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CRIMES AGAINST THE ENVIRONMENT,
CRIMES AGAINST PEOPLE

The environment is a continuum in which a multiplicity of species interact with each other to form the tissue of life. There is no one species, plant or animal that can claim independence from the whole; the act of any one affects the rest. This is why the concept of “rights” is immersed fully in the environment.

Any time rivers are damaged or forests are destroyed, it is often rightly but insufficiently classified as a crime against the environment. The deterioration of the environment inevitably implies the destruction of all species, including humankind; therefore, it is a violation of human rights.

Today the exploitation and use of resources is more and more often linked to direct violations of human rights, sometimes on a massive scale. New oil wells, roads, dams, pipelines, whether in Nigeria, Pakistan or Colombia, always affect the livelihoods of people. These people have the legitimate right to oppose these projects, even more so when the benefits vanish to far-away economic centers.

Genuine opposition to projects that bring costs but no benefits to communities regularly meets with criminal violence by military groups, very often members of government forces. We cannot forget the murders of thousands of Ogoni people in the Niger Delta for opposing the extraction of oil that pollutes their lives. Or the murders of more than 400 indigenous peasants in Guatemala for opposing the construction of the Chitzoy hydroelectric dam that would flood their territory. The U'wa of Colombia are confronted with paramilitary violence when they exercise their legitimate right to decide what should happen with their land.

The conclusion to all this is clear: the environment cannot be exploited without violating the rights of people. The connection between people and environment has always been there, but it is becoming more profound as resources become scarcer and the economy gets bigger. Economic globalization, beyond being a death call for natural resources and the environment around the world, is also a massive violation of human rights worldwide.

Ricardo Navarro, FoEI Chair