...UK law enforcement agencies have apparently been sluggish in taking action despite clear grounds to investigate and growing public calls for companies to be held to account when they break the law. Amnesty International’s interaction with UK authorities over a horrific human rights case indicates that these concerns are indicative of wider failings in the UK’s system for tackling corporate crime. Over the last year, Amnesty International has pressed UK authorities to launch a criminal investigation into London-based multinational Trafigura Ltd. The case centres on allegations that Trafigura conspired in the
UK to dump toxic waste in Côte d’Ivoire (the Ivory Coast) in August 2006 – an event that had a devastating impact on the human rights of a community already rocked by conflict and suffering endemic poverty...[T]he UK refused to investigate the case...This briefing...makes recommendations to the UK government on how to adress [failures]...