(Français ci-bas, el espanol abajo)

When we, as human beings, get a fever, we immediately get worried and take action. After all, we know that if our body temperature rises to 1.5ºC, let alone 2ºC [3.6 ºF] above the normal average, there can be severe damage, while an increase of 4-6ºC [7.2-10.8 ºF] or more can cause a comatose situation and even death.

By Richard Girard

On April 24, 2013, an eight-storey building known as Rana Plaza collapsed in Dhaka, Bangladesh, killing more than 1,100 garment workers and injuring thousands of others. The victims, mostly women, worked in factories owned by a number of companies (New Wave Bottoms, Phantom, Ether Tex) that make clothing for high-profile retailers, including Walmart, Loblaw, Benetton, Bonmarché, the Children's Place, El Corte Inglés, Mango, Matalan and Primark. In response to the collapse, survivors and outraged Bangladeshis, and global civil society and labour groups, among many others, demanded justice for the killed garment workers.

The Polaris Institute's Executive Director, Richard Girard, is in Geneva this week to participate in a week of mobilization organized by the Global Campaign to Dismantle Corporate Power to pressure the United Nations Human Rights Council to adopt binding codes that would regulate Transnational Corporations and provide access to justice for victims of human rights violations committed by corporations.

The week action kicked off with a hearing of the Permanent Peoples' Tribunal...