Business warned to protect human rights »

With new technologies and accessibility of information there's nowhere to hide. It's very hard to cover up large-scale systematic abuse of human rights. The author of an international report into the human rights impact of business activities has a stark warning for firms that become complicit in systematic human rights violations - new technologies are leaving nowhere to hide. Author Jolyon Ford, Associate Professor of Law of at the The Australian National University (ANU), said large-scale multinationals were facing more scrutiny on the social impact of their activities than ever before. "With new technologies and accessibility of information there's nowhere to hide. It's very hard to cover up large-scale systematic abuse of human rights," Associate Professor Ford said ahead of the report's release in London. Associate Professor Ford said issues such as human trafficking, forced labour or child labour occurred in businesses in developing nations that may serve as suppliers or contractors for well-known large scale corporations.