PHM-Exch> The World Bank and other International Financial Institutions must uphold human rights in all activities they support

Mon Sep 16 22:58:21 PDT 2013

***
The World Bank and other International Financial Institutions
must uphold human rights in all activities they support*

[This statement was developed by the Indian Law Resource Center; the
Global Initiative for Economic, Social and Cultural Rights; FIAN
 International; ESCR Net; and Amnesty International to urging the UN
Human Rights Council to take concerted and expeditious action to
increase its focus on the human rights impact of international financial
institutions, including multilateral development banks such as the World
Bank, and to elaborate and reinforce their human rights obligations
 and responsibilities].

         The decisions, policies and projects promoted by international
financial institutions (IFIs) have significant and often far-reaching
impacts on human rights. While the impacts of these institutions can be
positive - for example, contributing to poverty reduction - too often the
impact is negative, with poor and marginalised individuals and communities
suffering the most negative impacts.[1] <#_ftn1> This is because these
institutions frequently invest in industries, such as energy and resource
extraction and projects, such as large-scale infrastructure development,
associated with environmental damage and human rights abuses, like forced
evictions. Also the projects that they support are frequently carried out
in countries that may face significant challenges in ensuring the effective
protection of human rights.

               The organizations submitting this joint statement urge the
United Nations Human Rights Council to increase its focus on the
human rights impact of IFIs, including multilateral development banks,
 such as the World Bank.

         While the obligation for the protection of human rights lies with
the state, IFIs and their member states also have responsibilities to
ensure that activities they support do not cause, or contribute to, human
rights abuses by putting in place adequate safeguards. Many IFIs regard
human rights as a political issue for states, and refuse to accept that
they have, at a minimum, a responsibility to ensure respect for human
rights in the activities they support. This is despite the fact that many
IFIs are established and controlled by states, which have legal obligations
under international and regional (and, in many cases, national) law to
respect, protect and fulfill human rights. The UN Committee on Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights has consistently stated that the obligations of
states that are parties to the International Covenant on Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) extend to state action as part of
inter-governmental organizations, including international financial
institutions. In fact under the UN Charter and other instruments such as
the ICESCR, states have the obligation to act individually and jointly to
respect and defend human rights, including through international
cooperation and assistance.

               IFIs are large and powerful organizations, and the harm that
can result from their refusal to meet their human rights responsibilities
can be significant. Support provided without taking into account or
requiring adequate human rights protections can legitimise and foster
violations by states and abuses by non-state actors. This is an issue
that the UN Human Rights Council must not continue to ignore.

               All IFIs should implement human rights due diligence
 measures, including human rights impact assessments and human
rights safeguard policies, which are consistent with international
 human rights laws and standards. Due diligence should inform not only
 project design, but also project implementation and evaluation.
At the same time, IFIs and the activities they support should be
carefully monitored to assess their ongoing impact on human rights,
as well as the presence of effective procedures for ensuring
accountability for human rights violations.

               The impact of IFIs on human rights is a matter of global
concern.  In June 2012, during the Rio+20 Conference on Sustainable
Development, twenty-one special procedures mandate-holders stressed
 the need to ensure a unified accountability mechanism at the UN to
monitor progress in achieving the sustainable development goals from
a human rights viewpoint.[2] <#_ftn2>  Subsequently, in April 2013,
four special
procedures mandate-holders asked the World Bank to adopt human
rights standards within the review of its Environmental and Social
Safeguard Policies.[3] <#_ftn3>  Most recently, in June 2013, the Vienna+20
Conference on Human Rights called upon the UN and its stakeholders
to address the responsibility of international intergovernmental
organizations engaged in human rights violations.[4] <#_ftn4>

               Consequently, we are now urging the Human Rights Council
to take concerted and expeditious action to elaborate and reinforce the
human rights responsibilities of IFIs.  While the role of IFIs has been
addressed, to a limited degree, in international documents such as the
Millennium Declaration, the Declaration on the Right to Development
and the Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, greater focus
and clarity is required to ensure that IFIs respect and protect human
rights in their operations and are held accountable when they fail to do
 so..

