communications, Author at Franciscans International

Franciscans International today renewed its call on the Human Rights Council to establish a Commission of Inquiry on the Philippines, after the High Commissioner for Human Rights presented a report which confirmed that serious violations have been committed during the country’s ongoing ‘war on drugs’.

Human rights organizations monitoring the situation on the ground estimate that over 27,000 people have been killed by security forces and vigilantes since 2016, in a campaign that has disproportionately targeted poor communities. These extra-judicial killings have been encouraged by President Rodrigo Duterte, who publicly stated that “if you know of any addicts, go ahead and kill them yourself.”

The Franciscan family in the Philippines, together with the wider Catholic church and civil society organizations, has stood in vocal opposition to these abuses committed under the administration of President Duterte. While official governments documents call for the “negation” and “neutralization” of drug suspects, the church has attempted to establish treatment centers for people suffering from addiction. It also continues to provide financial support and pastoral care to the families of victims of the killings under the ‘war on drugs’. This work of the church has invited death threats, including in at least one instance by the President himself.

Franciscans and their network from the Philippines have repeatedly shared their testimony at the United Nations. In one instance, Father Angel Cortez OFM conveyed his vivid memories of standing vigil over the bodies of two children from Sampaloc, aged 16 and 17, that had been killed by death squads. Since 2016, Franciscans International has consistently conveyed the experiences of brothers and sisters in the Philippines, calling on the international community to act. Today, during the presentation of the High Commissioners report, we again expressed our deep concern over the situation in the country in two joint oral statements delivered by Father Angel Cortez and Father Christian Buenafe O.Carm.

While the ‘war on drugs’ is perhaps the most visible manifestation of the human rights crisis in the Philippines, there has been an alarming decline in space for its vibrant civil society and free press. ‘Red-carding’ of human rights defenders – accusing them of being communists or terrorists – has become a common practice. The Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights has documented at least 248 cases where human rights defenders, legal professionals, journalists and trade unionists have been killed in relation to their work. Meanwhile, President Duterte is set to sign into law a new anti-terrorism bill that would use overly broad definitions to shift the burden of proof to the accused and can be used to further criminalize legitimate human rights work and other dissenting voices.

This ongoing human rights crisis has not prevented the Philippines to seek membership of the Human Rights Council. In 2018, it was elected on a ‘clean slate’ with no opposition for the position. Despite the commitment of members to “uphold the highest standards in the promotion and protection of human rights” and to “fully cooperate with the Council”, the Philippines has actively sought to avoid scrutiny and, at times, even threatened UN officials.

In a major step forward after sustained advocacy efforts by civil society, the Human Rights Council requested the High Commissioner to produce a report on the situation in July 2019. The damning findings of this report, as well as the conclusion that “the practical obstacles to accessing justice within the country are almost insurmountable” leave no room for doubt: it is essential that the Human Rights Council takes action by establishing a Commission of Inquiry as a next step to ensuring accountability for the crimes committed in the Philippines and end the impunity that prevails today.

Our (joint) statements on the Philippines since 2016

44th Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 2:Enhanced Interactive Dialogue the High Commissioner (June 2019)
Delivered by Fr Angelito Cortez OFM – Full statement
Item 2:Enhanced Interactive Dialogue the High Commissioner (June 2019)
Delivered by Fr Christian Buenafe O.Carm – Full statement

42nd Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 2: Oral Update by the High Commissioner (September 2019)
Delivered by Fr Angelito Cortez OFM – Full statement

41st Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteurs on summary execution and on the right to education (July 2019)
Delivered by Fr Christian Buenafe O.Carm – Full statement

39th Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 3: Promotion and protection of all human rights (14 September 2018)
Delivered by Fr Christian Buenafe O.Carm – Full statement
Item 4: Matters that require the Council’s attention (18 September 2018)
Delivered by Fr Angelito Cortez OFM – Full statement

38th Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 2: Oral Update by the High Commissioner (19 June 2018)
Full statement

37th Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 4: Matters that require the Council’s attention (14 March 2018)
Full statement

36th Session of the Human Rights Council

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review (22 September 2017)
Full statement

Although a number of UN sessions have been postponed or cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we continue to engage relevant human rights mechanisms including through statements issued in collaboration with other civil society organizations. An overview of our joint statement can be found below.

Civil society participation during the Human Rights Council (26 May 2020)

In the coming weeks, the Human Rights Council will resume its 43rd session, which was suspended in February over concerns related to COVID-19, followed immediately by its 44th regular session. However, as preparations are underway to host these in-person meetings, many human rights defenders and other civil society representative are still unable to travel to take part in these deliberations. In light of this, we co-signed an open letter to the President of the Council suggesting a number of measures which would help enable the meaningful participation of civil society under the current circumstances.

• Full statement

UN human rights treaty bodies during the COVID-19 pandemic (11 May 2020)

Treaty Bodies – composed of independent experts that monitor the compliance of States with core UN human rights treaties – have been unable to meet in-person due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In response, some have started exploring new strategies, for example by conducting key meetings online. Franciscans International and its partners welcome these steps, and urge all Treaty Bodies to take similar steps needed to continue their vital work while ensuring the continued and meaningful participation of civil society in this process.

• Full statement

The Day After Tomorrow: Confronting Systemic Injustices, Advancing Human Rights (1 May 2020)

Members of ESCR-Net, representing civil society from 77 countries, call for long-needed systemic transformations capable of making human rights and social justice a reality for all. This includes revaluing and ensuring care, defending hard-earned rights, banning profiteering off the pandemic, providing for a just recovery and ultimately “reinventing the normal” based on alternatives already being modeled by Indigenous Peoples and other communities.

• Full statement

Franciscans International also issued two direct statements on the COVID-19 crisis:

Our 6 April statement considers the general impacts of the pandemic on human rights. It is available in English, French, Italian, and Spanish.
Our 30 April statement focuses on the intersection of COVID-19, extreme poverty, and climate justice. It is available in English, French, and Spanish.

Franciscans International’s first statement, published on 4 April 2020, relayed from a human rights perspective the information and grave concerns we have been receiving from Franciscans and other partners in various countries. It was followed by a series of collective statements¹ which FI contributed to, endorsed, and promoted. FI will issue further specific statements as the situation evolves and as information from our network reaches us.

Almost a month has passed since FI’s first statement on COVID-19 and responses to the pandemic from a human rights perspective.

Members of the Franciscan Family, as well as other partners in FI’s network who work at the local level across the world, continue to witness and support people´s struggles against the virus and, even more so, against the severe impacts that many State actions and omissions in response to the pandemic have on people and the planet.

FI remains committed to pursue its work of collecting the information received through Franciscans and other partners. With this second statement, FI also reflects on the crisis in relation to some of the fundamental concerns it raises and addresses calls for action accordingly. These calls are primarily addressed to United Nations bodies and experts, as the UN Human Rights Council will hold its next virtual meeting on 30 April 2020 for an informal conversation with some of the human rights independent experts on specific country or thematic issues that it appoints. These experts, the UN Special Rapporteurs and members of UN Working Groups, have issued useful collective and individual statements, analyses, and guidance to States on the crisis. The global response, however, has yet to correspond to the magnitude of the problem.

