Training Modules

Context of the Northeast Asian Subregion Human Rights Issues and BusinessThis module has the following objectives:
Enable the participants to• Clarify the human rights issues related to company operations or the so-called “business-related human rights impacts” in the subregion;• Identify people affected by the human rights issues; and• Discuss human rights in general and in relation to specific issues that arise from theparticipants’ presentations.
Time: 3 hours and 15 minutes
Materials:• Big size papers, colored pens, writing papers, adhesive tapes;• Equipment - computer, projector, screen;• Video, visual aid on human rights.

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Context of the Northeast Asian Subregion Human Rights Issues and Business
I. Procedurea. Opener – 30 minutes
Do a brainstorming exercise by asking the participants to answer the following questions:–– What is the current situation regarding company operations?
–– What are the possible reasons for this situation?
–– Who are affected by this situation?
The participants are expected to provide answers based on their own experiences – asworkers, members of communities near company premises, members of institutions working on issues regarding company operations, etc.
Alternatively, the participants can use the sample materials in Annex A to answer thequestions.
Tell the participants to write their answers on each question on separate small pieces of
paper and paste their answers on the board or wall under each of the three issues: current
situation; possible reasons for the situation; and affected people.
After all the answers have been posted, ask the participants to read on their own theanswers on the board or wall.
Organize the posted answers on another board by reducing duplicate answers or rearranging answer placements according to the questions:
Current situation

Possible reasons for the situation

Affected people

b. Presentation – 1 hour and 30 minutes
This section has two parts: presentation on human rights in general, and discussion on
specific rights affecting company operations.
i. Part 1 – General human rights discussion
Provide a 20-minute input/video presentation on human rights in general – discussing
briefly the following:• development of international human rights standards (i.e., standard-setting thatstarted in 1948, overview of human rights instruments and the major historical contexts involved; continuing nature of United Nations human rights standard-setting
process to cover more issues);• internationally agreed human rights (and also those that are still being discussed);• issues covered by the existing international human rights standards; and• main documents involved (e.g., International Bill of Human Rights – see Annexes B,
C and D for information on human rights treaties ratified or acceded to by NortheastA Facilitator’s Training Manual27

Asian states, list of treaties under the International Bill of Human Rights, and thelist of specific rights).
The presentation on human rights can use the Universal Declaration of Human Rights(see text of the declaration at Human Rights Documents section) as major reference in termsof justification for recognizing human rights, the basic rights involved and their relevanceto the issues regarding business operations. In case internet connection is available, thepresentation can use the discussion on human rights in the website of the United Nations
High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) - www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Pages/
WhatareHumanRights.aspx.
Invite the participants to• identify the rights they are familiar with (such as those rights found in domestic laws
like the Constitution), and• raise questions and comments on the meaning and realization of human rights.
Note on the board the rights and comments raised by participants.
ii. Part 2 – Specific rights and the company operations
Using the answers of the participants earlier posted on the board or wall during thebrainstorming exercises, introduce the concept of “business-related human rights impacts”
and their categories. See section on Concepts and Terms to discuss the concept of “humanrights impact.”
The input may stress impact related to the following:• Fair working conditions;• Equality, non-discrimination and dignity;• People’s health, life and security;• Housing and standards of living;• Indigenous peoples, land and culture; and• Human rights impacts in the supply chain.
(List from the Australian Human Rights Commission, see Catherine Sutherland, “Measuring up on humanrights,” WME, www.wme.com.au/categories/sustainable/aug6_2012.php)

The categories can also be the following:• Children’s rights;• Environment and water;• Gender;• High-risk and conflict-affected areas;• Indigenous Peoples;• Land and food;• Supply chains;• Migrant workers; and• Working conditions.
(Source: Nora Götzmann and Claire Methven O´Brien, Business and Human Rights - A Guidebook for National
Human Rights Institutions [International Coordinating Committee of National Institutions for the Promotion andProtection of Human Rights (ICC) and Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR), November 2013] The category ofmigrant workers has been added to the original list.)

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Whatever categories are used, ensure that the specific rights involved are identified andexplained as much as possible. Refer also to the list of human rights found to have been
abused by companies in Annex E.
c. Activity
Group Work – 1 hour
Using the summarized list of problems posted on the board or wall, ask the participants
to–– identify which would fall under the different types of “human rights impacts” ofcompany operations; and–– discuss what measures are being done on the human rights issues.
Ask the participants to discuss ways by which the identified measures have included orexcluded the affected people (workers, members of affected communities, etc.) in resolving
issues, and explain their involvement if any.
Ask the participants to report the results of their group discussion.
Note on the board the different measures identified by the participants.
II. Summary
Time: 15 minutes
Summarize the main points in the discussion particularly stressing the following:• Current situation in companies and the issues that occur from company operations;• Basic understanding of human rights;• Human rights impacts of business operations;• Categories of human rights impacts; and• Concrete measures being done or can be done on issues arising from company
operations.

A Facilitator’s Training Manual29Annex A
Case Materials
Case 1
A company has been mining gold using sodium and aluminum. It built a waste
dump by paving fifteen thousand square meters of land. However, the paved dump
was destroyed by harsh weather and resulted in huge financial loss for the company.
An inspection of its underground mining revealed many safety breaches including
insufficient bracings; violations of the General Safety Regulation for Underground
Mining; irregular testing or lack of daily report of air samples; no separate registrationof mineral samples in the different processing stages; establishing office and checkpoints outside the license area; failure to build fence around canal for waste flowing
from processing plant; and dumping of waste water from gold mining directly into
the soil. The last violation is a very serious breach of the Law on Water as well as theLaw on Environmental Influence Evaluation. A year before, the Specialized Inspection
Agency, Police Department, and the Emergency Department in a province found expired blasting material in the company’s warehouse and destroyed them.
(Based on Center for Human Rights and Development, Human Rights in the Mining Industry of Mongolia, page 114)

Case 2In the garment industry of A country, wage competitiveness is the principal element
when considering investment. Whereas the monthly wage in the country was ten US
dollars fifteen years ago, it has increased to a hundred US dollars today. The frequent
demonstrations in 2011 and 2012 led to a steep rise in wages in 2012. At the sametime, the number of companies investing in A country sharply increased, raising thenumber of garment factories run by companies from thirty to nearly seventy. In orderto prevent a drastic increase in wages, an association of garment companies controls
the amount of wage increase.
Children in A country go to companies looking for jobs. Investigations by the ILO or
the Ministry of Labour compelled the companies not to employ the children. Howeverin many cases, the children being desperate for work lie about their age.
Workers usually work for ten to eleven hours a day, from 7 a.m. until 7 p.m. with
one-hour break for lunch. They have eighty to one hundred twenty hours of overtime
work a month.
(Based on Korean Transnational Corporations Watch, Korean Companies and Human Rights: Doing Business in the Philippines,
Myanmar and Uzbekistan, page 74)

Case 3
The workers of a shipbuilding company have been trying to form a labor union
since 2007. Their leaders, however, were either fired or transferred by the company
as soon as they undertook the initial labor union activities. The company explainedthat they were fired because of involvement in robbery or theft or negligence of duty.
However, the workers claimed that they were fired or transferred by the company tosuppress the formation of a labor union. Under the labor law of the country where the30Business, Human Rights and Northeast Asia

company operates, “probationary employment” shall not exceed six months from thedate the employee started working. This means that workers who continue working
in a company beyond the six-month period are qualified for permanent employment
unless there are grounds for non-qualification. According to the workers, the company used tricks, such as registering the employees as workers of subcontractors,
or dismissing and re-hiring them to prevent them from becoming regular employees.
Such tricks upset the employees’ efforts to form a union. Some workers organizeda group. However, the company claimed that it was a group of dismissed workers
while in reality the group has members who are currently employed by the company.
(Based on Korean Transnational Corporations Watch, Korean Companies and Human Rights: Doing Business in the Philippines,
Myanmar and Uzbekistan, pages 64-65)

Case 4
Petroleum companies faces the risk of causing damage to the environment andpeople’s health and livelihood due to oil and gas exploration, related construction
processes as well as oil exploitation, transportation or warehousing. Over the pastyears, several industrial incidents have occurred in the country such as the pipeline
spill of an oil company, a pipeline explosion and other serious oil spill accidents thathave caused long-lasting damage and extremely harsh consequences to the local
ecological environment, and the local residents’ living environment and health. Solid,
gaseous and liquid wastes generated during the production process in the petrochemical industry also bring environmental hazards. In one case, the members of an
ethical council of an organization that has investment in the company had face-to-facedialogues with the company officers regarding the “deficient safety procedures andemissions of chemicals” into a river, contrary to the Basel Convention on HazardousWaste. The ethical council was satisfied with the action taken by the company after
the dialogues. The nature of projects of the company exposes its workers to hazardous materials and equipment that can cause occupational diseases and injuries.
(Based on Huang Zhong and Cheng Qian, Merging Business and Human Rights in China: Still A Long Way to Go, pages 44-45)

A Facilitator’s Training Manual31

Annex B
Table of Ratification of Human Rights Treaties
Human Rights Treaties

China

Japan

Korea

Mongolia

International Convention on
the Elimination of All Forms ofRacial Discrimination (ICERD)

1981a1995a1978

1969

Convention on the Eliminationof All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women (CEDAW)

1980

1985

1984

International Covenant on Civiland Political Rights (ICCPR)-----

1979

1990aInternational Covenant on
Economic, Social and CulturalRights (ICESCR)

2001

1979

1990a

Convention on the Rights of theChild (CRC)

1992

1994

1991

1990

Convention against Tortureand Other Cruel, Inhumanor Degrading Treatment orPunishment (CAT)

1988

1999a

1995a

2002a

Convention on the Rights ofPersons with Disabilities

2008

2014

2008

2009a

1981
1974

1974

Note: “a” means accession by the State to the treaty
Source: Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, http://indicators.ohchr.org/

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Business, Human Rights and Northeast Asia

Annex C
Human Rights Treaties

A Facilitator’s Training Manual33

Annex D
Examples of Human Rights
In the area of civil and political rights
Right to life
Freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman ordegrading treatment or punishment• Freedom from slavery, servitude and forcedlabour• Right to liberty and security of person• Right of detained persons to be treated withhumanity• Freedom of movement• Right to a fair trial• Prohibition of retroactive criminal laws
• Right to recognition as a person before thelaw• Right to privacy• Freedom of thought, conscience and religion• Freedom of opinion and expression• Prohibition of propaganda for war and ofincitement to national, racial or religious
hatred• Freedom of assembly• Freedom of association• Right to marry and found a family• Right to take part in the conduct of publicaffairs, vote, be elected and have access topublic office• Right to equality before the law andnon-discrimination
In the area of collective rights• Right of peoples to:• Self-determination• Development• Free use of their wealth and natural
resources• Peace• A healthy environment

In the area of economic, social and cultural rights

•
••
•
•
••••••••

Right to work
Right to just and favourable conditions of work
Right to form and join trade unions
Right to social security
Protection of the family
Right to an adequate standard of living, including
adequate food, clothing and housing
Right to health
Right to education

Other collective rights:
Rights of national, ethnic, religious and linguistic
minorities
Rights of indigenous peoples(Source: Inter-Parliamentary Union and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Human Rights: A Handbook
For Parliamentarians, page 2. Available at www.ipu.org/pdf/publications/hr_guide_en.pdf.)

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Annex E
Business impact on human rights
Labour rights
Freedom of association
Right to equal pay for equal work
Right to organize and participate in collective
Right to equality at work
bargaining
Right to non-discrimination
Right to just and favourable remuneration
Abolition of slavery and forced labour
Right to a safe work environment
Abolition of child labour
Right to rest and leisure
Right to work
Right to family life

Right to life, liberty and securityof the person

Non-labour rights
Right of peaceful assembly

Right to an adequate standard ofliving (including food, clothing,and housing)Right to physical and mental
health; access to medical
services
Right to education

Freedom from torture or cruel,inhuman or degrading treatment

Right to marry and form a family

Equal recognition and protection
under the law
Right to a fair trial

Freedom of thought, conscienceand religion
Right to hold opinions, freedom of Right to participate in cultural
information and expression
life, the benefits of scientificprogress, and protection of
authorial interests
Right to political life
Right to social security
Right to privacy

Right to self-determination
Freedom of movement(Source: Protect, Respect and Remedy: a Framework for Business and Human Rights Report of the Special Representative of theSecretary-General on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises, John Ruggie, Advance
Edited Version, A/HRC/8/5, 7 April 2008, pages 15-16.)

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Materials
Short papers/media reports on the situation at the workplace and other aspects of company
operations such as the following:36•Thomas Wilson, Antoni Slodkowski and Mari Saito, “Subaru’s secret: Marginalized
foreign workers power a Japanese export boom,” Reuters Investigates, 28 July 2015,
www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/japan-subaru/•Alexandra Chan, Investigative Report on the Working Conditions in UNIQLO’s ChinaSuppliers, January 2015, http://sacom.hk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/2014-UNIQLO-Investigative-Report_final_20150109.pdf•Survey of Northeast Asian companies in the Mongolian mining industry, seeCenter for Human Rights and Development, Human Rights in the Mining Industryof Mongolia, pages 108-118•Field reports on Korean company operations in other countries, see Korean
Transnational Corporations Watch, Korean Companies and Human Rights: Doing
Business in the Philippines, Myanmar and Uzbekistan, pages 64 – 87•

Huang Zhong and Cheng Qian, Merging Business and Human Rights in China: Still
A Long Way to Go, pages 36 – 45•

“Human Rights Issues by Sector,” 2014 Stakeholder Engagement (Human Rights DueDiligence) (version 3, March 3, 2014), Caux Round Table, available at http://crt-japan.
jp/files2014/2-2-0-stakeholder_engagement/pdf/HR_DD_Final_Report_en(2014).
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Business, Human Rights and Northeast Asia