UN Global Compact

Assessment 1

Abdulla Salmeen 201400198

Mustafa Abdulla 201400253
Sara Budhaish 201500439
Maryam AlSahaf 201400081
Fatema Mohamed 201400374
Table of Contents

Introduction .................................................................................................................................................. 3
Human rights allegations:- ............................................................................................................................ 3
Case 1 ............................................................................................................................................................ 3
Case 2 ............................................................................................................................................................ 4
Case 3 ............................................................................................................................................................ 5
Allegations of Complicity .............................................................................................................................. 6
Case 1 ............................................................................................................................................................ 6
Case 2 ............................................................................................................................................................ 7
Case 3 ............................................................................................................................................................ 7
The Human Rights conditions in Equatorial Guinea ..................................................................................... 9
Bibliography and Referencing ..................................................................................................................... 14
Appendix ..................................................................................................................................................... 15
Introduction

Neogas is the largest fifth company in the world that produces oil and gas; it has a high growth
capital and it is located in Neoland. Moreover, Neogas has large-scale in oil and gas enterprise
in Matiland, but this enterprise has low growth income and it occurs with low strength combat
between the national authorities and the FARM guerrilla group (the Fuerzas Armadas
Revolucionarias de Matiland). This report will evaluate the allegations of human rights abuses,
allegations of complicity, and explaining the human rights situations in Equatorial Guinea as
well as developing policy statement that will provide the stakeholders with an obvious idea
about Neogas human rights performance.

Human rights allegations:-

Case 1

The human rights impacted by the activities of Neogas in Matiland that are presented in the
allegation of human right violations done by Neogas are as follows:

The first issue where Human rights were impacted was when the Local Mati Fishermen notified
that the local river was polluted, due to natural gas drilling done by Neogas, which made the
fish in the river not fit for human consumption. In addition to the water being not clean and the
local women and children have to walk an average of 5 hours daily to search for a clean
drinkable water. This is a clear infringement of Article 11 and Article 12 of the ICESCR
(International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights).

Article 11 of the ICESCR states the right to an adequate standard of living, which encompasses
the rights to having access to food, clothing, housing, and a constant improvement of living
conditions, as well as sufficient sanitation and water. The fact that Neogas polluted the rivers
has clearly breached this right, because it caused the adequate standards of living to be
lowered rather than improved which is requirement of this article, because the fish was
inedible and the water undrinkable. Thus, the living standards are lowered due to the activities
of Neogas, which clearly disrupted their rights to food, and access to water.

Article 12 of the ICESCR is about the right to health, which requires the highest attainable
standard of physical and mental health. Moreover, the fact that the rivers where polluted by
the company’s activities could cause skin disease to any one exposed to the contaminated
water of the river or anyone eating the poisonous fish from that river which had no notice
about the river being contaminated. Thus, the right to health has been breached due to the
activities of Neogas.

Corrective measures that should be adopted in this issue based on the case study of Energy
sector, Environmental disaster issues (Indonesia). The president of Indonesia issued
compensation to the families affected by the mud volcano eruption. Thus, their standard of
living was lowered and they needed compensation (Hays, 2015).

Similarly, in this case the local families and fishermen should be compensated by either the
company or the president of Neoland due to Neogas being the 5th leading company in the world
which is brings high income to the country.

Another case study that is relevant to this issue is the case study of Toy sector, Housing issues
(Mexico) where the worker’s homes have lack of water supply and the company’s response to
this issue was to raise the wages for the workers to be able to afford decent water supply and
living condition(Davidson, 2011).

Neogas should do the same thing since the houses are close to the factory usually belongs to
the workers; and the increase in wages will make the neighboring houses able to afford clean
water rather than depending solely on the river for water supply which might harm their
health.

Case 2

Regarding to what happened with the gas pipeline explosion 30 of Neogas company workers
got injured because of the risky old machinery that was used. Neogas failed to change the old
appliances due negligence or even greed. Moreover, Neogas did not take care of the 30 injured
employees by compensating them financially. Therefore, Neogas failed to follow the rules and
regulation of the Matiland; particularly relating to the health and safety law which reverse to
the ad hoc ILO Conventions.

