Human Rights Violations

Good Practices

Demonstrate a policy commitment and establish the company’s expectations regarding appropriate conduct by public security forces.

• Develop a clear statement of policy that is approved at the most senior level of the company, is informed by relevant expertise and stipulates the company’s human rights expectations of public security forces. The statement should also be publicly available and clearly, actively communicated to public security forces (see Sensitive discussions on security and human rights within Human rights concerns – Working with Host Governments). This is an important element of implementing the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.
• Explain the principles of responsible security and human rights to public security forces, with the possibility of illustrating these points through the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights. The Voluntary Principles are particularly valid for companies operating in the extractive sector, but are also useful as an inspiration for other sectors.
• Underline that individuals with credible allegations of involvement in human rights abuses should not provide security for companies.
• The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights prompt companies to ‘promote observance of applicable international law enforcement principles, particularly those reflected in the UN Code of Conduct for Law Enforcement Officials and the UN Basic Principles on the Use of Force and Firearms by Law Enforcement Officials’. Companies should also promote the rules governing the conduct of hostilities under international humanitarian law in the context of armed conflict.
• Within the policy, refer to expectations laid out in contracts and/or agreements with the host government.

Communicate regularly with the management of public security forces at different levels.

• Hold regular meetings with the management of public security forces at different levels—including the appropriate ministries responsible for natural resources and security, respectively—to discuss security and human rights.
• Ensure that security staff keeps track of and regularly reports on all security incidents and developments that take place. Distribute these reports to the commander of on-site public security forces (if there is one), as well as relevant leaders of public security forces at the local and provincial levels.
• Build trust with public security actors. An effective way of doing this is by recognising good performance and professional conduct (e.g. forward special commendations and letters of recognition through the chain of command to those deserving recognition).
• Use language carefully. For example, use terms such as ‘professionalisation’ and ‘improved effectiveness’. Emphasise the objective of helping security institutions deliver a better service. Appeal to values such as ‘operational excellence’ or ‘best practice’.
• Establish formal, consistent reporting and communications mechanisms with public security forces.
• Collect and analyse media or NGO reports on any security incident to support requests for an investigation by local authorities.

Incorporate requirements for appropriate conduct of public security forces into an agreement or memorandum of understanding at the local level.

(see Human rights concerns – Working with Host Governments).

• Negotiate and sign a site security agreement or memorandum of understanding. According to the World Bank and Anvil Mining, the agreement should establish the ‘conditions, expectations, obligations and standards of behaviour outlined for all parties’, both ‘in standard operations procedures and in extraordinary or emergency circumstances’. Additionally, ‘the ideal outcome is a binding agreement that specifies the responsibilities and obligations of the company and the public security forces, signed by the senior leadership of the company and the respective agencies with detailed implementation instructions at subordinate levels.’
• Use any in-kind support the company provides as leverage to agree upon clear rules on deployment and conduct of public security forces.
• Include a clause that establishes a procedure to follow in case of violations of human rights and international humanitarian law.
• Ensure the agreement is consistent with host State laws and relevant regulations.
• Invest time in negotiations to ensure the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights are well-integrated into the memorandum of understanding.

Engage with other stakeholders.

• Use company leverage or good relationships with government officials to ensure that public security forces respect human rights and international humanitarian law.
• Seek home government support to gain access to high-level public security officials.
• Consult regularly with other companies that have common concerns and consider collectively raising those concerns with host and home governments.
• Engage with NGOs. The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Implementation and Guidance tools recognise NGOs and civil society organisations as ‘valuable interlocutors or mediators in terms of communicating with security providers, governments or host communities’.
• Seek information on human rights violations through community-level grievance mechanisms.
• If one does not already exist, consider establishing a multi-stakeholder security forum or an in-country working group on business, security and human rights to discuss security and human rights issues. The group should meet regularly (e.g. monthly) and work together to find appropriate solutions to security incidents or challenges.

Demonstrate efforts to put an end to human rights violations by public security forces assigned to the company’s area of operations.

• Demonstrate ongoing efforts to mitigate the impact of violations. As prescribed in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, companies should use leverage over entities directly linked to their business operations, with a view to effecting change in the wrongful practices of another party that is causing or contributing to negative human rights impacts. This is a key part of companies’ human rights due diligence responsibilities (see Compliance with international standards and good practices: developing implementation guidance within Bids and Contracts (Working with Private Security Providers) and Contexts with weak governance and transparency – Working with Host Governments).
• In cases of severe violations, if possible, end the relationship with public security forces. If it is not possible to put an end to the relationship, minimise the presence of public security forces at company sites.

Practical Tools

• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UN High Commissioner for Human Rights 2011)
• Using Leverage in Business Relationships to Reduce Human Rights Risks (Shift 2013)
• Using Leverage (Global Business Initiative on Human Rights)

Support security sector reform programmes

(see Public security forces with insufficient human resources, low salaries, inadequate training and poor equipment: preventing criminal activity and human rights violations within Security Arrangements – Working with Public Security Forces).

• The United Nations Security Sector Reform Inter-Agency Task Force encourages companies to engage with security sector reform programmes that ‘support selection and recruitment policy that is based on proper recruitment mechanisms, integrity assessments, and vetting or other forms of review/screening of existing personnel. Support public announcements for vacancies/openings and transparency throughout the process.’
• If legally allowed, the Task Force also prompts companies to support programmes that promote ‘vetting based on human rights standards and review of human rights records for all individuals, to ensure that those personally responsible for gross human rights violations are excluded from the reformed security sector; ensure that the removal of persons as a consequence of vetting complies with due process of law and the principle of non-discrimination.’

Good Practices

Communicate regularly with different levels within the armed forces.

• Establish a working relationship with representatives at different levels of the military forces and hold regular meetings to discuss security and human rights. Establish formal and consistent reporting and communications mechanisms with the armed forces.
• Develop institutional relationships with the ministry of defence.
• Build trust with the armed forces. An effective way of doing this is by recognising good performance and professional conduct among personnel assigned to company operations (e.g. forward special commendations and letters of recognition through the chain of command to those deserving recognition).
• Use language carefully. For example, use terms such as ‘professionalisation’ and ‘improved effectiveness’. Emphasise the objective of helping security institutions deliver a better service. Appeal to values such as ‘operational excellence’ or ‘best practice’.;
• Ensure that security staff keeps track of and regularly reports on all security incidents and developments that take place. Distribute these reports to the commander of on-site public security forces (if there is one), as well as relevant leaders of public security forces at the local and provincial levels.

Support efforts to clearly delimitate the roles of public security forces.

• Ensure that company practices support efforts to define the specific roles of the police, paramilitary forces and the military. Also support efforts to provide adequate oversight in order to avoid blurred lines of responsibility. Police should have the primary responsibility for internal security. However, if police and paramilitary forces are not competent or sufficiently equipped, the deployment of the army may be necessary. If that is the case, seek to ensure personnel deployed to the site are properly trained and equipped for the task.

Support human rights and international humanitarian law training programmes for public security forces

(see Training – Working with Public Security Forces).

• Include a clause in the agreement with public security requiring that all public security forces assigned to the company’s site undergo training in human rights and international humanitarian law.
• Support training programmes for trainers of public security forces. If possible, insist that army trainers are military and police trainers are police officers themselves, since they are better placed to communicate the content of training in a way that trainees can relate to. Furthermore, public security forces are much more likely to take the training seriously if it is a colleague or someone on their chain of command delivering the training.

Good Practices

Assess risks around human rights violations perpetrated by public security forces.

• Consider any relevant past incidents where public security forces violated human rights.
• Consult host and home government representatives, civil society and other sources in order to gather information about the severity of human rights risks.
• Assess the different risks faced by men and women in public security forces, considering in particular the risk of gender-based violence.

Key Resource

• Use of Security Forces: Assessing and Managing Risks and Impacts (International Finance Corporation 2017)

Engage with national and local authorities.

• Engage with relevant interlocutors at each level of command for public security forces, including the relevant ministry. Meet with regional and local public security forces representatives on a regular basis (preferably not less than quarterly). Raise risks of infringements on human rights as part of the discussion on security and human rights.
• Seek home government support to gain access to high-level public security officials in order to discuss human rights abuses by public security forces.
• Ensure that salaries/stipends are paid to public security forces assigned to areas of the company’s operations.
• Work with NGOs to address human rights abuse allegations of human rights abuse and violations of international humanitarian law. Identify NGOs that may be working on related topics. This may be a sensitive issue, so the company will need to carefully assess which is the best approach to ensure that no reprisals take place against the NGOs, that their identities are anonymized and that their protection is prioritized.
• In cases of credible evidence of gender-based violence directed at members of public security forces, consult a local organisation with gender expertise to identify potential mitigation strategies.

Support security sector reform programmes

(see Public security forces with insufficient human resources, low salaries, inadequate training and poor equipment: preventing criminal activity and human rights violations within Security Arrangements – Working with Public Security Forces).

• The United Nations Security Sector Reform Inter-Agency Task Force encourages companies to engage with security sector reform programmes that ‘support selection and recruitment policy that is based on proper recruitment mechanisms, integrity assessments, and vetting or other forms of review/screening of existing personnel. Support public announcement for vacancies/openings and transparency throughout the process.’
• Support security sector reform programmes that seek to strengthen capacities of relevant national institutions (such as ombudspersons or similar mechanisms) to address human rights abuses by public security forces.
• Establish an operational-level grievance mechanism that allows individuals to report any abuses anonymously (see Community mistrust: ensuring an effective grievance mechanism within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities). Note that establishing a grievance procedure is a crucial part of human rights due diligence responsibilities.

Good Practices

Carry out human rights due diligence in order to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how the company addresses its adverse human rights impacts.

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, no. 15–21

• Identify and assess actual and potential human rights risks and impacts related to company presence and activities. Human rights due diligence should:
  • Incorporate findings from any security risk assessments (see Private security within risk and impact assessment – Working with Private Security Providers).
  • Be informed by stakeholder mapping, consultation and engagement. Key stakeholders include communities, business relationships, government actors and other persons potentially impacted by the business activities.  
  • Build on an analysis of the operating context, including its history of human rights abuses, its legal system and a conflict analysis (if there are tensions in the context).
• Act upon the findings: prevent, mitigate and address any actual or potential impacts. Prioritise which impacts to address first on the basis of severity (judged by scale, scope and irremediability).
• Map responses over time, while protecting the identify of respondents in order to prevent reprisals.  
• Communicate how impacts are addressed.
• Ensure impacts on vulnerable groups (such as children, older persons, indigenous peoples and women are assessed in particular.
• Ensure that the human rights due diligence process:
  • Covers adverse human rights impacts that the company may cause or contribute to through its own activities. According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, this includes impacts which may be ‘directly linked to its operations, products or services by its business relationships, even if they have not contributed to those impacts’. Additionally, ‘“activities” are understood to include both actions and omissions’.
  • Varies in complexity with the size of the enterprise, the risk of severe human rights impacts, and the nature and context of its operations.
  • Is revisited in an ongoing manner, recognising that the human rights risks may change over time as the business enterprise’s operations and operating context evolve.
• Assess local capacity to investigate abuses and provide for proper resolution. According to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, risk and impact assessments should ‘consider the local prosecuting authority and judiciary’s capacity to hold accountable those responsible for human rights abuses and for those responsible for violations of international humanitarian law in a manner that respects the rights of the accused’.

Key Resources

• OECD Guidance on Responsible Business Conduct (OECD 2018)
• UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights
• Human Rights Impact Assessment Guidance and Toolbox (Danish Institute for Human Rights 2016)
• Human Rights Due Diligence in Conflict-Affected Settings (International Alert 2018)

Engage with national, regional and local authorities.

