Controversial project passed Bundestag decides Supply Chain Act

Status: 11.06.2021 11:58 a.m.

In the future, large German companies will have to pay more attention to compliance with human rights and environmental standards by their suppliers – otherwise they face fines. The opposition criticized the Bundestag resolution. The Bundestag has passed the Supply Chain Act, which makes large companies more responsible than before for conditions at their global suppliers. 412 MPs voted for the law, 159 voted against it and 59 abstained. During the final deliberations in parliament, the Greens announced that they would vote with the government factions of the CDU / CSU and SPD. The FDP and AfD spoke out against it, the left wanted to abstain. The controversial project had been wrestled for a long time.

There is a risk of fines of two percent of sales

From 2023, large companies in Germany will be obliged to take action against human rights violations and environmental violations at their suppliers. Failure to do so can result in fines of up to two percent of annual sales. It initially applies to corporations with more than 3000 employees. According to the coalition, there are more than 925 companies. From 2024, companies with more than 1000 employees are also to be included, which would be around 4800 companies.

“Children belong in schools and not in mines”

Federal Labor Minister Hubertus Heil (SPD) said that politics must take action against child labor. “Children belong in schools and not in mines,” he said. Around 160 million children are currently working around the world, half of them in particularly dangerous conditions. That is why we need clear standards.

For Development Aid Minister Müller it is “the most important law for more justice between rich and poor”. Image: dpa Development Aid Minister Gerd Müller (CSU) said the law was “certainly the most important law for more justice between rich and poor”. He emphasized that it came about against strong lobby pressure. In the interests of business, the Union had enforced that there is no additional civil liability for companies. Corporations would have legal and planning security, so representatives of the Union parliamentary group.

AfD: Law harms German economy

The FDP and AfD, however, accused the regulation of harming the German economy. The AfD criticized that competitors of German companies were the winners of the law. Greens and leftists welcomed the law as a first step, but criticized it as inadequate. The left argued that because there was no civil liability, the law was too weak and made too few companies accountable.

Theme 2021 – Strength beyond all odds What is albinism? Albinism is a rare, non-contagious genetic difference that is inherited from birth. In almost all types of albinism, both parents must carry the gene for the inheritance, even if they do not themselves have albinism. The condition is found in both sexes regardless of ethnicity and in all countries of the world. Albinism results in a lack of pigment (melanin) in the hair, skin, and eyes, leaving the skin vulnerable to sunlight and light. As a result, most people with albinism are visually impaired and prone to skin cancer. There is currently no cure for the absence of melanin pigment. Singer and model Connie Chiu was born in Hong Kong. As the fourth child in a Chinese family, she is the only one born with albinism. Connie and her family moved to Sweden, where she grew up studying art and journalism. (Photo: OHCHR) It is estimated that in North America and Europe 1 in 17,000 to 20,000 people have some form of albinism. The condition is much more common in sub-Saharan Africa, with an estimated 1 in 1,400 people affected in Tanzania and a high prevalence of 1/1000 for certain populations in Zimbabwe and other specific ethnic groups in South Africa. Health challenges of people living with albinism The lack of the pigment melanin makes people with albinism very susceptible to skin cancer. In some countries, the majority of people with albinism die of skin cancer between the ages of 30 and 40. Skin cancer is preventable when people with albinism enjoy the right to health care, including the right to regular checkups, the use of sunscreen, sunglasses, and sun-protective clothing. In some countries, these ‘lifesaving’ means are not readily available or very difficult to reach for those with the disease. Thus, in a developing world, people with albinism have been and are among the “farthest left behind”. The United Nations emphasizes the need to target human rights interventions in the manner envisioned by the Sustainable Development Goals. Due to a lack of melanin pigment in the skin and eyes, people with albinism often experience permanent vision loss. (Photo: Eyes on Europe) People with albinism and human rights People with albinism face many forms of discrimination. Albinism is still deeply misunderstood, both socially and medically. The physical appearance of people with albinism often makes them objects of alienation due to false beliefs and superstitions that have existed for centuries. Such misconceptions are still present in attitudes and practices around the world. This makes people with albinism even more marginalized and excluded. Independent UN expert on the rights of people with albinism The United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution in 2013 calling for the prevention of attacks and discrimination against people with albinism. Furthermore, in response to calls from civil society organizations to support the designation of people with albinism as a specific group with special needs requiring special attention, the Council adopted the mandate Independent Expert on Human Rights of People with Albinism. In June 2015, the Human Rights Council appointed Ms. Ikponwosa Ero as the first Independent Expert on the human rights of people with albinism. An albino child parades through the streets of Harare during World Albinism Awareness Day 2016. (Image: AP) Violence and discrimination against people with albinism Although it is reported that people with albinism globally face stigma and discrimination, information about cases of physical attacks targeting people with albinism mainly comes from present in African countries. People with albinism face more severe forms of discrimination and violence in those areas, where most of the general population is relatively dark-skinned. In other words, a greater degree of contrast in pigments generally leads to a higher degree of discrimination. Albinism is a rare, non-communicable condition that is inherited at birth. The disease is found in both sexes, regardless of ethnicity, in all countries of the world. (Photo: UN) There have been hundreds of assaults and murders with albinism reported in 28 countries in sub-Saharan Africa over the past decade. The attacks have several root causes including longstanding stigma, poverty and harmful practices stemming from beliefs in the wizarding world. The alarming fact is that these horrible practices continue to this day. The way in which people with albinism face discrimination, and how severe it is, varies from region to region. In the Western world, including North America, Europe and Australia, discrimination often includes name-calling, persistent teasing and bullying of children with albinism. There is little information from other regions such as Asia, South America and the Pacific. However, some reports indicate that in China and other Asian countries, children with albinism face abandonment by their families. Quynh Hoa According to United Nations

