JBS and the EU’s Exposure to Human Rights Violations and Illegal Deforestation in Pará, Brazil
The 86-page report “Tainted: JBS and the EU’s Exposure to Human Rights Violations and Illegal Deforestation in Pará, Brazil,” details how cattle ranchers illegally seized land and devastated the livelihoods of lawful residents in the Terra Nossa smallholder settlement and the Cachoeira Seca Indigenous territory, affecting their rights to housing, land, and culture. Human Rights Watch analysis of official sources shows that illegal farms in these areas sold cattle to several JBS direct suppliers.
Violations of Workers’ Freedom of Association in the United States by European Multinational Corporations
This 130-page report details ways in which some European multinational firms have carried out aggressive campaigns to keep workers in the United States from organizing and bargaining, violating international standards and, often, US labor laws.
Oil Contracts and Stalled Reform in São Tomé e Príncipe
This 23-page report documents how São Tomé’s government remains ill-equipped to manage the revenues from any hydrocarbon endowment, despite domestic and international efforts to improve financial transparency and accountability in anticipation of major oil discoveries.
Exploitation of Migrant Tobacco Workers in Kazakhstan
This 115-page report documents how some employers confiscated migrant workers' passports, failed to provide them with written contracts, did not pay regular wages, cheated them of earnings, and required them to work excessively long hours.
Ongoing Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe
Human Rights Watch has received new reports that soldiers in Marange are engaging in forced labor, torture, beatings, and harassment. Human Rights Watch documented rampant killings and other abuses in Marange last year.
This 31-page report documents how the government took only limited steps to improve transparency after Human Rights Watch disclosed in a 2004 report that billions of dollars in oil revenue illegally bypassed the central bank and disappeared without explanation. The report details newly disclosed evidence of corruption and mismanagement and includes recommendations for reversing the pattern.
Failure to End Military Business Activity in Indonesia
This 20-page report provides a detailed critique of a presidential decree and Defense Ministry regulations addressing military involvement in businesses that were issued in October 2009.
The Human Rights Consequences of Illegal Logging and Corruption in Indonesia’s Forestry Sector
This 75-page report found that more than half of all Indonesian timber from 2003 through 2006 was logged illegally, with no taxes paid. Unreported subsidies to the forestry industry, including government use of artificially low timber market prices and currency exchange rates, and tax evasion by exporters using a scam known as "transfer pricing," exacerbated the losses.
This 107-page report details how the dictatorship under President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has used an oil boom to entrench and enrich itself further at the expense of the country's people.
Human Rights Abuses in the Marange Diamond Fields of Zimbabwe
This 62-page report documents how, following the discovery of diamonds in Marange in June 2006, the police and army have used brutal force to control access to the diamond fields and to take over unlicensed diamond mining and trading.
The briefing paper details some of the glaring deficiencies in current US labor law that significantly impair the right of workers to freely choose whether to form a union. It recommends that the US Congress pass the Employee Free Choice Act to help remedy these shortcomings and bring US law closer to international standards.
A Way Forward for Workers’ Rights in US Free Trade Accords
This 36-page report provides a roadmap for a new US administration to strengthen the requirements for workers’ rights in these agreements and to improve their enforcement. The Human Rights Watch report outlines in detail elements needed to effectively guarantee labor rights.
This 53-page report was jointly prepared by Human Rights Watch and the Center for Human Rights and Global Justice. It illustrates how everyday business decisions have significant implications for the human rights of workers, local communities, suppliers, and consumers.
Annex 22-B: A Missed Opportunity on Workers’ Rights in North Korea
This 13-page briefing paper looks at Annex 22-B of the US-Korea Free Trade Agreement (FTA) and how it flouts the spirit of the recently amended workers’ rights provisions. It also makes recommendations on how to amend Annex 22 in order to effectively protect, in law and practice, the basic labor rights of the workers producing goods under the existing agreement.
On May 10, 2007, congressional leaders and the US Trade Representative (USTR) reached an historic agreement on a “new trade policy template” (template) that has the potential to be an important step towards ensuring that workers’ rights are better protected in US trade accords.
Wal-Mart's Violation of US Workers’ Right to Freedom of Association
In this 210-page report, Human Rights Watch found that while many American companies use weak US laws to stop workers from organizing, the retail giant stands out for the sheer magnitude and aggressiveness of its anti-union apparatus. Many of its anti-union tactics are lawful in the United States, though they combine to undermine workers’ rights. Others run afoul of soft US laws.
