Geneva: The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has identified 214 companies from 11 countries as involved in activities in Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, calling on them to take measures to address the adverse human rights impacts associated with their activities.
The announcement came in an update to the database established by OHCHR in 2020 under a mandate from the Human Rights Council. The database lists companies involved in specific settlement-related activities across 10 sectors.
The latest update covers companies operating in agriculture, transport, warehousing, waste management, energy, food, and hospitality. OHCHR added 61 companies to the database and removed five after determining that they were no longer involved in the relevant activities.
The Office said it continues to review the remaining companies whose assessments were not completed in time for the report’s release, following a public call for information in 2024. Of information received on 596 companies, OHCHR reviewed 215 last year and 126 this year.
The assessment focuses on companies' impact on the Palestinians' right to self-determination and, due to limited resources, does not cover their impact on other rights.
OHCHR classifies corporate involvement into three categories: causing, where a company’s activities are sufficient in themselves to affect the enjoyment of a human right; contribution, where a company’s activities combine with those of another party to affect the enjoyment of a human right; and direct linkage, where a company’s operations, products, or services are directly connected to adverse human rights impacts.
Of the 214 companies listed, 200 were found to be contributing to adverse impacts on the right to self-determination, while 14 were directly linked to such impacts. No cases of direct causation were identified.
UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said the report reminds companies of their human rights responsibilities and the expectation that they conduct due diligence to ensure they are not complicit in human rights violations or abuses.
The update follows two recent OHCHR reports on the involvement of business and economic interests in adverse human rights impacts amid ongoing conflicts in Sudan and Myanmar.
The report also reaffirmed States'obligations to take appropriate judicial, administrative, legislative, or other measures to ensure access to effective remedies for those affected by human rights violations linked to business activities within their territory or jurisdiction, in accordance with international law.
The vast majority of companies on the list are affiliated with the Israeli occupation. The list also includes eight US companies, three Spanish companies, two each from the United Kingdom, France, and China, and one each from South Africa, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Germany, and Mexico. (QNA)