Kayleigh Haywood, a 15-year-old girl from Measham, Leicestershire, met her killer via Facebook. When the girl’s body was discovered, police used a special phone to unlock her device – which was locked and severely damaged – to extract information. The evidence obtained helps the police find the culprit, which is the neighbor Stepen Beardman. It also exonerated a suspect. Previously, this technology helped the FBI unlock the iPhone of the San Bernardino shooter after Apple refused to cooperate, as well as collect evidence after the shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando. Florida (USA). Of course, there will be objections to a company that helps the government hack their phones. That makes Cellebrite, the Israeli company behind the jailbreak device, a target of attacks by human rights groups around the globe, who fear it could be used for wrongdoing. Yossi Carmil, one of the founders and CEOs of Cellebrite, says Cellebrite’s “moral compass” remains intact. He describes himself as “good people who support heroes in their work”, which is saving lives, maintaining peace in the community. Cellebrite was originally a company that provides backup, transfer and restore smartphone data, partnering with carriers such as Orange, T-Mobile, Carphone Warehouse. About 10% of their business comes from private companies that need to extract data from employees’ phones for HR reasons, intellectual property theft or fraud investigations. Mr. Carmil, 54, has close ties to the military and police. He spent four years in the army, where he was a combat soldier and special forces officer. He called it a “proud” period. He used to work for the Israeli Defense Ministry before moving to Europe to live for 10 years, working at Bosch and Siemens. He spent most of this time in Germany, where he earned an MBA from Ludwig Maximilian University. He returned to his hometown of Israel after the death of his sister, later married and had three children. His 19-year-old eldest son Carmil is also serving in the army, currently stationed at the border between Israel and Gaza. Breaking encryption applications, violating user privacy, making Carmil’s image worse in the eyes of technology leaders. Moxie Marlinspike, CEO of the secure messaging app Signal, once published an article detailing a vulnerability that could change the content of messages when Cellebrite extracts them, damaging important evidence. However, Mr. Carmil said that exploitation of that vulnerability never happened in practice. For Mr. Carmil, the UK is an important market with about 50 law enforcement agencies using their technology. In addition to 17 sales and marketing staff in Europe, Cellebrite will hire more researchers and developers. In total, the company has about 300 employees, some of which have been brought in from other intelligence organizations and technology firms. When asked how to ensure their technology is not used against innocent people or human rights, Mr Carmil said “it is my responsibility not to let the tools of power fall into the wrong hands”. Cellebrite has a legal department that writes policy and a compliance officer who reports directly to the CEO. Prior to the initial public offering, Cellebrite also established an independent ethics committee to prosecute Cellebrite for violations. Mr. Carmil said the company controls every license it sells remotely and can disable and blacklist any license, even when there is little doubt. Cellebrite is banned from selling technology to Iraq, Lebanon, and Palestine. Recently, they decided to stop selling to Russia, Belarus and China. Often known as a shady company, silenced by secret contracts, Mr. Carmil wants more transparency ahead of the IPO. Du Lam (According to Telegraph)

China’s Association of Community Organizations (SoCO), a human rights organization, has released photos of suffocating apartments in Hong Kong as part of a campaign to raise awareness of the harsh living conditions people live in. city ​​dwellers are facing. To capture the scale of these micro-apartments, the photographer captured the apartment above. Wide-angle shots are taken by fixing the camera with the wide-angle lens to the ceiling, and then triggering the shot from a distance. With over 7.5 million people, Hong Kong is one of the most populous cities in the world. Rapid urbanization causes many people to live in narrow living spaces that are “suffocating”. According to the Association for Community Organizations, more than 10,000 people in Hong Kong live in already small apartments that are split into smaller apartments. An average of 0.09 square meters in Hong Kong costs nearly 29.9 million VND. Compared to New York (USA), Hong Kong’s rent is 35% higher.

Lt. Gen. Nguyen Thanh Son, Director of External Relations Department, Ministry of Public Security, Chief of the Standing Office of the Human Rights Steering Committee spoke at the Conference.

Opening remarks at the Workshop “United Nations Human Rights Mechanisms (UN): The direction of cooperation for Vietnam”, Lt. Gen. Nguyen Thanh Son, Chief of the Standing Office of the Human Rights Steering Committee said, in the context of Globalization and the current trend of international integration, many problems have transcended national borders, including human rights issues. In order to participate in regional and international cooperation links, countries must abide by the general rules of the game that are international principles and standards. In the field of human rights, these are the international legal principles and standards recognized in the Human Rights Code and other international legal documents.

The promotion and protection of human rights is primarily done by national law but it is also governed by international law that states are obliged to comply with as subjects of law and as subjects of law. member of international treaties. On the basis of international human rights law, a system of UN human rights institutions and mechanisms has been established to promote international cooperation, and to assist and supervise countries in the enforcement of prices. international human rights principles, principles and standards.

“Shop thoroughly the Party and State’s policies on proactive international integration in all fields, and strengthening cooperation with agencies., the UN human rights mechanism not only helps us to take advantage of opportunities for cooperation and external resources, exploit the positive aspects of the UN human rights system, but also help us grasp and proactively prevent and limit negative aspects, fight with activities that take advantage of the UN human rights mechanisms to sabotage our Party and State; strengthening capacity to protect national interests in the international arena “ – Lieutenant General Nguyen Thanh Son emphasized.

Workshop overview.

The workshop aims to provide information on key human rights institutions and mechanisms of the United Nations; Increase awareness of the significance and importance of cooperating with these mechanisms in current foreign affairs. From there, equipping delegates with basic solutions to improve the effectiveness of foreign affairs in the field of human rights, and at the same time have the basis to study and propose working directions to fight with activities. taking advantage of UN human rights agencies and mechanisms against Vietnam.

Speaker Dr. Le Xuan Tung, Human Rights Institute (Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics) presented the seminar.

Taking place in 1 day, the participants of the Workshop heard reporters from the Department of International Organizations (Ministry of Foreign Affairs); Institute of Human Rights (Ho Chi Minh National Academy of Politics), Department of International Law (Ministry of Justice); The Legal Department (Ministry of Public Security) presents the following topics: An overview of UN human rights mechanisms and Vietnam’s participation; The role of the Office of the UN Human Rights Commissioner in promoting and protecting human rights; The role and activities of the Commission on Human Rights in promoting the realization of the objective of the Convention on Civil and Political Rights; Outline of the Convention Against Torture and the Obligations of Member States …

Major General Nguyen Van Ky, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Secretariat of the Government Steering Committee on Human Rights gave a presentation on “Policy of the Party and State on international integration in the field of human rights” and updated the goals. , orientations, specific solutions and principles of integration as well as Vietnam’s international integration in the field of human rights.

Thereby affirming that Vietnam complies with international commitments to which Vietnam participates in parallel with proactively and actively participating in building and making effective use of international rules and regulations and participating in activities of regional and international communities. Besides, Vietnam also proactively proposed initiatives and cooperation mechanism on the principle of mutual benefit; strengthen and enhance the role in the regional and international community, actively contribute to the fight for peace, national independence, democracy and social progress in the world.

Major General Nguyen Van Ky, Deputy Chief of Office of the Office of the Government Steering Committee on Human Rights, spoke at the Workshop.

Closing the Workshop, Major General Nguyen Van Ky, Deputy Chief of the Office of the Office of the Government Steering Committee on Human Rights highly appreciated the quality of the speakers’ topics as well as the discussion and interaction between delegates.

On the basis of awareness of difficulties and challenges posed to Vietnam on the path of international integration, especially in the field of human rights protection and promotion in the context of globalization, delegates participated. The workshop agreed on a number of directions in developing and implementing solutions to cooperate with UN human rights mechanisms in the coming time:

Firstly, showing a responsible attitude, actively cooperating and in dialogue with UN human rights agencies and mechanisms, actively participating in the operation of UN human rights mechanisms contributes to shaping principles. and international human rights standards.

The second is to strengthen external propaganda on Vietnam’s implementation of its international human rights obligations and obligations and Vietnam’s active and proactive action in cooperation with international human rights agencies and organizations.

Third, effective fight against activities that take advantage of international human rights mechanisms against Vietnam.

Fourth, the implementation and effective implementation of the obligations of a member state to international human rights conventions and commitments; proactively improve human rights capacity for officials and people; continuing to ensure the effectiveness and efficiency in law enforcement and application; Overcoming limited vulnerabilities affecting human rights to limit exploitation activities through the UN human rights mechanisms against us.

The fifth is to promote theoretical research on human rights, enhance the dissemination and education of our Party’s views on human rights issues, and contribute to building the socialist ideological foundation on human rights.