africa: Use Human Rights Standards for Africa

The G-8 meeting in Kananaskis should introduce more concrete initiatives for protecting human rights into its action plan for Africa, Human Rights Watch has urged. Human Rights Watch also called for new controls on companies based in G-8 countries that illegally trade in resources from Africa and elsewhere. "If the G-8 can attack terrorism by freezing financial assets, it can attack human rights abuse by cracking down on companies that trade in 'blood diamonds,' valuable timber, and other scarce resources that are funding some very brutal civil wars," said Rory Mungoven, global advocacy director at Human Rights Watch.