Human Rights | Page 2 | The FACT Coalition

‘The Ugliest Chapter Since Slavery’: How Illicit Financial Flows Thwart Human Rights in Africa

December 12, 2018

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights turned 70 on December 10. Governments and civil society organizations around the world commemorated the day with a range of activities.

Over the years, the Declaration has been a global beacon for Africans fighting against colonialism and for inclusive economic equality and sustainable development. Its provisions stand as aspirational goals for nations, and standards that nations are duty-bound to uphold and promote.

But what if despite your country’s commitment to uphold these and other fundamental freedoms, every year it was robbed of the financial resources necessary to promote and protect rights?

Op-ed: How an obscure business law facilitates human trafficking in massage parlors

May 4, 2018

Someone looking to comparison shop for commercial sex at one of Utah’s 50 or so illicit massage parlors can visit an online review board and get graphic descriptions of experiences with individual women in these locations.

Meanwhile, the privacy of the people who actually own the businesses where these acts take place is scrupulously protected nationwide by U.S. law. There is a very real and tragic cost to this irony. Research shows the majority of these women are likely victims of human trafficking. Corporate secrecy makes prosecuting the traffickers and helping the women find freedom extremely difficult.

FACT Joined a Coalition of Nearly 30 NGOs in Letter Supporting Administration’s Actions Under the Global Magnitsky Act

March 5, 2018

The FACT Coalition joined 28 other organizations on March 5, 2018 in sending a letter supporting the administration’s December designations under the Global Magnitsky Act, an important measure to fight corruption and human rights abuses. The letter also expresses disappointment that designations weren’t made in key regions and countries. The full letter can be read below or downloaded here.

U.S. Tax Plan’s Spiraling Consequences for Human Rights and Poverty – At Home and Abroad

December 13, 2017

As the United States Congress considers drastically altering its tax code, my organization — the Center for Economic and Social Rights (CESR) — has brought the spiraling human rights costs of the proposed U.S. tax cuts to the attention of a leading UN human rights official visiting the U.S. to look into poverty in the country.

On Dec. 1 – the morning before the U.S. Senate rushed through a lopsided and dysfunctional tax plan to unfairly benefit the top tiers of the economy while costing ordinary people within and outside the U.S. dearly — the UN Special Rapporteur on Extreme Poverty and Human Rights Philip Alston launched his official visit to the US to investigate the links between the growing phenomenon of poverty and human rights deprivations there.

In advance of his visit, we made a formal submission entitled Fiscal Impoverishment in the United States, warning that the Republican-backed tax plans would only deepen poverty and inequality within the U.S., while also enabling transnational tax abuse and undermining the ability of countries around the world to invest in human rights.

The Anonymous Companies That Protect Human Traffickers

August 28, 2017

Human trafficking is one of the most insidious crimes in our world today. It’s a business that profits on depriving basic rights — buying and selling them for forced labor or sexual exploitation. Unfortunately, it is the third-or fourth-largest illegal industry in the world (depending on how one measures) — and one that is growing rapidly. It is estimated to amount to $150 billion in profits each year while keeping 21 million people in slavery — at least that we know of.

Human traffickers hide in the shadows, making them extremely elusive to authorities. Vanessa Chauhan, a strategic engagement adviser at Polaris and FACT Coalition member, says, “It’s a hidden crime and unless you’re looking for it, you’re not going to find it.” To remain hidden, some traffickers use illicit schemes, including complex webs of anonymous companies, that allow them to quietly launder the proceeds from their illicit activity and shield them from accountability.