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News Archive 2005
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*** September 15, 2005 ABN AMRO pledges greater scrutiny for emission of bonds In a letter to the Brazilian NGO Amigos da Terra, the Dutch bank and financial services company ABN AMRO announced this week that it will begin to more closely examine the destination of bonds from public emissions in which it participates. The decision came as a result of the bank’s experience with Tractabel Energy, a Belgian company involved in the construction of the Cana Brava hydroelectric dam in central Brazil. According to environmentalists, Tractabel initiated an early public emission of bonds, coordinated by ABN AMRO, in order to pre-pay a debt owed to the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB). Tractabel hoped to forego the IDB loan because it believed that the IDB’s estimation of the number of families affected by the project and, thus, the amount of compensation that it needed to pay was too high. Although ABN AMRO did not terminate its relation with Tractabel, this move is seen as a positive development for introducing more transparency and corporate social responsibility into the financial sector. Tractabel is also currently involved in an OECD Guidelines case concerning its activities in a hydroelectric dam project in Laos. Read the full article (in Portuguese) from the Amigos da Terra website. *** July 22, 2005 RAID appeals to BIAC RAID has made an appeal today (22 July) to BIAC's Secretary General Thomas R. Vant for help in promoting the Voluntary Principles on the Use of Security Forces among its affiliates and to support their incorporation into the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises. The responsibility of business in conflict and weak governance zones is under discussion at the Investment Committee. RAID's letter arises out of OECD Watch members concern about the role that Anvil Mining, an Australian/Canadian company played in providing logistical help to the Congolese military in a massacre in the remote town of Kilwa in October 2004. OECD Watch is extremely concerned that Anvil has so far refused to disassociate itself publicly from a campaign of threats and intimidations that have been directed against Congolese human rights activists - OW members ACIDH and ASADHO/Katanga - in the company's name. The local NGOs have been pressing the Congolese authorities to investigate the Kilwa incident. A complaint has been filed with the Canadian NCP by Rights and Democracy. According to the letter the OECD has to learn important lessons from the Kilwa tragedy and strengthen the human rights guidance for foreign investors. Read the RAID letter to BIAC, July 22, 2005 Click here for the complaint raised by Rights and Democracy to the Canadian NCP *** July 7, 2005 Norwegian ForUM files OECD complaint against Aker Kværner ASA for building and maintaining prison facilities in Guantanamo Bay ForUM alleges that Aker Kværner, through its subsidiairy KPSI, breaches the Guidelines Chapter 2 point 2, by contributing to a prison system that abuses international law and core human rights, and that Aker Kværner ASA and KPSI through their activities do not respect the human rights of the prisoners that are affected by the self same activities. Read the English translation of the ForUM complaint against Aker Kvaerner. *** June 27, 2005 ITGLWF files complaint against GP Garments The Belgian OECD National Contact Point (NCP) has confirmed that it will look into the case of GP Garments, a Belgian-owned company operating in Sri Lanka whose behaviour is in blatant violation of international labour standards. Read the press release. *** June 15, 2005 OECD complaint launched against Global Solutions Ltd over Australian Immigration Detention Centres Five human rights non-government organisations (NGOs) launched a complaint in the United Kingdom and Australia against Global Solutions Ltd. (GSL) for complicity in serious human rights violations in Australian immigration detention centres. “GSL advertises that its policies ‘are guided by respect for the human rights and fundamental freedoms as laid out in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights’. Yet Australia’s detention regime for asylum seekers has been found to be in clear breach of international human rights,” say the NGOs. Read the press release *** June 3, 2005 Alcoa and Votorantim violate OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises by committing socio-environmental crime in Brazil The corporations Alcoa Alumínios S.A. and the Companhia Brasileira de Alumínio (CBA), which is part of the Grupo Votorantim, violated several human, economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights in the construction of the Barra Grande hydroelectric plant in the states of Santa Catarina and Rio Grande do Sul. The companies are majority shareholders in the consortium responsible for the construction of the plant, namely, Baesa – Energética Barra Grande S.A. Two Brazilian NGOs are filing a complaint with the OECD’s National Contact Point for Brazil. Read the press release in English or Spanish. On the 14th of June, Alcoa and the consortium Baesa responded to the filing of the complaint. Read here the response from Alcoa and the response from Baesa. *** May 29, 2005 Canadian and Equadorian Organisations file OECD complaint against Canadian Mining company ACC Read the press release complaint against ACC *** April 1, 2005 OECD Watch International Multi-Stakeholder Round Table: Putting the OECD Guidelines for MNEs into practice April 1, Brussels Click here for the Conference Proceedings *** March 23, 2005 March OECD Watch newsletter of 2005 in English, Spanish and French. *** March 7, 2005 Crackdown on Foreign Bribery Underway in Major Exporting Countries Transparency International Report Finds Fifteen OECD Countries Making a "Promising Start" in Enforcing Anti-Bribery Laws. But Calls for Accelerated Enforcement. Read more: TI Press Release Read the full progress report *** February 10, 2005 French Utility Faces OECD Scrutiny For Laotian Dam Project The French government has agreed to review a complaint against Electricité de France for allegedly violating OECD guidelines in planning a billion-dollar hydro venture in Laos. Proyecto Gato and Les Amis de la Terre filed the complaint at the French NCP. Read more: press release EdF February 10, 2005 Read the full complaint |
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