The Scariest Predators in the Corporate Jungle | Asian Tribune

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The Scariest Predators in the Corporate Jungle Asian Tribune:

"United Nations, 17 May, (IPS): The world's oil, gas and mining industries account for nearly two-thirds of all violations of human rights, environmental laws and international labor standards, according to a soon-to-be-released United Nations study.

The food and beverages industry is a distant second, followed by apparel, footwear, and the information and communications technology sector.

'The extractive industries -- oil, gas and mining -- also account for most allegations of the worst abuses, up to and including complicity in crimes against humanity,' says the interim report titled 'Promotion and Protection of Human Rights'. A more detailed study is expected to be released later this year.

These are typically for acts committed by public and private security forces protecting company assets and property; large-scale corruption; violations of labor rights; and a broad array of abuses in relation to local communities, especially the indigenous peoples.

Asked for her comments, Kathryn Mulvey of Corporate Accountability International told IPS that human rights abuses by extractive industries are among 'the most concentrated, visible and urgent to address'.
'Abuses by other industries such as tobacco, which claims five million lives around the world each year, have not typically been framed as human rights issues, but that is changing,' she said.

The interim U.N. study, by a team headed by John Ruggie, a special representative of Secretary-General Kofi Annan, was conducted in response to a resolution by the now-defunct U.N. Commission on Human Rights. "