Shanta Martin from Amnesty International responds to a story in March’s Ethical Corporation

Your recent article [[Activist battles don’t win the war, Ethical Corporation, March 2010] raises the important role of NGOs in holding companies and states to account when company activities contribute to or cause human rights abuses. Unfortunately, the article fails to accurately represent the views and work of Amnesty International on companies operating in the extractive industries. The article levels certain criticisms at Amnesty International and states that the organisation “vehemently denies” them, yet no such charges were put to us for response.

Contrary to assertions in your article, Amnesty International monitors, investigates and responds to allegations of human rights abuses associated with extractive industry projects operated by a variety of companies – large and small, western and non-western.

Far from focusing on the “big western players”, in the past year alone Amnesty International has responded to the killing of activists opposed to projects operated by a junior mining company in El Salvador, attacks and death threats experienced by local people campaigning against activities by another junior mining company in Mexico, and death threats received by an activist pursuing a complaint regarding torture against security guards who had worked for a mining project now owned by a Chinese company in Peru. During this time Amnesty International has also spoken out about human rights abuses occurring in and near extractive industry projects operated by large-scale companies in various parts of the world – including India, Papua New Guinea and Nigeria.

Amnesty International is committed to bringing about the systemic changes that are needed to ensure that corporate activity does not cause or drive human rights abuses. In so doing, the organisation will continue to maintain its vigilance and persistence in relation to a broad range of actors, including a diverse array of companies. Crucially, Amnesty International will also continue to advocate for proper regulation of companies by states and for access to effective remedies for those adversely affected by company operations. It is disappointing that the breadth and scope of this important work was poorly reflected in your article.

Shanta Martin
Senior researcher and policy advisor, extractive industries
Amnesty International