Arbejdere og naboer: ”Jeres kul slår os ihjel”
28 January 2010Støt DanWatch - køb en vagthund
17 December 2009
Anklage: Dansk rederi med til at plyndre Vestsahara
Thursday, 21 February 2008
Vestsahara er besat af Marokko, en besættelse som har drevet størstedelen af landets befolkning på flugt. FNs generalforsamling har fordømt besættelsen, og verdensorganisationens sekretariat har fastslået, at handel med mineraler fra besatte lande er i strid med folkeretten, hvis det ikke kommer lokalbefolkningen til gode. Det er ikke tilfældet i Vestsahara, hvor Marokko kontrollerer fosfat-udvindingen.
”Ermis” står anført på J.Lauritzens flåde af tørlastskibe, men er ifølge rederiets administrerende direktør, Jens Ditlev Lauritzen, lejet fra et græsk rederi og herefter udlejet videre til det koreanske rederi Korean Lines.
Sidi Omar repræsenterer Vestsaharas eksilregering POLISARIO i Storbritannien og Irland, og har tidligere været Vestsaharas repræsentant i Danmark.
Han er stærkt kritisk overfor virksomheders involvering i handel med fosfat fra Vestsahara – også selvom det aktuelle rederi kun sørger for at levere transporten:
- Det har stået på i flere år, at udenlandske virksomheder opkøber vores fosfat. Hvad enten det drejer sig om et græsk, et dansk eller et koreansk kontrolleret skib, så medvirker alle tre parter til tyveri, siger Sidi Omar.
- Her er der ikke kun tale om, hvad der er juridisk rigtigt, men hvad der er etisk forsvarligt. Og her drejer det sig altså om tyveri af ressourcer, som tilhører Vestsaharas oprindelige folk, siger han.
Oberst Kurt Moesgaard er netop vendt hjem fra sin post som ledere af MINURSO, FN’s fredsstyrke i Vestsahara.
- Vestsahara er besat af Marokko, og så længe der ikke er en løsning på konflikten, vil det være i strid med FN’s anbefalinger, at hente råstoffer som fosfat ud af landet, siger han til DanWatch.
Vestsahara behandles i FN-systemet som Afrikas sidste kolonispørgsmål. Mere end 150.000 af Vestsaharas oprindelige befolkning, Sahrawi’erne, befinder sig i øjeblikket i flygtningelejre i Algeriet.
Marokko er i årevis blevet kritiseret for brud på menneskerettigheder, tortur og forfølgelse af det oprindelige folk, som stadig opholder sig i Vestsahara.
Vestsaharas primære ressourcer er fisk og fosfat, men i dag kontrolleres fiskeri såvel som minedrift af Marokko. Marokko og Vestsahara råder tilsammen over mere end 60 procent af verdens fosfat, som bruges til at gøde marker.
Fra åbne miner i Bu Craa transporteres fosfaten ved hjælp af et 100 km langt transportbånd ud til havnebyen Laayoune (Marokkansk-fransk navn for El Aaiun), hvor det lastes ombord på skibe og sendes videre ud i verden.
Ifølge oplysninger som DanWatch har indhentet hos havnemyndighederne i Port of Taurunga i New Zealand, ankommer 'Ermis' netop fra Laayoune i Vestsahara.
Det norske rederi Arnesen Shipbrokers blev sidste år afsløret i at sejle med fosfat fra Vestsahara, hvilket tvang rederiet til at stå frem og love ikke at gøre det igen.
Jens Ditlev Lauritzen mener dog ikke, at J. Lauritzen har noget ansvar i forholdet:
- Vi har videreført kontraktbetingelserne fra den græske ejer, til den kontrakt, Korean Lines har underskrevet, siger Jens Ditlev Lauritzen.
Han ønsker ikke at kommentere, hvorvidt det danske rederi har et etisk ansvar for, hvad lejeren – i dette tilfælde Korean Lines – vælger at sejle med i sin last.
- Sagen er parallel med handlen med bloddiamanter, siger partner Sune Skadegaard Thorsen fra Lawhouse, der rådgiver en række store internationale virksomheder såvel som internationale institutioner i Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR).