• Hold bilateral meetings with host government representatives. Keeping these discussions confidential may make company efforts more effective by providing a safe space for dialogue in a non-attributive manner.
• Use leverage to reduce adverse human rights impacts as a result of business relationships. As explained by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, ‘Leverage may be increased by, for example, offering capacity-building or other incentives to the related entity, or collaborating with other actors’.

Key Resources

• Using Leverage in Business Relationships to Reduce Human Rights Risks (Shift 2013)
• Using Leverage (Global Business Initiative on Human Rights) 

Consult with potentially affected groups and other relevant stakeholders.

• Include meaningful discussions on security and human rights in community consultations. The UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights emphasise that this should be done ‘in a manner that takes into account language and other potential barriers to effective engagement’.
• During these consultations, at a minimum, include men and women of different ethnicities and age groups, as well as indigenous peoples. Stakeholder engagement is a key component of all steps of the human rights due diligence process (see Navigating different stakeholders: avoiding inadvertently favouring or excluding sub-groups within communities within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities) and Host government interlocutors: Dealing with staff turnover, decentralisation of responsibilities and multiple agencies within Engagement and coordination with host governments – Working with Host Governments).

Engage in pro-active monitoring rather than just responding to complaints.

• Establish a company policy on what employees should do in case of an alleged human rights violation by public security forces.
• Include the establishment of a monitoring system in the memorandum of understanding between the company and the host government.
• Record all allegations. Ensure that reporting and complaints procedures include provisions on how and where to record allegations of human rights violations in a confidential and reliable manner, as well as how to refer incidents to the company grievance mechanism.
• Ensure evidence is reliable. According to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, ‘Every effort should be made to ensure that information used as the basis for allegations of human rights abuses is credible and based on reliable evidence’.
• Consider joining or creating an external stakeholder advisory panel to help monitor security and human rights issues.
  • The Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Implementation Guidance Tools say that companies should ‘include stakeholders with legitimacy in the eyes of public security providers’.
  • Ensure the local population participates in monitoring mechanisms. It is particularly important that the needs of most vulnerable groups, including women and indigenous people, are adequately represented in the panel.

Provide for or cooperate in the remediation of adverse impacts the company has caused or contributed to through legitimate processes

(see Community mistrust: ensuring an effective company grievance mechanism within Stakeholder engagement strategy  – Working with Communities).

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, no. 22

Establish an operational-level grievance mechanism that allows individuals to anonymously report any abuse

(see Community mistrust: ensuring an effective company grievance mechanism within Stakeholder engagement strategy – Working with Communities).

UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, no. 31

• Ensure the grievance mechanism is accessible. Note that accessibility also relates to language, literacy and social position; ensure that the procedure is available in local languages, that it is explained orally by community officers (if literacy is an issue) and that access for persons with limited mobility is considered (e.g. women who cannot leave their home alone).
• Consider establishing some or all of the following access points:
  • A ‘report abuse’ hotline, accessible either via phone or SMS.
  • A secure e-mail address that is solely accessible by a trusted monitor.
  • Tip boxes with clear instructions posted above them, located in areas where individuals have unobserved access to the boxes and can drop in anonymous notes, tips or other information.
  • A community office where complainants can report their claims in person. Ensure that this is easily accessible to all potential claimants. If it is clear that certain members of the potentially affected community are not able to access the office, mobile teams should be sent to engage with the community and carry out the grievance process in their location.
• Ensure the grievance mechanism accepts a wide range of complaints. It is not necessary to wait until an issue amounts to an alleged human rights abuse or a breach of other standards before addressing it.
• BP’s implementation guidance on the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights recommend, ‘Where businesses are aware of alleged violations within their area of operations, whether or not a grievance is raised, record the allegation and any actions taken’.
• Grievance mechanisms should be culturally appropriate and handle grievances in a way that is accepted by the community.
• The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights explains companies should make the grievance mechanism ‘known to, and trusted by, those stakeholders for whom it is intended’.
• Be mindful that barriers to accessibility of grievance mechanisms can be gender-specific. These barriers need to be considered and addressed from a gender-sensitive perspective.

