May 30, 2022 | CCHR, Statements
The Russian military invasion of Ukraine is soon passing its fourth month. During this time, we have witnessed appalling violations of humanitarian law, international law and the international order. This invasion has come with not only grave humanitarian consequences but also long-term environmental costs.
Since the start of the invasion, we have witnessed a range of reports on the attacks on civilian infrastructure, such as water, energy, industry and transport, some of them likely to cause widespread, long-term and severe damage to the natural environment. Many of these attacks appear to have lacked a definite military target, and may thus violate the laws of war. Academic researchers and civil society have highlighted the environmental destruction in Ukraine, as demonstrated in the joint statement to the UN Environmental Assembly and the open letter from Environmental Peacebuilding Association with co-signees. Criminal accountability for Russia’s actions is now being investigated by the Ukrainian Prosecutor, by the International Criminal Court (ICC), and multiple national prosecution offices under the principle of universal jurisdiction.
We, the members of Ecocide Alliance, an international parliamentary alliance for the recognition of ecocide, are dedicated to building peace through protecting ecosystems and biological diversity. We strongly maintain that environmental security is a precondition to ensuring national and international security.
However, pursuing individual criminal responsibility for environmental atrocities has been largely ignored and under-prosecuted at both the national and international level. For instance, the ICC Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) has never prosecuted war crimes under Article 8(2)(b)(iv) of the Rome Statute, which explicitly protects the natural environment. Nor has the OTP pursued crimes against humanity allegations in the context of mass environmental harm, relating to countries such as Cambodia or Brazil. This is, despite the fact that the OTP issued their Policy paper on case selection and prioritisation in 2016, undertaking to prioritise such cases.
Therefore, we call on the international community to: support local efforts to monitor environmental damage (e.g. Ecoaction, or other agencies); set up mechanisms to collect and share data, which could serve as evidence in potential cases concerning environmental crimes; and support organisations to analyse and build criminal cases based on such data, such as the Climate Counsel.
Ukraine is one of many countries where armed conflicts are destroying the natural environment in a severe and widespread manner. The horrific invasion of Ukraine serves as a pivotal moment when international and national institutions have the opportunity to address international crimes associated with environmental destruction.
The most effective way to enforce criminal accountability long-term, however, is to amend the Rome Statute to explicitly include ecocide as a fifth crime against peace – not limited only to war time. This would enable the ICC and national justice systems to address the most serious environmental crimes and to reduce one of the roots of conflicts, namely, the scarcity and inequitable distribution of natural resources following exploitative land-grabbing. Now, if ever, would be the time for the international community to finally draw a global moral red line concerning environmental atrocities, and put an end to impunity for ecocide.
Signatories:
ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights and Ecocide Alliance, along with the following Members of Parliament:
Rodrigo AGOSTINHO, deputy at the Federal Assembly (Câmara Federal), Brazil
Alejandro AGUILERA, Deputy of the National Assembly, Venezuela
Alexandra ATTALIDES, Member of the House of Representatives, Cyprus
Natalie BENNETT, Member of the House of Lords, United Kingdom
Saskia BRICMONT, Member of the European Parliament (Belgium)
Samuel COGOLATI, Federal Deputy, Belgium
Eufemia CULLAMAT, Member of the House of Representatives, Philippines
Rosa D’AMATO, Member of the European Parliament (Italy)
Eleonora EVI, Member of the European Parliament (Italy)
Leah GAZAN, Member of Parliament, Canada
Simon HOLMSTRÖM, member of the Åland parliament, Finland
Andrés Ingi JÓNSSON, Member of Alþingi, Iceland
Rebecka LE MOINE, Member of Parliament, Sweden
Monica LENNON, Member of the Scottish Parliament, Scotland
Caroline LUCAS, Member of the Parliament, United Kingdom
Raphaël MAHAIM, Member of the Parliament of the canton of Vaud, Switzerland
Elizabeth MAY, Member of Parliament, Canada
Patrick McHEFFEY, Trustee, Patchogue, New York, USA
Sirpa PIETIKÄINEN, Member of the European Parliament (Finland)
Josep PUIG I BOIX, Member of the Catalan Parliament, Spain
Janet RICE, Senator, Australia
Caroline ROOSE, Member of the European Parliament (France)
Inés SABANÉS, Deputy, Spain
Lindsey SCHROMEN-WAWRIN, City Councilmember, Port Angeles, Washington State, USA
Marie TOUSSAINT, Member of the European Parliament (France)
Lammert VAN RAAN, Member of Parliament, Netherlands
Larissa WATERS, Senator, Australia
Susanne ZIMMER, Member of Parliament, Denmark
Jan 13, 2021 | CCHR, Tools for MPs
Explainer, January 2021
Coal is the single largest contributor of the world’s Co₂ emissions, which causes climate change and impacts the rights to health, food and water. Yet, Southeast Asia is critically behind in achieving the international target of phasing out coal by 2040. This document explains to Southeast Asian lawmakers key information and steps they can take to ensure adequate action is taken on the issue of coal and human rights.
