 Issue 1, Volume 2, June 2001 Message from Planet Earth | Program News | Program Updates | Case Updates | Hot Spots | FAQs | Action Updates FAQs Q: How do we determine which hotspots to investigate? A: When reviewing information on potential hotspots, the Human Rights and the Environment Program looks for some key factors before vetting the information through country specialists and International Secretariat researchers. First of all, it is essential that the human rights issues at stake stem from environmental destruction and activism to stop it. While the right to a clean and healthy environment falls under a broader understanding of human rights, the Program has been especially focusing on human rights abuses against grassroots activists organizing in protest of environmental devastation. In addition, there must be evidence of environmental damage that threatens the ecosystem and/ or the sustainable lifestyles of indigenous peoples. One angle that we often look for is the involvement of US-based Multinational Corporations which are complicit in human rights abuses when they attempt to protect their operations from local protests through the use of security forces. Q: What can my group do over the summer? A: The summer months do not necessarily have to be a slow time for your group. The warm weather is a good opportunity to plan awareness raising events on human rights and the environment in a natural surrounding. For example, you could hold letter-writing picnics, or open air teach-ins. Plan a hike that opens with a talk about the heroic efforts of environmental defenders to protect our planet. Start a reading circle that features works by environmental defenders such as Ken Saro Wiwa, who was an accomplished playwright. Hold a poster making competition to develop a poster that your group can use for advertising human rights and the environment events. Also, take advantage of the summer months to plan ahead for the fall! Q: What is Amnesty's stance on the amparo (appeal) of Rodolfo Montiel and Teodoro Cabrera's conviction? A: In March, Montiel and Cabrera's lawyers filed an amparo (an appeal based on human and civil rights concerns) of the men's sentencing on the grounds that both were unjustly convicted and because the Court did not take into account that the confessions were extracted under torture. The Court is expected to make a decision on the appeal by the end of June. Although Amnesty would never ask President Fox to compromise the independence of the judiciary, he still has a lot of influence to exert on this case. Fox has made positive statements on the case and he appears to be responding to international pressure. We need to seize on his statements and urge him to release these Prisoners of Conscience immediately and unconditionally. Q: What is environmental racism and how does it fit into Amnesty's mandate? A: Environmental racism is characterized by the intentional location of hazardous waste sites, landfills, incinerators, and polluting industries in communities based on socio-economic factors such as race. The affected people are often poor racial or ethnic minorities that have no power nor have the resources to stop the development of such environmentally damaging projects in their communities. Environmental racism is not unique to the US. Impoverished regions in the developing world, many of which suffered under years of colonial rule, are negatively impacted by the industrialized nations' hunger for non-renewable sources of energy. Not only is the environment in these countries devastated by extraction of natural resources, but toxic waste from industrialized countries is also shipped to these regions for disposal. Amnesty International views all the rights covered under the United Nation's Universal Declaration of Human Rights and all its relevant international covenants as universal and indivisible. Working to raise awareness about the human rights abuses associated with environmental racism, specifically the violation of social, cultural and economic rights, falls within Amnesty's promotional mandate. Q: What movies can our group show to raise awareness around the campaign?A: In addition to the campaign video, Environmentalists Under Fire, we have videos on the struggle of campesinos to defend the forests in Mexico, the fight of the Ogoni people of the Niger Delta against Shell, and many more. The Program office in Washington, DC can lend you copies of many of these videos. Contact Lisa Sock at lsock@aiusa.org, Tel:202-544-0200 ext. 268. |
