PBI-Canada encourages MPs to back Binding Treaty on human rights in advance of the next round of negotiations in October

This coming October, the United Nations open-ended intergovernmental working group (OEIGWG) will hold a 7^th session to negotiate a third revised draft of a proposed Binding Treaty on transnational corporations and human rights.

Peace Brigades International has long supported a Binding Treaty as an instrument that would offer more leverage and protection to human rights defenders, notably land and environmental rights defenders in Latin America.

PBI-Mexico has stated: “PBI believes that a Binding Treaty could potentially lead to greater protection of human rights defenders working on business and human rights cases.”

But the Binding Treaty faces obstacles.

On a PBI-United Kingdom webinar this past July, PBI-Colombia accompanied Yessika Hoyos from the Jose Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (CCAJAR) commented: “Many companies together with the states have been blocking this issue.”

Those countries reportedly include Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Japan, Australia, Brazil, Russia and China.

To begin to address this, PBI-Canada has been asking Members of Parliament to endorse the call for a Binding Treaty.

So far, Leah Gazan (Winnipeg Centre), Matthew Green (Hamilton Centre) and Paul Manly (Nanaimo-Ladysmith) have done so.

We hope other MPs will do so via this Global Interparliamentary Network webpage.

With the 10th anniversary of the voluntary Guiding Principles on business and human rights in June and the Binding Treaty in October, PBI-Canada will continue to support a legally-binding Treaty that helps protect human rights defenders.