PHM-Exch> Tribunal verdict vs. 6 agrochemical TNCs hailed, urgent action on recommendations urged

[Claudio Schuftan]

From: anwar fazal <anwarfazal2004 at yahoo.com>


Press Release
7 December 2011

*Tribunal verdict vs. 6 agrochemical TNCs hailed, urgent action on
recommendations urged *

Pesticide Action Network (PAN) International hailed the verdict of the
Permanent People’s Tribunal (PPT) against the world’s six largest
agrochemical companies Monsanto, Syngenta, Bayer, Dow Chemical, DuPont and
BASF after a historic four-day session that culminated in Bangalore, India
yesterday.

Victims and survivors of the pesticide industry from all over the world,
represented by PAN International, testified before a distinguished
international jury to indict the “Big 6” for human rights violations. Based
on evidence presented before it, the Tribunal found the Defendant
agrochemical TNCs “responsible for gross, widespread and systematic
violations of the right to health and life, economic, social and cultural
rights, as well as of civil and political rights, and women and children’s
rights.” *(see the verdict
here<http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/en/page/ppt/167>
)*

The Tribunal also found agrochemical TNCs responsible for violation of
indigenous peoples’ human rights, and further found that “their systematic
acts of corporate governance have caused avoidable catastrophic risks,
increasing the prospects of extinction of biodiversity, including species
whose continued existence is necessary for reproduction of human life.”

Sarojeni Rengam, PAN Asia Pacific Executive Director, said that the
Tribunal’s verdict is a victory for peoples who have been most affected by
the Big 6’s control over food and agriculture. “We are elated with the
verdict. It affirms what people all over the world already know and are
experiencing: that the pesticide industry is to blame and should be held
accountable for the systematic poisoning of human health and the
environment, loss of food sovereignty and self-determination, and increased
world hunger and poverty,” she said.

The PPT, founded in 1979 in Italy, is an international opinion tribunal
that looks into complaints of human rights violations. Borne out of the
tribunals on the Vietnam War and Latin American dictatorships, the PPT has
held 37 sessions so far using the rigorous conventional court format. While
its verdicts are not legally binding, these can set precedent for future
legal actions against Defendants, and can pressure governments and
institutions.

Jurors for the PPT Session on Agrochemical TNCs are Indian legal scholar
Upendra Baxi, British scientist Dr. Ricarda Steinbrecher, African
environmental lawyer Ibrahima Ly, German economist Elmar Altvater, Italian
professor Paolo Ramazotti, and PPT Secretary General Dr. Gianni Tognoni. *(see
profile of jury here<http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/en/page/ppt/55>
)*

The Tribunal said that the home States of the Big 6 (US, Switzerland, and
Germany), have “failed to comply with their internationally accepted
responsibility to promote and protect human rights,” by not adequately
regulating, monitoring and disciplining these corporations. The Tribunal
further said that these States have “unjustifiably promoted a double
standard approach prohibiting the production of hazardous chemicals at home
while allowing their own TNCs unrestrained license for these enterprises in
other States, especially of the Global South.”

The Tribunal also found host States responsible for failure to protect the
human rights of its citizens by offering “magic carpet type hospitality” to
agrochemical TNCs and therefore not adequately protecting social movement
activists or independent scientists from harassment, not limiting the
“global corporate ownership of knowledge production in universities and
related research sites,” “not recognizing the value of indigenous knowledge
and social relationships they create and sustain,” and “not fully pursuing
alternative and less hazardous forms of agricultural production without
having learnt the full lessons from the First Green Revolution.”

The Tribunal also found that the policies of World Trade Organization in
relation to Intellectual Property Rights are “not balanced with any sincere
regard for the grave long-term hazards to humans and nature already posed
by the activities of agribusiness and agrochemical industries.”
International financial institutions, named in the indictment as the
International Monetary Fund-World Bank, do not follow “a strict regime of
human rights conditionalities” and “have yet to develop policies concerning
their support for hazardous manufacture, application or process,” said the
Tribunal.

The Tribunal recommended that national governments should “prosecute the
Defendant agrochemical companies in terms of criminal liability rather than
civil liability.” It also urged governments to take action to “restructure
international law” to ensure the accountability of transnational
corporations, to “accept a less heavy burden of proof on the victims and to
fully commit to and legislate for the precautionary principle,” and “to
prevent TNCs from directly or indirectly harassing and intimidating
scientists, farmers and human rights and environmental defenders.”

It also urged international organizations and intergovernmental
institutions to uphold human rights and the welfare of populations, and
protect of biodiversity and ecosystems by subordinating the interests of
corporations pursuing patents.

“The Tribunal’s recommendations must immediately be acted upon, for they
echo what civil society and people’s organizations have been demanding for
a very long time. The prosecution of the Big 6 must be started to bring
justice to fruition for the thousands of victims and survivors of the
pesticide industry. The precautionary principle must be put into place and
the patent regime abolished, as recommended by the Tribunal. That is the
only way to stop these human rights violations, which continue every day
without impunity,” said Rengam.

Rengam further added that the Tribunal just marks the beginning of an
escalated international people’s movement against agrochemical TNCs, which
is now armed with a powerful verdict that can be used in every part of the
world. “The next step towards justice and liberation from the Big 6’s
control will be determined by the people’s unity, strength, and
determination to stand up against corporate greed and aggression, just as
was shown in this victorious PPT Session,” she concluded.  ###


The Permanent People's Tribunal Session on Agrochemical TNCs is organised
by Pesticide Action Network International, a global network of more than
600 organisations in over 90 countries which has been working to eliminate
the use of pesticides and other hazardous technologies.

See the full coverage of the PPT Session
here<http://www.agricorporateaccountability.net/>
.

_____________________________________________
Pesticide Action Network Asia and the Pacific
E-mail: panap at panap.net
Website: www.panap.net
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