Business and human rights

2 case studies
India and Ivory Coast
Amnesty International France

Sciences Po 24 mars 2013

Shortly before midnight on the 2

December 1984 approximately 54
pounds of methyl isocyanate (MIC)
and other products leaked into the
atmosphere from Union Carbides
pesticide plant in Bhopal

Between 7,000 and 10,000 women,

men and children died in the
immediate aftermath of the leak, and
a further. 15,000 died in the following
months and years

More than 25 years later, the site has

not been cleaned up

more than 100,000 people continue to

suffer from health problems without
the medical care they need, and
survivors are still awaiting fair
compensation and full redress for their
suffering.
Intervention Sciences Po 24 mars 2013

Raveendran/AFP/GettyImages

India, 1984

Human rights
consequences
Right to health (women)
Right to a clean and healthy environment
Right to work
Most of those affected were very poor, and the effects of the gas leak caused
them to lose their principal or only source of income
Many families lost their main wage earners.
Livestock owned by families died.
Chronic illness and mental distress affected the capacity of many to work and
earn their livelihoods.
Women often bore the additional burden, sleeping very little due to an increased
workload alongside household duties, childcare and care for relatives whose
health had been impaired by the gas leak.

Right to an effective remedy

Intervention Sciences Po 24 mars 2013

Cte dIvoire, 2006

20th of August in the morning, inhabitants
of Abidjan wakes up :
headaches
Skin irritations
Breath problems

Medical centers overwelhmed (100.000

people consulted medical centers)
15 or 17 people deceaded

How the waste was created

In late 2005 Trafigura decided to buy large amounts
of unrefined petroleum called coker naphtha from
PMI Trading Ltd, which is the commercial arm of
Mexicos state-owned petroleum company, PEMEX.
Trafigura intended to use the coker naphtha as a
cheap blendstock for fuels. They decided to
refine the oil themselves
Trafigura is the worlds third largest independent oil
trader. It handles every element involved in the
sourcing and trading of crude oil, petroleum
products, for industrial consumers (BP, Total, Shell,
Chevron..)
Trafigura Beheer BV is the group holding company,
incorporated in the Netherlands. Trafigura Ltd. is
based in London and acts as the coordinating entity
for a substantial proportion of the groups oil
operations. Puma Energy Cte dIvoire is Trafiguras
wholly owned subsidiary in Cte dIvoire

Londres : sige
oprationnel

Amsterdam:
adresse fiscale

Lucerne :
sige social

The journey of the waste:

Probo Koala

It was owned
by a company
based in the
Marshall Island

sailed under
the
Panamanian
flag

A Greek-based
company, appears to
have played
the role of
management company
for the ship at the time
of the event

More than 500m3

of waste higtly
toxic was stored

Trafigura timechartered (a
form of lease

The Probo
Koala was
under the
control of its
master,
Captain
Chertov
from the
Ukraine

Dumping in Abidjan
Trafigura finds a subcontractor compagnie
Tommy
Tommy accepted to
discharge slops and
not to treat it
The Compagnie Tommy
received its licence to
operate one month before
the dumping (at the time
where the boat was
refused in Amsterdam)

Human rights
consequences
Right to food, environment, health
Right to life, to work
Right to information
Right to an effective remedy

Amnesty Internationals
analysis
Some transnational corporations are involved in human rights abuses and
violations.
However, they are not subjects of international law.
They have a much power than individuals and populations but they
determine their lives
they have a much stronger legal protection : they often use complex legal
arrangements (Parent companies, subsidiaries, etc.) that make them opaque
and it is difficult to identify those who truly control the operations
States fail to protect victims of harmful actions of transnational corporations
Rights holders do not have access to essential information