42 record of the security forces or the State, but the risks that human rights abuses may occur as a result of the security forces’ presence at its facilities. While their past human rights record will be one consideration, other factors will include the general stability and rule of law in the area in question; local circumstances, such as any current or likely tensions among communities, between communities and local authorities or between communities and the enterprise; local attitudes to the Government or the armed forces; and, of course, the training and skills of the armed forces in handling such assignments in line with human rights. In multi-tiered and complex value chains, and for companies with thousands of suppliers even in their first tier, it is even less feasible to assess every individual business relationship. The same may be true for a small or medium-sized enterprise with a large number of business relationships relative to its own resources. However, this does not reduce its responsibility to respect human rights: not knowing about human rights abuses linked to its operations, products or services is unlikely by itself to satisfy key stakeholders, and may be challenged in a legal context, if the enterprise should reasonably have known of, and acted on, the risk through due diligence. As the commentary to Guiding Principle 17 explains, if due diligence on every individual relationship is impossible, “business enterprises should identify general areas where the risk of adverse human rights impacts is most significant, whether due to certain suppliers’ or clients’ operating context, the particular operations, products or services involved, or other relevant considerations, and prioritize these for human rights due diligence”. This would include, for example, agricultural products sourced from suppliers in an area known for child labour; security services provided by contractors or forces in areas of conflict or weak governance and rule of law; and drug trials conducted through partners in areas of low education, literacy and legal safeguards. If abuses do occur where they could not reasonably have been foreseen, the enterprise’s stakeholders will assess it on its response: how well and how swiftly it takes action to prevent or mitigate their recurrence and to provide for or support their remediation (see Guiding Principles 22 and 29).

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