Photo: Julieta Romero
Blood in your cereal?
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Multinationals' corruption overseas
Nestlé, one of the biggest food companies in the world, was recently accused of beign co-responsible for the assasination of a trade unionist.
By Julieta Romero Güeto
O
Photo: Julieta Romero
groups, whose two-decade history of human rights n March 5, 2012, an unconventional lawsuit resonated violations includes violence against union leaders at the throughout European news media. Swiss food group request, and with the financing of, both national and Nestlé was accused of being co-responsible for the transnational corporations. murder of unionist and Nestlé Colombia employee Luciano Luciano Romero’s murder has helped open the debate Romero. This is the first time a Swiss transnational company in Europe on the degree of responsibility a parent company has been called to account for offences allegedly committed bears in cases of criminal acts committed by foreign by foreign subsidiaries. subsidiaries. In an increasingly globalising world, According to the lawsuit, the unionist received offences committed thousands of death threats after Nestlé Colombia’s kilometres away are beginning to have management falsely branded him a “Companies can no guerilla fighter. The assassins turned out to longer profit at the implications at home. be members of the right-wing paramilitary expense of human Misereor, a German catholic NGO, is one of the three main organisations behind the group AUC (United Self-Defence Forces of rights“ lawsuit against Nestlé. A billboard with the Colombia). Romero’s case is far from being message “Courage is exposing crimes that t h e supposedly never happened” welcomes employees and only one of its kind. guests at its headquarters in Aachen. Other renowned Susanne Breuer, responsible for Colombian projects at multinational Misereor, determinately explains why her organisation companies, including decided to support the case. “Colombia is considered the Coca Cola, Chiquita world’s most dangerous country for a trade unionist to live Brands, and Susanne Breuer leads in. From the beginning we saw good possibilities to prove Drummond, remain Colombian Nestlé’s responsibility.” under public scrutiny projects at Misereor Colombia’s armed conflict has been going on for over 40 for alleged links with years, during which fighting among leftist guerrilla, army illegal paramilitary
forces and right-wing paramilitary was compounded by drug trafficking and state violence. It is certainly complicated to do business at a place where corrupt companies exploit the lack of state presence. “Multinational companies, as economic actors, often ignore the dynamics of the conflict, says Claudia Müller-Hof, a legal analyst for the European Centre for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR) and one of the plaintiffs in the Nestlé case. “Our standpoint is that the headquarters cannot completely delegate risk management when conducting operations in a conflict zone. The company must take precautionary measures, the so-called duty of care, and should not abandon those responsibilities, just as it doesn’t abandon profits.”
´s DARK side in Colombia 1944-2012. •In 1977, Nestle was accused of the n death of 28 childre who drank Nestle’s
poisoned milk. •Landowners with proven connections litary with illegal parami g groups were amon rs. ide ov Nestlé’s milk pr ry lita •The former parami
leader Salvatore t Mancuso testified tha é’s stl Ne c, Cicola subsidiary, had made payments to his units. However it’s not clear when and how much. Nestlé acquired Cicolác in 1997. ars, •Over the last 25 ye and es ye 13 Nestlé emplo ist Sinaltrainal’s union or led kil have been disappeared.
Links: http://www.ecchr.de/ http://www.unglobalcompact.org/
Photo: Sinaltrainal
In 2000, discussions about the social responsibility of multinational enterprises became an international issue with the establishment of the Global Compact programme. The programme encourages international business organisations to adopt socially responsible policies. It is the world’s largest corporate responsibility initiative and Nestlé is one of its signatories. The OECD Risk Awareness Tool for Multinational Enterprises in Weak Governance Zones was adopted in 2006. It essentially constitutes a set of guidelines agreed by governments and designed for multinational companies. Despite the introduction of these initiatives, both mechanisms have been criticised for being ineffective because of their voluntary character and for being a form of tokenism, or lip service, used to cover up corporate misconduct. The Swiss campaign Corporate Justice is one of those actively fighting against relying exclusively on self-regulation: “We are calling on the Federal Council and Parliament for legal provisions”. Müller-Hof, from ECCHR, agrees. For her, the discussion about corporate responsibility must sooner or later start broaching legal issues: “I notice that in Europe the discussion about corporate responsibility overseas from the standpoint of litigation is almost
nonexistent. It’s a really young debate among scholars and politicians.” Meanwhile, organisations like Misereor continue campaigning to raise consumers awareness. Susanne Breuer, who boycotts Nestlé products, points out that companies can no longer profit at the expense of human rights: “For consumers, it is not easy to comprehend how the supply chain of a product works. That’s why we believe the first step is for companies to make their supply chain more transparent.” Nestlé has rejected all charges brought against it in Luciano Romero’s case. The food giant continues to control a big share of the global food market. The company’s overall profits this year have already reached 50.79 million euros. Back in Colombia, demonstrations against the company continue. From October 22 to 26, members of the trade union Sinaltrainal organised a week against Nestlé’s crimes. Protesters carried chains and banners to the symbolic Bolívar Square in Bogotá, condemning the assassination of Luciano Romero as well as the deaths of a further 12 Nestlé employees, whose murders remain unresolved. Whilst it remains to be seen whether these cases will ever reach an international court, the legal discussion about how to deal with corrupt multinational corporations in conflict areas has irreversibly begun.
Sinaltrainal´s banner against Nestlés alleged crimes.