In 2024 EPCOR, a utility company in amiskwaciwâskahikan (Edmonton, Alberta) that is the sole provider of piped water, began installing new water meter technology made by the Arad Group, an Israeli water tech company with direct ties to the Nakba, Israel’s military, and Israel’s illegal settlements in the West Bank. When Palestinians and allies objected, instead of addressing its responsibility not to do business with human rights violators EPCOR offered an individualized opt-out program where customers who become aware of the controversy can, for a monthly fee, choose an alternative device. EPCOR retains the right to unilaterally change this opt-out fee on an annual basis.
Francesca Albanese, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for the Occupied Palestinian Territories, is conducting an investigation into the involvement of non-state actors in the commission of crimes connected to Israel’s unlawful occupation, racial segregation, and apartheid regime. Just Peace Advocates worked with EPCOR Delivers Genocide, a grassroots group that has documented the Arad Group’s history of human rights violations, to refer EPCOR to Albanese for investigation. This case study illustrates the negligent human rights due diligence processes in many corporations, the North American role in Israel’s water apartheid, and the need for stronger directives regarding import of Israeli goods.
Our report to the UN details the Arad Group’s role in Israel’s violence against Palestinians, water apartheid, criminalization of Palestinians for accessing their own water, and supply to illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank. We also examine EPCOR’s failure to establish appropriate human rights due diligence policies and procedures and to inform its customers of the history of the Arad Group and potential alternatives, and the resulting implications for customers and its sole shareholder, the City of Edmonton.
Our case study affirms that relying on corporations to self-monitor their procurement decisions, without strong mechanisms of accountability, is a failure. In our report we outline suggestions to prevent unethical procurement decisions and to empower local activists to hold their utility companies accountable.
Download report: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1qQqQsoANMifV5FtPzag6OwGkq6AyleHF/view?usp=sharing
Write a letter to EPCOR: https://epcordeliversgenocide.ca/#write
See submission below. This is one of a dozen sent by Just Peace Advocates to the United Nations in November 2024 regarding business complicity with war crimes.
See the CBC ariticle:
