A grouping of more than 20 Asian civil society groups has warned
against the wholesale ditching of draft UN guidelines on the conduct of
multinationals.
A sub-commission of the UN Commission on Human Rights drew up draft norms on human rights principles for multinationals two years ago, but
they have been shelved after opposition from business groups and the US
government.
John Ruggie, a Harvard professor and one of the main architects of the
UN Global Compact, was appointed special UN representative to examine
human rights and transnational corporations last year, and is seeking
views on the future of the norms.
Now the civil society groups – who include Business Watch Indonesia,
Korean Public Interest Lawyers Group and the Thailand-based Asia
Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development – has told Ruggie’s Asia
regional consultation that the norms should not be scrapped. ‘It is
essential that the UN norms, perhaps not in their current form, remain
on the agenda of the UN,’ it said in a statement. ‘While we continue to
strongly support the UN norms, we would also strongly support any other
form of codification of the global standards with regard to
transnational corporations and human rights.’
The statement advised Ruggie, who is to report with his conclusions next
year, that he ‘should appreciate that some of the worst human rights
abuses are being caused or abetted by multinationals throughout the
Asia region in mining, oil and gas production, and the construction of
large dams’.
So far Ruggie has intimated that he thinks the norms are not workable in their current form.
Other groups who supported the statement included the Alliance of
Progressive Labour (Philippines), the Brotherhood of St
Laurence (Australia), Civil Initiatives for Development and Peace
(India), and the Human Rights Foundation of Monland (Burma).
