Enforcing Human Rights for Business
23 April, 2004
Available : http://www.pambazuka.org/index.php?id=21003
Statement of Support for the UN Human Rights Norms for Business
We, the undersigned representatives of Civil Society wish to express
our support for the UN Norms on the Responsibilities of Transnational Corporations
and Other Business Enterprises with regard to Human Rights (hereafter also:
UN Human Rights Norms for Business or UN Norms). In our view, the UN Human
Rights Norms for Business represent a major step forward in the process
of establishing a common global framework for understanding the responsibilities
of business enterprises with regard to human rights. (hereafter also: UN
Human Rights Norms for Business or UN Norms).
In our view, the UN Human Rights Norms for Business represent a major
step forward in the process of establishing a common global framework for
understanding the responsibilities of business enterprises with regard
to human rights. The five-person Working Group of the Sub-Commission for
the promotion and protection of human rights, which drafted the Norms,
developed them through an open process of consultation with governments,
businesses, NGOs and unions over a period of nearly four years. By adopting
the Norms on August 13, 2003, the Sub-Commission also approved an extensive
commentary on the Norms that provides clarification of the scope and interpretation
of the proposed norms and transmitted both the Norms and Commentary to
the UN Commission on Human Rights.
The value of the Norms lies in providing coherence to a disparate set
of human rights obligations of non-state economic actors presently found
in various international law instruments, voluntary standards, and company
codes. For instance, they incorporate the
minimum labour standards embodied in documents such as the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights, the Convention on the Rights of the Child,
and the ILO Declaration of Fundamental Principles of Rights at Work. The
Norms do not create new legal obligations, but simply codify and distil
existing obligations under international law as they apply to companies.
The UN Norms do not attempt to circumvent or undermine the responsibilities
of governments to enforce existing human rights laws. In fact, they state
at the outset that "States have the primary responsibility to respect,
ensure respect for, prevent abuses of, and promote human rights recognized
in international as well as national law." Nor do the Norms attempt to
impose responsibilities on businesses which are not appropriate to them.
Instead they clearly state that companies have only responsibilities "within
their
respective spheres of activity and influence." Indeed the entire thrust
of the Norms is to encourage the development of stable environments for
investment and business, regulated by the rule of law, in which contracts
are honoured, corruption reduced, and where business enterprises, both
foreign and domestic, have clearly defined rights and responsibilities.
We believe that it is critically important at this stage to avoid a
rushed decision on the UN Norms on the basis of inadequate or insufficient
information. The UN Norms deserve a chance to be more carefully studied
by the Commission on Human Rights, governments and the business community
before any action is taken. We therefore urge Delegations at the Commission
on Human Rights not to take actions that could undermine the Norms at this
session.