«Il n‘y a pas un monde développé et un monde sous-développé, mais un seul monde mal développé»
CETIM defends victims of human rights violations in the Global South. It supports their representatives in gaining access to and obtaining the intervention of the United Nations protection mechanisms, where required.
Several mechanisms can be activated at the United Nations to get concrete improvements on the ground, in particular the Human Rights Council, the United Nations Special Rapporteurs and the committees that monitor the implementation of the human rights treaties.
CETIM mainly works with peasant organizations, trade unions and organizations representing victims or communities affected by transnational corporations operations.
The history of Coca Cola in Colombia is that of a permanent attack on labor and trade-union rights, including the killing of at least ten trade unionists and links with paramilitary groups. The Sinaltrainal union is at the forefront and is severely affected. In 26 years of oil drilling in the Amazon region of Ecuador, Chevron (formerly Texaco) polluted more than 450,000 hectares of one of the planet’s richest biodiversity regions, destroying the living and subsistence of its inhabitants. After 21 years of litigation, and despite a ruling by the Ecuadorian courts, impunity continues for Chevron, and the victims of its activities in Ecuador are still waiting for justice and compensation. A formal complaint was submitted to the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague against Chevron's CEO by the victims of the activities of this transnational corporation in Ecuador. In 26 years of oil drilling in the Amazon region of Ecuador, Chevron (formerly Texaco) polluted more than 450,000 hectares of one of the planet's richest […] In July 2012, dozens of workers of the Manesar plant of the car company Maruti Suzuki India Limited (MSIL) – located in the State of Haryana in northern India – were dismissed and detained without charge because they were exercising their right to association and affiliation to a trade union of their choice. Indeed, workers’ rights and trade union rights, including the right to freedom of association, the right to collective bargaining and the right to equal pay for equal work, are not respected by the management of MSIL. Following a riot, the police arrested over a hundred workers, who are to this day still in custody. Under the pretext of the violence and a fire caused by the riots, the management suppressed the trade union and dismissed over two thousand workers. It is vital, that the human rights situation and the behavior of the police in this affair be investigated by an independent inquiry. The question may seem absurd given that poverty limits the capacity of individuals to exercise their freedom, to enjoy their most fundamental rights, to live in dignity, and to take their place fully in society. How, for example, can one enjoy the right to free expression or the right to vote when one can neither […]
Human Rights Violations by Coca Cola in Colombia
Human rights violations and access to justice for the victims of Chevron in Ecuador
Chevron taken to the International Criminal Court for its crimes in Ecuador
Violations of workers’ and trade union rights at Maruti Suzuki India Ltd
Is poverty a violation of human rights?
