The UN and Human Rights Defenders
By Maya Garner
On August 16, the UN Environmental Programme (UNEP) and the UN Human Rights Office signed onto an agreement to help protect environmental Human Rights Defenders. The agreement aims to strengthen the cooperation between the two UN bodies. Under this partnership they will monitor threats against environmental Human Rights Defenders more closely; advocate for better protection and urge for more effective accountability; help develop the network of Human Rights Defenders, and increase the participation of civil society in environmental decision-making. This agreement sheds light on the need for the UN to protect Human Rights Defenders around the world.
Last month, the NGO Global Witness published a report stating that in 2018, more than three people were murdered each week on average around the world for defending their land and the environment, often in attacks related to mining, logging, agribusiness, and other environmentally damaging industries. In addition to deadly violence, companies and governments attempt to criminalize environmental Defenders, using “courts and legal systems as instruments of oppression against those who threaten their power and interests.” In some states, Defenders are labeled as terrorists or enemies of the state, e.g. nine environmentalists in Iran, jailed and accused of spying. Elsewhere, such as in the case of anti-fracking activism in the UK, governments bend national law to ban protests.
At the signing of the agreement between UNEP and the UN Human Rights Office, UNEP Executive Director Inger Andersen stated that “a healthy environment is vital to fulfilling our aspiration to ensure people everywhere live a life of dignity. We must curb the emerging trend of intimidation and criminalisation of land and environmental defenders, and the use of anti-protest and anti-terrorism laws to criminalise the exercise of rights that should be constitutionally protected.” Similarly, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet stated that “the actions and advocacy of environmental human rights defenders are deeply beneficial to all societies. They must be better protected against the threat of violence and intimidation.” While this agreement may be a reaction to the instances reported in 2018, it is also signed a month ahead of the UN Climate Summit scheduled for late September. Former Special Representative of the UN Secretary General on the Situation of Human Rights Defenders Hina Jilani reported that Defenders working on land rights and natural resources are “the second most vulnerable group when it comes to danger of being killed because of their activities in the defence of human rights.” However, the case of environmentalists are only part of a much larger case of harassment, intimidation, and targeting of Human Rights Defenders globally.
The UN makes use of the term “Human Rights Defender” to describe those who, “individually or with others, act to promote or protect human rights” and address human rights issues on behalf of individuals or groups. These include a wide variety of concerns within political and civil rights, and social, economic and cultural rights. In the case of environmentalists and many other causes, Human Rights Defenders are often ordinary people who stand up against local human rights abuses toward their communities. Defenders may work on local, regional, national or international levels, whether advocating for global issues or making use of international mechanisms to promote local human rights issues. Defenders play a key role in the reporting and documentation of human rights issues; providing victims with support; seeking accountability for perpetrators for human rights violations and breaking patterns of impunity; working to secure better governance against corruption and abuse of power; contributing to the implementation of human rights treaties; and supplying education and training in human rights. A Human Rights Defender is defined by the human rights character of the person’s work, whether paid of voluntary, regardless of title or profession. Importantly, a Defender must accept the universality of Human Rights, as described in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and so a Defender cannot advocate for some human rights while denying other human rights. This underlines the notion that true defense of human rights is intersectional.
However, in many cases a Human Rights Defender cannot focus solely on their defense of the rights of others or of their community; when they themselves are targeted, they need to devote effort to protect themselves from arbitrary arrests, harassment and physical harm. The perpetrators of human rights abuses, whether a State or a group, target Human Rights Defenders as individuals to eliminate any opposition to their violations. And so, the Defenders themselves are need of protection as they work to protect others. The UN General Assembly adopted the Declaration on Human Rights Defenders in 1998, which recognized the rights of Human Rights Defenders to the freedom of expression and association. The Declaration constitutes a promise by States to protect Human Rights Defenders against arbitrary action, attacks, or harassment as consequences of the legitimate exercising of their rights. The Declaration furthermore promises to ensure impartial investigations of alleged violations against Human Rights Defenders.
However, the influence of the UN are far from adequate in protecting Defenders from harm. The targeting of Defenders often goes unnoticed on an international level, as many Defenders do not receive formal recognition by the UN. Amnesty International campaigns specifically for the protection of Defenders, highlighting cases and granting Defender status to individuals facing prosecution, intimidation and physical violence from groups or States, and annually brings specific cases into public attention. At a UN level, Defenders may receive various titles and awards for their human rights work. However, while international recognition does offer protection to a certain degree, even those that are formally recognized as a Human Rights Defender by the UN are subject to continued violations after their recognition, such as multiple arbitrary arrests, physical violence, harassment, intimidation, and prosecution over their human rights work. Faced with such realities, the UN must step up its monitoring of human rights violations against Defenders, and transform statements and recognition into tangible action, protection, and accountability. The agreement UNEP and UN Human Rights Office must be followed with real change, so that the UN may effectively defend the rights of those who put their own lives and wellbeing at risk to defend the rights of others.
