Making governments accountable for violation of human rights is the biggest challenge across the world, Ute Ritz-Deutch, New York State Coordinator for Amnesty International, US, said on Thursday.

“Even protection of rights had become difficult,” she stressed while delivering a talk rights over land and corporate responsibility at the conference hall, in Sophia block in St Agnes college premises.

Ute Ritz-Deutch said it was hard to fathom that 20,000 people died in Bhopal gas tragedy and that it took the courts nearly 25 years to convict the employees of Union Carbide. The only remedy against unaccountable is to operate across borders in order to protect rights.

She urged students to boycott palm oil and the companies who claimed that their product came from ethical and sustainable sources.

“Palm oil is bad for health and nearly 50 per cent of common foods and consumer items contain palm oil. In 2016, 60 million tonnes of plam oil were consumed,” she said.

Land acquisition

Krishi Bhoomi Samrakshana Samithi Secretary Lawrence D’Cunha recollected that how panchayats had opposed the acquisition of land for MRPL and Mangalore Special Economic Zone (MSEZ).

“But deputy commissioner and government paid scant regard to the resolutions of panchayats and went ahead with the land acquisitions,” he said.

St Agnes College Principal Sr Jeswina, Vidya Dinker of Citizens’ Forum for Mangalore Development were also present.