Human Rights Law and Remedies for Environmental Defenders
International human rights law recognizes and protects the rights of all citizens. When environmental defenders come under attack, certain rights tend to be violated more often than others. The brief introduction to international human rights law that appears below is focused on those particular rights. Environmental defenders whose civil and political rights are violated may be able to file complaints seeking relief from regional or international human rights bodies, and a brief introduction to those mechanisms appears below as well.
Communities involved in resource development disputes may suffer violations of other human rights. For example, they may believe that rights of self-determination and participation in decisions that affect their environment and way of life are being violated, or that their the rights to a healthy environment, property, culture, or rights as indigenous people are being violated. Additional information on these rights, and remedies for their violation, can be found in the discussion of Votes and Human Rights Remedies.
The United Nations Human Rights System
The International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), and the Human Rights Committee
Governments that have ratified the ICCPR are obligated to respect and ensure to all individuals under their jurisdiction all the rights contained within that covenant (treaty). The ratifying governments are also required to pass legislation or take other legal measures to give full effect to the rights guaranteed by the ICCPR.
Along with the right to life, one of the most important and most often violated rights of environmental defenders is the right to freedom of expression. All the major human rights treaties- covering nearly every country in the world- protect this right, including the ICCPR (at Article 19). The right to petition the government, which is often at issue in SLAPP cases brought against environmental defenders, is guaranteed by Article 20 of the ICCPR. The right to hold an assembly and the right to form associations are protected by Articles 21 and 22, while the right to political participation is ensured by Article 25.
United Nations bodies that monitor and enforce international human rights treaties can, under some circumstances, receive complaints from individuals or groups. Violations of the rights protected by the ICPPR can be pursued by the citizens of the many countries that allow individual complaints to be pursued against them through the Human Rights Committee.
Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD)
This treaty prohibits any distinction based on race, color, descent, or national or ethnic origin which has the effect of impairing the exercise of human rights. The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination hears individual complaints against those countries that have agreed to subject themselves to its jurisdiction. The Committee also reviews required periodic reports by countries on the measures which they have adopted and which give effect to the provisions of CERD.
Special Rapporteur on Indigenous People
In appropriate cases, groups may contact and submit information to the Special Rapporteur on the Situation of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms of Indigenous People. The Special Rapporteur undertakes country visits, exchanges information with governments concerning alleged violations of the rights of indigenous peoples, presents annual reports on particular topics or situations of special importance regarding the protection of the rights of indigenous peoples, and undertakes activities to follow-up on the recommendations included in his reports.
Environmental Defenders are Protected as Human Rights Defenders
Governments have a duty to protect human rights defenders pursuant to Article 12 of the "Declaration on the Right and Responsibility of Individuals, Groups and Organs of Society to Promote and Protect Universally Recognized Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms."
Those defending the right to a healthy environment or promoting the rights of indigenous peoples would, by no means, fall outside the ambit of any definition of a human rights defender.
- Hina Jilani, U.N. Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders