Africa Resources Watch (Democratic Republic of Congo); the Business, Human Rights and the Environment Research Group (United Kingdom); the Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights (Republic of Korea) and Karoline Duchene (Germany) join the GoodElectronics Network
Africa Resources Watch (Afrewatch)
Human rights group from Lubumbashi, Democratic Republic of Congo, working on community rights in the cobalt and copper mining areas of Katanga province. Afrewatch was a key participant at the GoodElectronics Round Table on responsible mining held on 19 April, 2016 .
Business, Human Rights and the Environment Research Group (BHRE Research Group)
The Business, Human Rights and the Environment Research Group is based at the School of Law, University of Greenwich, United Kingdom. It brings together the expertise and research interests of several academics in the field of business and human rights, international environmental law and international criminal law. The BHRE develops policy relevant research in a number of research areas, including business and human rights duties and responsibilities; corporate human rights due diligence; modern slavery, human trafficking and human rights in the global supply chain; socially responsible and sustainable public procurement; environmental and health governance; forests and forest commodities; the extractive industries and conflict minerals; multinational corporations, human rights and land rights; business, armed conflicts and transitional justice.
The BHRE has been working on socially responsible procurement of electronic products for the past three years. The BHRE has been involved in the set-up of Electronics Watch and supports its work and mission. Dr. Olga Martin-Ortega, the leader of the BHRE, is a member of the Board of Trustees of Electronics Watch.
The Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights (KLPH)
The Korean Lawyers for Public Interest and Human Rights is comprised of seven lawyers and one staff member dedicated to ensuring respect for human rights through legal recourse and education. The KLPH is a non-governmental, non-profit organization and was established in February 2012, by six lawyers in Seoul, Republic of Korea. KLPH focuses on specific areas of human rights law including disability, sexual orientation and gender identity (SOGI), as well as business and human rights. KLPH also protects, supports, and advocates for human rights defenders. Its mission is to achieve full recognition of human rights including those of minorities, as well as defending the rights of victims of abuse committed by corporations, through litigation, legislative advocacy and education.
KLPH is a member of the Korea Transnational Corporation Watch (KTNC WATCH) and has monitored human rights abuse by transnational electronic companies overseas, and conducted field research. Also, KLPH has focused on domestic labor issues of electronic and the shipbuilding industry. Since 2013, in solidarity with SHARPS, KLPH has struggled for the Right-to-Know of workers who should be informed about their workplace safety, by way of raising information disclosure lawsuits.
Karoline Duchenne
Karoline Duchene (Student, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany) wrote her masters’ thesis on CSR in the Mexican Electronic Industry after an 8-month period with Cereal. She investigated the limits and possibilities of securing labor rights throughout the whole global supply chain and the influence local activists have on this. She is keen to continue working on ‘Good Electronics’ issues and is now applying for funds for a doctorate.