Article 7 of the ICESCR states the right of employees in working in a safe and enjoyable
workplace, and to be treated fairly regarding their wages and compensations. In this case,
Neogas Company abused the human rights of the employees because of the explosion that
happed during their work time. Their breach resulted not compensating the employees, which
were considered as their human right. The footwear industry in Vietnam case is a good example
regarding the working condition issues in workplace. The employees during their extra work
hours in the factory they were exposed to dangerous chemicals, heat and dust.
Corrective measures that should be adopted in this i ssue based on the case study of Footwear
industry, working conditions issues (Vietnam).Vietnam ministry came up with a solution by
developing a management supporting system that has applied on 60% of Vietnam’s footwear
industries. In addition, it created and delivered health and safety training courses
(garrettbrown, 2016). Therefore, Negoas Company should use this solution, which is providing
courses for the managers and employees to deal with dangerous situations, such as the
explosion that happened, and investing more on new machines that would prevent such
disasters from happening again.

Case 3

The third issue was on hacking 900 customers account of Neogas by someone who has been
stealing their personal information, and later on he was arrested by Matilandese police. After
the police investigation, they discovered that Neogas had not developed their software
effectively by adding online security.

Article 17 of the ICCPR (International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights) is about the right of
privacy which protects the people’s right against any arbitrary, unreasonable or illegal
interference with their privacy personal information, such as family or home; also, to protect
their grace and reputation. Referring to the issue above, the customers have the right to raise a
claim against Neogas in court, because Neogas did not protect their personal information
effectively following the police investigation. This carelessness and negligence on the part of
Neogas caused the customer’s rights to be breached.

There is a room for improvement and corrective measures to be taken, because Negoas had
not been investing on security to preserve the private information of the customers. Based on
the case study of internet user privacy issues (United States) The CEO of AOL Company Jon
Miller encouraged his employees to establish a task force to improve how the data is being
stored and tightening and restricting the access of sensitive and private data of their
customers(Bell, 2003).

Similarly, in this issue, Neogas should establish a task force to improve the storage of data and
invest more money in the protection of data and online security for the prevention of future
leaks of data and hacking that would breach these rights under article 17 ICCPR.
Allegations of Complicity

Case 1

In the first scenario, the government of Matiland has forced the Mati community to move
from their place without any permission or request from Neogas and without any
compensation. This is known as complicity, according to the second principle of the ten
principles of the UN compact that business complicity is being accomplished when the human
rights are abused. (Compact, n.d). Complicity is defined as helping and encouraging a person
or a group to do a crime, even if they did not commit the crime.

As it shown in the case, this is a beneficial complicity where the company is silent but
benefiting from the crime of moving the Mati community from their place which is considered
as a human right abuse, even if they did not request it or caused it.

In this case the government and the company are abusing the civil and political rights. Article
1.2 from the International covenant on Civil and Political Rights says: all people have the right
to dispose and use their natural wealth and sources without any prejudice to any obligation
that has been airside out of international economic cooperation. (Rights, n.d).

This article is against the action of the government of Matiland, because the Matiland
community were living and getting their profit from the Matiland Rainforest Reserve. This has
a bad effect on their life, as it says that it is their main source.

The second human right that has been abused by the government is the right to give the
Matiland community compensations as a remedy to what happened.

As article 2.3(a) states that any person’s rights when it gets abused the person shall have a
remedy even if the abused was an act issued by a person acting in an official capacity. This has
an effect on Neogas where it is a complicit company, which getting benefits from this abuse
(Rights, n.d). As a result of what happened and as the company is a part of the crime that
happened to Mati community they will face some consequences and risks such as the bad
reputation, if they did not talk and commit the crime or stopped their works in that area. In
addition to that the people will outcry for their rights which will lead to political risks in the
country.

The political issues could effect on the economy of the country while they are facing an
internal conflict within the country (The FARM) which will increase the risks and reduce the
safety in the country. The company will lose some of their customers if they are dealing with
countries that have signed the covenant because the countries will refuse to deal with a
company that is benefiting from abusing the human rights. The right action that should be
taken is to compensate the Matiland community and provide them the shelters and jobs,
because they lost their source of earning money. It is possible to give them their land back by
signing a contract with the government in order to return them to their hometown.

Case 2

In the second case, the company is providing the army with money and place while it is known
that they use this money in killing the people who joined the FARM which shows another type
of complicity which is the direct complicity. Direct complicity is when a company is providing
another with money, goods or services to help them in abusing others and Neogas is providing
an image of that in this case.

