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Docket ID No. EPA-HQ-OLEM-2019-0085 - Human Rights Watch Comment to EPA Regarding Financial Responsibility Requirements under CERCLA Section 108(b)

The EPA should reverse its proposed rule and require financial assurances for the electric power generation, transmission, and distribution industry

To Whom It May Concern,   We are writing to urge the Environmental Protection Agency to reverse its position and mandate financial assurances for the electric power industry in the proposed rule regarding Financial Responsibility…
News

New Voluntary Standard for Responsible Jewelry Production

27 Groups Call for Improved, Transparent Certification Process

(London) A major jewelry industry group has made significant improvements to its process for certifying its members when it comes to ensuring human rights risks are addressed in supply chains, 27 civil society groups said today in an…
Children pan for gold along the mercury-contaminated Bosigon River in Malaya, Camarines Norte.
News

Equatorial Guinea: A Move to Rejoin Anti-Corruption Group

Repression at Odds with Extractive Industry Watchdog’s Requirements

(Paris) – Equatorial Guinea is seeking to rejoin a group that works to curb corruption in resource-rich countries, Human Rights Watch, EG Justice, and Publish What You Pay said today. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (…
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News

Georgia Miners Strike for Better Working Conditions

Inadequate Laws and Oversight Fuel Labor Abuses

Protesting poor working conditions and demanding higher wages, about 150 workers at a manganese mine in Chiatura, Georgia, went on strike May 15. On Friday, 15 of the workers reportedly began a hunger strike. Manganese is an element…
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Video

South Africa: Activists in Mining Areas Harassed

Community activists in mining areas face harassment, intimidation, and violence, the Centre for Environmental Rights, groundWork, Earthjustice, and Human Rights Watch said in a joint report released today. The attacks and harassment have created an…
News

Interview: The Dangers of Opposing Mining in South Africa

Left Destitute and Sick, Communities Defy Police Abuse and Threats to Assert their Rights

What changes for a community once a mine starts operating? Most mining in South Africa takes place in rural areas, where people live off the land and their livestock. Mining often forces people to leave the land they use for farming and grazing…
Coal mine in Somkhele viewed from Ocilwane village in Fuleni, KwaZulu-Natal. © 2018 Rob Symons
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
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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…
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The Coal Mine Next Door: The Deregulation of Mountaintop Removal

The Trump administration and United States Congress have endangered public health by ending measures, including defunding a scientific study, that address the human and environmental risks of mountaintop removal, a form of surface coal mining prevalent in…
Report

The Coal Mine Next Door

  Summary For 20 years, coal companies blasted off the mountaintops around the house of Rick Bradford, a retired teacher in Edwight, West Virginia, to excavate thin coal seams buried hundreds of feet deep. After detonating millions of pounds…
News

US: Deregulating Mountaintop Removal Threatens Drinking Water and Public Health

Canceling rule, study endangers Appalachian coal communities

  (Washington, DC)—The Trump administration and United States Congress have endangered public health by ending measures, including defunding a scientific study, that address the human and environmental risks of mountaintop removal…
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News

South Africa’s Constitutional Court Protects Land Rights

Landmark Rulings Protect Women and Communities Affected by Mining Companies

South Africa’s highest court has delivered two landmark decisions protecting women’s rights to equality and land ownership, as well as the rights of communities living in mining areas. The latest ruling ensured that an older…
Xolobeni community members and environmental activists march and chant slogans in front of South Africa's Pretoria High Court, April 24, 2018.
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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
News

Jewelry Group Should Raise Bar for Supply Chains

Recommendations for Responsible Sourcing for Precious Metals, Stones

(London) – The Responsible Jewellery Council, an international industry group, should strengthen its standard for responsible sourcing of gold, diamonds, and other minerals, 20 independent groups and trade unions said today in a letter…
A girl works in an artisanal diamond mine in Sosso Nakombo, Central African Republic, near the border with Cameroon, in August 2015