Paper products giant Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) will undertake a human rights audit across its Indonesian operations.

The move, which APP says is an acknowledgment of a recent United Nations call for the global protection of human rights by businesses, comes as APP intensifies its effort to improve its image abroad. APP, a brand for paper products manufactured by several subsidiaries in Indonesia, has been beset by criticism from environmental and human rights group over its development of timber plantations on the island of Sumatra. The complaints have cost APP a number of prominent customers.

“APP has committed itself to adopting this framework in assessing and addressing human rights policies throughout its operations,” Aida Greenbury, Managing Director at APP told mongabay.com (see Greenbury’s full responses at the bottom of the article). “Once the one year long audit is completed, APP is planning to share the summary of the audit along with the eight core principles to assess human rights policies and performance.”

The audit will be conducted by Mazars Indonesia, a subsidiary of Mazars, an auditing and consulting firm headquartered in France.

Read the full story on Mongabay.com

Related posts:

1. U.S. Bans Rights Abusers, Strengthens Effort Against Atrocities
2. International Human Rights Day 2008
3. Bolivia Set to Pass Historic ‘Law of Mother Earth’ Which Will Grant Nature Equal Rights to Humans
4. Canada endorses indigenous rights declaration
5. Indonesia signs agreement with EU to end the sale of illegally logged wood