One of the abused rights here is right to life, as it is mentioned in the case that the company is
helping the military in order to “eradicate the FARM”. Article 6 from International Covenant on
Civil and Political Rights says that everyone has the right to live their life and not to take their
life away by killing or arbitrary killing. Moreover, article 20 says that no one has the right to
fight the other because of their nationality, religion or racially. Adding to that it extends the
prohibition to all forms or ways of propaganda threatening the peace of someone. In this
situation, Neogas Company is supporting the government in abusing this right and the other
right which article 19 states that everyone has the freedom to show his expressions. This could
be a risk on the profit of the company and it is one of the biggest oil and Gas Company in the
world which will make the effect much bigger on them. It could lead them to a legal action
against them (MonashUniversity, n.d).

The business should take an action to stop supporting the army finance in the first place in
order to save the FARM’s people lives. Another action is to deal with the FARM without any
government interventions. Furthermore, the company has to do is to condemn the
government’s actions in order to stop them from repeating it.

Case 3

In the third case, Neogas has another branch in a country where the government is infringing
human rights even the basic rights. This present the picture of silent complicity and the
definition of it is the silent company or the company that does not face or assist the abuse of
human rights and not benefiting from it at the same time (Rights, n.d).

Article 7 says: The human has the “Right not to be subjected to torture, cruel, inhuman and/or
degrading treatment or punishment” and what is happening in Rippaland is totally against
humanity and against this article. The second article which Rippaland is abusing is article 26 and
it affirms that people have to be treated equally before the law without any discrimination. As
this case shows a silent complicity which is the least type that could hold a legal liability but it is
still a partner in crime by paying taxes to this country. The risk is surrounding the company,
especially it is the fifth biggest company of oil and gas which means that many countries are
dealing with it, and they could show a bad reaction by changing to buy oil and gas from another
company. Moreover, this might destroy the relationship between the company and the
shareholder which leads to a big financial loss.

The company must take a corrective measure which is an action to take to stop what is
happening in that country or to not to be a partner in their crimes by being silent. The company
should speak out about the infringing of the rights in Rippaland to the media. They could
change their place and move to a safe country that protects the rights of the public.

Every action the company takes has its advantages and disadvantages; it is a big decision and
responsibility to be hold. As it shown in this table those are the reasons of why the company
needs to speak out and why not:

Yes to speak out because : No to speak out because:

 It will show the society that it is a
supportive company for human rights
which may have an increase on their
income and reputation.
 Saving the human lives.
 it could make a difference in the
country by changing the actions of the
government
 It could be risky for their staff.
 The government could stop their work
which means facing an economy risk
and this could make a large number of
unemployed people.
 Could effect on their relations with
other countries whom are doing the
same abuse to human rights but in
secret.
The Human Rights conditions in Equatorial Guinea

Equatorial Guinea became notoriously recognized as one of the “most repressive societies” in
the world (FreedomHouse, 2011), with deplorable records of many human rights violations that
continue to plague the country. The following table represents some of the contraventions
committed by the Equatorial Guinea’s government, the list includes (but not limited to):

Violation of Explained
Political rights Infamous for its repressive dictatorships and lack of electoral
democracy, Equatorial Guinea elections lacks of accountability,
inclusiveness and transparency. The country’s ruling democratic party
(PDGE) exerts monopoly over the political system, and dominates both
the Unicameral House of People’s representatives (with 99 seats out of
100) and two chamber parliament (168 out of 170
seats),(FreedomHouse, 2011), Minor opposition parties are allowed,
but their activities are closely monitored by the government, with
which the government had been allegedly accused of arresting and
harassing members of opposition parties(Human Rights Watch, 2016).
Public Funds Despite the country’s vast oil revenues, due to the exploitation and
mismanagement of public funds about third-quarter of the population
lives in poverty, with lack of access to clean water and basic human
needs (Human Rights Watch, 2016).
Human Despite prohibiting all forms of trafficking, the country did not make
Trafficking any noticeable effort to adhere to the minimum standards on reducing
the rate of trafficking. Many undocumented migrants trafficked from
nearby countries who are subjected to forced labor, and prostitution is
departed without being investigated or cognizant as victims
(Trafficking in Persons, 2016).

