The injustices caused by the global economy take many forms. Very often it is marginalized people, for instance in India, whose rights are sidelined so that Western corporations can profit. CEOs and politicians in the countries where these companies are based seek to evade responsibility by pointing to the companies' suppliers, subsidiaries or internal social responsibility guidelines. But corporate social responsibility policies and even international corporate guidelines do little to improve the situation of most workers or farmers in countries like India where many remain in the most precarious to devastating working conditions.
School children given inadequate information about clinical trials undertaken by Western drug companies; famers who aren’t properly warned about the health risks attached to using pesticides – increasingly, people affected by corporate wrongs are organizing and resisting. ECCHR supports them and their organizations in what are often political struggles for social and economic rights. By making legal interventions with international bodies (e.g. the UN Food and Agriculture Organization) or before domestic courts (e.g. the Supreme Court of India), ECCHR works with those affected to put an end to Western corporate wrongs in India.
Pesticides
ECCHR and its partner organizations urged the FAO/WHO in an open letter and monitoring report to implement urgently needed changes to effectively address the widespread mismanagement of pesticides worldwide.
Pesticides
Bayer CropScience sells highly toxic pesticides in India. The company fails to ensure that consumers are adequately informed of both the dangers of pesticides and the requisite protective measures.
Pesticides
Research by ECCHR showed: Syngenta’s pesticide Gramoxone – which is banned in many countries including throughout the EU – is used on plantations in Indonesia and the Philippines with almost no protective measures.
Pharmaceutical industry
In 2009, the States of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat launched a research project for the vaccination against the human papilloma virus (HPV). In 2010, the Government of India suspended the program as several violations of ethical standards were reported.