OECD Guidelines on Corporate Responsibility Cited in Decision

Student's at last year's doctoral seminar may remember a discussion about the use of OECD Guidelines on corporate responsibility, and their justiciability. The United Kingdom OECD National Contact Point has delivered a decision in the case of Global Witness v. Afrimex finding Afrimex in violation of the human rights provisions of the Guidelines: http://www.globalwitness.org/media_library_detail.php/661/en/. AFrimex is a United Kingdom-based corporation involved in the mineral industry. The decision found that Afrimex initiated demand for minerals from a conflict zone and used suppliers who had made payments to Rassemblement congolais pour la démocratie-Goma, a rebel group operating in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo. It concluded that Afrimex had failed to contribute to sustainable development in the region and to respect human rights. The National Contact Point also stated that Afrimex applied insufficient due diligence to the supply chain, sourcing minerals from mines that used child and forced labour.
Thanks to Jernej Černič.