KUALA LUMPUR – US-based non-profit organisation Shift has exited Sime Darby Plantation Bhd’s new human rights commission formed on March 1 after the company sued a workers’ rights activist, reported Reuters.
Shift – which is a centre of expertise on the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights – said it has decided to withdraw from the company’s Expert Stakeholder Human Rights Assessment Commission.
“Following the events of the last few days, we have regrettably decided to withdraw from the company’s Expert Stakeholder Human Rights Assessment Commission,” Francis West, Shift’s business engagement director was quoted as saying.
Another commission member is mulling his exit as well. Migrant rights activist Andy Hall was reportedly considering doing the same if Sime Darby Plantation moves forward with the suit.
“I am deeply concerned on the impact of this ongoing litigation against a human rights activist on the possibility for the human rights commission to function effectively according to its goals, and to conduct its work objectively and respectably,” Hall told Reuters yesterday.
“I may have to resign if Sime Darby decides to continue with it,” he said, adding that there were concerns that the suit would stifle whistle-blowers.
Shift’s exit is seen as a potential blow to Sime Darby Plantation’s fight against the American import ban over issues of labour rights.
The company initiated a suit against Liberty Shared managing director Duncan Jepson last Thursday. Liberty Shared is an anti-trafficking group based in Hong Kong.
Sime Darby Plantation said it initiated the Jepson suit to seek information about his complaint to Malaysian Securities Commission that resulted in an investigation into the company’s sustainability disclosures.
Sime Darby faces an import ban by the US Customs and Border Protection, effective December 30, 2020, after being issued with a withhold release order on its palm oil and palm oil products due to allegations of forced labour made by Liberty Shared last April.
Sime Darby Plantation did not immediately respond to requests for comment. – The Vibes, March 14, 2021
