A/HRC/41/CRP.1 – granted in accordance with due process and the standards of legality, necessity and legitimacy – by an independent and impartial judicial body.358” 445. The Special Rapporteur endorses these recommendations. Governments should impose an immediate moratorium on granting licences for the export of surveillance technologies to Saudi Arabia until Saudi Arabia demonstrates that it is limiting the domestic and extraterritorial use of such technologies to lawful purposes under international human rights law. Any allegations that equipment exported to date may be or have been misused should be the object of independent investigation by the relevant authorities with the findings made available to the public at large. IV. Corporate social accountability 446. At the time when more detailed news reports of the circumstances under which Mr. Khashoggi began to circulate, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia was hosting a major business conference, to which many large companies from around the world were invited. Concerned about the reputational risk of being associated with the country, many sought to distance themselves by not participating in the event, or by sending more junior delegates to the conference. The Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights, said on this occasion that the decision by business executives “to withdraw from the conference underlines how companies can use their leverage to address human rights concerns. Business leaders need to take a strong interest in keeping civic space open wherever they operate. For it is only in an environment where journalists and human rights defenders are able to speak freely that businesses can effectively identify and prevent negative human rights impacts.”359 447. Yet, since the beginning of 2019, most companies have moved quietly to repair their relationships with the Kingdom, with some announcing new investments or business deals. While most companies may bear no direct legal responsibility for the actions taken by Saudi Arabia, they nonetheless should take concrete and verifiable steps to ensure that their conduct is consistent with international human rights standards, in particular the UN Guiding Principles for Business and Human Rights. 448. Even if a company bears no direct responsibility for a specific act, the UN Guiding Principles are still relevant and they expect companies to conduct due diligence wherever they operate, and to use their leverage to reduce harm and mitigate human rights risks. Companies considering trade and investment deals with Saudi Arabia need to ensure that: 1. They affirm their commitment to human rights standards; 2. They make the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia aware of those commitments; 3. They use their leverage to ensure that their business partners in Saudi Arabia adhere to those commitments; 4. They establish a monitoring mechanism to ensure that their own conduct and the conduct of their associates does not cause any harm to human rights; 5. They establish explicit policies to ensure that they would avoid entering into business deals with businesses, business people, or organs of the state that have had a direct or indirect role with Mr. Khashoggi’s execution, or with other grave human rights abuses, to reduce their risk of exposure to complicity in such abuses; 6. They adhere to international human rights standards within their own operations, and use their leverage to address human rights concerns with their associates. 449. These recommendations apply with particular force to companies selling surveillance technology to Saudi Arabia and other countries given the extraordinary risk of abuse of 358 359 90 A/HRC/41/35, para 49. https://www.ihrb.org/other/governments-role/rights-wrongs-business-as-usual-in-saudi