When Human Rights Are Violated - Examples of Connecting the Local and the Global

Part 1: Remediating human right violations in global supply chains: The role of innovation, technology and collaboration (dr. Charline Daelman)

To meet their responsibility to respect human rights, companies need to actively engage in the remediation of human rights impacts they have caused or contributed to. Access to appropriate channels to raise human rights complaints in global supply chains is key to ensuring efficient and immediate remediation for impacted companies, workers and communities. Furthermore, trusted grievance mechanisms make it possible to resolve problems proactively as they arise and offer good guidance on how to improve business operations and make them more sustainable. This session will discuss the needs of vulnerable groups and the importance of considering these when designing an effective (supply chain) grievance mechanism. Participants will learn about the challenges that businesses face in setting up effective (supply chain) grievance mechanisms and gain a better understanding of the role that collective action and technology can play in providing access to remedy.

Part 2: Analysing the role of international human rights in bringing justice to victims of human rights violations (prof. dr. Clara Burbano-Herrera)

Throughout virtually the entire twentieth century almost all Latin-American countries were ruled by military dictatorships, such as in Argentina, Brazil and Chili. In other States such as Peru, Guatemala and Colombia internal armed conflicts took place. As a result, many people were killed, tortured or exiled, among them, political opponents, students, workers and members of trade unions, children, women, and indigenous people.

Investigations related to those events usually conclude that during such regimes the majority of the human rights violations have been carried out by the State or with knowledge or by order of the highest state authorities. In general, subordinate state agents were trained to comply with orders to commit crimes. Moreover, mechanisms were put in place by the State apparatus to ensure impunity. In other words, those regimes were characterised by lack of any investigation and punishment of those responsible.

In this context the aim of this lecture is to give a general context of the situation in Latin-America and to analyse the role of international human rights bodies, and more specifically the Inter-American Court of Human Rights, in bringing justice to victims to these violations, with a special focus on Peru.