The world secret corporate courts

Trade agreements allow multinational (international) corporations to violate the rights of poor and developing governments… This is the message of the South American state, Colombia government, which calls for the impact of trade agreements in corruption as a “murderer” for national sovereignty and freedom. Now, in modern history, Colombia’s first leftist president, Gustao Pitro, has announced that he wants to re -discuss all the agreements his country with the US and European governments and its multinational companies.

President Gustao Pitro has a strong case because for the past two years, US and European countries have also been re -discussing global trade and investment agreements … because they do not want to be tried in “secret corporate courts”. For example, this year the British government withdrew from a poisonous global agreement to invest in the “Energy Charter Treaty” (Energy Charter Treaty). The alleged corporations’ profits have declined.

Now the question is, will European countries and the United States accept that developing countries should change policies to tackle climate and climate change and many other issues… or will the poor countries demand that they continue to go according to these terrifying, unilateral global agreements?

The basis of this issue is the “investor and state conflict settlement laws, called Investor-State Dispute Settlement. This “corporate court” is the international tribunal and all parties are bound to accept its decision.

History shows that after World War II, British and German governments have made laws that can protect global companies from illegal actions of the aggressive governments. As if these laws were moderate and balanced in the beginning. It is noteworthy that if these laws were enforced, the first global agreement was made between Pakistan and Germany in the 5th to be protected by investors and companies of both countries. Today, more than 27 global agreements have been reached under the “investor and state conflict settlement”.

Gradually, the truth came to light that the multinational companies of the influential and rich Western countries, especially the fossil fuel, made these laws a weapon to protect their interests in developing countries. For example, if Pakistan wants to take the wells of oil and gas wells under the control of a global company, it cannot do so because of this collection rules. Then the global company will drag Pakistan to the corporate court. And the judges of this court usually belong to the Western countries. Therefore, they impose heavy fines on the poor country so that it does not encourage him to take his own resources.

As the truth is, the Western countries together formed a colonial legal system in the world, making it very difficult for the governments of developing and poorer countries to have perfect access to their natural and unprofessional resources. It is another cruel weapon through which Western countries want to keep the wealth of the Third World.

The situation at the moment is that if any multinational company does not find any law or new regulation of a country, it can make a case in the corporate court. And the surprising thing is that the case is usually run secretly. This case is in the hands of corporate lawyers and judges who have nothing to do with human rights, society, morality, environment, etc., they just want to enforce and protect the investment law at all costs.

The more surprising thing is that in these “courts”, the poor country usually has no right to appeal and only foreign investors can use it.

In the past, many developing countries have decided that cigarettes will be sold in simple pancreatic. Cigarette companies from the US and Europe dragged these countries into corporate courts. Similarly, if a country increased the minimum salary of workers or increased the tax rate on multinational companies, the move was also challenged in secret courts. Now, the boldness of Western multinational companies has increased so much that they are also prosecuted by the policies of developing countries in corporate courts that were created to prevent environmental destruction. The reason is that due to the policies that make the planet’s life capable of life, the profits of multinational companies may reduce.

Experts say that since the “investor and state dispute settlement” has surfaced, with the help of corporate courts, multinational companies have received a fine of $ 1 ‘billion from different countries as a fine. Just think, these billions of dollars may have many work for the welfare of the people in poor countries, but they have gone into the proposals of Western companies that already earn billions of dollars annually.

For the past decade, corporate courts have also fined European countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom. That is why the rulers of these countries are now coming out of international agreements on which they have come to the mercy of multinational companies. But Western countries are very interested in allowing the governments of Asia, Africa and South America to take similar steps. As if a principle for rich countries and the second principle for developing countries!

Colombian President Gusta Petro has decided to take matters into his own hands, challenging this hypocrisy. He says that multinational corporations should not be allowed to resolve disputes outside the national courts. Thus, “Developing like Colombia is put into the mouth of the wolf.” These cases were raised by the mining multinational companies that are unhappy with the new Colombian laws adopted for the welfare of the people and for the good of the public. The only thing these laws will reduce their profits.

For example, the Columbia Constitutional Court has stopped an extension of a coal mine, which is owned by the Swiss multinational company, Glenchor. The reason was that the expansion would damage the environment. This is the largest open -pits coal mine in Latin America. The mine has always faced severe local opposition. As a result, poisonous pollution was spread in air, soil and water supply, and 35 local communities migrated from their hometowns.

After the verdict, Galicor dragged Colombia into the corporate court. The company said the Colombian court’s decision was discriminatory, irrational and disobeyed. It used collection rules to bring four separate cases against Colombia. He won the first case and was awarded a $ 19 million reward, while the remaining three cases are still in action for the undeniable amount.

In another case, the Colombian Constitutional Court also decided to protect Paramos. It is a rare, high -height Vitland environmental system in the state that acts as important sources of freshwater. The Canadian mining company, Eco Aero, was working in the area. So he took Colombia to the corporate court. Now she wants Colombia to pay $ 696 million in damages. It is clear, “Investors and the state’s conflict settlement” The rules of law have become the weapon of global companies to prevent environmentally friendly government policies around the world.

Colombia is not alone, in recent years, Kenya, South Africa and Ecuador have also announced that they do not recognize the rules of the sword in the hands of multinational companies. They want to withdraw from all the trade agreements that are done under the laws of this cruel and Western colonialism. One of the international agreements that Colombia wants to re -negotiate is the UK -Colombia Treaty. The Colombian ambassador to the UK condemned the agreement, saying “these agreements have become a financial burden for Colombia and other countries.”

Now it remains to be seen whether the United States, the United Kingdom and other Western countries will be able to abolish their cruel collections or they will continue to do so so that their multinational companies can continue their looting in developing and poorer countries. The robbery will end only when the people of Western countries awake and force their governments to prefer humanity over materialism.