In this regard, one overarching issue that we highlighted in our first statement and that has also been strongly expressed at top levels of the UN, is the tremendous challenge for global governance and the rule of law that this crisis represents. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet, spoke on 9 April 2020, during a virtual meeting with the UN Human Rights Council, of “a colossal test of leadership”. We cannot help but note that this crisis is happening while we are celebrating the 75th anniversary of the UN Charter—a pivotal piece of multilateralism, international cooperation, and respect for human rights.

With this milestone of 75 years of post-World War II multilateralism in mind, it is even clearer that the COVID-19 pandemic puts us at a crossroad: either we learn from the crisis and respond with systemic changes to the structural issues that the pandemic so bluntly exposes, or we return to business as usual as soon as we can and sweep these issues under the carpet until the next crisis.
FI underscores two key issues that illustrate the need for global governance, international cooperation and solidarity, concerted and coherent action, and for a systemic change: the links between COVID-19 and poverty, COVID-19 and environmental justice, and their intersection.

COVID-19 and poverty

In many ways, the COVID-19 pandemic has acted as a magnifying glass on structural human rights issues. As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights put it: “No country was prepared for this shock, which in every State has been exacerbated by inequalities, particularly in access to health-care, social protections and public services.”²

While we do not want to deny the gravity of the direct consequences of COVID-19 on health and lives, we want to highlight the situation of the ‘indirect’ victims of the virus: the ones who may not die because of the virus itself but from the impacts of State policies that are at best inefficient to reach them or worse directly targeting and killing them.

One example is presented in a recent statement by two Special Rapporteurs, who denounce Brazil’s irresponsible economic and social policies in response to the crisis for putting “lives as risk.”³ The situation that has been described by FI’s partners in the Philippines is also particularly illustrative.

The Philippines government has decided to provide 18 million families with emergency cash assistance through the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) to help during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, there have been several allegations with regard to the lack of transparency in the distribution of these funds. FI received information that the distribution was based on the latest population census, conducted in 2015, even though the population has increased since then. As result many people, especially the poor and the homeless, are not registered and therefore cannot receive financial assistance. Another issue that has been brought to FI’s attention is the alleged discriminatory and arbitrary distribution of the public aid through some local heads of communities (Barangay Kapitan) who have excluded several families.⁴

The current health crisis hits the poor the hardest and exposes the gross inequalities in access to food, shelter, and health care⁵ and exacerbates existing human rights issues in the Philippines, including those arising from the ongoing ‘war on drugs’. While it might be considered necessary to implement a lockdown to slow the spread of the coronavirus, the government has not taken sufficient measures to mitigate the impacts of closures on the poor. This has especially affected those living in slum areas or who are homeless, and who are unable to work and earn money to purchase food, and in some cases are left out from this list of beneficiaries for government assistance.

As results, the poorest are also among those who are most severely affected by the pandemic. Non-governmental organizations, church institutions, civic groups, and private initiatives have stepped in to help people to meet their basic needs. However, in certain cases priests who help to feed the poor have been accused of being part of “leftist organizations” and for “misusing” the distribution of food aid to recruit people to campaign against the government. Some priests have even been arrested under this pretext.⁶

There are about 4.5 million homeless people in the Philippines out of a population of about 106 million, about 3 million of them in Manila, according to the Philippine Statistics Office.⁷ Their main sources of income include begging and collecting and reselling plastic and metal scraps.⁸ While the government has officially provided some temporary shelters during the pandemic, FI has received a report that a significant number of them still move around the city during the lockdown, looking for work or food to survive. In several testimonies, people living in poverty said that they are more likely die of hunger than from COVID-19.

Again, the example of the Philippines is only one among many. Similar situations have been reported in other countries such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where our partner is concerned that hunger in the poorest areas would cause more deaths than the virus. In the past few weeks, a number of articles have been published showing that the poor are more likely to be negatively affected by the virus due to the higher prevalence of chronic health conditions, which put people at increased risk of developing severe forms of the disease. Low socio-economic status is among the three risk factors for COVID-19, together with old age and pre-exiting health conditions.⁹ This has already been concretely seen in various countries including Spain and the United States (USA).¹⁰ As the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated in her speech of 9 April: “The epidemic has clarified the need to increase our efforts to ensure that all people, including the most vulnerable, benefit from development.”¹¹

The disproportionate impacts of the pandemic are not only linked to inequalities within countries but also raise the issue of blatant inequalities between countries globally and even in the same region. As our partner in Vanuatu wrote: “We have only two respirators in a country of 307,145 people.”¹² Similarly, the capacities of public health systems in Africa are generally too limited to absorb a pandemic. However, these capacities also drastically vary from one country to another. This, combined with other external factors such as the density of urban areas and the situation of displaced persons, enhance inequalities between countries within the same region.¹³

The World Bank estimates that, as a consequence of the COVID-19 crisis, “the number of people pushed into extreme poverty will be roughly between 40 and 60 million. In the more pessimistic scenarios, global poverty in 2020 would be close to the level in 2017—meaning that world’s progress in eliminating extreme poverty would be set back by three years.”¹⁴

Just as poverty is linked to a number of other human rights issues, so too is environmental justice. Both are very much intertwined as the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment highlighted recently, “accelerated deterioration of the environment [will] have negative impacts on a wide range of human rights including the rights to life, health, water, culture, and food (…). People living in areas that have experienced higher levels of air pollution face increased risk of premature death from COVID-19. Similarly, access to clean water is essential in preventing people from contracting and spreading the virus (…) The global pandemic highlights the vital importance of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment.”¹⁵ This has been reported for instance in the USA, where chronic conditions like asthma that make COVID-19 more deadly, are more prevalent in low income minorities.¹⁶

Climate change, environmental justice, and COVID-19

As FI underscored in its first statement, a number of top UN voices have drawn attention to the links between environmental destruction and COVID-19. The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights stated on 9 April that “protecting the environment, ensuring biodiversity, is the best way to protect human health and wellbeing, including from pandemics. Environmental degradation and biodiversity loss create the conditions for the type of animal-to-human zoonosis that has repeatedly resulted in vital epidemics.”¹⁷

The UN Secretary General himself has made several clear statements, including on the occasion of this year’s Earth Day,¹⁸ with six action points for a ‘greener’ post-COVID-19 world. He also urged States to comply with their commitments of increased ambitions for the reduction of carbon emissions in their renewed Nationally Determined Contributions.¹⁹ In that regard, as our partner in Vanuatu wrote about the double disaster of COVID-19 and the tropical cyclone Harold: “It is a wake-up call to remind us that the climate crisis is not slowing down despite the COVID-19 pandemic.”²⁰

However, in parallel to these important calls, FI and its civil society allies working on climate change and human rights, and more generally for environmental justice, are very concerned about the harmful actions and omissions of States. These concerns are shared, among others, by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment who deplored that, instead of stepping up their environmental and climate actions, “a number of governments announced that they are lowering environmental standards, suspending environmental monitoring requirements, reducing environmental enforcement, and restricting public participation.”²¹ This has notably been the case in the USA.²²

In this regard, FI was again told by partners in its network that mining continues as an ‘essential’ activity in various countries and that illegal mining activities have increased as authorities and concerned populations have reduced ability to monitor and control.²³ In Venezuela, the government is promoting mining in environmentally fragile and vital Amazon regions.²⁴ In South Africa, the government amended the Disaster Management Act regulations to allow mining companies to ramp up operations by 50% of their production capacity during the nationwide lockdown.²⁵

Similarly, colleagues from Brazil reported that, although commodity prices for minerals have decreased, mining companies are keen to keep up production levels even while putting their workers and neighboring communities at risk. This has proven to be especially true in areas where mines are isolated with little infrastructure and services and far from the oversight of any environmental authorities. On top of that, in this crisis, mining companies in Brazil are selling themselves as safe and essential activities through doing some charity with hospitals as their contribution to the COVID-19 response.

The context and impacts surrounding mining during this pandemic illustrate incoherence, vicious circles, and structural issues that will push us into the next crisis if they are not addressed.

This is also true for climate change, now that major international climate and environmental conferences have been postponed.²⁶ Due to the lockdowns in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, global economic activities have slowed down in an unprecedented way. Satellite images show the unusual improvement of air quality in many big cities and industrial areas around the globe. In the last decade, the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) has been struggling to convince its Member States to drastically reduce their emissions, knowing that if there is no change the earth’s temperature will increase in a way that it will not be able to recover from. We must not forget that in its latest 2020 ‘Report of The Global Climate in 2015 – 2019’ the World Meteorological Organization found a continued increase in carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions and an accelerated increase in atmospheric CO2 concentration with growth rates of 20% higher than for the previous five-year assessment period.²⁷

Although we may hope that the improvement of air quality during the period of COVID-19 lockdown may encourage continued action that leads us out of our climate crisis, it is unlikely to have a significant impact overall. Air pollution might even increase at rates higher than predicted as economic sectors seek to recover quickly.

During the 2007 – 2008 economic crisis, air pollution dropped by 1.4% worldwide, but went up to 5.9% in 2010 as the economy was recovering.²⁸ During the lockdown due to COVID-19 in China, it was estimated that carbon emissions fell by approximately 25%.29 However, new data shows that air pollution has bounced back to pre-lockdown levels, raising the possibility that some industries have increased production to make up for lost time.³⁰

Several States have recently used COVID-19 as an excuse to avoid fully implementing environmental policies, which are expected as part of their efforts to curb the emissions. For example, Poland, one of the main coal producers in Europe, has asked the European Union (EU) to scrap its Emission Trading System or to exempt the country from the scheme, so that the it can use the fund to fights the effects of the health crisis.³¹ The EU Trading Emission is part of European efforts to combat global warming. The Czech Republic has also asked the EU to abandon its Green Deal in order to concentrate more on its COVID-19 response. Currently the EU is discussing the adoption of the Green Deal, which mandates its members to achieve net zero greenhouse emissions by 2050.³²

Taking into consideration the discrepancy between top UN voices and the various national realities, FI makes the following conclusions and calls to action.

Recommendations / Call to action

To the UN Human Rights Council and its Special Procedures

We acknowledge and welcome all the contributions that UN special procedures have made so far, warning Member States and the international community of threats to and violations of human rights within their respective mandates and offering guidance and recommendations.
We also acknowledge and welcome the statement made on 26 March 2020 by 60 UN special procedures mandate-holders who joined forces affirming the right to live-saving interventions without exception.
However, we consider that the situation requires a more system-wide response, and we encourage further coordinated action and increased joint work of the Special Procedures. Their findings, guidance and recommendations should be systematically compiled and disseminated within the UN system as well as to States, notably through UN country teams, to ensure their operationalization.
Special Procedures’ guidance should be taken into consideration by States under review when they elaborate their Universal Periodic Review (UPR) reports, including mid-term reports. The guidance should also be taken into consideration by reviewing States, UN and other stakeholders throughout the upcoming UPR processes, when they assess the compliance of national COVID-19 measures with human rights.
Furthermore, some actors have called for the UN Human Rights Council to hold a special session. If there is such a special session in the coming months, or any other Council sessions, the exceptional circumstances we are facing should not de facto mean a diminished role for civil society participation, including through submissions and statements.33
In any event, any upcoming actions by the UN Human Rights Council, including as suggested by its President regarding oral updates by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights at its next two sessions and a future report on COVID-19 and human rights to be presented to its 46th session next year, should send a strong signal that human rights cannot be an afterthought or a mere rhetorical element as it was during the 2007 – 2008 financial crisis.
Accordingly, the Human Rights Council should strengthen the mandate of, and provide the means for, the Office High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) to play a fundamental role in any interagency mechanisms that are put in place (see below).

To other UN human rights bodies

We also urge the rest of the UN human rights system to react and give this crisis the attention it deserves, to address both its direct impacts and the structural issues it has highlighted and exacerbated in all countries of the world.
In this regard, the meetings of UN Treaty Bodies should be ensured, even if virtually, for as long as it may be necessary to ensure participation in periodic reviews. The UN should be flexible with regard to deadlines and format, and accept additional information, especially from civil society, on the impact of the pandemic on the rights under their respective treaties.

To the overall UN system

We acknowledge and welcome the various statements issued by the UN Secretary General, such as his policy brief on COVID-19 and Human Rights,34 his statement on this year’s Earth Day,35 as well as the creation of his UN COVID-19 Response and Recovery Fund.• As in previous crises, the creation of operational/funding entities that should ensure interagency work and coordinated response is important. However, the UN Human Rights Council and its Members will have to ensure that this coordination and ability of the various relevant agencies to act are not side-lining human rights but are integrating them fully and thus that the OHCHR can play the role it should play.
We also urge Members States and the UN itself to draw lessons from this crisis and take them into due consideration while they work towards a future UN, including with respect to the institutional architecture that is needed to face such crises and to effectively prevent and better address them. This should thus have an impact on the upcoming UN reforms, towards more articulation and coordination between human rights, development and peace with human rights playing a fundamental role as per the Call to action for Human Rights of the UN Secretary General.
FI’s priority demand remains in favor of increased policy coherence in compliance with human rights. As we see a growing call, especially by top UN officials such as the UN Secretary General and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, that the Agenda 2030, its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and its core principle of “leaving no one behind” are our best tools in these times, FI underscores the effective link that still needs to be made with the corresponding human rights standards. If States continue to ignore human rights standards and principles like accountability and rule of law, there will be no accountability for the progress or lack thereof towards SDG 1 and eradicating poverty or SDG 6 and giving everyone access to safe drinking water. If States continue to delegate measures to achieve the SDGs to the private sector, while simultaneously failing to hold businesses accountable for their human rights records or obstructing UN processes which seek to eliminate such impunity, public services will continue to be dismantled, inaccessible to all, and unable to respond to future shocks. If SDG 8 and its aspirations for more “economic growth” are yet another pretext to continue business as usual and pursue the same model of economic development that is still heavily dependent on unsustainable industries and the extraction of natural resources, then the Agenda 2030 will not help.
Last but not least, while COVID-19 presents a severe crisis to a world already facing the threat of climate change, it also shows that States can act when compelled to. In 2020, State parties to the UN Paris Agreement on Climate Change are expected to submit their updated and reviewed Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs). However, as of April 2020, only 10 States have done so. While acknowledging the severe impacts of COVID-19 at all levels, it should not be used as an excuse for States to avoid their legal obligations to raise their ambitions of keeping the global average temperature to well below 2°C above pre-industrial levels. Nor should it be an excuse to abandon efforts to limit the temperature rise to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, or to avoid the irreversible impacts if they fail to do so. The climate actions in the renewed and updated NDCs should include robust human rights-based social and environmental safeguards; ensure access to information and public participation and ensure an independent, equitable, accessible, legitimate, rights-based, and transparent grievance mechanism.

