Hikvision And Dahua CEOs Write To UN Secretary-General Affirming Human Rights, Despite Rights Abuses

Dahua and Hikvision's CEOs sent letters to the United Nations' top official committing not to abuse human rights in unusually high-profile pledges, given their complicity in what the UN's human rights chief deemed possible crimes against humanity.

In this note, we examine the letters, why they sent them, and how Dahua and Hikvision are using the UN's reputation for public relations value.

Dahua and Hikvision's UN Letters of Commitment

As IPVM previously reported, Dahua and Hikvision joined the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) - a group of 20,000+ companies who commit to socially responsible conduct, including on human rights and sustainability - in August 2023 and January 2024. Our reports examine their admissions and human rights records in greater detail:

• Dahua Joins UN Compact Prohibiting Human Rights Abuses, Despite Own Record
• Hikvision Joins UN Compact Despite Human Rights Abuses

IPVM obtained copies of Dahua and Hikvision's Letters of Commitment (LoCs) to UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres as a part of the admission process. The Secretary-General is the UN's highest-ranking official, elected by its 193 member countries upon the Security Council's recommendation.

Hikvision's letter was signed by co-founded and current CEO Hu Yangzhong:

While Dahua's letter was signed by co-founder and President Liquan Fu:

LoCs require the company's highest executive to commit to the UNGC's Ten Principles, such as #2: "[Companies must] make sure that they are not complicit in human rights abuses."

Dahua and Hikvision both commit to the Ten Principles in their letters, which are identical aside from the latter's inclusion of a Chinese-language version.

I am pleased to confirm that [Dahua/Hikvision] supports the Ten Principles of the United Nations Global Compact on human rights, labour, environment and anti-corruption. With this communication, we express out commitment to making the UN Global Compact and its principles part of the strategy, culture and day-to-day operations of our company. [emphasis added]

They further commit to "projects which advance the broader development goals of the United Nations, particularly the Sustainable Development Goals."

The letters are also identical to a sample UNGC LoC, with Dahua's still having brackets around the date:

Hikvision Submitted Before Dahua Yet Joined Months Later

Dahua and Hikvision's letters raise the question of why Hikvision only joined the UNGC in January 2024, five months after Dahua, given that Hikvision's letter is dated June 1, 2023, two months before Dahua's. The UN Global Compact estimates a 7-14 day admission process.

A benefit of delaying until the new year is that Hikvision now has until July 2025 to submit an annual Communication on Progress (CoP), a statement of its actual efforts toward the Ten Principles, and the principal material requirement of UNGC membership.

For Hikvision, parts of the questionnaire required in a CoP may be uncomfortable, such as whether it has provided remedies where "it has caused or contributed to adverse impact(s) associated with the following human rights topics," of which several are applicable.

Hikvision could answer falsely that it has not contributed to adverse human rights impacts. But even if the UNGC does not take deceptive answers seriously, the CoPs are public, and Hikvision risks public criticism over its answers.

Using the UN Brand for Reputation Laundering

Joining the UN Global Compact is consistent with Dahua and Hikvision's broader strategy to rehabilitate their reputations without actually addressing their complicity in the human rights abuses that tarnished them in the first place. However, letters committing directly to the UN Secretary-General on issues including human rights demonstrate a surprising level of ambition for this strategy.

To be sure, this may be less an indication of Dahua and Hikvision's seriousness than it is a demonstration of how casually the United Nations risks exploitation of its name for public relations value via the UN Global Compact. Dahua and Hikvision's letters were direct copies of online templates, and make no specific commitments, showing how little effort is actually put into joining the UN Global Compact, notwithstanding the high-profile recipient and senders. Indeed, the most difficult part of the process may have been obtaining their CEOs' signatures.

While objectionable, Dahua and Hikvision's strategy may have some success. The United Nations has a global reputation for human rights, having essentially created them in their modern-day form. Association with the UN may help the companies convince others to doubt or overlook accusations.

Legitimate Human Rights Action Dahua and Hikvision Could Take

Our assessment that Dahua and Hikvision's UNGC commitments are insincere is not based only on their past actions but on the actions they are not taking in the present.

There are several steps Dahua and Hikvision would take if they legitimately wished to improve human rights compliance, including several based on the UN's Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.

Two examples:

1. A clearly articulated, evidence-backed withdrawal from PRC government contracts in, at minimum, Xinjiang. Even if they did not "knowingly" contribute to Xinjiang rights abuses, as Hikvision previously claimed (and its lawyer later contradicted), businesses have an obligation to avoid possible contributions to human rights abuses committed by others per the UN, and they are now well aware of the risks.
2. The UN emphasizes that when rights are breached, intentionally or not, businesses have an obligation to create "appropriate and effective remedies" for victims. Neither Dahua nor Hikvision have detailed any such remedies, which would necessarily need to be public in order to be accessed by victims. Several other international standards for businesses, including the UNGC's own CoP questionnaire above, emphasize the importance of remedies.