[STATEMENT] Strong Protections for Environmental Human Rights Defenders Needed in ASEAN Environmental Rights Declaration

September 26, 2024

The Asia Pacific Network of Environmental Defenders (APNED) renews calls for strong and inclusive action to uphold environmental rights in Southeast Asia, particularly in the context of the ongoing development of the ASEAN environmental rights framework. We call on the ASEAN Intergovernmental Commission on Human Rights (AICHR) and ASEAN Member States (AMS) to heed the demands of civil society embodied in the ASEAN People’s Declaration on Environmental Rights, to enhance protections for environmental human rights defenders (EHRDs), indigenous peoples, and other vulnerable groups, and ensure inclusive and meaningful civil society representation and participation in the ongoing process.

As a regional solidarity platform for EHRDs in Asia and the Pacific, APNED has seen how EHRDs, especially those at the frontlines of environmental destruction and climate impacts, have been targeted by attacks and reprisals for defending their environments and communities’ rights to life, food, health, clean air and water, and more. In the past year, 20 EHRDs were murdered in Southeast Asia— 17 from the Philippines, the country that consistently logs the most killings of EHRDs in Asia, and three from Indonesia (Global Witness, 2024). Judicial harassment, or the weaponization of legal and judicial systems to silence and intimidate dissent, is also on the rise, often in the form of arbitrary arrests and criminalization (Business & Human Rights Resource Centre, 2024). 

In the course of the two-year development of the ASEAN environmental rights declaration, many attacks have happened across Southeast Asia that underscore the need for better safeguards for EHRDs. In Vietnam, six prominent environmental defenders who have contributed to the country’s just energy transition policies were imprisoned on charges of tax evasion. Last July, ten youth activists from Mother Nature Cambodia, a youth-led environmental movement, were sentenced to six to eight years in prison on conspiracy and lèse-majesté charges. Criminalization of EHRDs opposing development aggression in the Philippines and Indonesia is also widespread, becoming a precursor to more vicious attacks, such as enforced disappearances.

These attacks against EHRDs, many of which have been perpetuated by state actors, undermine national efforts towards sustainable development and climate adaptation. According to the ASEAN Human Rights Declaration (2012), it is the “primary responsibility of all ASEAN Member States to promote and protect all human rights and fundamental freedoms.” The process for the first-ever environmental rights declaration thus presents a critical opportunity for AMS to promote an enabling environment for the work of EHRDs, and in turn secure citizens’ “right to a safe, clean and sustainable environment”.

APNED sought to represent the plight of EHRDs in its role in the ASEAN Environmental Rights Working Group, which helped draft the document. Despite the lack of financial support from the Working Group, APNED conducted consultations with its members and other civil society stakeholders. The inputs of said consultations, along with submissions from other civil society groups, were forwarded by civil society representatives in the Working Group but were continuously watered down throughout the meetings. The ambition for a legally-binding framework was quickly dismissed. The critical terms “environmental human rights defenders” and “indigenous peoples” were kept bracketed, as a consensus among the Working Group could not be reached. Other substantive and procedural rights elements were similarly cut down. 

Despite all these challenges, we are committed to firmly advocating for better protections for EHRDs and other vulnerable groups, even after the Working Group’s mandate has ended following its submission of the draft to the AICHR in the July 2024 meeting. APNED, along with other civil society representatives of the Working Group, have initiated efforts to develop an ASEAN People’s Declaration on Environmental Rights. The initial draft is based on civil society consultations and formal submissions to the Working Group and has been submitted to the AICHR as another draft to consider. This process for a People’s Declaration is intended to serve as a benchmark for AICHR and ASEAN Member States, including critical elements in the ASEAN document and undergoing an inclusive and meaningful participation of civil society. 

In the interest of forwarding a genuine regional instrument that will uphold environmental rights and the human rights of our defenders and communities, APNED recommends these actions:

  1. For AICHR to make the latest draft publicly available, to uphold the transparency of this process and ensure continued engagement with civil society stakeholders;
  2. For AICHR and AMS to ensure that the final regional instrument includes provisions on the recognition and sufficient protections for environmental human rights defenders and other vulnerable groups. This includes the following:
    1. Usage of the terms “environmental human rights defenders” and “indigenous people,” in line with international law and conventions;
    2. Statement of responsibility of AMS in the recognition and protection of EHRDs;
    3. Establishment of a grievance mechanism for human rights violations on EHRDs;
    4. Protection of whistleblowers;
    5. Human rights due diligence and human rights-based approach;
    6. Civil society participation, especially of vulnerable groups, in the development and implementation of the Regional Implementation Plan;
  3. For AICHR and AMS to consider principles and substantive and procedural rights provisions in the People’s Declaration to mitigate conflicts between state and business actors, and civil society;
  4. For AICHR and AMS to meaningfully engage civil society in the next steps of the declaration, from additional deliberations with stakeholders to the drafting and operationalization of the Regional Implementation Plan; 
  5. For the United Nations, international non-government organizations, and national human rights institutions to support civil society in the ASEAN, especially EHRDs, in their advocacies and campaigns for environmental rights;
  6. For development partners of the ASEAN to support civil society including EHRDs in ensuring environmental and human rights are upheld in projects that they are engaged in;
  7. For civil society, especially EHRDs, to raise their voices and actively engage in the development of policies for the recognition and protection of EHRDs as part of their right to decision-making in environmental matters.

Amidst the worsening environmental destruction and impacts of the climate crisis in the region, this new ASEAN regional instrument on environmental rights could be a game changer—but only if it sufficiently embodies the needs and aspirations of EHRDs. Through properly supporting and protecting our EHRDs, we can save our environment and secure sustainable development and human rights for all present and future generations.