A Dangerous Business: The human cost of advocating against environmental degradation and land rights violations, took place at the University of London's Senate House, on 31 October 2011.
The discussion included issues of extractive industries and indigneous communities, land rights, tar sands, Free, Prior and Informed Consent, the UN Ruggie Framework and Guidelines on business and human rights, and the kinds of threats human rights defenders face as they defend environment and land.
The main points arising from the day's debate were then discussed in a roundtable meeting with government officials on 1 November. We hope that the outcome will be improved coordination and efficacy of protection measures for threatened environmental and land rights defenders and their advocates around the world.
See also this article by Jonathan Glennie published in the Guardian Development Blog on 4 November.
As these are long tracks, we have indicated the time references for the different speakers within each track.
Track 1: Introduction and opening speeches
Introduction by Sanjeev Roshi, trustee of PBI UK
02:15 Michael Mansfield QC
19:50 James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
Track 2: Panel 1 – Risks and protection needs of human rights defenders (HRDs) working on environmental degradation and land rights
Moderator: Jonathan Glennie, Overseas Development Institute
04:13 Padre Francisco Wilfrido Mayrén Peláez (Padre Uvi), Barca-DH (Mexico)
29:10 Jorge Molano, lawyer (Colombia)
01:07:02 Christine Jones, PBI Canada
01:17:37 Recap and questions from the floor
Track 3: Panel 2 - Case studies on the impact of multinational enterprises on indigenous and traditional farming communities and their advocates
Moderator: Mauricio Lazala, Business and Human Rights Resource Centre
03:53 Lucy Claridge, Minority Rights Group
14:55 Jon Samuel, Anglo American
27:07 Shanta Martin, Leigh Day & Co
42:13 Andy Whitmore, London Mining Network
54:58 Recap and questions from the floor
Track 4: Panel 3 - International mechanisms to protect HRDs working on environmental degradation and land rights
Moderator: Ingrid Gubbay (Hausfeld LLP)
00:00 Peter Frankental, Amnesty International
14:04 Tricia Feeney, RAID
24:55 Sheldon Leader, Essex Business & Human Rights Project
33:55 Andie Lambe, Global Witness
47:22 Recap and questions from the floor
Track 5: Panel 4 - Conclusions and ways forward
Moderator: Dr Julian Burger, Essex University Human Rights Centre
02:00 Kelly Davina Scott, Institute for Human Rights and Business
13:40 Constantino Casasbuenas, Oxfam
23:30 Fiona Darroch, Protimos
34:05 Tom Kennedy, FCO
45:52 Recap and questions from the floor
Track 6: Keynote speech and closing words
00:00 Nick Mathiason, Bureau of Investigative Journalism
25:55 James Anaya, UN Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples
40:10 Questions from the floor
[NB Apologies for occasional poor audio recording of questions.]
You can also see an archive of the tweets sent during and about the event on Twitter.
