Andrés Zaragoza / Indigenous community in Valle Sagrado, Perú
News
HRC47 | ISHR welcomes new UN Guidance on Business and Human Rights Defenders and calls for its implementation
In a statement at the Human Rights Council, ISHR welcomed the UN Working Group’s recently released Guidance document for using the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for engaging with, safeguarding and ensuring respect for the rights of Human Rights Defenders. Human rights defenders are at the forefront of protecting their communities, the environment and key natural resources that maintain the balance in our planet.
This new guidance is a landmark for the protection of human rights defenders, building on a premise that ISHR has promoted for years: business and human rights defenders operate in and benefit from a “shared civic space” defined by common, fundamental elements. Respect for the rule of law and freedom of expression, association, assembly and public participation are essential to the realisation of all human rights, to good governance and accountable institutions. But they are also critical elements to stable, profitable and sustainable business environments in which companies thrive and economies and people prosper.
Andrés Zaragoza, Programme Manager at ISHR added: “The standard of good and responsible business conduct in relation to human rights defenders is now clear. Global companies should take note and implement the recommendations of the United Nations if they want to continue claiming that they contribute to sustainable development”.
There is both a legal duty and a growing global expectation for businesses and investors to act responsibly and to respect human rights. This trend is reflected in the enactment of special due diligence legal provisions in many jurisdictions and by the growing consensus around what sustainable and responsible business means.
June marks the tenth anniversary of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which we should celebrate while recognising that most of the work is still to be done.
At the adoption of the report of its fourth Universal Periodic Review (UPR), China ignored calls to implement UN findings and dismissed all serious criticism of its human rights record, refusing to budge on the documented plight of Uyghurs, Tibetans, Hong Kongers, human rights activists, lawyers, and more. We urged China to genuinely engage with the UN to enact meaningful reforms.
On 21 May 2024, ISHR delivered a statement highlighting issues related to the impacts of extractive industries on the defence of human rights and the environment.
On 21st May 2024, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (the African Commission) examined the combined periodic reports of the Republic of Mozambique during its public ordinary session held from 14 May to 3rd June in hybrid mode. The report presents the progress made by Mozambique to effectively implement the African Charter between 2015 and 2021.