DOWNLOAD IN ENGLISH | BAHASA MELAYU | BAHASA INDONESIA | BURMESE | KHMER | THAI | TETUM | VIETNAMESE
Nov 9, 2020 | BHR, COVID19, RM, Statements
JAKARTA – On Workers’ Memorial Day, and World Day for Safety and Health at Work, MPs are calling for Southeast Asian governments and companies in the region to increase efforts to protect workers’ rights to healthy and safe conditions amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Every day millions of workers in Southeast Asia are going to work so that our countries keep running, but many are being forced to do so in dangerous conditions that put them at risk of contracting or spreading the virus,” said Chamnan Chanruang, a former Member of Parliament (MP) of Thailand and member of ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR). “ASEAN governments must work with employers across all sectors to immediately step up action to make sure that everyone’s right to healthy and safe conditions at work are respected: if these workers are not protected, no one is.”
Countries in the region have shut down some of their economic activity but work continues in many places. This includes, for example, workers in export-oriented industries in the Philippines, food manufacturing and packaging employees in Singapore, construction workers in Indonesia, and those employed in the factories of Special Economic Zones in Vietnam. For many, there is no option other than to continue to work, despite the health risks involved.
“Many workers are in an incredibly difficult scenario; they need to earn money, but are being asked to conduct their work in conditions that lack hygiene supplies and facilities. In the Philippines, for example, workers were made to sleep on the floor at their workplace for 30 days in subhuman conditions that did not respect social distancing. This abuse of workers must stop,” said Chamnan Chanruang.
Women workers are particularly at risk, said APHR. On average women spend more than three times the amount of time doing unpaid care work compared to men. With the pandemic and the closing of schools, childcare and other facilities, women workers are facing increased work, mental and physical pressures. Pregnant women also face potential additional health risks. Employers and governments must consider these gendered impacts of COVID-19 when ensuring safe and healthy conditions at work.
Another group particularly at risk is healthcare workers. The lack of medical and protective equipment provided to health workers is extremely concerning. APHR notes that in Indonesia medical worker associations have threatened to stop treating COVID-19 patients if the government does not ensure the availability of protective health gear. Women make up more than 70 percent of the global health workforce.
“Healthcare workers, most of whom are women, are the ones keeping us safe, and in many cases alive, during this crisis. It is essential that we do the same by protecting their rights and providing them with the materials and equipment they need. If they get infected, who will treat those who get sick?’” said Anthea Ong, Member of Parliament of Singapore and member of APHR.
APHR also called on companies to step up their actions.
According to the United Nations Guiding Principle on Business and Human Rights, businesses must undertake due diligence and mitigate any harm to the health of workers. Moreover, the World Health Organization and International Chamber of Commerce have issued a private sector call to action to tackle the pandemic, and say all businesses must play their part in minimising the transmission of the virus and its impact on society.
Yet despite this, many companies in Southeast Asia have not been transparent in sharing information regarding their plans to protect their workers from catching or spreading the disease in the workplace, APHR said.
