A side-event held on Tuesday 3 December, at the UN Palais des Nations, Room XX, Geneva, Switzerland, will pay special attention to the challenges engendered by the increasing criminalisation or repression of those peacefully denouncing adverse human rights impacts of corporate projects, discussing the role of both States and companies.

Time: 13:30 - 15:00 on Tuesday, 3 December 2013

Place: UN Palais des Nations, Room XX, Geneva, Switzerland.

Human rights defenders play a critical role in exposing and ensuring accountability for business-related human rights violations. Despite this, around the world, there is an increase in attacks, judicial harassment, restrictions, surveillance, intimidation and reprisals against defenders who work on land and environment issues associated with business activities.

A side-event held on Tuesday 3 December, paid special attention to the challenges engendered by the increasing criminalisation or repression of those peacefully denouncing adverse human rights impacts of corporate projects, discussing the role of both States and companies.

Calling upon States and all other stakeholders to give full recognition to the legitimate role and important work carried out by defenders, the event provided an opportunity to explore ways to improve the security of these advocates at extreme risk as well as to prevent and combat impunity for such attacks and violations.

Panellists

• Jorge Luis Morales, lawyer and member of the Verapaz Union of Peasant Organisations (UVOC), Guatemala

• Samuel Nguiffo, Secretary General of the Centre for Environment and Development (CED), Cameroon 

• Pavel Sulyandziga, Chair of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights

• Harriet Berg, Minister-Counsellor, Permanent Mission of Norway in Geneva

Moderator

• Debbie Stothard, Coordinator, Alternative ASEAN Network on Burma (Altsean), Malaysia and FIDH Secretary General

Photo by Stéphane M. Grueso from Madrid, Spain (Shipwreck-7) [CC-BY-SA-2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons