4 the right to resist
When people's environments and human
rights are threatened, they have the right
to safely express their discontent through
protest. The right to freedom of opinion
and expression is a well-established civil
and political right in both national and
international law, and is fundamental to
the concept of democracy and the respect of
human dignity. Article 19 of the Universal
Declaration of Human Rights states that:
“Every one has the right to freedom of
opinion and expression; this right includes
freedom to hold opinion without
interference and to seek, receive and
impart information through any media and
regardless of frontiers,” and Article 3 of
the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
maintains that: “Everyone has the right to
life, liberty and security of person.”
Nonetheless, environmental and human
rights activists all over the world are
often denied these rights when their ideas
and actions conflict with the status quo.
Their lives may be put at risk when they
offer resistance, as several of the cases
in this publication show. For example, Juan
Almendares from Friends of the Earth
Honduras offers a personal testimony of how
his rights have been threatened throughout
his life for defending human rights and
environmental justice (
page 40)
. The Quichua
people of Ecuador have also suffered from
grav e rights violations in their
resistance against the oil companies that
have invaded their territories with the
backing of the state.
(page 42
)