“If we want to tackle this pandemic, we need all employers to be transparent about how they plan to protect workers from the virus, and for those measures to be enforced throughout the organisation and apply to all workers, without discrimination,” said Ong. “These plans must be achieved through social dialogue and negotiations with workers and trade unions. It is only through such dialogue and by respecting their rights that we will truly tackle this pandemic.”
Nov 9, 2020 | BHR, Statements
JAKARTA – 10 March 2020: As ministers of the member countries of the Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership (RCEP) meet for final negotiations over the trade agreement this week, regional lawmakers today expressed concern about the lack of parliamentary and public oversight of the deal, as well as its potential human rights impacts.
The RCEP is a free trade agreement in the Asia-Pacific region that includes the 10 member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), as well as China, Japan, South Korea, Australia and New Zealand. India withdrew from the deal in November 2019.
“During the negotiations, governments have given privileged positions to large business lobby groups, at the expense of public and parliamentary oversight,” said Teddy Baguilat, former Philippine parliamentarian and board member for ASEAN Parliamentarians for Human Rights (APHR). “What’s worse is that they’ve been unapologetic about this double standard, welcoming inputs from businesses while flatly rejecting appeals from civil society to see official documents. The entire process has been an affront to democracy.”
Negotiations for the RCEP have failed the transparency and public participation tests, APHR said. Neither public nor parliamentary oversight have been meaningful, or respected the principle of free, prior and informed consent, lawmakers said.
Among a number of problematic issues in the RCEP agreement, APHR expressed alarm at proposals related to intellectual property rights (IPR), which could have a catastrophic impact on the rights of people living in Southeast Asia.
“Intellectual property provisions in the RCEP threaten access to medicine and public health for hundreds of millions of people across Southeast Asia, by extending patents, likely resulting in rising medicine prices. Access to healthcare is a fundamental human right, and the RCEP must respect this,” Baguilat said.
Despite RCEP members having taken positive steps towards dropping the inclusion of investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) mechanisms from the agreement, the measures have not been explicitly ruled out, including from future negotiations. ISDS, which allows investors to sue countries for a range of practices, have been widely criticised for undermining national sovereignty, lacking transparency and restricting a state’s ability to respect and ensure their citizens’ human rights.
APHR calls on negotiating parties to officially exclude ISDS mechanisms from all RCEP negotiations as a step towards ensuring the agreement is human rights compliant.
In addition, the rights group is calling on RCEP negotiating parties to conduct open and inclusive public consultations, as well as independent environment, human rights and economic assessments of the agreement, and for up-to-date information regarding the negotiations and texts to be made available to the public and parliamentarians. APHR also reiterates its calls for decision makers to provide balance in their negotiations, rather than continuing to prioritise elements of the private sector.
“The RCEP negotiations have been conducted almost entirely in secret, making it impossible for parliaments and the public to scrutinise whether or not the deal respects human rights and democratic principles,” said Tom Villarin, former Member of the House of Representatives of the Philippines and APHR member. “The current negotiating process bypassess usual checks and balances on the executive. National parliaments must be given the opportunity to review and vote on any agreement before it is signed”.
Furthermore, APHR called on the ASEAN Economic Community to balance its focus on encouraging economic activity with wider obligations to ensure and respect human rights across the region.
“ASEAN’s narrow focus on encouraging economic activity is incompatible with its responsibilities to protect and fulfil human rights,” said Baguilat. “It is time for ASEAN to fulfill its obligation to protect its people’s rights and address economic advancement and prosperity in a balanced and sustainable way.”
Nov 9, 2020 | CCHR, Opinion Articles
By Sarah Elago
MP, Philippines
Today, November 20, is Universal Children’s Day, a day for us to celebrate, promote and advocate for children’s rights. Our leaders will hold ceremonies, give speeches and snap photos next to children and youth. But this will be nothing more than a show. Our collective failure to address climate change means we are abandoning our children and sacrificing their future.
