A British watchdog reveals the failure of a drilling equipment company to respect Palestinian rights

A UK government watchdog found that the British tractor company, JCB, had failed to carry out the necessary human rights checks on the possible use of its equipment in demolishing Palestinian homes.

According to the commission, the British company has not taken any steps of any kind to conduct human rights due diligence

A government monitoring body in the United Kingdom revealed the failure of a British international drilling equipment company to observe human rights regarding the use of its equipment to demolish Palestinian homes in the occupied territories.

And according to a report published by the Guardian newspaper , the British watchdog found that the British tractor company, known as JCB, had failed to carry out the necessary human rights checks on the potential use of its equipment in the demolition of Palestinian homes.

"It is unfortunate that JCB, a leading British manufacturer of world-class products, has not taken any steps of any kind to conduct human rights due diligence, despite being aware of the negative human rights impacts and the potential for their products to contribute to those impacts," the body said.

The agency also rejected allegations that JCB had failed to use its influence to persuade the exclusive Israeli distributor, Comasco, not to allow its equipment to be used for home demolitions. It said there was "no conclusive evidence that the JCB dredging equipment was supplied by the distributor, or how JCB might influence the distributor."

The company's assessment was published by the UK National Contact Point (UK NCP), which is responsible for assessing whether companies meet the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) guidelines for multinational institutions in the field of human rights.

The UK's National Contact Center is staffed by officials from the Department for International Trade, and is independent of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development.

The case represents an exciting test of British companies' interest in human rights obligations, as the case was brought forward by Palestinian human rights lawyers in December 2019, and it took nearly two years to reach a ruling point. The lawyers claim they have a record of JCB products participating in "at least 60 out of 266 demolitions" in one year.

For its part, the British National Congress said that the magnitude of the alleged negative impact on human rights and the evidence that JCB products were used in home demolitions in the occupied Palestinian territories were sufficient grounds for an assessment of the actual and potential human rights risks and impacts, although the Company (JCB) believed that this The effects on human rights cannot be related to the company."