Holding Companies Accountable: Lessons from Transnational Human Rights Litigation

In April 2013 over a thousand workers died in the collapse of the Rana Plaza commercial building in Bangladesh. Most of the European fashion retailers - including several German companies - who had garments manufactured in this building refuse to make any binding acknowledgement of their legal liability. These companies point, among other things, to the complex supply chains with Bangladeshi companies in order to evade direct responsibility, with the result that victims are denied the compensation due to them. Similarly, those affected by South African apartheid crimes wait in vain for compensation from the transnational companies that profited from the apartheid regime. Companies such as Mercedes-Benz maintain that they merely did business in South Africa without any involvement in the grave human rights violations.