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A Week of Justice

4 December 2018, Bochum, Dortmund, Geneva, Rome

One Week of Justice

Bochum, Dortmund, Geneva, Rome
4 December 2018, 10:00 am
District Court Dortmund

German Court will hear the case against KiK on 29 November 2018 – Pakistani plaintiffs will speak in Geneva, Dortmund and Rome

From Pakistan to Germany and Italy: The journey of the survivors and affectees of the Ali Enterprises factory fire in Karachi is long in every respect. On 11 September 2012, more than 250 workers died in the flames because of the lack of rudimentary fire protection equipment in the factory. They are now seeking justice in Europe since Ali Enterprises produced for German retailer KiK and was certified by Italian social auditor RINA.

Only a few months after the disaster in Karachi, the Rana Plaza building collapsed in Dhaka (Bangladesh) killing more than 1100 workers. In both cases, the factories were closely involved in the supply chains for the European and North American markets. The events have shaken public consciousness in Europe and dramatically demonstrated how consumption in Europe is all too often tainted with the blood of people in the Global South. Ali Enterprises and Rana Plaza also led to a global alliance of workers, affectees associations and local unions along with international relief, campaign and human rights organizations. This alliance pursues justice through several different legal avenues.

One of these legal interventions is the lawsuit of Pakistani affectees against KiK in Germany. On 29 November 2018 the Court in Dortmund will for the first time hold an oral hearing in the case. The plaintiffs will travel to Germany to participate in the proceedings and to speak to the broader German society. They want to personally present their case. Before coming to Dortmund, the affectees will thus speak at the opening panel of the annual UN Forum on Business and Human Rights in Geneva.
 
Following the hearing in Germany, the Pakistani claimants will travel to Italy to meet in Rome with the Italian National Contact Point (NCP) on the OECD Guidelines for multinational enterprises to which has been submitted an OECD complaint against RINA for its failure to identify the lack of safety measures.
 
The journey of the Pakistani plaintiffs through Europe will be an opportunity to reflect on strategies for the struggle for justice in a series of events.

 

Program

26 November 2018, Geneva

10:00 a.m.: UN-Forum on Business and Human Rights


28 November 2018, Dortmund/Bochum

10:00 a.m.: Press conference, Schauspiel Dortmund

1:30 p.m.: Symposium "Strategies of Justice – Fighting factory Disasters in South Asia" (GER/EN), BlueSquare at Ruhr-Universität Bochum (no need for prior registration)

8:00 p.m.: "BLACKBOX: Human Rights precede Profits", movie screening and discussion (GER/EN), Schauspiel Dortmund (please register in advance: schauspiel@theaterdo.de)

 

29 November 2018, Dortmund

12:00 p.m.: Public hearing, Landgericht Dortmund


3 December 2018, Rome

10:30 a.m.: Press conference

 

The events take place in cooperation with: Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, medico international, Clean Clothes Campaign, NTUF, AEFFAA, Abiti Puliti, Movimento Consumatori, Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Schauspiel Dortmund.

 

PLEASE NOTE: The events are not fully booked yet. Please register for the BLACKBOX-event via schauspiel@theaterdo.de. For the symposium, no prior registration is needed.

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