- Den danske rederibranche er lidt bagud, når det drejer sig om etisk ansvarlighed. Efter lovens bogstav er der muligvis ikke noget at udsætte på Lauritzen i denne sag. Men selvom rederiet ikke er juridisk ansvarligt for, hvad deres kunde bruger skibet til, så har de et etisk ansvar. Forudsat at de altså selv mener, de har et samfundsansvar og at de skal bidrage til bæredygtig udvikling, siger Sune Skadegaard Thorsen.
På J.Lauritzens hjemmeside skriver rederiet om CSR:
- I en tid med øget ansvarlighed og gennemsigtighed er det vigtigt for enhver virksomhed at erkende dens sociale ansvar. Navnet JL har i et århundrede været synonymt med virksomhedsmæssig integritet. Sådan agter vi at det blive ved med at være, ikke blot for de det moralsk set er rigtigt, men også fordi det forretningsmæssigt er rigtigt.
Danmark har netop styrket sine bånd til Vest-Saharas besættelsesmagt Marokko i forbindelse med etableringen af en ny dansk ambassade i det nordafrikanske land.
DanWatch rettede i sidste uge henvendelse til Udenrigsministeriet for at få redegjort for Danmarks holdning i forhold til handel og investeringer i Vestsahara.
Både Sverige og i Norge tager afstand fra handelsmæssige relationer til Vestsahara.
Norges udenrigsministerium skriver på sin hjemmeside:
- Norge ser det som vigtigt at afstå fra handlinger, der kan udlægges som en legitimering af situationen i Vestsahara. For at forhindre handel, investeringer, ressourceudnyttelse og andre former for erhvervsaktivitet, som ikke harmonerer med lokalbefolkningens interesser, og som følgende kan være i strid med folkeretten, fraråder de norske myndigheder sådanne aktiviteter.
Sveriges udenrigsminister Carl Bildt lagde en tilsvarende holdning for dagen i forbindelse med en spørgerunde i den svenske Riksdagen sidste år.
Tidligere juridisk chefrådgiver hos FN, Hans Correll – som anses for at være den ledende ekspert i retslige spørgsmål omkring Vestsahara - skriver i 2002 i en anbefaling til sikkerhedsrådet om udnyttelse af naturressourcer i Vestsahara:
- I erkendelsen af, at folk, der bor i territorier uden selvbestemmelse har den uomtvistelige ret til naturressourcerne i deres område, har Generalforsamlingen gentagne gange fordømt udnyttelsen og plyndringen af naturressourcer og andre økonomiske aktiviteter, som er i strid med interesserne hos disse territoriers befolkninger og som berøver dem deres legitime rettigheder til deres naturressourcer.
DanWatch afventer i øjeblikket svar fra udenrigsministeriet angående Danmarks holdning til handel og investering i Vestsahara.
Links om sagen:
Human Rights Watch rapporterer om Vestsahara
J. Lauritzens egen hjemmeside, hvor Ermis er anført som del af flåden
Importøren Ballance Agri-Nutrients i New Zealand
Det marokkanske statslige selskab som udvinder fosfaten
J. Laurtizen om deres sociale ansvarlighed
Polisario: Danish Shipping Company Contributes to Plunder of Western Sahara’s Natural Resources
Western Sahara’s Government in Exile, POLISARIO, Accuses the Shipping Company J. Lauritzen of Contributing to Theft of Natural Resources from the Occupied Parts of the Country.
By DanWatch
22 February 2008. A bulk carrier that is part of the Danish shipping company J. Lauritzen’s fleet is today expected to reach Port of Tauranga in New Zealand with a cargo of phosphate from Western Sahara.
Western Sahara is occupied by Morocco, an occupation that has put the greater part of its population to flight. The UN General Assembly has condemned the occupation, and the UN Secretariat has declared that trade in minerals from occupied countries is in conflict with international law if it does not benefit the local population.
That is not the case in Western Sahara, where Morocco has control of the phosphate mining.
'Ermis' is cited in J. Lauritzen’s fleet of bulk carriers but is, according to the shipping company’s managing director, Jens Ditlev Lauritzen, hired from a Greek shipping company and further rented out to the Korean shipping company Korean Lines.
Sidi Omar represents POLISARIO, Western Sahara’s government in exile, in Great Britain and Ireland and has previously been Western Sahara’s representative in Denmark.
