Private responsibilities for human rights: "Too big" to be accountable?

The purpose of this paper is to examine the rights and responsibilities private actors, such as corporations, have in upholding human rights.  The target of human rights implementation and enforcement typically is the state. While the state typically is a duty holder, the process of fulfilling human rights often requires efforts of non-government actors, such as families, nonprofit organizations, and companies. In this paper, we aim to take a close look at how for-profit corporations are involved in human rights protections and violations, with particular emphasis on what happens when corporations violate human rights.  We examine whether for-profit corporations are difficult to hold accountable for their human rights violations due to minimal regulations and ineffective government sanctions.  We will look at the legal status of corporations (e.g. personhood), and the global capitalist structure in determining what actions corporations take in implementing human rights.  We will explore who is accountable for implementing and protecting human rights, what actions are taken when corporations violate human rights, and if these actions appear to be effective.  We will examine case studies of corporations that have taken on human rights responsibilities, and notable corporations that have refused to do so.

In this paper, we conduct three levels of analysis. The first level of analysis will be an evaluation of human rights treaties to identify rights and responsibilities of private actors. The second level will be an examination of how treaty committees, such as the UN Human Rights Committee, deal with private actors in their work. The third level will be case studies of four types of for-profit companies: two companies that have repudiated human rights responsibilities and two companies that have attempted to fulfill human rights obligations.  We conclude with a critical discussion of how human rights can be better protected from and by corporations.