Are Human Rights a company responsibility? Second part

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In academia when the title of the article includes a question, the answer should not be obvious. In this case the answer is yes, but it is also obvious that saying YES is not enough. From the previous discussion it must have been clear how controversial the issue was and the opposition put forward by some business associations. It is therefore relevant to discuss what role the company has in safeguarding human rights and how it can fulfill it. In Part One of this article we discussed the recent endorsement that the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights: Implementing the United Nations Framework to “Protect, Respect and Remedy” received from the United Nations Council on human rights. In this part we will analyze in more detail the implications for companies, in the third part the actions necessary to support the adoption and implementation of the Guiding Principles and in the fourth part the implications for socially responsible investment. Despite the endorsement of the Council, made up of representatives from 47 countries, and the extensive consultation process involved in its preparation, the Guiding Principles have received criticism, mostly from human rights organizations (for example Human Rights Watch and Amnesty International ) and from some countries (for example Ecuador, as a result of its long dispute with some oil companies), which allege that the Principles are very weak, that they should have been mandatory.

For this to be the case, they should have Phone Number List been presented in another language, approved by the General Assembly and then ratified by the countries. In the current situation, they are behavioral guides, supported , not approved, by the Council, they were not submitted to the General Assembly, and they will not be ratified by the countries. The previous attempt to do so failed. This perception is corroborated by verifying that some business organizations and companies have expressed their support for the process and the result of some voluntary application guiding principles. Both reactions are what one would expect from a process that had begun with an attempt to make it mandatory and that was rejected by business groups and that ends with a voluntary process. The support expressed in the joint letter from the International Organization of Employers, the International Chamber of Commerce and the Business and Industry Advisory Committee to the OECD is highly illustrative in the following paragraph (translation and emphasis added by the undersigned): Thus, our organizations strongly support the recommendation of the SRSG (Special Representative of the Secretary General) of a monitoring mechanism based on a multi-stakeholder scheme focused on institutional strengthening and information exchange .



This multi-stakeholder approach will maintain the involvement of companies in the implementation of the Principles by ensuring that companies have the space and time necessary to apply the principles in a way that reflects their particular circumstances. This reaction was also to be expected. Companies advocate for an exchange of information and strengthening of institutions, which in this field may be weak, and for time and space to adapt them to the circumstances of each company. By definition, the principles cannot apply to all cases, at all times, and it must be understood that neither companies nor institutions would be ready to implement everything immediately. This does not mean that companies reject the application of the principles, but rather that they ask to do so gradually. This solution seems to move towards pragmatism. The key will now be in the supervision and monitoring mechanisms that institutions, especially those dedicated to human rights, provide to companies. As we mentioned in the previous part, these instructions and stakeholders now have principles that can guide this supervision and companies know what they should do. There are far fewer excuses to hide behind ignorance. It may not be ideal, but it is great progress .