Companies doing business in Africa could minimise security risks by conducting human rights impact assessments in the country they have identified for trade growth. Amnesty International USA launched its Security with Human Rights Campaign recently, arguing that by considering the rights of the community in which trade is conducted, safety and security threats will be mitigated. Dan Shepherd, managing director of security consulting firm Plexus Consulting, believes this is applicable in Africa, commenting that while major developments such as mining will result in great trade growth opportunities for a country as a whole, it could directly affect a particular community where a mine is created and cause resentment which leads to sabotage, picketing and hold-up of developments or petty crime. An example of this, FTW has learnt, is Uganda’s Karamoja region where huge mineral deposits have been found. As companies have begun to explore and mine the area, there are local news reports of communities voicing serious fears of land grabs, environmental damage, and lack of information as to how and when they will see improved access to basic services or other positive impacts. A Human Rights Watch (HRW) report, ‘How can we survive here? — The impact of mining on human rights in Karamoja’, launched earlier this month in Kampala says mining companies have disregarded the region’s indigenous people’s land rights — sometimes fencing off swaths of land without their consent. The HRW report is based on research conducted in Uganda between May and November 2013, examining the activities of companies operating in the region and interviews with the local people, some of them actively engaged in mining. The report says that the mining companies did not adequately take into consideration the views of local people. “Private sector investment could transform the region — providing jobs and improving the residents’ security, access to water, roads and other infrastructure,” the report adds, but this has not been communicated adequately. “By defining the communities as human rights holders, businesses can identify the potential security threats they may pose and find ways to work with them."
