The draft code was developed by an independent advisory group known as the Subcommission on the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights. A five-member drafting group, comprised of subcommission members from Cuba, Korea, Russia, Senegal and the United States, developed the code over the course of two years and submitted it for review by the 53 governments on the Commission on Human Rights in August 2003.
USCIB, working with the International Chamber of Commerce and the International Organisation of Employers, has registered strong concerns with the draft – not on human rights grounds, but rather because of legal and procedural questions. The major problem is that the code would represent a fundamental shift in responsibility for protecting human rights – from governments to private actors, including companies – effectively privatizing the enforcement of human rights laws.
In addition, the draft code would create vague and conflicting requirements for companies, and would in some areas contradict national laws. Finally, the drafting group produced the code in a very closed process that presented few opportunities for business input. Indeed, business comments that were submitted were completely ignored.
Indications are that members of the Commission on Human Rights shares at least some of these substantive and procedural concerns. It will therefore likely decline to approve or reject the proposed code during its upcoming session, but will instead send it back to the subcommission for further study and discussion.
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