ISDS Case Map
human rights
Increasing trade between Canada and Colombia would help fight drug traffickers and improve human rights in the South American country, says Saskatchewan MP Brad Trost. But critics say the country’s poor human-rights record should put any free-trade plans on hold.
Apart from trade issues, the free-trade agreement (FTA) negotiations between India and the European Union (EU) continue to be stuck over non-trade issues like human rights, child labour and environment.
Canadian Auto Workers, the country's largest union, last week issued a press release calling on the government to halt trade negotiations with Colombia, calling the deal "a shocking betrayal of Canadians' expectation that we don't negotiate with human rights abusers."
The federal government has agreed to add a new element to Canada's proposed free-trade agreement with Colombia. "It will be the first FTA in the world to require an annual human-rights assessment to be tabled in both countries' parliaments," the amendment's author says.
Several South American non-governmental organizations (NGOs) have called on the European Union to put better human rights provisions into its free trade agreement with Colombia
The European Union is close to reaching a free trade deal with Colombia. But human rights watchdogs, trade union organizations and some politicians believe the agreement would send all the wrong signals to Bogota.
The text of the agreement, which has not yet been publicly released, also includes a clause, useable by any party, that provides for the possibility of taking action if there is a repeated violation of human rights or a sudden interruption of democracy for any party.
Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned on Wednesday that Colombia's human rights record could prevent the passage of the long-awaited U.S.-Colombia free trade agreement.
Entering year 2010 is marked by the entry into a free trade area agreement between ASEAN and China, also known as the ASEAN-China FTA. Little attention was given to the possible impact of this FTA agreement to fulfill human rights in Indonesia.
Senior British MEP Richard Howitt has urged the EU to suspend free trade agreement talks with Colombia because of the country´s "profound" human rights "crisis."
