International Alert and the Fafo Institute for Applied International Studies launched the Red Flags guide and web site 23 May at a seminar in London.
The launch at a seminar at the Institute of Directors in London. On the panel were: John Ruggie, UN; Edward Bickham, Anglo-American plc; Mark Taylor, Fafo; and Dan Smith, International Alert
Rwandan Genocide Financier on the lam? 14-06-2008
Kenyan police have confirmed they got the wrong man after arresting an individual on suspicion of being a top Rwandan genocide criminal, the BBC reports.
ICTR and other officials involved in the hunt for indicted businessman Felicien Kabuga don't put much stock in news reports that Kabuga has left Kenya for Norway.
"A company risks enabling mass atrocities when it
provides resources, goods, services, or other forms
of practical support that help sustain crimes against
humanity or genocide." Human Rights First has released advice to companies on the risks of contributing to the world's worst crimes.
A plane sits on the tarmac in Bangkok waiting to take alleged arms dealer Victor Bout to the US. But Bout is at the centre of a Russia-U.S. tug of war being played out in a Thai court. Al Jazeera English reports:
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See also a BBC report "From Our Own Correspondent".
"Global Witness has applied to the UK High Court for a judicial review of the Government's failure to investigate a number of British companies and individuals known to have been trading in minerals sourced from war-torn eastern Congo. Extensive evidence from Global Witness, the UN Group of Experts and others, shows that British companies have supported armed groups by purchasing minerals from areas under their control in the DRC. Despite this, the UK government has never put any of them forward for sanctions."
A new U.S. law requires publicly traded companies to disclose to the SEC whether their products contain gold, tin, tungsten or tantalum from Congo or adjacent countries. If so, they have to describe what measures they are taking to trace the minerals' origin. The State and Treasury departments are examining the possibility of future sanctions against U.S. companies that use "conflict minerals."
Private companies sub-contracted to the Pentagon are allegedly "paying millions of dollars in protection money to Afghan warlords, and potentially to the Taliban, to secure convoys carrying supplies to U.S. troops in Afghanistan", congressional investigators said in a report.
A Swedish prosecutor has opened a preliminary investigation into claims that Lundin Oil was involved in war crimes in Sudan. The news comes in the wake of a report by a group of aid agencies alleging "possible complicity" on the part of a consortium of oil companies in connection with the commission of war crimes and crimes against humanity.
A report out this week from Fafo, Amnesty International, and the Norwegian Peacebuilding Centre identifies obstacles to judicial remedies for business involvement in human rights abuses and sets out a series of reforms. The report argues governments need to take urgent action.
Campaigning organizations have lodged a complaint in France against leading international timber company Dalhoff, Larsen and Horneman (DLH) alleging that "during the civil war in Liberia from 2000-2003, DLH brought timber from Liberian companies that provided support to Charles Taylor's brutal regime."
A Kenyan judge has upheld an appeal against Kenya's decision to freez the assets of a Rwandan businessman wanted by the ICTR on charges of having helped to finance the Rwandan genocide. Felicien Kabuga was indicted by the tribunal but is still at large.
A French court has decided to open a judicial investigation into assets held in France by three African presidents. The NGOs who launched the case under anti-corruption laws in France say an investigation will have to determine how the assets were acquired and where the funds came from: "The investigation will also throw light on the various intermediaries involved in the transactions under scrutiny, namely the banks identified by the police investigation whose compliance with anti- money laundering regulations is in question."
