Rising criminalisation and judicial attacks on Human Rights Defenders (HRDs)
The Business & Human Rights Resource Centre documents more than 2,000 attacks on HRDs, and a Thai coffee brand is finally repaying 200 farmers.
Human rights defenders (HRDs) provide a vital safeguard for human rights when states fall short in holding power to account. Yet despite their importance, they increasingly face an unacceptable risk of attack.
From 2015 to 2019, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre has documented more than 2,000 attacks on HRDs raising concerns about business-related human rights abuses.
The sectors that saw the most attacks in 2019 were mining (including illegal mining) (143 attacks), agribusiness (85), waste disposal (51), renewable energy (47), construction (42), oil, gas, and coal (38), and logging and lumber (38). There has also been observed a steady increase in restrictions on worker organizing and violence against labor rights defenders.
According to the data, one of the preferred tactics to silence HRDs is criminalization. This means subjecting individuals and communities defending rights to undue criminal prosecution. While companies may launch legal complaints leading to criminal charges, the actual process is often carried out by states. This tactic, alongside other types of judicial harassment such as arbitrary arrests, detentions, and strategic lawsuits against public participation (SLAPPs) brought by companies, were the most common type of attack on HRDs in 2019.
In the coming weeks, four human rights defenders in Thailand are facing court hearings over criminal defamation cases brought by Thai poultry company Thammakaset Company Limited. Since 2016, Thammakaset has filed more than 30 criminal and civil cases against at least 26 defendants, including human rights defenders, workers, and journalists for alleged defamation of the company.
UN human rights experts have previously criticized the use of defamation legislation in Thailand to silence human rights defender and others who report business-related human rights abuses. In its World Report 2020, Human Rights Watch states that the current government disregarded Thailand’s obligation to ensure that all human rights defenders can carry out their work in a safe and enabling environment.
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