Practical Tools

• Handling and Resolving Local-level Concerns and Grievances (International Council on Mining and Metals 2019)
• Developing and Operating Fair and Accessible Company Grievance Mechanisms
• Community Grievance Mechanisms in the Oil and Gas Industry (IPIECA 2015)
• Site-Level Grievance Guide (Mining Association Canada 2015)

Verify that operating procedures include an obligation to ensure that medical attention is provided to injured parties when force is used.

Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, p. 4

Report abuses.

• Educate company staff about the obligation to report allegations so that appropriate inquires can take place. The company has a greater ability to influence its own workforce than it has with other security stakeholders.
• Report any credible and verified allegations of human rights abuses and violations of international humanitarian law within the company’s areas of operations, including abuses perpetrated by public security. Ensure these incidents are reported to appropriate host government authorities. Request that the investigation take place at the most local-level office that has the authority to conduct an incident investigation, as long as that authority is not involved with the incident.
• Ensure the public prosecutor’s office, or equivalent entity, is informed of any credible allegations.
• Ensure legal and physical protection for victims and those making the allegations.

Request that the alleged perpetrators are withdrawn from the site until an official investigation is concluded.

Actively follow up on the status of investigations and press for proper resolution.

Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, p. 5

• As explained by the World Bank Group and Anvil Mining, companies should conduct a full-scale internal investigation ‘if the alleged incident occurred on company property, if it involved company equipment, or if it occurred because of company activities or operations. […] A similar inquiry is appropriate for allegations that occur in the company’s areas of operations.’
• Where appropriate, urge that investigation and action be taken to prevent any recurrence. According to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights, companies should ‘do as much as possible to ensure that the host government investigates any human rights abuse allegations, protects victim(s) and resolves the situation according to the rule of law’.

Involve other stakeholders in the follow-up of investigations.

• Share information about security incidents with community representatives, the host government and relevant national accountability mechanisms.
• Inform the national ombudsman or human rights agency with the responsibility for investigating human rights allegations so that they can ensure a proper investigation is conducted and disciplinary legal action is taken, when justified.
• Support NGOs and civil society in their efforts to actively monitor security policies and practices that affect their constituents, as well as their efforts to advocate for appropriate solutions.
• Engage with home country governments and international organisations. According to the Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights Implementation and Guidance Tools, home governments and international organisations ‘can serve as important interlocutors between the company and the host government during instances of human rights (and international humanitarian law) abuse allegations’. This is also a good way to safeguard good relationships with authorities and avoid the perception of undue influence.
• When the incident triggers a significant amount of concern from external stakeholders such as international organisations, home governments or NGOs—consider commissioning an external investigation.

Track effectiveness of responses to allegations.

• According to the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, tracking effectiveness should be done on the basis of ‘appropriate qualitative and quantitative indicators’ and drawing on ‘feedback from both internal and external sources, including affected stakeholders’.

Conduct lessons learned exercises, both internally and externally, with all appropriate stakeholders.

Voluntary Principles on Security and Human Rights: Implementation Guidance Tools, p. 46 (International Council on Mining and Metals, International Committee of the Red Cross, International Finance Corporation and IPIECA 2011)

• Wherever a significant human rights impact has occurred, initiate a process to identify how and why it occurred. This is important to prevent or mitigate its continuation or recurrence. As discussed by the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, ‘If the evidence is sufficiently clear, linking this kind of analysis to staff incentives and disincentives, whether financial compensation, promotion or other rewards, can play an important role in helping to embed respect for human rights into the practices of the enterprise’.
• As applicable, work with public security providers to share, discuss and apply lessons learned.