The Association of Southeast Asian Nations is failing when it comes to reducing haze and disinvesting from coal, therefore contributing to environmental degradation and climate change. By doing so, ASEAN is also failing its children.
Children are most affected by climate change. According to the World Health Organization, more than 88% of the diseases caused by climate change are experienced by children under five. Children’s bodies predispose them to these impacts. Their immature immune systems mean that they rely heavily on clean water. Their love for playing outside makes them rely more than you and me for clean air. Air and water are both already affected by climate change.
Climate change is also putting children at greater risk of human trafficking. As seen in the Philippines in the aftermath of disasters, lawlessness, desperation, and lack of access to basic supplies facilitate criminal networks. Young girls in particular are at risk in these situations as they can be trafficked for prostitution or sold for food and scarce aid supplies. With climate change, instances of natural disasters will become more frequent.
Indigenous children are even more vulnerable to the effects of climate change because of their higher dependence on natural resources, their location in remote areas and their already marginalized situation within society. But don’t take my word for it. Ask the children themselves. Indigenous children in the Philippines report that environmental degradation and climate change are two of their major concerns.
Less obvious is the fact that every year, the Southeast Asian haze crisis leads to the temporary closure of schools in countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia. Haze is not only contributing heavily to greenhouse-gas emissions and causing immediate health risks; it is causing children to lose out on their education.
In October 2018, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released a special report on keeping global warming at less than 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. It was a wake-up call to the world that the window for avoiding runaway climate change is closing – fast.
To have any chance of staying under 1.5 degrees of warming, we need to keep fossil-fuel reserves in the ground. That means stopping all new coal, oil and gas infrastructure, and banning future fossil-fuel projects, accelerating the shift to a new, just, clean-energy economy that works for everyone by supporting community-led energy solutions. However, according to the Climate Action Tracker, the contribution of ASEAN states such as Indonesia and Singapore to the global effort to keep the rising of global temperatures to 1.5 degrees are still highly insufficient.
ASEAN is still far from fulfilling the global recommendation to drop coal as a source of power. In 2018, Southeast Asia was the only region where the share of power produced by coal increased, and it was the “worst performing region” in terms of renewable-energy development.
Recently, UN Secretary General António Guterres said no new coal plants should be built after 2020. Yet Indonesia is currently doing the exact opposite and building its largest coal power plant in Batang, Central Java.
The future looks bleak for all of our children. But this is preventable if the nations of the world, including ASEAN countries, step up their commitments to stabilize the increase in the world’s temperatures.
Climate leadership is currently coming from people on the frontlines of the climate crisis, compelling governments to ramp up the level of action that the crisis demands. If on Universal Children’s Day ASEAN leaders truly want to celebrate our young, they should take immediate steps to address the haze and coal crises, and increase their contributions to the global efforts on climate change.
What we are witnessing is intergenerational injustice: not only injustice in who is affected, but injustice in who is fighting. It’s the children of today who are putting their childhoods aside to rectify our failed policies across the region, and to take their future into their own hands.
Children in ASEAN are taking part in climate strikes. In Thailand, 12-year-old Ralyn Satidtanasarn, or Lilly, has inspired many in her fight both against plastic pollution and climate change. As she puts it: “When adults do not do anything, it’s up to us children to act.”
These children have made the brave decision to put their education on hold in order to ensure a brighter future for the youth of ASEAN. It is ironic that the youth have to be the ones to teach governments and corporations how to act on the climate crisis. Young people must not be seen as just victims of climate change but as agents of change. They are taking to the streets because far too little has been done to secure our future. They have taken matters into their own hands; we should not let them down.
As inspiring as these children are, policymakers cannot stand by and let them fight on their own. We must ensure that we enable youth to raise their concerns, and to have a say on climate policies. This existential battle can only be won if the world makes the difficult yet necessary decisions needed to secure our ability to survive in harmony with our planet through future generations.
These children fighting for their health and future are role models for the climate. Can ASEAN be that too?
This article was originally published in the Asia Times.
