PHM-Exch> Fwd: [ESCR-Net ] Press Release - More than 100 groups publicly call on UN to develop new binding instrument to address corporate human rights abuses [1 Attachment]

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: Sergio Rozalén <srozalen at escr-net.org>

*More than 100 groups publicly call on UN to develop new binding instrument
to address corporate human rights abuses*



*For immediate release*



*Geneva, December 4, 2013.* Over one hundred civil society organizations
and social movements have publicly joined the growing call for States to
begin taking steps towards establishing a binding international treaty to
deal with corporate human rights abuses. The statement coincides with the
beginning of the second annual UN Forum on Business & Human Rights in
Geneva.



The Joint Statement<http://www.escrnetpeoplesforum.org/joint-statement-binding-international-instrument>
originated
as an initiative of participants who attended the International Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights Network (ESCR-Net) Peoples' Forum on Human
Rights & Business, celebrated in Bangkok during November 5-7, 2013.



Those who've signed the statement affirm "the applicability of human rights
obligations to the operations of transnational corporations" and have
called on States to "monitor and regulate the operations of business
enterprises under their jurisdiction, including when acting outside their
national territory". The obligation on States to do this is commonly
referred to as States' extra-territorial obligations, or 'ETOs', as
outlined in part by the Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial
Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights<http://www.etoconsortium.org/nc/en/library/maastricht-principles/?tx_drblob_pi1%5BdownloadUid%5D=23>.




“I strongly believe that we need a binding international regulation for
businesses because of the growing human rights abuses all over the world”
said Mr. Legborsi Saro, president of the Movement for the Survival of the
Ogoni People of Nigeria and board member of ESCR-Net.



For Chris Grove, director of ESCR-Net, “binding regulation is an important
step in establishing the primary obligation to respect human rights before
any other consideration of private gain or economic growth”. “For these
rights to be meaningful, they must be accompanied by effective remedies for
individuals and groups who experience violations”, he indicated.



This wide-ranging call for a binding treaty is distinct from other
non-binding approaches currently being promoted at the international level.
In particular, the call includes a requirement that States establish an
"accountability mechanism", something detractors have readily pointed out
is missing from the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
Nevertheless, despite such differences in approach a treaty itself could be
a natural accompaniment to the efforts underway to advance these Guiding
Principles, rather than a distraction from the efforts to advance their
implementation.



Signatories to this statement are a broad mix of civil society groups
including both social movements as well as small and large NGOs from all
regions of the world. These broad number of signatories call for action
from the Human Rights Council in the form of the establishment of "an open
ended working group tasked with a drafting mandate".



This call on the Human Rights Council to act will focus the attention of
those in Geneva on the future of the UN's approach to corporate
accountability, especially in light of the UN Working Group on Business and
Human Rights reaching the end of their first mandate in mid-2014.




Sergio Rozalén
International Network for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
srozalen at escr-net.org

www.escr-net.org
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