The Korea Center for United Nations Human Rights Policy (KOCUN), Supporters for the Health And Rights of People in the Semiconductor industry (SHARPS), Victims & Families of Humidifier Disinfectants, Asian Citizen’s Center for Environment and Health, Taiwan Association for Victims of Occupational Injuries (TAVOI), RCA Employees Care Association, and Labour Action China (LAC) are raising their common concerns of human rights violations due to toxic chemicals across the Northeast Asian region on the occasion of the 33rd session of the Human Rights Council which has started this week.
Mr. Baskut Tuncak, the UN Special Rapporteur on hazardous substances and wastes, will present his annual report on September 15. He has identified that many Asian transnational corporations are involved in different forms of human rights violations. One of the main issues is that the health and safety of workers and the public have been harmed or put at risk due to corporations’ mismanagement of hazardous substances, where these businesses are linked to the production, use, release or disposal of hazardous substances and wastes up and down the value chain.
In the report ‘Human Rights Violations by Transnational Corporations: Mismanagement of Hazardous Substances‘, Toxic-Substances_Voices-from-NE-Asia_2016_final-2.pdf (1972 downloads ) the seven NGOs highlight several cases of mismanagement of hazardous substances. Attention is paid, for example, to workers with occupational diseases in Samsung Electronics factories, and to Labour Action China’s campaign to ban benzene.
