“Is a Regional Action Plan on Business and Human Rights Needed?”, 1 Sept 2015

 …[T]he HRRC attended a half-day event on “Business and Human Rights Guidelines for ASEAN Community Post-2015.”…Mr. Rafendi Djamin…emphasized that the concept of CSR is often misunderstood by CSOs as merely a window dressing exercise done by business actors. Highlighting the importance of realizing business and human rights in Indonesia, he cited as example the Jati Gede project, where the Chinese investor ignorantly said that they have no business with the livelihood of the communities to be displaced, placing the sole responsibility for the displacement and provision of remedy in the hands of the State…The panel also discussed the viability of having prevention and enforcement mechanisms for corporations, as well as the importance of having a regional commitment or guideline on BHR. Several possibilities of improvement were offered, including defining a clearer role for NHRIs in this field and better dissemination of business and human rights principles and the aims of the ASEAN Economic Community at the national level…Mr. Djamin said that regional guidelines are crucial and even pressing especially due to the impending free flow of capital and labor within ASEAN…