environmental human rights defenders

• TANZANIA: ‘Despite threats, we will not retreat from defending the rights of our communities’

  CIVICUS speaks to Joseph Ole Parsambei, Executive Director of the Tanzania Pastoralist Community Forum (TPCF), about the threats faced by environmental, land and indigenous rights activists in Tanzania. TPCF is non-partisan, not-for-profit civil society organisation (CSO) that advances the rights of Tanzania’s pastoralist peoples - the Maasai, the Barbaig, the Akie, the Taturu and the Hadzabe.

• Time to sign: Environmental rights and democracy in Latin America

  El 27 de septiembre los gobiernos de America Latina y el Caribe pueden hacer historia y firmar el Acuerdo de Escazú. Exijamos que lo hagan para proteger el medio ambiente y sus defensorxs: https://t.co/okAUeyQMd7 #TimetosignP10 #FirmaXelAmbiente pic.twitter.com/6k2BMdM9fl

  — Amnistía Defensorxs (@AIDefensorxs) July 27, 2018

  Espanol

  The #Sign4TheEnvironment campaign aims to promote the signature of the regional treaty for environmental democracy in Latin America and the Caribbean - known as the Escazu Agreement. The Escazú Agreement represents a major step forward for the rights of people to access information and participate in policies, projects and decisions that affect the environment. The right  to participate in decision-making processes is key for an open civic space. 

  The agreement is also the first international instrument that includes obligations for the protection environmental defenders and the right of assembly in relation to the environment as the treaty obliges countries to recognize the role and protect activists and their organizations. Attacks and killings of environmental defenders in Latin America is a major concern, as the region is usually the most dangerous place on earth for environmental defenders according to the annual report of Global Witness:

  EXPOSED: the massive rise in killings of #EnvironmentDefenders linked to consumer products - including brutal attacks on those defending their land from large-scale agriculture like palm oil and coffee plantations. #AtWhatCost https://t.co/yZwrln7Oos pic.twitter.com/T350vwIyY9

  — Global Witness (@Global_Witness) July 24, 2018

  The treaty will open for signature on September 27 during the General assembly of the United Nations. The Agreement will need the signature and ratification of 11 countries to entering into force.

  Add your name to the government petition & learn more about the importance of the Escazú Agreement. For the latest updates on the state of citizen rights in each country in Latin America and the Caribbean see the CIVICUS Monitor.

• UN must address crises in Afghanistan and Cambodia, and commit to strengthening equal participation

  Statement at the 48th Session of the UN Human Rights Council

  Delivered by Lisa Majumdar

  Thank you, Madame President.

  We welcome that the High Commissioner raised the appalling situation for environmental human rights defenders and we call on the Council to address violations against all human rights defenders across the globe. Participation of civil society without fear of reprisal is vital to working collaboratively towards solutions to all human rights concerns.

  We further call on the Council this Session to strengthen equal participation by addressing repression of civic space and the rollback of democratic freedoms in response to the COVID pandemic. This includes particularly violations of access to information and freedoms of expression and assembly through internet shutdowns, and in the context of elections.

  We welcome the High Commissioner’s update on Afghanistan and reiterate a call for the Council to create a gender-sensitive, independent investigative mechanism. The courage of those calling for justice on the ground, at grave personal risk, cannot be overstated and it is vital that their efforts be supported by the international community.

  In Nicaragua, we call for the immediate release of arbitrarily detained political opposition leaders, human rights defenders and journalists, and for overdue electoral reforms. We welcome the High Commissioner’s update on Sri Lanka; ongoing shrinking civic space in the country undermines claims of reconciliation and accountability efforts.

  On Cambodia, in the midst of a dramatically worsening human rights situation including persisting restrictions on civic space and the repression of dissent, and ahead of elections scheduled for 2022 and 2023, it is imperative that the Council this session takes action to adequately address violations through mandating monitoring and reporting by the High Commissioner.

  We thank you.

  ---

  Civic space in Afghanistan, Cambodia and Nicaragua is rated as repressed by the CIVICUS Monitor.

• Vietnam: Stop the arbitrary arrest and detention of environmental human rights defenders

  

  We, the undersigned organisations, express grave concern over the recent arbitrary arrest, detention, and silencing of several environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs) speaking out against harmful business operations supported by the government.

