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What is the Future of Guinea's Mining Sector After the Coup?

Guinea’s September 5 coup sent shock waves through both West Africa and global commodities markets. Guinea is the world’s second largest producer of bauxite, the ore needed to produce aluminum, and has rich iron ore, gold, and diamond reserves. The…
A woman in Lansanayah, a village 750 meters from a bauxite mine owned by La Société Minière de Boké consortium.
News

Why Japan’s Luxury Jeweler Should Be Open About Its Operations

All over the world, gold and diamond mining are risky operations, and sometimes people and the environment are harmed in the process. For over a decade, Human Rights Watch has documented child labor, environmental destruction, and violence by government…
A pearl necklace is displayed over a gray sign that reads "Mikimoto"
News

Global Gold Supply Chains Just Got Riskier

In the Covid-19 Pandemic, the Gold Sector Should Re-assess Human Rights Impacts

The COVID-19 pandemic has had unprecedented impacts on gold supply chains, creating risks that should prompt companies to reassess their supply chains for emerging human rights impacts.  Small-scale mining operations across Africa, Asia, and…
Gold nuggets being weighed by a gold trader
News

Bolsonaro's Plan to Legalize Crimes Against Indigenous Peoples

When President Jair Bolsonaro presented a draft bill to Congress, on February 5, to regulate mining, hydroelectric power projects, and other commercial enterprises in Indigenous territories, he recognized that it would “face pressure…
Krimej indigenous Chief Kadjyre Kayapo, looks out at a path created by loggers, in Altamira, Para state, Brazil, Saturday, Aug. 31, 2019.
News

Building Momentum to Hold Companies to Account

  In 2020, you should be watching for a growing trend of national legislatures requiring companies to live up to their responsibilities to workers, communities, and the environment. Millions of adults and children around the world suffer…
Children pan for gold
News

Arsenic and Lead in Tap Water

What Trump's Deregulation Crusade Really Means for Mining Communities

As a candidate, Donald Trump promised that he'd shake up the economy to benefit "the forgotten man." But his economic policies have included deregulation in ways that can harm the very people he promised to help. The repeal on September 12 of a…
201811bhr_unitedstates_mtr_tub
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Toxic Mines Poison Locals Long After Closure

“Henry” is thin and small for his age. The 10-year-old, his mum and I are sitting outside in the dusty, poor township of Waya in the Zambian city of Kabwe on a hot, dry afternoon. His mum, looking weary, describes their life…
Former Mine Pit in Kabwe, Zambia
News

Lead in the Blood: The Poisoning of a Generation

Years have passed, but Kasuba* still remembers when she was tested for lead as a child of about 8. The World Health Organisation says that there is no safe level of lead exposure. But the amount of the metal in Kasuba’s blood was up to…
201908crd_zambia_main
News

A narrow definition of safety harms workers in Georgia

Georgia’s newly adopted law on labour safety is lacking statutes on workers’ rights due a narrow definition of safety — working hours, overtime payment, and required breaks are still not sufficiently regulated. Due to such weak edicts, worker fatalities…
© 2017 Human Rights Watch
News

Why Did Interior Department Halt a Coalfields Health Study?

The House Natural Resources Committee has a new item on its oversight agenda. On Feb. 12, it asked the Interior Department to hand over all documents relating to its decision to cancel a half-completed study examining the potential…
Mountaintop removal mine on Coal Mountain in Wyoming County, West Virginia
News

A Brilliant Opportunity for the Gold Sector

Swiss Council of States to Decide on Binding Human Rights Protection in Supply Chains

In the coming weeks, Switzerland’s Council of States has a big decision to take: should Swiss companies be required to introduce human rights and environmental safeguards for their global actions? This month, prompted by pressure from a…
A boy and a girl work in a small gold mine in Amansie West district, Ghana.
News

Jewelry for Christmas?

Buyers should demand transparency in supply chains!

Have you already done your Christmas shopping? Were you perhaps thinking of giving a ring or necklace as a gift? Jewelry remains a popular Christmas present and sales during the holiday season make up a significant part of jewelry…
Presents
News

You Shouldn’t Have! The Hidden Costs of Jewelry Gifts

Earlier this year we scrutinized the sourcing policies of thirteen well-known jewelry brands. Here’s what we found.

It is the holiday season, and people are out buying gifts for loved ones. Jewelry is always a favorite gift – last December, U.S. consumers spent $6.57 billion on jewelry. This year in the U.S., overall holiday retail sales are expected to increase…
Presents
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What Does It Take To Be A Responsible Jeweller?

This week, hundreds of jewellers from around the world attended International Jewellery London. Last year, it drew about 9,000 industry representatives from 71 countries, discussing everything from jewellery design and manufacturing to…
News

The EPA is Wrong to Weaken Coal-Ash Rules

The new acting administrator of the EPA—and former coal lobbyist—is easing rules that protect people who live near coal plants from toxic ash

Andrew Wheeler, the former coal lobbyist who became acting administrator of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) after Scott Pruitt resigned, is weakening rules that protect people who live near coal-fired plants from the toxic ash left from…
TVA Kingston Fossil Plant fly ash spill
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Who Benefits from the Diamond Summit in Antwerp?

This week, June 18 to 22, Antwerp hosts a meeting of governments, the diamond industry, and nongovernmental groups to take stock of the Kimberley Process, the certification process set up nearly two decades ago to end the trade in “blood diamonds.” But…
News

EU Should Push to Protect Rights in Diamond Trade

Next week (June 18-22) the European Union hosts governments, the diamond industry, and nongovernmental groups in the diamond-trading city of Antwerp to take stock of the Kimberley Process, the certification process set up nearly two decades ago to end the…
News

Diamond Trade Still Fuels Human Suffering

It’s been almost two decades now since governments came together to end the trade in “blood diamonds” that were fuelling several brutal wars in Africa. They set up the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, a system of export and import controls for…
News

The Path to Responsible Sourcing in the Jewellery Sector

These days, jewellers use many terms to describe their efforts to ensure that their products aren’t the result of abusive mining practices: “Responsible sourcing,” “ethical sourcing,” “responsible business conduct,” and “sustainable…
A girl works in an artisanal diamond mine in Sosso Nakombo, Central African Republic, near the border with Cameroon, in August 2015