Collective statements on the occasion of the virtual meeting of the UN Human Rights Council with the High Commissioner for Human Rights on 9 April 2020, accessible at: https://franciscansinternational.org/news/news/human-rights-council-gathers-for-virtual-meeting-on-covid-19/?no_cache=1&tx_news_pi1%5Bcontroller%5D=News&tx_news_pi1%5Baction%5D=detail&cHash=866aa570c7e321b34ff88caa66f4a61e. The collective statement of ESCR-Net on COVID-19 and corporate accountability, accessible at: https://www.escr-net.org/sites/default/files/attachments/corporateaccountabilitycovid19_eng.pdf; and the collective statement of ESCR-Net on COVID-19 and climate justice, accessible at: www.escr-net.org/sites/default/files/climate_covid-19_eng.pdf
COVID-19 pandemic – Informal briefing to the Human Rights Council – Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 9 April 2020, accessible at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/newsevents/pages/media.aspx
See https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25842&LangID=E
Information received from the Franciscan network in the Philippines
Article in The Interpreter: Philippines: Covid-19 will devastate the poor, see https://www.lowyinstitute.org/the-interpreter/philippines-covid-19-will-devastate-poor
See https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/philippines/philippines-teeming-manila-slum-chafes-under-covid-19-lockdown-1.71028464
See https://www.pna.gov.ph/opinion/pieces/230-day-of-the-homeless-poor-
See https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2020/04/poverty-punished-philippines-tough-virus-pandemic-200413063921536.html
See https://www.nytimes.com/2020/03/15/world/europe/coronavirus-inequality.html
On Spain, see for instance https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/01/poor-and-vulnerable-hardest-hit-by-pandemic-in-spain; on the USA, see https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/need-extra-precautions/racial-ethnic-minorities.html
COVID-19 pandemic – Informal briefing to the Human Rights Council – Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 9 April 2020, accessible at: https://www.ohchr.org/en/newsevents/pages/media.aspx
W. Missack and Fenton Lutunatabua, How to help climate-vulnerable nations during the Covid crisis, accessible at: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/04/23/1140213/how-to-help-climate-vulnerable-nations-during-a-double-crisis
See for instance an analysis of risk factors in African countries at: https://africacenter.org/spotlight/mapping-risk-factors-spread-covid-19-africa/#health
Estimates by World Bank Development and poverty experts, published at World Bank Blog https://blogs.worldbank.org/opendata/impact-covid-19-coronavirus-global-poverty-why-sub-saharan-africa-might-be-region-hardest
See https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25794&LangID=E
See https://www.vox.com/2020/4/11/21217040/coronavirus-in-us-air-pollution-asthma-black-americans
COVID-19 pandemic – Informal briefing to the Human Rights Council – Statement by Michelle Bachelet, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, 9 April 2020, accessible at: https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25785
See https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sgsm20051.doc.htm
See https://twitter.com/antonioguterres/status/1254942640988184576?s=20
W. Missack and Fenton Lutunatabua, How to help climate-vulnerable nations during the Covid crisis, accessible at: https://www.newsroom.co.nz/2020/04/23/1140213/how-to-help-climate-vulnerable-nations-during-a-double-crisis
See https://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=25794&LangID=E
See E.P.A. Weakens Controls on Mercury, The New York Times, 16 April 2020, https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/16/climate/epa-mercury-coal.html; see also Trump Administration Weakens Auto Emission Standards, NPR, 31 March 2020, https://www.npr.org/2020/03/31/824431240/trump-administration-weakens-auto-emissions-rolling-back-key-climate-policy
See for instance: https://www.bnamericas.com/en/features/mining-in-latin-america-an-essential-activity
See https://kape-kape.org/2020/04/22/gobierno-legaliza-y-promueve-la-mineria-en-zonas-fluviales-vitales-para-la-amazonia/
See https://www.mining-technology.com/mining-safety/covid-19-south-africa-mining-sector
The Conference of the Parties of the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (COP26) that should have taken place in Glasgow has been postponed to 2021, and thus key global efforts to discuss and address the issue of climate change have also been postponed. We need to keep in mind that COP25 in Madrid failed to agree on several key points for the implementation of Paris Agreement, including on the issue of so-called “carbon trading”. This year’s COP26 was expected to be crucial as States are requested to review and renew their Nationally Determined Contributions (NDCs) with their commitment to curb the global emissions. The previous NDCs submitted in 2015 have proved to be insufficient, therefore States are expected to boost their ambitions, not to delay them. Other environmental summits which are significant to the climate change issues are also postponed. The COP16 of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) scheduled to take place in Kunming, China in October 2020 has been postponed, as well as series of preparatory meetings. Similarly, the UN Ocean Conference scheduled to take place in Lisbon, Portugal in June 2020 is also postponed.
See library.wmo.int/doc_num.php
See for instance https://www.globalcarbonproject.org/global/pdf/pep/Peters_2011_Budget2010.pdf
See https://www.carbonbrief.org/analysis-coronavirus-has-temporarily-reduced-chinas-co2-emissions-by-a-quarter?utm_content=bufferae67b&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer
See https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2020/03/31/china-air-pollution-bouncing-back-shutdown-eases/
See https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-poland-ets/eu-should-scrap-emissions-trading-scheme-polish-official-says-idUSKBN2141RC
See https://www.euractiv.com/section/energy-environment/news/czech-pm-urges-eu-to-ditch-green-deal-amid-virus/
See For a more comprehensive analysis of the obstacles that civil society, especially in the Americas, faces with regard to virtual UN meetings and possible solutions to mitigate, please see the collective statement joined by FI, accessible at: https://franciscansinternational.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/Covid19-HRC_9_April_briefing-_Written_statement.pdf
See https://www.un.org/sites/un2.un.org/file/un_policy_brief_on_human_rights_and_covid_23_april_2020.pdf
See https://www.un.org/press/en/2020/sgsm20051.doc.htm

On 9 April 2020, the UN Human Rights Council met for a virtual conversation with High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet. This was the Council’s first meeting since the suspension of its 43rd Session over concerns of the novel coronavirus. The High Commissioner used the opportunity to stress that COVID-19 “is a global pandemic only global solidarity will ensure that we can combat it effectively.”

During this meeting, Franciscans International also joined a group of other civil society organizations to deliver statements expressing its concerns about the negative impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on human rights.

NGO statement on the COVID-19 response by the United Nations

In this statement, 85^* organizations stressed the importance of a multi-faceted response by the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights and the Human Rights Council. The statement calls for the continued monitoring and assessment of emergency measures taken by UN member states, in particular whether these are consistent with international human rights law.

• Full statement (English)

NGO statement on COVID-19 and civil and political rights

Access to information is of critical importance in the efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic. Nevertheless, across the globe, journalists and human rights defenders have come under attack as States have sought to restrict the free flow of information on the novel coronavirus – often at the expense of marginalized groups and populations. Some governments have used emergency measures as a pretext to expand or further consolidate their power. Meanwhile, attempts to monitor and restrict people’s physical movement raise serious concerns about privacy and invasive digital surveillance.

• Full statement (English)

NGO statement on COVID-19 and economic, social and cultural rights

The impact of the restrictions imposed to combat the spread of the novel coronavirus disproportionately affect those already facing precarious economic and social situations. In this statement, 69 organizations call on States to use all available resources to respect, protect and fulfil economic and social rights that are at the heart of this crisis – including the rights to health, housing, water and sanitation, food, work, social security, education, healthy environment an adequate standard of living, and to equality and non-discrimination as cross-cutting rights.

• Full statement (English)

The full meeting of the Human Rights Council, including these statements, are also available on UNTV. The full statement of the High Commissioner for Human Rights can be found here.

Franciscans International previously released a statement sharing some of the challenges faced by its grassroots partners and its concern about the impact of the COVID-19 disease on human rights.

*This article was updated on 20 April 2020 to include additional signatories to the statements.

As we, the entire staff of Franciscans International, are confined but healthy in our respective homes in Switzerland, the USA, and France, we are made more aware every day of our privileged situation, despite the unusual and uneasy circumstances in which confinement is putting us.

In the first weeks of this crisis, we were carefully observing not only the development of the situation but also the reaction of the United Nations (UN), other human rights experts, and States. We continue to do so. However, as it has become clear that the epidemic has definitively turned into a pandemic with a terrible death toll and that extraordinary measures will last for months, our Franciscan Sisters and Brothers, colleagues, and friends from various parts of the world are reaching out to share with us the dire situations they are experiencing, confronted with, and witnessing.

It is to relay some of these testimonies and stories and to put them in a more global picture that we issue this statement today.

From a human rights perspective, the issues raised by the pandemic are manifold and the impacts numerous at various levels.

From the failure of States to take the necessary measures to prevent such situations…

The last months have shown how some States have failed to take timely and necessary measures to protect the health of their populations, thus failing to comply with their international human rights obligations to protect the right to health.

According to the UN,¹ this protection shall include prevention, treatment and control of diseases that requires, among others “the creation of a system of urgent medical care in cases of (…) epidemics and similar health hazards, and the provision of disaster relief and humanitarian assistance in emergency situations.” Moreover, under international human rights law, the right to life also imposes a duty on States to protect life by taking adequate measures to ensure timely access to essential goods and services such as food and water, and to provide effective emergency health services or shelters.

The individual and collective failures of States to prevent the crisis the world is currently facing came not without warning. In September 2019, months before the first cases of COVID-19 infection were declared but after the SARS, Ebola, and Zika outbreaks, to name only a few, a body of independent experts convened by the World Health Organization and the World Bank urged to prepare for the worst: a rapidly spreading, lethal respiratory pathogen pandemic.² This group of experts criticized the gross inadequacy of the preparedness efforts made globally, especially in light of the disproportionate impacts and suffering that this failure would have on the poor, and in light of the vulnerability of all economies to such shocks.

Furthermore, other scientists³ have highlighted the link between the increasing risks, and actual instances of spreading, of new viruses transmitted by animals to humans, and the rapid environmental degradation, deforestation, loss of habitats, and illegal trade.

But here we are. Analogous to what our colleagues in El Salvador say about natural catastrophes: the real disaster is not so much events like the COVID-19 pandemic, but the lack of preparedness and inappropriate responses to them. In a situation like this, already existing discrimination and inequalities, as well as latent vulnerabilities, are severely aggravated and express themselves in radical ways.

… through direct and indirect impacts on human rights of the pandemic and of the response by States…

The health of virtually the entire world population is at risk when a pandemic occurs. Under international human rights law, States are required to create conditions that would assure medical service and medical attention to all in the event of sickness. Yet, what COVID-19 has shown is how dangerous and irresponsible the disregard for, and lack of investment in, public health systems are in general, and in these situations in particular. Similarly, the absence of broad health coverage and access to health services and goods have dire consequences in societies. The cuts to and dismantling of public hospitals and health care in the State of New York is only one of many examples.⁴ Overall, the structural lack of capacity of public health systems in many countries implies that the extra burden generated by COVID-19 will deprive patients with other conditions and health issues of the care they need.

The impact of the pandemic on other human rights such as freedom of movement, freedom of assembly, and the right to work and labor rights, is also clear across the world. Many COVID-19 related restrictions on freedoms and rights make the work of journalists and human rights defenders worldwide even more difficult and dangerous. The situation of persons at risk of domestic violence, in particular women and girls, is another issue of great concern in these times of confinement of populations, coupled with the paralysis of many administrative and other authorities. Sometimes this occurs with the complaisance or even complicity of the highest power of the State, like in Uganda, where President Museveni explained twice in a press conference that authorities would not respond to cases where a husband beats his wife, as “emergencies” requiring a response would be limited to health and child birth.⁵

Additionally, in States like China, Taiwan, Israel and the USA, the right to privacy is at risk when cell phone location data is used to check compliance with restrictions on movement and social distancing, or to divulge the location of infected people and warn others in their surroundings. In that regard, we should remember that States explicitly recognized in 2016 the duty to protect the rights of people online just as they shall do offline.⁶

We will continue to assess State responses, and to what degree States are able and willing to protect these rights as much as the situation allows, and how proportionate the limitations on these rights and emergency laws are. In the Philippines, for example, our Franciscan partners shared with us the declaration of President Duterte, which avowed that people who break the quarantine should be shot dead by police or military; President Duterte is already infamous for the numerous extrajudicial killings conducted during his so-called ‘war on drugs.’ While international law permits the limitation of rights in extraordinary situations such as public health emergencies, such limitations must respect certain standards. Among others, these measures should be provided for and implemented in compliance with the law, should not be imposed arbitrarily, nor be discriminatory.

In that regard, many stories and testimonies across the world show how, while the virus can infect anyone, the impact of the pandemic and the responses to it are not affecting everyone in the same manner. Some measures taken in response to the pandemic may disproportionately affect the people and communities who are already discriminated, disadvantaged, and marginalized; people who do not benefit from the same capacities and means to cope with the hardships and restrictions that the situation brings.

This is undoubtedly true for millions of refugees, asylum seekers, and migrants in camps and detention centers who regularly lack access to clean water and food. We have also seen images of homeless people in California, USA, being directed to sleep on a parking lot after their shelter closed. Even in the highly challenging circumstances we are facing, human rights compliant measures can be taken including those that aim to rectify past human rights abuses. For example, France has requisitioned hotel rooms to ensure that homeless people who are not ill can be safe and abide by confinement measures. In Detroit, USA, where the UN had heavily criticized the disconnection of poor people from water services for inability to pay their bills and deemed it a violation of the right to water, the government reinstalled water to homes that had shutoffs so that basic measures like washing hands can be followed. The large gaps in access to clean water worldwide are posing an enormous challenge to the fight against the virus, and underscoring the need for States to respect, protect, and fulfill the right to water.

For millions of self-employed and workers in the informal sector who do not have access to social protection, the lockdowns imposed across the world means no income. Franciscans partners in the Philippines shared with us their despair of not knowing how they can satisfy the needs of all the poor families who turn to them for food to eat. The same Franciscans ask how, in this situation, they can ensure safe sanitary conditions for the families and for themselves.

In India, one of our Franciscans partners conveyed to us how the inadequate time between the announcement and the actual lockdown – just 4 hours – created the conditions for a tragedy, with millions of workers in cities trying to reach their villages of origin while public transportation was halted. Some of these migrant workers have since died on the way. Our partner also warned that many more people will likely die of hunger and of other causes related to the lack of timely and effective aid and support by the government. Relatedly, Baskut Tuncak, a UN expert on human rights and the use of toxics, has denounced the anti-infection practice, as reported in India, of hosing migrant workers with bleach as inhumane.⁷

Overall, UN experts warn of a surge in racism and xenophobia, not least against migrants and asylum seekers who face a range of additional hardships and issues due to the pandemic. As we heard from our Franciscan network and other colleagues between the USA and Central America, migrants and asylum seekers are often left without information, access to tests and health care, or food. They lack the means to attend to their basic needs as shelters cannot host them and most administrative authorities are paralyzed. They continue to be deported en masse from the USA or are left stranded in Mexico or Guatemala. Thousands have been stopped in their journey with little capacity to cope with unplanned long transits, ending up on the street. Entire families who depend on the money that migrants normally send back are left without this vital support. At the same time, some States have showed that positive measures can be taken to support human rights and public health. Portugal temporarily granted the same status as residents to all foreigners, including migrants and asylum seekers with pending requests, until at least July 2020, which provides them with access to the national health service and welfare benefits, allows them to open bank accounts, and enter into work and rental contracts.

… through the fact that some are always gaining from catastrophes but not those whom you may optimistically think of…

While poor and other marginalized groups are paying the highest price, not everyone is losing in this situation. You may think of the reportedly positive aspects of the lockdowns, at least for nature and climate. However, what has actually become clear is how some businesses are continuing undisturbed or are even profiting from the crisis. As our Franciscan partners in Brazil alerted us, President Bolsonaro declared mining an essential activity that should continue during the lockdown; however, any protest by communities affected by mining is rendered impossible.

Also there is an increasing number of reports according to which not only pharmaceutical companies, but also some supermarkets and discounters in Europe are seeing their valuations and profits rise due to the surge in consumers buying food reserves, while imposing lower prices on their suppliers and on small producers.

Now that millions of people are working from home and even more are relying on social media and on online communication for work and social interactions, the issue of our right to privacy and of the safety and use of our data, not least by powerful private actors, is of an unprecedented concern.

… to the uncertainty of the long-term effects of the COVID-19 “crisis” and the consequences that the international community may or may not draw.

While the increase in online activities also requires more energy, the pollution generated by the use of cars, planes, and public transportation have significantly decreased with the lockdowns. However, it remains unclear how transport and industries will attempt to ‘bring back’ their business once this crisis is over, and whether we will not witness massive increases in greenhouse gas emissions again in the near future due to economic recovery plans boosting key sectors. What is already clear, though, is that the next international climate conference, COP 26, that was supposed to take place in Glasgow in the UK this year, has been postponed to 2021. Our climate and our common home may thus not benefit as much as we would hope from this break.

As some critical voices8 have started to say, we should not wish a return to normality, as long as normality equates environmental destruction and egregious inequalities. Instead, we should draw lessons from past failures; build on some good practices that States came up with during the pandemic; push for a change in our model of development; shield social services and rights from business interests and greed and, last but not least, cultivate the fraternity and solidarity within and across communities that we are seeing amid the global governance crisis.

In that regard, this statement is also a tribute to the contribution of our Franciscan and other partners to the upholding of human dignity and lives in these challenging times.

[1] UN Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights, General Comment 14 on article 12, 2000, para.16.
[2] Global Preparedness Monitoring Board, A world at risk: annual report on global preparedness for health emergencies, Geneva, World Health Organization, 2019.
[3] See for instance: www.scientificamerican.com/article/destroyed-habitat-creates-the-perfect-conditions-for-coronavirus-to-emerge/; or revistaanfibia.com/cronica/las-nuevas-pandemias-del-planeta-devastado/
[4] See for instance: https://www.thenation.com/article/politics/covid-ny-hospital-medicaid/; or https://www.commondreams.org/views/2020/03/30/corporate-media-ignores-how-privatization-us-hospitals-explains-lack-beds
[5] See full Presidential declaration at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veq6Lbi4Mok. Specific statement between 59:40 – 1:00:20.
[6] Resolution adopted by the UN Human Rights Council on 1 July 2016, The promotion, protection and enjoyment of human rights on the Internet, UN Doc. A/HRC/RES/32/13, page 2.
[7] Read the UN Special Rapporteur´s comments on twitter at https://twitter.com/SRtoxics/status/1244747265811664896?s=20
[8] Statements have been made by various international leaders and activists, including UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterrez; or Journalist Naomi Klein.

Two years before his death, Francis of Assisi wrote the ‘Canticle of the Creation’, praying tribute to the diversity yet interconnectedness he had come to see in the world around him. This song, which would inspire Pope Francis’ Laudato Si, praises water as “so useful, lowly, precious and pure.” In this contradiction he recognized water as a resource that is both a daily commodity and fundamental to sustain all life which must be protected and preserved.

The year 2020 present a milestone in international efforts reflecting this realization. Ten years ago, the UN General Assembly affirmed access to safe water and sanitation as a “human right that is essential for the full enjoyment of life.” To mark this anniversary, the Special Rapporteur on water and sanitation has launched a campaign to share challenges and achievements, but also to offer avenues of action for those who want to help promote the right to water.

