Human Rights Watch records: Record Group 7: Business and Human Rights Program, 1961-2014, bulk 1995-2008

Creator:: Human Rights Watch (Organization). Business and Human Rights Program
Extent:: 43 linear feet (34 rscs and 9 wide ms boxes (boxes 4, 9, 12, 18, 26, 30, 31, 38, 42))
Language:: English, Spanish; Castilian
Scope and content:: The Human Rights Watch: Business and Human Rights program records compile information on worldwide businesses and corporations in conjunction with the systems that allow them to uphold or abandon the rights of the people they affect. Key themes include child labor, slave labor, exploitation, abuse of migrant workers, environmental destruction, workplace discrimination, corruption, labor rights, amongst other similar topics. The collection specifically contains a breadth of information on the conditions of transnational gas and oil Companies like British Petroleum, Shell, and Unocal amongst others, as well as documents human rights abuses caused by Walmart. It also features documents from the European Union in regards to labor practices and abuses. The content of the documents ranges from court documents, news articles, and official reports, to correspondence, email, researcher notes, and legal and advocacy material.

Catalog record:: View in CLIO
Local call number:: HRW RG 7
Processing information:: Boxes 1-43 inventoried by Sara Adel Elazab, CC 2029, in 2026.
Acquisition information:: Source of acquisition--Human Rights Watch. Method of acquisition--Deposit; Date of acquisition--2006; 2025-2026
Custodial history:: Human Rights Watch began placing material on deposit at RBML in 2006. 9 unprocessed record storage cartons of BHS from a second accession were sent from the Human Right Watch office in New York City to Iron Mountain in Carlyle, Pennsylvania between 2000 and 2002. They were transferred directly to ReCAP in 2008. 43 additional boxes were sent in 2024-2025, and are processed and available.
Rules or conventions:: Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Preferred citation:: Identification of specific item; Date (if known); Human Rights Watch Records, Record Group 7: Business and Human Rights Program; Box and Folder; Center for Human Rights Documentation and Research, Rare Book and Manuscript Library, Columbia University Library.

Access and use

Restrictions:

This collection is located off-site. You will need to request this material at least three business days in advance to use the collection in the Rare Book and Manuscript Library reading room.

The records of Human Rights Watch are restricted unless they have been vetted and cleared for use by HRW. Specific restriction status is noted in the finding aid for each folder (open, vetted; restricted until ___; unvetted). If you wish to request boxes from this collection that have not been vetted, please send an email to rbml@columbia.edu detailing the collection, series, box, and folder numbers in which you are interested, as well as a brief description of your research needs. Once Human Rights Watch has reviewed the request, the researcher will be contacted with specific instructions. Please submit requests at least two months in advance of your research visit.

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Reproductions may be made for research purposes. The RBML maintains ownership of the physical material only. Copyright remains with the creator and his/her heirs. The responsibility to secure copyright permission rests with the patron.

Location of this collection:: Rare Book & Manuscript Library

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Collection