James Nayagam, Human Rights Commission of Malaysia

A prosperous economy and a fair and just society: for James Nayagam, Commissioner with the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM), business has enormous potential to create opportunities and improve life chances for millions of Malaysians.

“But to achieve this goal, it is crucial that business respects their obligation to uphold human rights,” he says.

He believes that national human rights institutions (NHRIs) can help the private sector understand and implement human rights standards in their workplaces, business practices and supply chains.

Just as important, however, is that NHRIs monitor their performance and, when required, call them to account.

“As far as SUHAKAM is concerned, nearly every area of our work is related to this intersection between business and human rights,” Nayagam says.

“If you’re talking about migrant workers, land acquisition, people with disabilities, gender, the aged, child labour, all these issues are all linked to the decisions and practices of business.”

In recent years, Nayagam says, a number of business-related human rights issues have come to the attention of SUHAKAM, often as formal complaints.

“For example, land acquisition to develop dams, log timber or grow oil palm is a major issue facing communities, especially in Sabah and Sarawak,” he says.

“The treatment of migrant workers in Malaysia is another area of deep concern and an issue where we must make progress as a country.”

He also says that Malaysia’s stateless children – those born with no formal documentation – are especially vulnerable to exploitation and can find themselves working in dangerous conditions or for little pay.

National policy

In 2010, SUHAKAM convened a series of roundtable meetings with business, government and civil society groups, with the goal of drafting a roadmap to bolster respect for human rights in the private sector.

The result of these discussions was a two-part draft national policy on human rights and business: the first part setting out the broad principles and objectives and the second addressing specific areas of concern.

Nayagam is confident that education, dialogue, law reform and promoting good practice – such as SUHAKAM’s newly established award to recognise the positive efforts of business – can help drive change.

“However, it’s one thing to have discussions and put things down on paper. These commitments must be reflected in practice – and this is where the real challenges begin,” he says.

“We need realistic, achievable short- and long-term goals, we need the skills and capacity to measure our progress and we need to foster a shared responsibility for delivering on these goals.”

Regional partnerships

Sharing experiences with other NHRIs also provides valuable ideas for making progress at the national level, says Nayagam, who recently attended a major regional conference on business and human rights organised by the National Human Rights Commission of Korea and the Asia Pacific Forum.

But he believes NHRIs also need to act together on areas of common interest or shared concern.

“With transnational corporate activities increasing, national institutions have to work together and network. For instance, they can inform the institution in the home country if a particular company is not meeting its human rights obligations,” says Nayagam.

“There’s also a need for us to share relevant case law, particularly within South East Asia where there is a lot of commonality.”

He said he left the conference with a very long ‘to do’ list, as well as a sense of optimism about what can be done to bring about positive change.

“I’m very passionate about this area of work because it’s relevant, it’s effective and it can address many important human rights issues at their source, as well as contribute to progress on broader issues such as climate change and a healthy environment.”