On World Water Day 2020, the fulfillment of the right to water remains a distant reality for many, as over 2 billion people worldwide still rely on polluted sources. With the climate crisis taking its toll, half of the world’s population could be living under water-stressed conditions in just five years. In the spirit of Francis as the patron saint of ecology and his deep concern for the marginalized in society, promoting water as not merely a natural resource or commodity but as a fundamental human right to which all people are entitled without discrimination has been a core element of Franciscans International’s advocacy work for decades.

When the United Nations set out to formulate the Sustainable Development Goals, FI was one of the leading civil society voices promoting the inclusion of a specific goal on water. Since the adoption of the SDGs in 2015, we have continued to connect the dots between human rights and sustainable development, and we have urged States to address inequality and discrimination when developing water policies.

On this issue, FI has also served as a bridge between experiences and challenges at the grassroots and international efforts at the United Nations. For example, elaborating on the General Assembly’s declaration, we published a practical guide in 2011 that helps Franciscans and others working at the grassroots to address the challenges of poverty and access to water.

Similarly, FI has worked closely with the Special Rapporteur on water since the mandate was established, capitalizing on its deep roots in local communities. Throughout the years, FI has made sure that grassroot voices are heard by facilitating access, meetings, and sharing first-hand information of those whose right to water are being infringed. Together, we have also brought experts and activists to UN forums in Geneva and New York to speak on specific regional challenges and propose sustainable strategies to realize the right to water.

On World Water Day, FI reiterates its call to realize access to safe water for everyone. We look forward to continuing to support the mandate of the Special Rapporteur on water as we work to ensure that nobody is left behind in these efforts.

Throughout the session, we’ll publish our statements as they become available. So far, Franciscans International has delivered statements on the human rights situation in Sri Lanka, Guatemala, Brazil, and El Salvador as well as on climate change and business and human rights.

On 13 March 2020, the Human Rights Council suspended its 43rd session due to concerns over the spread of Covid-19. The session resumed on 15 June.

Item 10: Technical assistance and capacity building – Democratic Republic of the Congo (17 June)

Despite its vast mineral wealth, the DRC remains at the bottom of the Human Development Index, ranking 179th out of 189 in 2019. Mining laws remain vague on how revenue can benefit community interests. Although women make up a significant part of the workforce, their participation and gender-based issues are not taken into account in the regulation of the mining sector. In a joint statement, Franciscans International urged the government to ensure good governance of the mining sector and asked the Council to support this process.

• Full statement (French)

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – Climate Change (15 June)

The effects of climate change have an impact on all human rights. In a joint statement, Franciscans International called on all States to scale up their engagement on this urgent issues. In particular, we recommended that climate change should become an integral part of the Universal Period Review, which examines the human rights record of all UN Member States on a rotating basis.

• Full statement (English)

Item 6: Universal Periodic Review – El Salvador (12 March)

El Salvador is facing a persistent water crisis, with over 90% of its surface water sources contaminated. Despite some positive steps, such as the adoption of a 2017 law which bans all metal-mining as a major source of pollution, authorities have not effectively implemented this law or taken steps toward environmental remediation. During El Salvador’s examination under the UPR, Franciscans International called on the government to create a legal framework that recognizes the human right to safe drinking water and engage in efforts with neighboring countries to responsibly govern shared natural resources and transboundary waters.

• Full statement (Spanish)

Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention – Brazil (10 March)

During its first year in office, the Bolsonaro administration has taken a range of measures affecting wide segments of society, including indigenous peoples, minority groups, and marginalized and poor communities. In a joint statement, 87 civil society organizations including Franciscans International expressed their deep concern about the deteriorating human rights situation in Brazil and called on the Council to take decisive action to counter these trends.

• Full statement (Portuguese, English, and Spanish)

Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention – Climate Change (10 March)

During the 25th UN climate conference in December 2019 (COP25) the President of the Marshall Islands called for the creation of a dedicated Special Rapporteur on climate change. The establishment of this mandate would, among other things, create a focal point for dialogue between different stakeholders working to address one of the most pressing issues of our time. In a joint statement 12 faith-based organizations supported this initiative as an opportunity the Council cannot afford to miss.

• Full statement (English)

Item 4: Human rights situations that require the Council’s attention – West Papua (10 March)

A report published in February 2020 by the International Coalition for Papua showed how the human rights situation on the islands has become characterized by stagnant, recurring patterns of violations. Franciscans International hosted human rights lawyer Anum Siregar in Geneva, where she called attention to the rise of political prisoners jailed and charged with draconian treason articles in Indonesia’s penal code.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Report by the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations (5 March)

In a joint statement after the presentation of the report on the 5th session of the open-ended intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations, Franciscans International called on states to actively participate in the informal consultations ahead of the next session in October 2020. We also stressed the important role played in the process by civil society and the need to maintain and respect this space in future negotiations.

• Full statement (Spanish)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on freedom of religion and belief – Sri Lanka (3 March)

In a joined statement, Franciscans International voiced its concern over increased hostility and discrimination against Muslims after the Easter Sunday attacks in Sri Lanka. We also supported the Special Rapporteur’s recommendations that the government reviews Article 9 of the Constitution, which grants Buddhism ‘the foremost place’, and has led discrimination and violence by extremists against other religious minorities.

• Full statement (English)

Item 3: Interactive Dialogue with the Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment – Brazil (2 March 2020)

Despite catastrophic dam breaches in Marina (2015) and Brumadhino (2019), the government of Brazil has so far failed to take action to impunity for the corporate negligence that led to these disasters and to prevent future tragedies. Today, at least 40 other dams in Minas Gerais state are at risk of collapse, presenting ever-present danger to nearby communities and the environment.

Bishop Vincente Ferreira joined Franciscans International at the Human Rights Council share testimony from his diocese which includes Brumadhino, call for redress for the victims, and urge Brazil to meaningfully involve local communities in the process of licensing new mega-projects.

• Full statement (English and Portuguese); Video (English)

Item 2: General Debate on the report of the High Commissioner – Sri Lanka (28 February 2020)

In a joint statement, Franciscans International expressed its deep concern over the recent decision by the government of Sri Lanka to withdraw its support from Human Rights Council resolution 30/1. Adopted in September 2015 with support of the government, the resolution set out a process of transitional justice for crimes committed during the country’s 26-year civil war. Noting the failure of previous domestic efforts toward accountability and reconciliation, as well as the ongoing deterioration of the rule of law in the country, we call on the Council to establish an international accountability mechanism for Sri Lanka.

• Full statement (English )

Item 2: General Debate on the report of the High Commissioner – Guatemala (28 February 2020)

FI called on the Council to renew the mandate of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights in Guatemala, noting several worrying trends. Although the government signed an Asylum Cooperative Agreement with the United States, the policies and conditions to implement this agreement are lacking, putting migrants in Guatemala at risk. Meanwhile, recent reforms to the NGO law restrict the work of civil society in violation of international treaties and the Guatemalan constitution.

