Environmental human rights defenders 2016, para. 39

Paragraph
Paragraph text
The increased scale of acts of reprisal against environmental human rights defenders protesting against environmental harms caused by projects funded by international financial institutions is disquieting. The submissions received revealed large gaps between professed commitments to participation and accountability and the situation on the ground, pointing to an overwhelming failure by those institutions to assess risks and respond to reprisals effectively. One report documented case studies in Cambodia, Ethiopia, India, Uganda and Uzbekistan of reprisals taking a variety of forms. The critics of projects funded by the World Bank Group were reportedly the target of threats, intimidation tactics and baseless criminal charges. Some women faced sexual harassment or gender-based threats, attacks, or insults when they spoke out. Security forces responded violently to peaceful protests, physically assaulting community members and arbitrarily arresting them. In other cases, critics or their family members were threatened with the loss of their jobs or livelihoods. In many countries, such reprisals often occurred within a broader effort to demonize critics as unpatriotic or "anti-development".
Legal status
Non-negotiated soft law
Body
Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders
Document type
Special Procedures' report
Means of adoption
N.A.
Topic(s)
  • Environment
  • Gender
Person(s) affected
  • Activists
  • Families
  • Women
Year
2016
Paragraph type
Other
Reference
SR Human Rights Defenders, Report to the UNGA (2016), A/71/281, para. 39.
Paragraph number
39