection of nearly 40 leaders and advocates from 25 countries, in Bogotá, Colombia. The convening was the culmination of a year-long virtual “social lab” process in which we led the group through an adaptation of our legal design process around the question of corporate impunity for human rights and environmental abuses committed during conflict–and how to break with that impunity.

Print Friendly and PDF

21 años de impunidad empresarial y la resistencia del sindicato colombiano Sintramienergética

21 años de impunidad empresarial y la resistencia del sindicato colombiano Sintramienergética

El mes pasado, la Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ) en alianza con PAX Colombia y el Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria Minera, Petroquímica, Agrocombustibles y Energética (Sintramienergética) presentó el informe titulado “La explotación minera de Drummond Ltda.: epicentro de persecución, asesinatos y violaciones de libertades sindicales” a la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP). El informe se centra en la violencia sufrida por el sindicato Sintramienergética, incluyendo el exterminio de sus líderes sindicales en el 2001. Este blog es una actualización del blog de abril de 2021. Esta entrada proporciona información adicional sobre los asesinatos de los líderes sindicales, a la vez que describe su trabajo, el contexto en el que fueron asesinados y la lucha actual contra la impunidad por sus muertes.

Print Friendly and PDF

21 Years of Corporate Impunity - The Systematic Attempt to Eliminate a Union’s Leadership in Colombia

21 Years of Corporate Impunity - The Systematic Attempt to Eliminate a Union’s Leadership in Colombia

Last month, the Comisión Colombiana de Juristas (CCJ) in alliance with PAX Colombia and the Sindicato Nacional de Trabajadores de la Industria Minera, Petroquímicas, Agrocombustibles y Energética (Sintramienergética) submitted a report entitled Drummond Ltda. Coal Mining: epicenter of persecutions, assassinations and violations to freedom of association to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP, for its Spanish acronym). The report focuses on the violence suffered by the union Sintramienergetica, including the extermination of its leadership in 2001. This blog post is an update to CAL’s blog from April 2021. This post provides additional information on the union leaders’ assassinations while describing their organizing work, the context in which they were killed, and the ongoing fight against impunity for their deaths.

Print Friendly and PDF

CAL provee evidencia de la complicidad empresarial en el conflicto armado a la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz en Colombia

CAL provee evidencia de la complicidad empresarial en el conflicto armado a la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz en Colombia

Corporate Accountability Lab presentó recientemente a la Jurisdicción Especial para la Paz (JEP) la primera parte de un informe sobre el papel de las empresas multinacionales en el conflicto armado. El informe sirve para apoyar las investigaciones del tribunal de justicia transicional sobre los crímenes cometidos en regiones como el Cesar y el Magdalena Medio a través de asociaciones entre agentes del Estado, paramilitares y "terceros" ("terceros civiles" o "no combatientes"). La última de estas categorías es muy amplia y puede incluir a las empresas.

Print Friendly and PDF

CAL Provides Evidence of Corporate Complicity in Armed Conflict to Colombian Peace Tribunal

CAL Provides Evidence of Corporate Complicity in Armed Conflict to Colombian Peace Tribunal

Corporate Accountability Lab recently submitted the first half of a report about the role of multinational companies in the armed conflict to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP, for its acronym in Spanish). The report serves to support the transitional justice tribunal’s investigations into crimes committed in regions including Cesar and Magdalena Medio through associations between state agents, paramilitaries, and “terceros” (“third party civilians” or “non combatants”). The last of these categories is very broad and can include corporations. The role of all actors–not just combatants–must be reckoned with to achieve justice and sustainable peace in Colombia and beyond.

Print Friendly and PDF

Corporate Accountability Lab reafirma su apoyo a la Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz y su trabajo en materia de justicia restaurativa y garantías de no repetición

Corporate Accountability Lab reafirma su apoyo a la Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz y su trabajo en materia de justicia restaurativa y garantías de no repetición

Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) reafirma su apoyo a la Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (CIJP) y su compromiso hacia una paz sostenible en Colombia. En los últimos días, los ataques públicos contra el trabajo de la CIJP han aumentado. La CIJP está siendo falsamente acusada de ofrecer beneficios judiciales a favor de una campaña presidencial. CAL no puede permanecer en silencio ante estos ataques contra uno de nuestros aliados más cercanos en América Latina.

Print Friendly and PDF

Corporate Accountability Lab reaffirms its support for the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz and its work on restorative justice and guarantees of non-repetition

Corporate Accountability Lab reaffirms its support for the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz and its work on restorative justice and guarantees of non-repetition

Today, Corporate Accountability Lab (CAL) reaffirms our support for the Comisión Intereclesial de Justicia y Paz (CIJP) and its commitment to sustainable peace in Colombia. In the last few days, public attacks against the work of CIJP have increased. CIJP is being falsely accused of influencing inmates to benefit a presidential campaign. We at CAL cannot remain silent in light of these attacks against one of our closest partners in Latin America.

Print Friendly and PDF

International Mission in Colombia Identifies Corporate Complicity in Abuses Against Protestors

International Mission in Colombia Identifies Corporate Complicity in Abuses Against Protestors

Six months after the National Strike erupted in Colombia, impunity continues for human rights violations committed against protesters. Over the summer, CAL participated in Mission SOS Colombia, an international mission to observe and report on the government’s response to widespread social protests and conditions that protesters were facing. This post highlights the Mission’s key findings on excessive use of force by state actors and harms committed by corporations in the context of the protest. More information is available in the Mission’s report in Spanish.