• Full statement (Spanish)

At 12:28 on 25 January 2019, a tailing dam near Brumadinho, holding back leftover products from a nearby iron mine, suffered a catastrophic breach. Seconds later, over 18 million cubic meters of mud and debris tore downstream, killing 272 people. The alarm meant to warn nearby workers and communities of the danger never sounded – it had been installed just below the dam and was instantly destroyed.

A year later, as the victims gather to commemorate the disaster, they are not only grieving but also still seeking justice. The dam in Brumadinho was not the first to collapse in Brazil’s Minas Gerais State. Four years earlier, a similar tragedy in Mariana killed eleven people, caused extensive environmental damage, and displaced hundreds. With as much as forty other dams in the state at high risk of collapse, the danger of recurrence is a daily reality for people.

These tragedies have become emblematic of the consequences of corporate negligence. It soon emerged that the mining company Vale, which owned the dam, had repeatedly ignored warnings that it was unstable. Meanwhile, the German company TÜV Süd had issued a safety certification, despite internal concerns the dam was at risk of liquefaction. Although several individuals working for these companies have recently been charged over their involvement, little has been done to bring about systemic change for corporate accountability or make reparations for the victims.

As a member of the mining Commission of the Brazilian Bishops, Brother Rodrigo Péret, OFM, has been an outspoken advocate on behalf of the Brumadinho community and worked with Franciscans International to draw attention to the case in different international forums. In May 2019, he joined survivor Dari Pereira in Rome where they presented Pope Francis with the photos and names of the 270 victims, after which the Pope blessed the photos and expressed his solidarity with the families.

He also joined FI in Geneva just a few weeks after the disaster, where he took the floor addressing all States at the UN Human Rights Council to call for an effective remedy, including reparation, for the victims. There, he showed how fighting impunity, through legal actions in national courts and stronger international norms on business accountability, could prevent similar tragedies both in Brazil and worldwide.

Today, as he and Franciscans International’s Americas Program Coordinator join the commemoration in Brumadinho, Brother Rodrigo again voiced his concern about the lack of progress in ensuring accountability.

“Unfortunately, considering the current policies in Brazil, the freedom of Vale to continue operating with impunity, the lack of full compensation for victims and the lack of guarantees of non-repetition, full redress for the human rights violations linked to the disaster is still to be obtained,” said Brother Rodrigo ahead of his visit.

In 8 years, the Franciscan “La 72” shelter in Mexico has welcomed over 90.000 migrant feet. Fr René Flores OFM reflects on the uniqueness of all those who visited to find reprieve and a safe haven.

“Feet of tired and trembling migrants, exhausted after a long journey,
Feet of migrants with blisters and blood,
Feet of migrants with shoes torn apart,
Feet of persecuted migrants fleeing to save their lives,
Feet of migrants criminalized by the State,
Feet of migrants who dropped out of school or university,
Feet of migrants eager to reach the North,
Feet of migrants seeking to achieve some rest,
Feet of migrants on the move for the sake of their beloved ones,
Feet of migrants traveling with their families,
Feet of migrants journeying together with other walking feet,
Feet of migrant men, women, children, LGBT community,
Feet of migrants with names and backgrounds,
Feet of migrants ready to walk again and go forward tirelessly,
Feet of migrants, weatherworn, overexposed to the sun and the rain,
Migrant feet of unaccompanied minors,
Migrant feet in need of arriving in a safer place,

Migrant barefoot feet, having nothing else to wear,
Feet of migrants who run and jump to get on the train,
Feet of flesh and bone,
Feet of deported migrants,
Feet of migrants who are walking full of hope,
Feet of Honduran, Salvadoran and Guatemalan migrants,

In 8 years, about 90 thousand migrant feet have stopped at “la 72” before moving on.”

“Pies de migrante cansados, tembloroso y desgastados por el camino
Pies de migrante llagado y sangrando,
Pies de migrante con zapatos destrozados,
Pies de migrante perseguido que huye salvando la vida,
Pies de migrante criminalizado por el Estado,
Pies de migrante que dejaron la escuela y la universidad,
Pies de migrante con prisa de llegar al norte,
Pies de migrante buscando descansar,
Pies de migrante movido por amor a sus seres queridos,
Pies de migrante caminando en familia,
Pies de migrante caminando con otros pies caminantes,
Pies de migrante de hombres, mujeres, menores, de la comunidad LGTB,
Pies de migrante con nombre e historia,
Pies de migrante dispuesto a caminar y seguir sin tregua,
Pies de migrante asoleados y mojados por la lluvia,
Pies de migrante de menores no acompañados,
Pies de migrante necesitado de alcanzar un lugar seguro,
Pies de migrante descalzo por no tener nada más que llevar,
Pies de migrante que corre y salta para subir al tren,
Pies de migrante de carne y hueso,
Pies de migrante deportado,
Pies de migrante caminando con esperanza,
Pies de migrante hondureño, salvadoreño y guatemalteco,

Por “la 72” en 8 años, han pasado unos 90 mil pies migrantes.”

Fr René Arturo Flores, OFM (Tenosique, December 2018)

On 8 November, Franciscans International (FI) hosted the last in a series of celebratory gatherings to mark the three decades that have passed since the organization was officially recognized by the United Nations (UN).

The keynote address of the meeting was given by Ms. Helena Yánez Loza, the Deputy Permanent Representative of Ecuador to the UN. She focused on the importance of states and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) cooperating to bring about positive changes in international policies – for example the work Ecuador’s delegation and FI have done together on business and human rights. Ms. Yánez Loza also highlighted St. Francis’ love and respect for nature as an inspiration to combat the current climate crises.

The meeting was also attended by some of the sisters and brothers who originally helped establish and develop FI as a respected influence at the UN, including Br. Kevin Smith, OSF, Sr. Kathie Uhler, OSF, and Br. Ignatius Harding, OFM. They shared some of their memories and experiences of the early years of FI and emphasized that, although the working methods of the organization have evolved over the years, its mission has never changed.

“For us, the most important thing was – and still is – that people don’t have a voice. That people who are most affected, like now with climate change, are the ones who never get to speak up,” said Br. Ignatius. “From the first moment we were not talking about ‘being the voice of the people’ at FI, but about ‘giving the people a voice.’”

Although the idea to establish a Franciscan presence at the UN had already been suggested in 1982 by Br. Dionysius Mintoff, OFM and the late Sr. Elisabeth Cameron, OSF, it was not until seven years later that FI was officially recognized by the UN’s Department of Public Information. In 1995, the organization became one the few NGOs in General Consultative Status with the Economic and Social Council, acknowledging FI’s representation of major segments of society worldwide.

Before the celebration, FI’s International Board of Directors and representatives from our staff visited the UN headquarters in New York, where they met with Secretary-General António Guterres.

Find out more about the events in Geneva and Rome.