News Service 224/99

AI INDEX: IOR 30/10/99

30 November 1999

safeguards at the World Trade Organization's negotiations in Seattle,

Amnesty International said today.

"No agreement on further investment liberalisation -- such as the

Multilateral Agreement on Investment or its successors -- should be

formalised until a comprehensive analysis of its impact on human rights

protection has been carried out," the human rights organization said.

"In the absence of such analysis, any negotiations are premature"

"Multinational investors -- wherever they choose to operate -- have a

responsibility to protect human rights," the organization added. "This

includes protecting the human rights of their own employees and the

rights of the members of the communities where they have economic

interests."

The human rights organization takes no position on further trade

liberalisation or the creation of an international framework and set of

regulations to govern foreign investments. However, it does believe that

any such negotiations should include a central component concerned with

the worldwide protection of human rights.

Background

Amnesty International is concerned that the ongoing global negotiations

aimed at liberalizing trade and investment rules -- including the now

discontinued draft Multilateral Agreement on Investment -- may conflict

with the obligations of states to enforce crucial provisions of

international treaties such as the International Covenant on Civil and

Political Rights, the International Covenant on Economic, Social and

Cultural Rights and the Conventions of the International Labour

Organization.

ENDS.../

Amnesty International, International Secretariat, 1 Easton Street,

WC1X 8DJ, London, United Kingdom

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