He is strongly critical of businesses being involved in trade in phosphate from Western Sahara – also even when the shipping company in question only provides delivery of the transport:
- It has been going on for several years that foreign companies have been purchasing our phosphate. Whether it is a question of a Greek-, a Danish-, or a Korean-controlled ship, all three parties are contributing to theft, Sidi Omar claims.
- This is not just a matter of what is legally correct but what is ethically justifiable. And this is a matter of theft of resources that belong to Western Sahara’s indigenous population.
Colonel Kurt Moesgaard has recently returned home from his appointment as head of MINURSO, the UN’s peace-keeping force in Western Sahara.
- Western Sahara is occupied by Morocco, and as long there is no solution to the problem, it will be in conflict with the UN’s recommendations to bring raw materials out of the country, he told DanWatch.
At the UN, Western Sahara is treated as Africa’s last colonial issue. More than 150,000 of Western Sahara’s indigenous population, the Sahrawis, are at present in refugee camps in Algeria.
Morocco has for many years been criticized for breaches of human rights, torture, and persecution of the indigenous population still living in Western Sahara.
Western Sahara’ primary resources are fish and phosphate, but today both the fishing and the mining operations are controlled by Morocco. Morocco and Western Sahara together have control of more than 60% of the world’s phosphate, which is used to fertilize fields.
From open mines in Bu Craa the phosphate is transported by means of a 100-km-long conveyor belt to the port city Laayoune (Moroccan-French name of El Aaiun), where it is loaded onto ships and sent further out in the world.
According to information DanWatch has obtained from the harbour authorities in Port of Tauranga in New Zealand, “Ermis” has arrived precisely from Laayoune in Western Sahara.
The Norwegian shipping company Arnesen Shipbrokers was last year exposed to be sailing with phosphate from Western Sahara, which forced the shipping company to stand forth and promise never to do it again.
Jens Ditlev Lauritzen considers, however, that J. Lauritzen does not have any responsibility in the situation: - We have transferred the contract conditions from the Greek owner to the contract that Korean Lines has signed, Jens Ditlev Lauritzen said.
He does not wish to comment on whether the Danish shipping company has an ethical responsibility for what the renter – in this case, Korean Lines – wishes to carry as its cargo.
- The case is parallel to the trade with blood diamonds, according to Sune Skadegaard Thorsen, who is a partner in Lawhouse, which advises a series of big international firms and international institutions on corporate social responsibility (CSR).
- The Danish shipping industry is a little behind the times when it comes to ethical responsibility. On the basis of the letter of the law, it is possible that no fault can be found with Lauritzen in this case. But even if the shipping company is not legally responsible for what their customer uses the ship for, they still have ethical responsibility. Assuming that they themselves believe that they have a social responsibility and that they should contribute to sustainable development, Sune Skadegaard Thorsen said.
At the J. Lauritzen website, the shipping company has written the following about CSR: “In an age of increasing accountability and transparency, it is important for any company to recognize its social responsibilities. The JL name has been synonymous with corporate integrity for over a century. We intend to keep it that way, not only because it makes good moral sense, but also because it makes sound business sense.”
Denmark has just strengthened its ties to Western Sahara’s occupying power, Morocco, in connection with the establishment of a new Danish embassy in the country.
DanWatch recently made an application to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in order to obtain a clarification of Denmark’s attitude to trade and investment in Western Sahara.
Both Sweden and Norway are opposed to trade relations with Western Sahara.
At its website Norway’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs writes: “Norway sees it as important to refrain from actions that can be seen as a legitimization of the situation in Western Sahara. In order to prevent trade, investments, resource exploitation and other forms of business that are not in accordance with the local population’s interests and accordingly can be in violation of international law, the Norwegian authorities discourage such activities.”
Carl Bildt, Sweden’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, made a similar statement in connection with a question in the Swedish Parliament last year.
Hans Corell, previously chief legal advisor at the UN, who is considered to be the leading expert on legal questions about Western Sahara, wrote in 2002 as follows in a recommendation to the Security Council on the exploitation of natural resources in Western Sahara:
- In recognition of that people who live in territories without self-determination have the indisputable right to the natural resources in their territory, the General Assembly has repeatedly denounced the exploitation and the plunder of natural resources and other economic activities that are in conflict with the interests of these territories’ populations and which deprive them of their legitimate rights to their natural resources.
DanWatch awaits at present an answer from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs with regard to Denmark’s attitude to trade and investment in Western Sahara.
