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	ICJ addresses Human Rights Council on corporate complicity and access to justice by International Commssion of Jurists (ICJ)   May 2013   The International Commssion of Jurists (ICJ) has submitted to the United Nations a written statement concerning corporate complicity in human rights abuses and access to justice for victims of such abuses.   The statement is made ahead of the UN Human Rights Council’s 23rd session (27 May to 14 June 2013) and comments on a report of the Council’s Working Group on human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises.   Setting out issues concerning obstacles to justice for victims of human rights abuses by business enterprises, the ICJ calls on the Working Group to take various steps to address such issues, including by:   Exploring the further development of international standards; Raising specific allegations of corporate abuse with relevant State authorities and business enterprises; and Addressing more clearly the issue of access to justice in cases of corporate complicity.   * Access the statement: http://www.icj.org/theme/international-economic-relations/   Apr 2013   ICJ hails step towards protection of children against business abuses.   The ICJ welcomes the adoption by the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child of a General comment on State obligations regarding the impact of the business sector on children’s rights.   The ICJ stresses the Committee is the first UN human rights treaty body to address this issue directly in a General comment.   “The Committee on the Rights of the Child has taken a decisive step in clarifying standards under the Convention on the Rights of the Child and providing much needed guidance for States to better protect the rights of the child against business abuse,” said Carlos Lopez, ICJ’s Senior Legal Adviser on Business and Human Rights.   The UN Committee recognizes that while there is no international legally binding instrument on the business sector’s responsibilities vis-ŕ-vis human rights, “duties and responsibilities to respect the rights of children extend in practice beyond the State and State-controlled services and institutions and apply to private actors and business enterprises. Therefore all businesses must meet their responsibilities regarding children’s rights and States must ensure they do so.”   The UN Committee also acknowledges that voluntary actions of corporate responsibility by business enterprises are not a substitute for State action and regulation of businesses or for businesses to comply with their responsibilities to respect children’s rights.   The General Comment was elaborated through a consultative process over nearly two years with the support of the ICJ, UNICEF and Save the Children International.   It gives interpretation and guidance for States in key areas:   •how they should ensure that the activities and operations of business enterprises do not adversely impact on children’s rights;   •how to create an enabling and supportive environment for business enterprises to respect children’s rights across their local or global operations; and   •how to ensure access to effective remedy for children whose rights have been infringed by a business enterprises.   “The recommendations and guidance provided by the Committee are a key contribution to national and international strategies by States and other actors,” Lopez added. “States now need implement these recommendations.” Visit the related web page
	Getting Away With Murder by The Committee to Protect Journalists   May 2013   Rocked by militants in the north and politically inspired aggression nationwide, Nigeria has become one of the worst nations in the world for deadly, unpunished violence against the press, the Committee to Protect Journalists has found in its newly updated Impunity Index. The global index, which calculates unsolved journalist murders as a percentage of each country''s population, also found soaring impunity rates in Somalia, Pakistan, and Brazil.   Investigations into these killings are usually carried out with sloppiness, and no real culprits are caught,” said Ayode Longe, a senior officer with the Media Rights Agenda, a press freedom group in Nigeria, where at least five journalists have been murdered in direct relation to their work since 2009. None of the cases has been solved.   “That has emboldened others to assault journalists, believing nothing would be done to them,” Longe said. Nigeria, which had previously experienced a decade of relative security for journalists, joined the index for the first time this year, ranked as the 11th worst in the world in combating deadly anti-press crime.   CPJ''s analysis found improving conditions in Nepal, which dropped off the index entirely, and in Russia, which has had one of the world’s most deeply entrenched cultures of impunity. Although both nations remain dangerous for the press, both have seen a general decline in deadly anti-press violence and a handful of partly successful prosecutions in journalist murders.   The Impunity Index, published annually, identifies countries where journalists are murdered regularly and governments fail to solve the crimes. The 2013 index examines journalist murders that occurred from January 1, 2003, through December 31, 2012, and remain unsolved. Only nations with five or more unsolved cases are listed. Cases are considered unsolved when no convictions have been won. There are 12 countries on the index this year.   The release of CPJ’s 2013 index comes at a pivotal moment in the global struggle against impunity. A U.N. plan to combat deadly anti-press violence gets under way this year, with Pakistan being an early focal point. Among its many measures, the plan aims to strengthen journalist safety programs and assist member states in developing ways to prosecute the killers of journalists.   * Access the report via the link below. Visit the related web page
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