T

he National Commission on Human Rights (Komnas HAM) is ready to launch a national action plan on business and human rights on the back of rampant human rights abuses committed by corporations.

Komnas HAM chairman Nur Kholis said on Tuesday that the commission had finished drafting the final version of the action plan.

'€œThis action plan is only for businesses. This plan will regulate how companies should pay more attention to human rights, how the government could do more against corporations that fail to protect human rights, and support for victims,'€ he told The Jakarta Post.

The action plan is crucial as currently there are no guidelines for stakeholders to resolve major issues such as labor disputes over low wages, the primacy of human rights over business interests and the debate over profits and workers'€™ rights.

Even though the government has issued an action plan on human rights through Presidential Regulation No. 75/2015, it has only a general definition of human rights and lacks an action plan.

Nur Kholis said the new action plan would convey principles outlined in the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights for Sustainable Development, which had been tailored specifically for the situation in Indonesia.

In 2011, the UN Human Rights Council unanimously endorsed the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

'€œThe UK was the first country to adopt the principle into a national action plan. Why has it taken Indonesia so long to adopt it? It'€™s been five years but we'€™re stuck in this final draft,'€ Nur Kholis said.

In recent years Komnas HAM has received more reports on agrarian conflicts, which mostly involve businesses, than any other type of human rights abuses. Komnas HAM commissioner Dianto Bachriadi said the commission received more than 1,000 reports in 2015 in which companies were accused of treating their employees unfairly,

Most of the companies were also accused of illegally taking over land from local and indigenous people.

'€œThe number of companies that have complied with human rights principles continues to be small, maybe just 2 or 3 percent. This is a big challenge for Indonesia, which is now on the world stage but continues to struggle within. So if our companies want to go global, it will be difficult because their products have to meet international standards,'€ Indonesian Employers Association (Apindo) head of labor department Harijanto said on Tuesday.

Before Komnas HAM launches the action plan, it will conduct a high-level meeting with relevant ministries regarding its possible adoption.

Foreign Ministry director of human rights and humanitarian affairs Dicky Komar said the government should decide which ministry would be the host of the national action plan issued by Komnas HAM.

'€œWhen the action plan is finished, we hope that the plan is passed to the government and the government picks it up,'€ he said on Tuesday.