| Tratto da http://www.catdestroyshomes.org/ sito dove troverete il modo per sottoscrivere la Dichiarazione Declaration Regarding Caterpillar Violations of Human Rights Declaration Regarding Caterpillar Violations of Human Rights WHEREAS The Caterpillar Corporation's machinery is directly implicated in grave abuses of human rights and humanitarian law by the Israeli army; The Israeli army has used Caterpillar equipment to uproot hundreds of thousands of olive trees as well as orchards of dates, prunes, lemons and oranges, causing widespread economic hardship and environmental degradation in rural areas of Palestine; Since 1967, the Israeli army has used Caterpillar equipment, including specially modified D9 and D10 bulldozers to destroy over 12,000 houses in the West Bank, Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, leaving tens of thousands of men, women and children homeless; Since September 2000, the Israeli army has used Caterpillar equipment to destroy more than 3,000 homes, hundreds of public buildings and private commercial properties and vast areas of agricultural land; Home demolitions are usually carried out without warning, often at night, and the occupants are forcibly evicted with no time to salvage their belongings. Often the only warning is the rumbling of the Israeli army's US-made Caterpillar bulldozers beginning to tear down the walls of their homes; The Israeli army has continued bulldozing homes even when notified that residents were still inside the targeted homes; Dozens of Palestinians have been killed in such instances, such as Nabila al-Shu'bi, who was seven-months pregnant, as well as her three young children and four additional members of her family, left to die under the rubble of their Nablus home when it was bulldozed on April 6, 2002; On March 16 2003, 23-year-old American peace activist Rachel Corrie was murdered by Israeli soldiers driving a Caterpillar D-9 bulldozer, while she was standing in non-violent protest of a home demolition in Rafah; All these home demolitions and civilian deaths are illegal under international law, specifically violating the Hague Regulation of 1907 and the Fourth Geneva Convention; The Israeli army uses Caterpillar bulldozers to build a separation wall with significant portions of it inside the Occupied Palestinian Territory; The International Court of Justice considered the construction of such a wall to be contrary to international law-specifically violating the Hague Regulation of 1907; the Fourth Geneva Convention; the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights; the International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights; and the Convention on the Rights of the Child; The sale of Caterpillar bulldozers to the Israeli army is carried through the U.S. Foreign Military Sales Program and is in violation of the U.S. Arms Export Control Act, U.S. Public Law 90-829, which prohibits the use of U.S. weapons against civilians and for anything outside of "internal security" or "legitimate self-defense"; The sale of the Caterpillar bulldozer to the Israeli army contravenes the United Nations' Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises with Regard to Human Rights, which stipulate that transnational corporations "shall not engage in nor benefit" from war crimes or other violations of human rights and humanitarian law (article C3); and that transnational corporations "shall refrain from actions which obstruct or impede" the realization of basic human rights, such as the right to development, adequate food and drinking water, adequate housing, and the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health (articles E11 and E12); Caterpillar's involvement in the above-described abuses has attracted the attention of the United Nations and leading human rights organizations; The Office of the UN High Commissioner on Human Rights has written to Caterpillar CEO James Owens that "allowing the delivery of your. . . bulldozers to the Israeli army. . . in the certain knowledge that they are being used for such action, might involve complicity or acceptance on the part of your company to actual and potential violations of human rights..."; Amnesty International has issued a call to Caterpillar to "take measures - within the company sphere of influence - to guarantee that its bulldozers are not used to commit human rights violations, including the destruction of homes, land and other properties"; Human Rights Watch has called on Caterpillar to suspend the sale of its D9 bulldozers, parts or maintenance service to the Israeli army, so long as the military continues to use the bulldozers to violate international human rights and humanitarian law; The Presbyterian Church (USA) General Assembly voted July 2, 2004 to start a process of a phased and selective divestment of its nearly eight billion dollar portfolio from select companies that profit from sales of products or services that cause harm to Palestinians or Israelis or both. The Presbyterian Church (USA) researchers are working to determine which companies profit most "from building settlements, from constructing the wall and from selling machinery that destroys Palestinian homes, vineyards and orchards." The case of Caterpillar is currently being considered by the group's Mission Responsibility Through Investment (MRTI) Committee; The Israeli Committee Against House Demolitions supports divestment from companies that profit from involvement in the Occupation, including Caterpillar whose bulldozers demolish thousands of Palestinian homes; All of the facts described above are a matter of public knowledge; The sale of the Caterpillar bulldozer to the Israeli army contradicts Caterpillar's own Code of Worldwide Business Conduct, which states that "Caterpillar accepts the responsibilities of global citizenship" and recognizes that Caterpillar's "commitment to financial success must also take into account social, economic, political, and environmental priorities"; Spokespeople for Caterpillar, Inc. have acknowledged that Caterpillar is aware of the Israeli army's use of Caterpillar equipment to destroy civilian homes, infrastructure and agricultural resources but Caterpillar has, nevertheless, refused either to condemn these practices or to take actions necessary to halt the sale or transfer of Caterpillar equipment to the Israeli army; THEREFORE We call on Caterpillar to stop selling bulldozers to Israel until Israel stops using these machines to destroy Palestinian lives and livelihoods in contravention of human rights and humanitarian law; We call on Caterpillar to establish transparent and credible mechanisms for independent monitoring and verification, with the assistance of human rights ngos, to establish when these conditions are met; We further call on Caterpillar to adopt a code of conduct which complies with the UN Human Rights Norms for Business and ensures the application of Article 11, which states that Trans National Corporations and other business enterprises should take stringent measures to prevent any products or services they produce or supply from being used to commit violations of international human rights or humanitarian law. We further call on civil and human rights activists, faith-based organizations, peace activists, Arab-American organizations, Jewish groups, students, and others who promote peace and justice in Israel and Palestine to join us in our efforts. ------------------------------------------------------------------------ |