Business and Human Rights in Southeast Asia

Mahdev Mohan is Assistant Professor of law and directs the Asian Business & Rule of Law initiative at the Singapore Management University. A former Fulbright scholar, Mahdev's research and writing in the fields of international law and conflict resolution have been awarded Stanford University's Carl Mason Franklin Jr. Prize for International Law and the Richard S. Goldsmith Research Grant for International Conflict and Negotiation. He has a background in commercial & international dispute resolution, and is an Associate Member of Temple Garden Chambers’ public international law practice. He is also the Executive Director of the Society of International Law (Singapore). Mahdev is the editor of the Journal of East Asia and International Law and writes on international law, investment arbitration and human rights in Asia. Mahdev represents genocide victims before the UN-backed Khmer Rouge Tribunal. He is a member of the Africa/Asia coalition that has been commissioned by the United Nations Working Group on Business & Human Rights to assist with crafting a structured template for use by business, government and civil society. Cynthia Morel has been an adviser to the Asian Business & Rule of Law initiative at the Singapore Management University since 2011. In that capacity, she has contributed to submissions to various bodies, including the UN Working Group on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations. She additionally helped conceptualize and coordinate SMU’s first Summer Institute on Business and Human Rights in 2012; an initiative which informed this publication. Morel has concurrently served as a consultant to ASEAN-based and international NGOs on matters relating to large-scale land acquisitions; community stakeholder engagement; and advocacy strategies for rights-based development. Prior to moving to Asia, Morel established Minority Rights Group International’s strategic litigation programme in 2002. In her capacity as founding legal officer, and later as senior legal advisor, she spearheaded landmark cases before the European Court of Human Rights and the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights. She has also litigated on behalf of the Open Society Justice Initiative.

Introduction, Mahdev Mohan and Cynthia Morel Part 1 1. Whither Corporate Social Responsibility and the UN Framework and Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights?, Thomas Thomas 2. Business and Human Rights Challenges in ASEAN: The Role and Modalities of the State, Delphia Lim and Geetanjali Mukherjee 3. Why Gender Matters for the Business & Human Rights Agenda in Southeast Asia, Kathryn Dovey 4. Children’s Rights and Business: A Framework to Combat ICT-enabled Child Abuse in Southeast Asia, Philip Cook, Bindu Sharma and Chris Yeomans Part 2 5. Regulating Social and Environmental Risk in ASEAN Financial Integration: The Xayaburi Dam Project in Lao PDR & Thai Banks, Daniel King 6. Corporate Sustainability & Palm Oil Industries in Southeast Asia: A Principled Pragmatism, Puvan Selvanathan & Vani Sathisan 7. Human Rights Risks Amidst the ‘Gold-rush’: Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar & Vietnam, Mahdev Mohan Part 3 8. Tigers, Dragons, and Elephants on the move in Myanmar: The case for responsible investment and three recommendations for Asian leaders, Mark Hodge & Salil Tripathi 9. The New Frontier: Due Diligence & Developing and Implementing Human Rights Audits in Southeast Asia, James Kallman 10. Making Human Rights a core business practice: the Finance Sector’s role in the promotion & protection of human rights, Kerri-Ann O’Neil Part 4 11. Rule-making for rights protection in the Philippines: The Supreme Court’s New Powers for Environmental Regulation & Access to Remedy for Business-related Human Rights Abuse, Bobbie Sta-Maria 12. The Reality of Remedy in Mining and Community Relations: An Anonymous Case-study from Southeast Asia, Deanna Kemp and John R. Owen 13. Right To Development: A Path to Securing More Effective Remedies?, Cynthia Morel