Print Friendly and PDF

Urgent Call for Accountability in Colombia: New Death Threats Against Jani Silva

Urgent Call for Accountability in Colombia: New Death Threats Against Jani Silva

Three months ago, the members of the Corporate Liability and Sustainable Peace (CLASP) Lab drafted an open letter expressing our deep concern for Jani Silva's life and safety. We denounced death threats that Jani had received from the criminal armed group Comando de la Frontera in connection to her work as an environmental defender of the Campesino Reserve of the Amazon Pearl of Putumayo, Colombia. Today, we write again after Jani and her family were forced to flee the territory she has defended for decades. She received information about an imminent assassination plan against her.

Print Friendly and PDF

CAL presenta amicus pidiendo que la Corte Suprema proteja la identidad de las victimas en Doe v. Chiquita

CAL presenta amicus pidiendo que la Corte Suprema proteja la identidad de las victimas en Doe v. Chiquita

Corporate Accountability Lab presentó un memorial de amicus curiae solicitando a la Corte Suprema de Estados Unidos que conceda el certiorari en el caso, Doe v. Chiquita Brands International. El caso fue presentado por los familiares de sindicalistas, trabajadores del sector bananero, organizadores políticos, activistas sociales y otras personas atacadas y asesinadas por las Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), una organización paramilitar de derecha en Colombia financiada en parte por Chiquita, la empresa bananera multinacional con sede en Estados Unidos. Los demandantes han interpuesto una querella contra Chiquita, alegando que Chiquita fue cómplice de las AUC financiándolas.

Print Friendly and PDF

CAL Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Protect Victims' Identities in Doe v. Chiquita

CAL Files Amicus Brief Asking Supreme Court to Protect Victims' Identities in Doe v. Chiquita

Corporate Accountability Lab filed an amicus brief on behalf of a group of human rights organizations, asking the US Supreme Court to grant certiorari in the case Doe v. Chiquita. The case was brought by the family members of trade unionists, banana workers, political organizers, social activists, and others targeted and killed by the United Self-Defense Group of Colombia (AUC), a right-wing paramilitary organization in Colombia funded in part by Chiquita.

Print Friendly and PDF

El legado de Valmore Locarno, Víctor Orcasita y Gustavo Soler: 20 años en búsqueda de  verdad y justicia en un entorno de conflicto armado

El legado de Valmore Locarno, Víctor Orcasita y Gustavo Soler: 20 años en búsqueda de  verdad y justicia en un entorno de conflicto armado

En marzo de 2021 se cumplieron 20 años de los asesinatos de los líderes sindicales Valmore Locarno y Víctor Orcasita a manos de miembros paramilitares colombianos de las Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), supuestamente financiados, en parte, por la empresa de carbón Drummond Co., la cual tiene su casa matriz en Alabama, Estados Unidos.

Print Friendly and PDF

Why a Whole Country Went on Strike - And is Still Striking

Why a Whole Country Went on Strike - And is Still Striking

Although the Colombian government’s proposed tax reform ignited the protests that started all over the country on April 29, the motives behind the ongoing national strike are diverse. This is why, when President Duque announced that he was going to withdraw the tax reform from Congress five days after protests began, the strike didn’t stop.

Print Friendly and PDF

In Support of Environmental & Human Rights Defender Jani Silva

In Support of Environmental & Human Rights Defender Jani Silva

Colombian Human Rights and Environmental Defender Jani Rita Silva and her organization, the Asociación de Desarrollo Integral Sostenible Perla Amazónica (ADISPA), have recently received threats challenging their work to defend the Campesino Reserve of the Amazon Pearl of Putumayo, Colombia from corporate abuse.

Print Friendly and PDF

Valmore Locarno, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler’s legacy - a 20-year relentless pursuit of truth and justice in an armed-conflict setting

Valmore Locarno, Victor Orcasita and Gustavo Soler’s legacy - a 20-year relentless pursuit of truth and justice in an armed-conflict setting

March 2021 marked the 20th anniversary of the killings of union leaders Valmore Locarno and Victor Orcasita at the hands of Colombian paramilitary members from the Autodefensas Unidas de Colombia (AUC), allegedly funded, in part, by Alabama-based coal company Drummond Co.

Print Friendly and PDF

Escazú: el llamado para proteger a líderes y lideresas ambientales en el Día de la Tierra

Escazú: el llamado para proteger a líderes y lideresas ambientales en el Día de la Tierra

En 2019, dos tercios de los asesinatos a defensores del medio ambiente en todo el mundo tuvieron lugar en América Latina. Esta tendencia no es nueva. En la última década, las comunidades que defienden sus tierras ancestrales y ecosistemas altamente biodiversos en esta región han sido consistentemente las más afectadas a nivel mundial: entre 2009 y 2019 se registraron al menos dos mil eventos victimizantes contra hombres y mujeres y doscientos contra organizaciones que defienden el medio ambiente y la tierra.

Print Friendly and PDF

El Arte de Operar con Impunidad: La Historia de Cerrejón en la Guajira Colombiana

El Arte de Operar con Impunidad: La Historia de Cerrejón en la Guajira Colombiana

Recientemente, varias ONG internacionales y colombianas presentaron quejas simultáneas contra las tres empresas accionistas de Cerrejón en Colombia, Glencore, BHP y Anglo American, alegando graves violaciones de derechos humanos y una devastadora contaminación ambiental por efecto de la actividad minera de Cerrejón.

Print Friendly and PDF

Escazú: Setting Protections for Environmental Defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean

Escazú: Setting Protections for Environmental Defenders in Latin America and the Caribbean

In 2019, two-thirds of worldwide environmental defenders killings took place in Latin America. This trend is not novel. In this last decade, communities that defend ecosystems and rich biodiversity hotspots in Latin America have been consistently the worst-affected worldwide: at least two thousand victimizing events against men and women and two hundred against organizations defending the environment and the land were recorded.

Print Friendly and PDF