Environmental defenders are human rights defenders. In a 2001 Annual Report, the Special Representative of the Secretary General on Human Rights Defenders stated: "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."
A U.N.-assembled panel of experts on human rights and the environment called on States to ensure that environmental advocates "are not penalized, persecuted or harassed for their activities."
The Inter-American Human Rights System
The American Convention on Human Rights is the leading human rights treaty in the Americas. It contains the same types of human rights protections as are found in the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, but at a regional rather than an international level. A 1999 protocol guarantees additional economic, social, and cultural rights, including the right to a healthy environment and the right to health.
Freedom of expression is protected in Article 13 of the Convention. The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights has determined that laws that criminalize speech which does not incite lawless violence are incompatible with freedom of expression and thought guaranteed in Article 13. The right of assembly is protected by Article 15, while the right of association is protected by Article 16.
The Convention also created the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, which receives complaints (petitions) from individuals and organizations alleging violations by countries of the rights contained in the American Convention. The Commission can also issue "precautionary measures" that direct a government to take certain immediate actions, especially in advance of the full consideration of a complaint. The Commission sometimes resolves complaints through the "friendly settlement" mechanism, or ultimately issues a report advising certain government action.
Should the country fail to adequately respond to the report, the Commission can take the case to the Inter-American Court of Human Rights. Most of the countries in the Americas have consented to the jurisdiction of the Court, thereby agreeing to be bound by its judgments. The Court has issued a number of judgments on issues of great importance to environmental defenders, especially in regard to the rights of indigenous peoples over their land and natural resources. The most recent of these is the 2007 case of the Saramaka People v. Suriname.
Important Cases Protecting the Rights of Environmental Defenders
In what has come to be known as "the McDonald's case," the European Court of Human Rights ruled that the speech of NGOs and activists is entitled to heightened protection because "there exists a strong public interest in enabling such groups and individuals outside the mainstream to contribute to the public debate by disseminating information and ideas on matters of general public interest such as health and the environment." Steel & Morris v. United Kingdom, App. No. 68416/01, at para. 89 (Eur. Ct. H.R., Feb. 15, 2005). The court found that the balance between free speech and protection of reputation tipped in favor of free speech in that case, in part because "the limits of acceptable criticism are wider" when the plaintiff is a large multinational corporation .
The Court had previously recognized that because NGOs and activists play the same "watchdog" role as the press, they deserve the same protection. Vides Aizsarbzibas Klubs v. Latvia, App. No. 57829/00 (Eur. Ct. H.R., May 27, 2004). The Court ruled that a defamation judgment entered against an environmental NGO by a national court was unlawful.
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