Human Rights Groups and ILO Cite Labor Violations in Latin America and the Caribbean

  
President Bush's trip to Latin America prompted the Washington Office of the International Labor Organization (ILO) to include the following information on its Internet site. An excerpt from a Human Rights Watch report on labor in the region, it highlights some of the tough problems that face a free trade initiative from the critics who cite the dark side of neoliberal reforms. At the same time, it provides clear indication that outside of government circles, real progress is being made in addressing human rights problems in proactive ways. This trend has lent more strength to the idea that multilateral official efforts are not necessary and that self-policing is the best measure.
  

"Throughout Latin American and the Caribbean, workers continued to suffer myriad violations of internationally recognized labor rights," said Human Rights Watch (HRW) in its annual global survey of human rights in 66 countries around the world.

"Common abuses included the worst forms of child labor, employment discrimination, and violations of the right to freedom of association," said the report. "In some cases, violations were perpetuated by the government's failure to enforce domestic labor legislation and, in other cases, national labor laws fell short of international labor standards. The result was the same, however: governmental omissions that allowed employers to violate workers' rights with impunity."

Colombia, meanwhile, was labeled "an extremely dangerous place for human rights defenders." This move mirrors findings in the ILO. Last June, the ILO's Committee on Freedom of Association reported to the Governing Body that it had continued to receive many complaints concerning violent acts and discrimination against trade unionists and that the "climate of impunity in the country represented a serious threat to the exercise of trade union freedom." In response, the ILO has developed a technical cooperation program to cover promotion of core labor rights in the country.

Beyond Latin America and the Caribbean, the 670-page World Report 2002 focuses its attention primarily on non-labor issues. The survey covers human rights in other regions of the world, and contains analyses of several related topics, including U.S. and European foreign policy, refugee issues, international justice, corporate social responsibility and the weapons trade.

In a section entitled "Business and Human Rights," the report notes that while previous debates have centered on whether companies should have any responsibility for human rights, in 2001 "significant progress was made toward defining the appropriate roles of business and corporations." In addition, the report points out that the discussion about the relationship between business and human rights "was no longer limited to just corporations and non-governmental organizations, as multilateral financial institutions, the United Nations, and governments began to address these issues more consistently."

For more information, see Human Rights Watch World Report 2002,  www.hrw.org/wr2k2