Senate confronts lack of confrontation on human rights violations

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the U.S. must assume a role in business to fight violations of human rights. He added that this issue is very complicated, “not a black and white issue.” Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) said that there is no excuse for companies, both national and international, to fail at protecting human rights. The Senate Judiciary Committee met to discuss international violations of human rights and the response from the United States.

In 2003, fatalities in the Niger Delta were “comparable to Iraq and Afghanistan,” said Executive Director of Environmental Rights Action Nnimmo Bassey. Bassey said that the abundance of oil in the Niger Delta has made things worse. Oil has contributed to “50 years of dashed hope,” continued Bassey. Senior Vice President for Social Research and Policy for Calvert Bennett Freeman called the Niger Delta “one of the most dangerous places to work in the world.

Co-Founder and Executive Director of EarthRights International Ka Hsaw Wa spoke about the conditions in Burma. He said that companies, such as Chevron, that work in Burma along the Yadana Pipeline are allowing human rights violations, including murder and torture, to happen without confrontation. These companies are “representatives of the United States,” said Wa. He urged the U.S. government to hold these companies accountable.

Deputy Assistant Secretary of the State Department Jeffrey Krilla said the government has established an organization called Voluntary Principles (VP) to thwart human rights violations abroad. Currently, VP has four member nations; the U.S., the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, and Norway. He said the goal of VP was to work with international governments to find ways of enforcing human rights laws committed by private corporations. While VP has helped dialogue on human rights abroad, it is “not a cure-all,” said Krilla.