UNDROP 1st Anniversary statement The need to take steps to implement the UN Declaration on the rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas 17 December 2019 The following joint statement has been made by a group of United Nations human rights experts* to mark the 1st anniversary…
Statement to Basel, Rotterdam & Stockholm COPs
Opening intervention by UN Special Rapporteur Tuncak to BRS COPs
UN must urgently provide redress for minorities placed in toxic Kosovo camps
MEDIA STATEMENT – also available here GENEVA (13 March 2019) – The United Nations must take immediate action to provide justice and remedies for displaced minority communities who were housed in UN camps constructed on toxic wasteland in Kosovo*, says a UN human rights expert. Around 600 members of the…
Spring 2019 newsletter
Read Spring 2019 newsletter here To subscribe, email srtoxicwaste@ohchr.org
South Korea: Humidifier sterilizers 2018
Follow up to a previous allegation letter to Korea and numerous businesses for the sale of a toxic humidifier sterilizer responsible for the death and injury of hundreds of young children, pregnant women and older persons. The case was also addressed in a country visit to the Republic of Korea…
Statement to the UN Human Rights Council (2018)
Download here as PDF Opening Remarks, 39th Session of the U.N. Human Rights Council Excellences, distinguished delegates, colleagues, friends, The exploitation of workers can take many forms. In my annual report to you, I describe a particularly vicious form of exploitation: the exposure of workers to toxic substances. Over two…
Japan: Fukushima workers
Download here: Letter to Japan re Fukushima Workers Joint Letter of Allegation to the Government of Japan regarding information received concerning issues faced by workers employed in the ongoing decontamination and resettlement program in the Fukushima Prefecture of Japan, more particularly, the existing and potential risks to which they are exposed…
Open Letter to National Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico (Sept. 2018)
Read letter here 3 Sept. 2018 — An open letter addressed to Honorary Judges of the National Supreme Court of Justice of Mexico regarding Case No. 365/2018, which concerns the construction of a new tailings dam by the company Buenavista del Cobre, S.A. de C.V in Cananea, Sonora. The case raises a number of…
Samsung decision to compensate sick electronics workers welcomed by UN expert, urging action by all firms
GENEVA (27 August 2018) – The UN expert on toxics and human rights has welcomed a decision by the electronics giant Samsung to accept unconditionally an arbitration proposal on compensation for South Korean workers who have suffered serious illnesses while working for the company and on measures to prevent any…
Japan: Fukushima clean-up workers, including homeless, at grave risk of exploitation, say UN experts
Link to official UN press release here GENEVA (16 August 2018) – Japan must act urgently to protect tens of thousands of workers who are reportedly being exploited and exposed to toxic nuclear radiation in efforts to clean up the damaged Fukushima Daichi Nuclear Power Station, say three UN human…