 Dilemma:

Equatorial Guinea has abundant natural resources wealth and considered as one of the top five
oil producers in Sub-Saharan Africa. The country has a promising forecast, with a number of
new projects focusing on the petroleum sector with which Neogas could benefit from:

- Adopting Africa’s first Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) platform, a water-based
facility that operates on producing, liquefying and storing Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG)
 before transferring it to the market (Gourvenec, 2013). The FLNG revokes the
prohibitively expensive costs of land-based LNG plants and pipelines, and provides a
more economically viable method to produce and liquefy gas.

- The country is set to build the largest storage facility for oil and petroleum products in
West Africa. The facility is expected to transform the country into one of the region’s
substantial trading and services center, which will expedite the process of distributing
oil products in the region (CEMAC, 2015).

- The government’s efforts to improve the domestic infrastructure, ports and airports will
also contribute into transforming the country into a both logistics hub and a geo-
economic getaway, which will facilitate the free movements of goods and services
within the Economic and Monetary Community of Central African states (CEMAC).

Nonetheless, Neogas is highly advised to withdraw its decision in potentially investing in

Equatorial Guinea for the following reasons:

- Political instability:

Based on the Transparency International’s corruption index reports, Equatorial Guinea

was mentioned as one of the world's most corrupt countries in 2012 and 2013, was
ranked 163 for two consecutive years and had ranked (20 and 19 respectively).
Corruption is impeded to the economic performance and may potentially result in
harming the reputation and credibility of both Neogas's stakeholders and company.
(Transparency International , 2012)(Transparency International , 2013)
-Human Trafficking:

Equatorial Guinea became a destination and source for trafficking (U.S Department of State,
2016), after adopting many economic projects over the last years, which contributed to
increasing the demand for cheap labour and prostitution. By investing in such country, Neogas
might indirectly put itself at risk of being subjected to legal prosecution and liability by different
international organizations (Baab & jungk, 2009).

Also, Neogas might be - if decided to invest - directly involved in human trafficking. As

mentioned above, the country has been putting a lot of efforts into enhancing its ports and
airports, to facilitate the process of trading with other countries within the region. This step will
presumably increase the numbers of trafficking victims, as it will provide easier access.

If the country continues to ignore this problem, the process of recruiting human resources will
continue to be extremely difficult for businesses (foreign and local).
Ensuring that the recruits are not victims of human trafficking, or involved in the process is very
important, and if ignored or handled loosely will subject Neogas for legal prosecution and
liabilities, not to mention a damage to the company’s reputation and loose of customers.

-Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative: In 2010, Equatorial Guinea was expelled from the
EITI for failing to ensure an “enabling environment” for civil society to be able to fully
contribute in EITI’s implementation (Human Rights Watch, 2016).
 Bibliography and Referencing
Baab, M., & jungk, m. (2009, June). the arc of human rights priorities. Retrieved from unglobalcompact:
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/docs/issues_doc/human_rights/Human_Rights_Working_Group/9Ju
ne09_Arc_of_Human_Rights_Priorities_-_Road_Testing_Version.pdf

Bell, I. (2003, July 31). America Online introduces AOL 9.0. Retrieved from digitaltrends:
https://www.digitaltrends.com/computing/america-online-introduces-aol-90/

Compact, U. G. (n.d). UN Global Compact. Retrieved from Principle Two: Human Rights:
https://www.unglobalcompact.org/what-is-gc/mission/principles/principle-2

Davidson, M. (2011, May 3). Maquiladora Workers Get Homes of Their Own. Retrieved from
aliciapatterson: http://aliciapatterson.org/stories/maquiladora-workers-get-homes-their-own

garrettbrown. (2016, December 13). Hansae Vietnam: Case study of hazardous working conditions and
the failure of corporate social responsibility audits to fix the hazards. Retrieved from scienceblogs:
http://scienceblogs.com/thepumphandle/2016/12/13/hansae-vietnam-case-study-of-hazardous-
working-conditions-and-the-failure-of-corporate-social-responsibility-audits-to-fix-the-hazards/

Gourvenec, S. (2013, August 14). Explainer: what is floating liquefied natural gas? Retrieved from
theconversation: http://theconversation.com/explainer-what-is-floating-liquefied-natural-gas-15762

Hays, J. (2015, June). ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES AND POLLUTION IN INDONESIA. Retrieved from
factsanddetails: http://factsanddetails.com/indonesia/Nature_Science_Animals/sub6_8c/entry-
4090.html

