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UN Human Rights Council: Weak Stance on Business Standards
Global Rules Needed, Not Just Guidance Related Materials:
Human Rights Council: Resolution
June 16, 2011
on International Business Needs
(Geneva) - The UN Human Rights Council squandered an opportunity to take meaningful Strengthening
action to curtail business-related human rights abuses, Human Rights Watch said today. Advancing the Global Business and
Human Rights Agenda
The council, on June 16, 2011, endorsed a set of "Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Joint Civil Society Statement to the
Rights" and announced the formation of a working group and an annual meeting of business,
17th Session of the Human Rights
government, and civil society representatives focused on disseminating and discussing those
Council
principles. The principles are the final outcome of the tenure of John Ruggie, a Harvard
professor who has been the UN's special representative on business and human rights since
In effect, the council endorsed the
2005. status quo: a world where
companies are encouraged, but not
The council failed to put in place a mechanism to ensure that the basic steps to protect human
obliged, to respect human rights.
rights set forth in the Guiding Principles are put into practice, Human Rights Watch said. The
Guidance isn't enough - we need a
Guiding Principles do not set a "global standard," as some have suggested. mechanism to scrutinize how
companies and governments apply
"In effect, the council endorsed the status quo: a world where companies are encouraged, but
these principles.
not obliged, to respect human rights," said Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights director
at Human Rights Watch. "Guidance isn't enough - we need a mechanism to scrutinize how Arvind Ganesan, business and human rights
director at Human Rights Watch.
companies and governments apply these principles."
Human Rights Watch has documented a wide variety of business-related abuses around the
world. Examples from recent reports include gang rapes by mine security workers in Papua New Guinea, retaliation against workers
seeking to unionize in the United States, lead poisoning of children from factories in China, and hazardous child labor on tobacco farms
in Kazakhstan. While such practices would run afoul of the new Guiding Principles, the council's resolution fails to put in place a
process to prevent or respond to such abuses, Human Rights Watch said.
The council disregarded recommendations by dozens of civil society groups, including Human Rights Watch, that called for a strong
follow-up to Ruggie's work, with a mechanism to assess whether companies and governments had put the principles into operation.
Instead, the council decided to create a five-member working group, to be appointed in September 2011, to promote and disseminate the
Guiding Principles. It invited the group to consider options and make recommendations aimed at improving victims' access to remedies.
The council also decided it would create a new Forum on Business and Human Rights for governments, business, and others to meet
annually to take a broad look at how the guiding principles were being carried out. This was in line with the view of business
organizations, who opposed more scrutiny and strongly argued for a tepid forum. It is unclear how this forum differs from the UN
Global Compact, a modest effort to address corporate responsibility that began in 1999.
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