               Important work, which can contribute to clarifying the human
 rights responsibilities of the World Bank and other multilateral
development banks, has already been completed.  For instance, the
2011 UN International Law Commission’s “*Draft Articles on
Responsibility of International Organizations*” confirms that
intergovernmental organizations, such as IFIs, are subjects of
international law, and as such they have international law obligations
that they must comply with.[5] <#_ftn5>  The Draft Articles also point out the
 international responsibility of both the organizations and the member
states concerned.[6] <#_ftn6>

               In addition, the 2012 “*Maastricht Principles on
Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the area of Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights*” articulate the human rights obligations of states
when acting jointly through an intergovernmental organization,[7] <#_ftn7> as
in the case of IFIs.  These Principles have been endorsed by many
 international law experts, including current and former members of
UN human rights treaty bodies, regional human rights bodies, and
 former and current independent experts of the UN Human Rights
Council.[8] <#_ftn8>

       It is important that the Human Rights Council’s authority
be brought to bear on these issues. The current global discourse around
the post-2015 development goals offers an important opportunity to
 ensure that global governance and sustainable development
increasingly incorporate a human rights law perspective. Post-2015
 development goals must also take into account the human rights
responsibilities of IFIs given their significant impact on development
 and potential for addressing poverty concerns. Accordingly, we urge
that a panel discussion on this issue be held at a future session of the
Council. The focus of the panel should be the connection between
IFIs’ activities and their responsibility to ensure that human rights are
respected and protected, and the options available to states and to the
Human Rights Council to address violations.  The objective would be
 to facilitate constructive dialogue on these issues.

------------------------------

[1] <#_ftnref1> Example: Serbia Gazela and Sava Bridges projects in Serbia.
Both projects funded by the European Investment Bank and the European Bank
for Reconstruction and Development

Sources. Serbia: Home is more than a roof over your head: Roma denied
adequate housing in Serbia
http://www.amnesty.org/en/library/info/EUR70/001/2011/en

Example: Chixoy Hydroelectric Power Project in Guatemala funded by the
World Bank and the Inter-American Development Bank

Sources: Inter-American Court of Human Rights’ ruling in the Rio Negro
Massacre (http://www.corteidh.or.cr/docs/casos/articulos/seriec_250_ing.pdf)
& Report assessing project impacts acknowledged by the banks (
http://adivima.org.gt/archivos/Informe%20de%20identificacion%20y%20verificacion%20%20aprobado%20-final-.pdf)

See also, Human Rights Watch, “Abuse-Free Development: How the World Bank
Should Safeguard Against Human Rights Violations”

[2] <#_ftnref2> *If Rio+20 Is To Deliver, Accountability Must Be At Its
Heart*, Open Letter from Special Procedures mandate-holders to

States negotiating the Outcome Document of the Rio+20 Summit (June 2012),

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/HRBodies/SP/Pages/OpenLetterRio20.aspx.

[3] <#_ftnref3> *UN Experts Urge World Bank to Adopt Human Rights Standards
on the Eve of Gathering in Washington*, Geneva, April 18, 2013,

http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=13248&LangID=E
.

[4] <#_ftnref4> See *Vienna **+20: A**dvancing the Protection of Human
Rights* outcome document (available at
http://www.cesr.org/downloads/Vienna20%20Outcome%20Document.pdf )
Recommendations
on *The Rule of Law: The Right to an Effective Remedy for Victims of Human
Rights Violations (a) Within the UN system* at p.3

[5] <#_ftnref5> U.N. Int’ L. Comm., *2011* *Draft Articles on the
Responsibility of International Organizations*, U.N. Doc. A/66/10 (2011).

[6] <#_ftnref6> *Ibid*., Art. 1(1) (asserting that the “articles apply to
the international responsibility of an international organization for an

internationally wrongful act”).  Art. 1(2) (stating that the articles “also
apply to the international responsibility of a State for an

internationally wrongful act in connection with the conduct of an
international organization”).

[7] <#_ftnref7> Maastricht Principles on Extraterritorial Obligations of
States in the area of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (Febr. 29,
2012),

http://www.fian.org/fileadmin/media/publications/2012.02.29_-_Maastricht_Principles_on_Extraterritorial_Obligations.pdf

[8] <#_ftnref8> Indian Law Resource Center, *Principles of International
Law for REDD+: The Rights of Indigenous Peoples and the Legal ***

*Obligations of REDD+ Actors* (May 2012),

http://www.indianlaw.org/sites/default/files/Indian%20Law%20Resource%20Center_REDD+%20Principles.pdf
.* *
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