Can Petroleum Aid development?

The US is not alone in grappling with the liability of transnational corporations for human rights abuses: in path-breaking litigation, Hudbay Minerals stands accused in Canadian courts of complicity in human rights abuses in Guatemala.

Complicating efforts to hold transnational corporations accountable is the fact that companies often construct a series of subsidiary companies that mask their true ownership, make it hard to impost corporate liability. Imposing corporate accountability is further impeded by other factors.

Logistically, many countries in the Global South where many transnational corporations operate lack the institutional and judicial capacity to manage complex litigation. Moreover, subsidiary companies often funnel profits to the parent corporations, leaving them with inadequate cash reserves to satisfy legal liabilities. Lastly, as noted above, governments may be reluctant to send a message of corporate accountability because those in power are often the most direct beneficiaries of corporate activity.

The corporations that voluntarily adhere to principles of Corporate Social Responsibility are likely not the vociferous opponents of accountability, and are arguably at a competitive disadvantage when others are permitted to violate human rights with impunity. Given corporate complicity in egregious abuses around the world, respect for human rights should not be a function of voluntary compliance but instead a matter of enforceable legal rights. The international community must demand accountability, and reinforce and reaffirm the practices of corporations that do take seriously the impact of their behaviour. The Supreme Court’s decision in the Kiobel case should advance global justice by categorically rejecting impunity for human rights abuses in which transnational corporations are complicit.

But in timing that is beyond ironic, the very same day that Peru issued its state of emergency, Ecuadorian officials were in the Hilton in Beijing offering over three million hectares of pristine Amazonian rainforest to Chinese oil companies, including China Petrochemical and China National Offshore Oil.

Meanwhile, another litigant has declared a pox on both houses.     A group of Ecuadoreans known as the Huaorani had moved to intervene in Chevron's extortion suit late last year, but U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan found that such intervention "would delay and complicate the resolution of an already complicated case."

 Kimerling, a City University of New York professor and respected human rights advocate, is the author of "Amazon Crude," which The New York Times described as the "Silent Spring of Ecuador."