  The arrest of environmentalist Hoang Thi Minh Hong, her husband and two staff members on 31 May 2023 on trumped-up charges of tax evasion is just another case in the increased targeting of EHRDs in Vietnam.

  Hong–a vocal advocate against environmentally harmful business practices–founded the Center of Hands-on Actions and Networking for Growth and Environment (CHANGE) to work on issues of climate change and environmental conservation. In 1997, she became the first Vietnamese woman to set foot in Antarctica. And in 2019, she was named by Forbes magazine as one of the 50 most influential Vietnamese women. In 2022, however, anticipating the possibility of being prosecuted for her work as a result of increased arrests of her fellow EHRDs, Hong was forced to shut down CHANGE.

  Her detention echoes that of Dang Dinh Bach, who was arrested on 24 June 2021 and sentenced to five years in prison on spurious charges of tax evasion. Bach was well-known for amplifying the voices of marginalised communities suffering the consequences of Vietnam’s coal power plants. Prior to his arrest, he requested to engage with the government to monitor the implementation of the European Union-Vietnam Free Trade Agreement. This Agreement includes commitments around promoting human and labour rights and the environment, which the government has been accused of repeatedly ignoring. Since Bach’s arrest, the global community has emerged in solidarity with him, supporting him when he declared that he will go on a hunger strike to his death in defence of his innocence on 24 June 2023.

  This brings the total to five cases against prominent EHRDs in the past two years, the others being Nguy Thi Khanh, Mai Phan Loi, and Bach Hung Duong.

  This increase in the number of alleged tax evasion cases against EHRDs under Article 200 of Vietnam’s Criminal Code 2015 takes place in the context of possible investment of USD 15.5 billion into Vietnam’s economy to transition to renewable energy as part of the Just Energy Transition Partnerships, which aims to support developing countries to move towards clean energy.

  The recent attacks against EHRDs in Vietnam reaffirms the closure of civic space in the country. Judicial harassment has continued to be deployed against activists, independent journalists, human rights defenders, lawyers, and bloggers. They are arbitrarily arrested on various issues using made-up charges under the draconian 2015 Criminal Code, including Article 331 (abusing democratic freedoms to infringe upon the interests of the state), Article 117 (prohibition of distribution of materials deemed as anti-state), and article 318 (criminalisation of those causing public disorder). The continuous closure of civic and democratic space in Vietnam is contrary to the country’s international legal obligations and commitments undertaken as a member of UN Human Right Council 2023-2025.

  As we mark the 25th anniversary of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights Defenders, we urge the Government of Vietnam to immediately release and drop all charges against the detained EHRDs and stop the arbitrary arrest of human rights defenders exercising their fundamental freedoms.

  Furthermore, we call on the government to meaningfully engage with civil society to ensure that the transition towards clean energy is participative and inclusive.

  Lastly, we remind the government, as a current member of the UN Human Rights Council, of both its political commitments and  legal obligations to ensure human rights and fundamental freedoms under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. These include, among others, article 9 and 19 which guarantees freedom from arbitrary arrest or detention and freedom of expression for all people under their jurisdiction.

  Signatories

  1. Asian Forum for Human Rights and Development (FORUM-ASIA)
  2. Community Resource Centre (CRC)
  3. Defend the Defenders
  4. EarthRights International
  5. Front Line Defenders
  6. Asia Pacific Network of Environment Defenders (APNED)
  7. Center for Environmental Concerns – Philippines Inc. (CEC)
  8. CIVICUS: World Alliance for Citizen Participation
  9. International Commission of Jurists (ICJ)
  10. People in Need
• Your life or your freedom? The ultimate price to defend the environment

  By Natalia Gomez Peña, Advocacy & Network Engagement Officer, Vuka! Secretariat

  For the family of indigenous Guatemalan activist Jorge Juc, the announcement last week by US President Donald Trump of an agreement declaring Guatemala a “safe third country” could not be more bitterly ironic.
  The deal requires central American migrants who cross into Guatemala on their way to the US to apply for protections in Guatemala instead of at the US border – a move immigration advocates have called cruel and unlawful.

  Read on: Inter Press Service