Dr. Chris O'Connell:

I appreciate that. I wish to clarify that our two Guatemalan witnesses will read their statements in Spanish, followed immediately by the English version in order that all members hear it.

I thank the Chair and members for inviting the Irish Coalition for Business and Human Rights to this important session. The coalition is a network of civil society organisations, trade unions, lawyers and academic experts working in the area of business and human rights to bring about policy change to ensure human rights and environmental abuses are prevented from happening in the first place, and are properly addressed and remedied when they do occur. The coalition is made up of more than 20 members, including Trócaire where I work. It is a broad group of organisations coming from diverse perspectives, each of which sees the profound and urgent need to ensure that Ireland does not continue to turn a blind eye to what is happening in the supply chains of large transnational corporations.

What is happening? The abuse of human rights in the pursuit of profit by powerful corporations is a critical injustice of the 21 century. The corporate race for natural resources, facilitated and encouraged by states, has put millions of people around the world at risk of exploitation and abuse. The actions of irresponsible businesses are having devastating impacts, including violent evictions and displacement of communities from their land; environmental degradation and pollution causing the destruction of livelihoods; and the exploitation and harassment of workers.

Communities seeking to resist the actions of corporations and complicit states are facing growing levels of violence and intimidation, with indigenous environmental and lands rights defenders at particular risk. Those who denounce abuses relating to extractive industries, agri-business, infrastructure, hydroelectric dams and logging are facing brutal consequences, including killings, attacks, sexual violence, smear campaigns, criminalisation and repression. The committee will hear more about these impacts from my colleagues representing Trócaire’s partner organisations, the Council of the Mayan people and the Xinka Parliament, regarding both the impacts of business activities on communities and the risks and challenges associated with speaking out against those activities or seeking justice in the context of Guatemala, the country with the highest number, per capita, of killings of defenders in the world, according to the latest data from the NGO Global Witness. Nevertheless, it is worth noting some statistics to reflect the global, systemic nature of these abuses and attacks.

For example, Front Line Defenders, which is based in Ireland, reports that 324 human rights defenders were killed in 2024, with 59 killings verified as linked to their human rights work in challenging business interests. Global Witness data reveals that a shocking 2,253 defenders of land and the environment – the substance of life itself – have been killed or disappeared since 2012. Those raising their voices to defend people and the planet from abusive business practices also suffer non-lethal attacks, ranging from judicial harassment to surveillance, threats and attacks, both actual and virtual. The Business and Human Rights Resource Centre has tracked over 6,400 such attacks against people voicing concerns about business-related harm or risks since 2015, of which 660 took place in 2024. The top five most dangerous sectors all relate to natural resources.

It has been clearly established that EU and Irish companies are among those trampling on human rights, destroying the environment and polluting the atmosphere with greenhouse gases. The briefing paper I shared contains some examples of specific companies, but unfortunately the list is long. Despite the negative human rights impacts corporations can have, there remains a major gap in the regulation of international corporate activity by states, particularly regarding access to remedy for victims of human rights violations. The vast majority of human rights violations perpetrated by corporations go unpunished. In other words, corporate impunity is the norm. The size, influence and complexity of corporations, along with the transnational nature of much business, pose major challenges for states and affected people seeking to hold them to account. A lack of strong corporate accountability laws, alongside complicated corporate structures and convoluted supply chains make it nearly impossible to hold these companies accountable. There is ample evidence to state clearly that voluntary measures - in particular the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, UNGPs - are simply not working to address this situation. To pick just one study, the 2024 Irish Business and Human Rights benchmark report by Trinity College Dublin’s centre for social innovation revealed the top 60 countries in Ireland scored-----