Mining conditions in Ghana | Photo: FTS/Timpy
Your right to know if corporations are enslaving people to make products you buy is under threat. A court ruling last week might allow companies to conceal the suffering and slavery that we see every day in our front-line field programs.
Here’s what has happened: A groundbreaking federal regulation called the Conflict Minerals Rule requires major U.S. companies to tell the government whether their products contain minerals from mines in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) whose profits are financing one of history’s deadliest wars. Slavery is widespread at these mines.
Three major business associations are suing to block the disclosure requirement. A ruling by a federal appeals court has handed reckless businesses an opening to mislead consumers and investors.
We need laws that reward responsible companies and hold negligent and complicit companies accountable. Consumers and investors have a right to know whether they are subsidizing slavery.
So, we need your help today to fight back. Free the Slaves serves the miners in the DRC who are at risk. We’re also working in Ghana to end child slavery in mining there.
Here’s what you can do:
- DONATE TO FREE THE SLAVES: Your contribution will help us liberate children and adults who are brutalized. Corporate disclosures are a vital part of fighting slavery. But so is directly helping victims to break free and the vulnerable to stay free. Our donors have already freed 10,000 people from slavery worldwide. Help free even more!
- TAKE A STAND: A new comprehensive corporate transparency bill has just been introduced in Congress. Urge your elected representatives to support the Business Supply Chain Transparency on Trafficking and Slavery Act of 2015. (Find your Senators here and House member here.) No company should be allowed to enslave workers and hide it. Tell your representatives that you don’t want slavery in your shopping cart or retirement account.
With your help and support, we and our coalition partners can win this fight, both on the ground and in court – protecting those at risk and advancing justice.
Thanks.
Tags: Conflict Minerals Rule, corporate transparency, slavery, slavery-free commerce, trafficking
