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The Centre for Human Rights hosted the Advanced Human Rights Course on Business and Human Rights in Africa from 1 to 5 July 2019. The course was organised by the International Development Law Unit (IDLU), in collaboration with the Advanced Human Rights Courses (AHRC). 

The course was attended by students on the Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa (HDRA) and International Trade and investment Law in Africa (TILA) programme. Other participants included PhD candidates, human rights activists and academics.

The methodology used on the advanced course was based on two approaches. On one hand, presentations consisted of a theoretical dispensation of important themes around the Business and Human Rights discourse, especially focusing on the human rights based approach to development. On the other hand, group assignments, exercises and discussion points enriched the course with practical examples and assimilated theories.

The lectures and speakers included;

  • Prof Danny Bradlow (International Development Law Unit, UP) who gave a background and history of Business and Human rights.
  • Dr Harpreet Kaur (Business and Human Rights specialist, from the UNDP office in Thailand) who gave an overview of key Business and Human Rights developments globally.
  • D. Oyeniyi Abe (International Development Law Unit, UP) lectured on the Malabo Protocol and corporate criminal liability in Africa, as well as development of National Action Plan in Africa. He was also the Course Facilitator, and Programme Manager.
  • Ms Asha Ramgobin (Executive Director, Human Rights Development Initiative, South Africa) spoke on the illicit financial flows, investment and human rights in Africa.
  • Mr Alan Fine (Associate Director, Russell & Associates, South Africa) spoke on human rights frame work and reporting as well as communicating on human rights compliance.
  • Mr Joshua Loots (Project Manager, (BHRU) and Mr. Guillan Koko, Project Officer, ACCA) both gave a briefing on the activities of their Units.
  • Ms Michael Clements (Head of the Environmental Rights Programme, Lawyers for Human Rights, South Africa) spoke on Business and Human Rights litigation and its successes, challenges and alternatives.
  • Mr John Capel (Executive Director, Bench Marks Foundation, represented by Eric Mokua) spoke on dispute resolution mechanisms and community engagement.
  • Ms Mariette Liefferink (CEO, Federation for a Sustainable Environmental, South Africa) lectured on local community participation, socio-economic challenges of mining communities and free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC).
  • Ms Leanne Govidsammy (Centre for Environmental Rights, South Africa) spoke on shareholder activism as a pathway to corporate responsibility.
  • Prof Bonita Meyersfield (School of Law, University of the Witwatersrand) lectured on domestic application of the Guiding Principles in South Africa, and gender within the Business and Human Rights discourse

The key highlights of the course were the discussions about the documentary: The Shore Break, which was screened on the first day of the course. The documentary is based on a true story of the residents of the Amadiba community in South Africa’s Wild Coast. The Pondo people whom have preserved their traditional way of life for centuries before a divergence in development pathways between two cousins brought remonstration and tensions in the community. On the one hand, Nonhle, a young local tour guide, together with her community resisted the mining project on their environment and destruction such project will have on their livelihood and culture, while on the other hand, her cousin, Madiba, a local entrepreneur, fully supported the titanium- mining proposal and the government’s desire to construct a tolled highway across their land. He believed this projects will open up the community to employment opportunities, hospitals and schools. The documentary, full of intrigues and interesting twists, resulted in the Amadiba community emerging victorious against the department of Mineral Resources and Transworld Energy and Mineral Resources, a subsidiary of Australian Mining company, which had earlier been awarded mining rights in the community. The Amadiba society refused the company to start the mining process, arguing against the massive potential of the mining exercise to derogate upon their land and environmental rights than to actually develop their livelihoods as was embraced by the investors and the DMR. The case went to court based on the status quo which prevailed at the time orbiting around mining and human rights, where mining rights were from time and again given precedence over the surface rights of the mining community behind the cloak of development. This case however shifted the logic and brought a tremendous shift in the South African jurisprudence on business and human rights issues. For the first time in history the court recognised the rights of the inhabitants of the mining community over that of the investors. In this case the court held that, the granting of mining rights to foreign investors without the full consent of customary communities was wrong.

Other documentaries were also screened. A documentary on oil spills in the Niger-Delta showed the various harmful effects of oil spillage on the environment. Dr Abe screened this documentary to reveal the importance and relevance of corporate criminal liability to the business and human rights discourse. Dr. Kaur also screened a documentary featuring several human rights violations in the global supply chain, especially in Asia. Ms. Mariette Liefferink’s documentary illustrated the remarkable and successful work she has been doing for the communities affected by mining, where for more than 10 years, she has been using her organisation to fight for the reparation of the livelihoods of the mining communities in South Africa.

The last session featured a panel on the values and shortcomings of hard and soft law. The key question was whether a treaty on Business and Human Rights is the desired solution. Panellists were Prof Bradlow, Prof Meyersfield and Dr Kaur. The panellists agreed that the Business and Human Rights treaty is not necessarily the desired solution, simply because much more depends on the political will by African states to enforce the provisions of the treaty. However, instances abound where soft law initiatives could generate a shared enforcement regime if state leaders prioritise the discourse on business and human rights.

African leaders are duty bound to protect human rights and comply with various international human rights treaties, which they have ratified. Events have shown that this is not the case, with particular reference to non-state actors. The panellists further opined that the absence of a treaty cannot be an excuse for states failure to uphold the rule of law in their jurisdictions. It is the responsibility of each state to protect, fulfil and respect human rights which extends to holding multinational corporations under their jurisdictions accountable for their human rights violations.

The next advanced human rights short course is on Children’s Rights in Africa, scheduled for 22 to 26 July 2019.


For more information, please contact: 

Dennis Antwi
Project Manager: Advanced Human Rights Courses (AHRC)

Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 4197
Fax: +27 (0) 86 580 5743
dennis.antwi@up.ac.za

Dr Oyeniyi Abe
Programme Manager: LLM International Trade and Investment Law in Africa

Tel: +27 (0) 12 420 6200
Fax: +27 (0) 86 505 5125
oo.abe@up.ac.za