'The inflated cost of defending human rights', 28 July 2021

Tracing the path of the virus has been a particular challenge this pandemic year, but so has been following the flow of money. Which companies have governments allowed to continue operations, while certain groups are left strapped for cash? There have been clear winners and losers when it comes to managing finances through this pandemic and calculating the bottom line, but there also have been blatant cheaters, including those who have readily bypassed their human rights obligations in order to squeeze profits out of what continue to be trying financial times. While some corporations are trudging forward, many human rights defenders (HRDs) feel threatened by big-business, drained by fluctuating market prices, and neglected by their governments’ stimulus packages... some private corporations have seized 2020 as a chance to move forward with their business plans without due consultation or fear of community backlash. According to the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre, there were 286 business-related attacks against HRDs between March and October 2020, which represents a 7.5% increase compared to the previous year...

On a variety of occasions, governments around the world have prioritized profits over fundamental rights and freedoms during a crisis. This is most clearly exemplified by the continuing attacks against the Southern Peasants Federation of Thailand (SPFT). Disputes over the SPFT’s right to their territory have existed for years, but tensions escalated last October after the attempted murder of Dam Onmuang, a member and leader of the Santi Pattana Community... The perpetrator was recently indicted and is awaiting a final decision on the prison sentence, but the intellectual authors of the crime have yet to be held accountable...

In Mesoamerica, extractive companies and mega-projects have continued throughout the pandemic — either operating illegally or with special permissions from the government. During his election campaign in 2019, President Giammattei promised to restore confidence in Guatemala’s investment environment — particularly for transnational mining companies — and it appears he continues to operate in this way, regardless of the unforeseen pandemic. The Fenix nickel mine in Guatemala, which is operated by the Switzerland-based Solway Investment Group, continued operations despite the fact that unnecessary businesses were ordered to shut down in March 2020. These types of companies create water contamination that has driven away the fish and air pollution that cause respiratory problems...

In January of this year, the attempted assassination of Julio David González Arango — a HRD and member of the peaceful resistance movement against Pan American Silver’s Escobal mine in Guatemala — and two other members of the resistant movement who received death threats. Meanwhile, the mining company continues to carry out community projects that “foment tension and social division given that all operations should be suspended.”...

[S]tates must do more to protect and preserve the work of human rights defenders for the remainder of the pandemic and beyond, with a particular emphasis on the needs of women, rural, Indigenous, and other minority HRDs who are disproportionately at risk. States need to decrease the cost of defending human rights by lowering the risks associated with doing the work. While vaccines do provide a light at the end of the tunnel for fighting COVID-19, it is critical that HRDs are not left in the dark.