Saturday, May 04, 2013

The regional body is seeking to establish standards and close loopholes affecting human rights in member states.

With Southeast Asian countries eager to boost their economies, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is increasingly concerned about the need to guarantee human rights standards, seen as vital to attracting investment.

In April, the Human Rights Resource Centre for ASEAN (HRRC) launched its third report examining how ASEAN states and companies are responding to human rights imperatives in the business sector.

One finding is that ASEAN states have substantial legal frameworks governing issues of land, labour and the environment, although gaps and loopholes persist. But a key challenge is weak regulatory effectiveness in member countries, according to Marzuki Darusman, executive director of the HRRC.

Geography and transportation issues make it harder to monitor and address problems quickly in Indonesia, Thailand and other ASEAN countries, Marzuki told Khabar Southeast Asia after the report’s official release on April 9th at the Four Seasons Hotel in Jakarta.

“That’s what we call a ‘gap’,” he said.

Taking action at international level

Even more important, while ASEAN countries have policies addressing human rights in the corporate sector, companies are not obliged to implement the provisions, because there are no defined standards for compliance - only general guidelines, Marzuki said.

But HRRC is taking action to help change that. In December 2012, it announced it was joining an international effort to develop human rights reporting and auditing standards for companies.

Accordingly, it is in the process of partnering with global auditing firm Mazars and Shift, a non-profit working to promoting UN principles on business and human rights.

“With its strong links at all levels throughout the ASEAN region, HRRC will be able to ensure that in developing the standards full attention is paid to ensuring that they do indeed meet the needs and aspirations of all ASEAN peoples,” an HRCC statement said.

Corporate responsibility

ASEAN is addressing human rights very seriously, according to Solihin, vice president for occupational health and safety at mining giant PT Freeport Indonesia.

“It has been taken so seriously by ASEAN itself, and they have seen it from every aspect; not only in one area but how far is the human rights compliances in business,” Solihin told Khabar at a mining conference in Jakarta last month.

Freeport has implemented a “Zero Tolerance” strategy to protect workers at their mining sites, he said, and injury and accident rates have gone down compared to other mining companies in Indonesia.

However, violence remains a problem affecting workers in Freeport’s mining areas, he added.

Separately, Kusuma Adinugroho, head of sustainable development and societal relations at oil and gas company Total E & P Indonesie, said his company has strict policies on unethical behaviour.

“Our company has its own standard operation procedure. We have to use the guidelines and policies from headquarter office, including how to apply human rights ethics and its compliance. Now it is being implemented intensively, together with the anticorruption and bribery. This applies to everybody, starting from top management down to subordinates,” Kusuma told Khabar.

According to UN provisions, states have a duty to prevent human rights abuses by business enterprises through appropriate policies, regulations, and adjudications. But business has a role as well.

“Times have changed. Now it is not only the government’s responsibility to solve the conflict; it now involves more corporate responsibility,” Marzuki said.

Burma human rights issue

A country’s human rights situation can put a chill on foreign investment. Companies eager to enter Burma, for instance, are now taking a second look, due to recent inter-religious violence there, Thailand Business News reported.

Burma “has attracted significant interest from investors” as it moves ahead with democratisation, Arvind Ramakrishnan, an analyst for British business risk consultant Maplecroft, was quoted as saying.

However, “stakeholders remain cautious about making significant investments in the country, preferring to wait and see how the reform process moves forward,” he added.

By Wella Sherlita for Khabar Southeast Asia in Jakarta