Human Rights Watch. (2016). Retrieved from hrw: https://www.hrw.org/world-report/2017/country-

chapters/equatorial-guinea

MonashUniversity. (n.d). Monash University. Retrieved from Human Rights Translated :

http://www2.ohchr.org/english/issues/globalization/business/docs/Human_Rights_Translated_web.pdf

Rights, H. (n.d). UN. Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/ProfessionalInterest/Pages/CCPR.aspx

Trafficking in Persons. (2016). Retrieved from state:

https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2016/258762.htm

Transparency International . (2012). Retrieved from transparency:

https://www.transparency.org/cpi2012/results

Transparency International . (2013). Retrieved from transparency:

https://www.transparency.org/cpi2013/results

U.S Department of State. (2016). Retrieved from state:

https://www.state.gov/j/tip/rls/tiprpt/countries/2016/258762.htm
Appendix

Policy statement
Neogas values safety and security where it is committed within operating in the organization. It
complies with high integrity standards, and does not involve any infringement of corruption or
fraud. This code of conduct outlines how values are implemented on daily basis moreover; it
explains the commitment and expectation towards stakeholders and specifies rules for
employees and everyone working for Neogas.

General commitment

Protection of people and the environment is a number one aspect of Neogas, which ensures
human health, operational safety, quality enhancement, environmental protection and
community goodwill. Neogas has an obligation to recognize that the government has a duty
towards human rights which is a right that is inherent to all human beings which means not
infringing the rights of others. All rights should commit in respect to human right in reference
with international human rights standard, including the universal declaration of Human Right.

As a commitment, it is enforced by companies to follow a certain path which is guided by

human rights, according to the global compact principles it should respect and protect
internationally and makes sure that there is no complicit in human right abuse. In addition,
labor work includes the elimination of force and compulsory labor, abolition of child labor and
elimination of discrimination in respect of employment and occupation. Furthermore,
businesses should encourage a precautionary tactic to environmental encounters, accepts
initiatives to uphold greater environmental responsibility and inspire the development and
diffusion of environmentally friendly technologies.
Actions taken by Neogas as part of human rights due diligence;

 Applying policies, Identifying, preventing, mitigating and remediating any adverse

human rights impacts arising from its activities or through it relationships with other
parties, such as business partners, entities in its value chain or state agents.
 Respecting human rights throughout its business and operation.
 Rejection of corruption, fraud and anti-competitive practices
 Avoid harm to all who is involved in or exposed by the company’s operation
 Prevent damages to property and harm of assets due to accidents
 Reduce opposing effects of its operation on the environment
 Respect the welfares of neighbors and the surroundings

Stakeholders Neogas is incorporate with;

 Employees
 Clients and customers
 Business partners
 Local communities

Employees:

Neogas is obligated to respect the human right of its employees.

 Right of protection and security for example having the right equipment while on duty.
 Political, personal and freedom right
 Social, economic and cultural right
 Equality for all
Clients and customers

In respect to commercial relationship Neogas aims to accept the right and reasonable due
diligence on material human right risks.

 Strive for high quality assurance within equipment’s of the company ie; when was the
equipment’s last maintained etc.
 Make sure there is no failure of products and they are safe and user-friendly.

Business partners

Addresses to suppliers and business partners who are dedicated to act fairly and with integrity
towards their stakeholders.

 Expressing their thoughts freely

 Discrimination
 Providing training
 Action of integrity between partners
 Communicate clearly to suppliers and business partners and taking the right measures
when measures are not taken based on expectations or obligation.

Local community

Neogas seeks for positive impact towards its society while operating;

 To hear community’s opinions and complaints

 Company should recycle and reduce number of waste, make sure there is prevention in
pollution, reduction of natural resources consumption and emission.
 Access to harmless water and basic sanitation.
Responsibilities for due diligence

Neogas executive vice president, policy and corporate affair is responsible in making sure that
there is compliance with the human right policy in addition, the group’s head of social
performance directs implementation of the human right policy. Monitoring the
implementation is overseen by our chairman with compliance of ensuring that policies are
allocated in an appropriate measure which supports the behaviors required by the policy.

Stakeholder engagement

Taking part in the company’s human right due diligence would help the company’s
performance sustainably, which would reduce risk and manage tasks in the right agenda.
Stakeholders will be responsible in the involvement of design and implementing actions
effectively to prevent, mitigate and remediate opposing impacts. The internal and external
stakeholder decisions in work councils the corporate responsibility committee. Ongoing
dialogue with local communities NGOs and unions and other partnerships.