States and companies must do more to protect and respect human rights defenders working on business-related issues, amid a worsening climate of attacks, UNB reports quoting a United Nations expert. "Human rights defenders who are pressing for companies to be held accountable should not be criminalised or threatened," said Michel Forst, presenting his fourth report to the UN General Assembly yesterday.

He said they play a critical role in ensuring sustainable development and the enjoyment of fundamental rights. "Human rights defenders, local communities, trade unionists and whistleblowers who denounce business scandals are all facing increasing dangers worldwide, and the responses so far have not matched the challenges," Forst was quoted as saying in a statement UNB received on Wednesday from New York.

The Special Rapporteur said there was a "worrying tendency to silence critics", even though more and more companies were developing guidelines to ensure that development projects respected the rights of communities and defenders.

"Human rights defenders are often depicted as anti-development, but it is high time we change the narrative and show that those who act against human rights are actually those who are against progress and development," Forst said.

In many regions of the world, human rights defenders paid a high price for exposing human rights violations in the context of business-related activities, he said.

The increasing number of threats and attacks could largely be explained by the lack of preventative measures such as consultations of affected communities and reactive measures like grievance mechanisms.

"I am also appalled by the number of cases in which companies benefit from corrupt political systems that favour short-term profits over human rights," the Special Rapporteur added.

He highlighted a number of concrete steps which states could take to prevent human rights violations of people trying to hold companies to account.

For example, countries could introduce laws obliging companies to show due diligence in protecting human rights and guaranteeing the participation of communities and rights defenders in business-related decisions. International finance institutions also had to ensure their projects avoided any negative impact on human rights on the ground, he added.