Human Rights : News brief

BENTONVILLE, Ark. -- Wal-Mart has introduced a gold and silver jewelry line that allows buyers to trace the path of their baubles by reviewing every link in the supply chain from mine to market.

In launching its Love, Earth jewelry line on Tuesday, Wal-Mart also established an online site to enable customers to research the supply chain history of the earrings, bracelets, necklaces and pendants featured in the collection.

British workers accused of theft or damage could soon find themselves blacklisted on a register to be shared among employers. It will be good for profits but campaigners say innocent people could find it impossible to get another job.

Crushed by debts most Westerners would deem inconsequential, farmers like Surpam killed themselves at a rate of 48 a day between 2002 and 2006 — more than 17,500 a year, according to experts who have analyzed government statistics. At least 160,000 farmers have committed suicide since 1997, said K. Nagaraj of the Madras Institute of Development Studies.

China said that it had broken up a child labor ring that forced children from poor, inland areas to work in booming coastal cities, acknowledging that severe labor abuses extended into the heart of its export economy.

Rallies and marches are scheduled to take place across the city today in honor of May Day, the annual event which pays tribute to labor unions and immigrant workers.

Air New Zealand has been attacked for sharp differences in how its staff are paid.

German retailer Lidl has been accused of excessive surveillance on employees, recording personal details in an operation that has been likened to the Stasi former East German secret police.

Companies try to balance reputations with risk of angering China.

Yahoo is starting a "human-rights fund" dedicated to providing victims of government censorship with legal and other assistance.

Shareholders proposed that Google take steps to ensure freedom of Internet access and establish a review of its operations' effect on human rights.