Botswana, Canada, Finland, Myanmar, Norway, Peru, Philippines, Switzerland
HRC38 | Critical situation of environmental defenders should serve as benchmark for diplomatic support
The UN Working Group on business and human rights, together with States, must consider the particular threats and attacks on defenders working on rights related to land and environment, ISHR and a group of environmental defenders told the Human Rights Council. ISHR also emphasised that States providing diplomatic support to business should also require a clear commitment to respect, consult and protect defenders.
Together with a group of environmental human rights defenders from Peru, Botswana, Myanmar and the Philippines, ISHR has called on States to combat impunity for attacks on defenders, and ensure full civil society participation in development and the management of natural resources. The statement was delivered during the dialogue with the UN’s expert group on business and human rights. The Council also considered new reports on the use of economic diplomacy to increase respect for human rights, and on investigative missions to Canada and Peru by the working group.
‘We welcome the affirmation by the Working Group that the situation of human rights defenders should be a critical benchmark to assess eligibility for State support and benefits relating to trade and export promotion,’ said Michael Ineichen, Programme Director at ISHR.
‘Especially States who also have a foreign policy priority on protecting human rights defenders, like those having specific Guidelines on the protection of defenders, should demand that businesses demonstrate a specific policy commitment to respect and consult with defenders before requesting diplomatic support’, Ineichen said.
The statement also called on the forthcoming guidance by the working group to include a specific focus on the situation of environmental human rights defenders.
On 30 October, the African Commission on Human and Peoples’ Rights (ACHPR) concluded its 85th Ordinary Session, which saw the state periodic reviews of Egypt, Tunisia, and Botswana; presentation of the report of the fact-finding mission on Sudan; panels on the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, on the externalization of migration management, on the right to the environment.
In line with its mandate to advocate for the protection of human rights defenders before international and regional mechanisms, ISHR presented the situation of protection of HRDs on the continent.
While the actions of the decade are orientated on the reparation of African and African Descents, the African Commission held a panel to assess the implementation of the recommendations with a human-right based focus.
