[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 57 (Wednesday, March 29, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1058-S1059]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




   SENATE RESOLUTION 138--HIGHLIGHTING THE RISKS THAT ENVIRONMENTAL 
DEFENDERS FACE AROUND THE WORLD AND COMMENDING THEIR ROLE IN DEFENDING 
HUMAN RIGHTS, COMBATING CLIMATE CHAOS, AND SUPPORTING A CLEAN, HEALTHY, 
                      AND SUSTAINABLE ENVIRONMENT

  Mr. MERKLEY (for himself, Mr. Kaine, Mr. Booker, Mr. Whitehouse, Mr. 
Padilla, and Mr. Cardin) submitted the following resolution; which was 
referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations:

                              S. Res. 138

       Whereas, around the world, environmental defenders--
     individuals exercising their human rights to try to 
     peacefully protect an area or the natural resources of such 
     area from negative environmental impact by an ongoing or 
     proposed activity--face persecution from government, private 
     sector, and criminal actors, including restrictions on free 
     speech and assembly, criminalization, civil lawsuits, 
     surveillance, harassment, verbal, cyber, and physical 
     intimidation, sexual assault, and targeted murder;
       Whereas at least 1,733 environmental defenders have been 
     reported killed since 2012, with at least 200 killed in 2021;
       Whereas at least 1,179 environmental defenders have been 
     reported killed in Latin America and the Caribbean since 
     2012, making it the region with the highest number of 
     environmental defender deaths and persecution overall, 
     exemplified by the cases of--
       (1) Homero Gomez Gonzalez, who was forcibly disappeared and 
     found dead in Mexico with reported signs of torture after 
     fighting to protect the wintering grounds of the monarch 
     butterfly from illegal logging;
       (2) Bruno Pereira, an advocate for the Indigenous Peoples 
     of Brazil's Amazon, who received threats and was murdered for 
     standing up to illegal logging, mining, and drug trafficking;
       (3) Berta Caceres, a Lenca Indigenous woman, whose murder 
     was ordered by the Honduran company, Desarrollos Energeticos 
     SA, for organizing protests that led to the cancellation of 
     the proposed Agua Zarca Dam; and

[[Page S1059]]

       (4) the Q'eqchi Mayan Indigenous community, which faces 
     defamation, violent evictions, harassment, and assault by the 
     Guatemalan National Civil Police Force for peacefully 
     protesting the operations of the Fenix mine and growth of 
     palm plantations on their territory;
       Whereas at least 427 environmental defenders have been 
     reported killed in Asia since 2012, and governments in the 
     region have also targeted environmental defenders in other 
     manners, including--
       (1) the Government of Vietnam, which has sought to silence 
     environmental activist Dang Dinh Bach through imprisonment;
       (2) the Government of the Philippines, which has enacted 
     red-tagging campaigns to turn public sentiment against 
     organizations like the Kalikasan People's Network for the 
     Environment; and
       (3) the Government of the People's Republic of China, which 
     has falsely charged environmental activists Li Genshan, Zhang 
     Baoqi, and Niu Haibo for illegally hunting or killing 
     wildlife;
       Whereas the Government of Egypt hosted the 27th Conference 
     of Parties (COP) of the United Nations Framework Convention 
     on Climate Change, while government security forces held 
     environmental activists Ahmed Amasha and Seif Fateen in 
     extended, arbitrary pretrial detention for joining a 
     terrorist group after forcibly disappearing and torturing 
     them for exercising their rights to free expression;
       Whereas Ali Ulvi Buyuknohutcu and Aysin Buyuknohutcu of 
     Turkiye won lawsuits against mining companies who illegally 
     operated pollution-creating quarries, but were shot and 
     killed by gunmen with alleged ties to those companies;
       Whereas fossil fuel companies, mining operations, 
     agribusiness plantations, and mega dams are major causes of 
     environmental destruction and are also being used to drive 
     communities from their homes and their lands;
       Whereas rampant corruption and weak rule of law enables 
     those targeting environmental defenders to operate with 
     impunity; and
       Whereas civil society is, and should be, a powerful voice 
     for individuals experiencing and at risk from the effects of 
     worsening climate chaos, including Indigenous Peoples whose 
     ancestral rights, lives, traditional lands, and cultural 
     practices are disproportionately threatened by climate chaos: 
     Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) commends and expresses solidarity with environmental 
     defenders as crucial members of civil society who defend both 
     human rights and the environment and play a crucial role in 
     tackling climate chaos;
       (2) strongly condemns the targeting, harassment, and 
     unlawful detention of any individual or group for exercising 
     their rights of free association and expression, including 
     advocacy on environmental matters, reporting and seeking 
     information on environmental violations and abuses, or 
     cooperation with local, regional, national, or international 
     mechanisms;
       (3) welcomes the relevant principles of the Rio Declaration 
     on Environment and Development, done at Rio de Janeiro 1992, 
     and United Nations Human Rights Council Resolution A/HRC/RES/
     40/11 (2019) as global advancements in recognizing the 
     crucial role that environmental defenders play as human 
     rights defenders;
       (4) welcomes the relevant principles of United Nations 
     General Assembly Resolution A/RES/76/300 (2022) as advancing 
     the global conversation towards the importance of a clean, 
     healthy, and sustainable environment as an international 
     human right;
       (5) welcomes the United States Government's assertion 
     during its time as Summit Chair of the Ninth Summit of the 
     Americas that environmental defenders should not be denied 
     access to basic environmental information, public 
     participation in proposed projects that would affect their 
     communities, or justice as they seek legal redress from 
     government authorities;
       (6) urges the United States Government to consult and 
     cooperate in good faith with Indigenous Peoples who are 
     concerned with the environment in order to obtain the free, 
     prior, and informed consent of such Indigenous Peoples, 
     without coercion, prior to the approval of any project 
     affecting the lands, territories, religious practices, or 
     other natural and cultural resources of such Indigenous 
     Peoples;
       (7) welcomes the work of the Department of State-led 
     Interagency Working Group, which invites more than 1000 
     officials across more than 20 Federal agencies, to reduce 
     violence against environmental defenders and to properly 
     monitor and address the expanding nature and cases of 
     persecution against environmental defenders;
       (8) calls for the President to prioritize the global 
     leadership of the United States in tackling reprisals against 
     environmental defenders through a whole-of-government 
     approach in collaboration with foreign governments, 
     multilateral organizations, and civil society organizations;
       (9) urges the Department of State to integrate concerns 
     about environmental defenders in all appropriate engagements 
     to exert diplomatic pressure and speak out publicly in 
     countries where environmental defenders are at risk;
       (10) requests that the Department of State establish a 
     position focused on environmental defenders within the Bureau 
     of Democracy, Human Rights, and Labor;
       (11) requests that the United States Agency for 
     International Development prioritize the finalization of an 
     independent accountability mechanism and the establishment of 
     a position to integrate protection of environmental defenders 
     across broader environmental, economic growth, and human 
     rights and democracy programming in order to better achieve 
     its 2022-2030 Climate Strategy, which seeks to promote a safe 
     and secure political environment at all levels of governance 
     for Indigenous Peoples, human rights and environmental 
     defenders, and local communities to participate in climate 
     actions and the protection of civil society and environmental 
     defenders, including land and resource rights for effective 
     climate outcomes;
       (12) encourages the United States International Development 
     Finance Corporation to improve transparency through its 
     independent accountability mechanism, conduct due diligence 
     with partners, and engage in local consultation processes 
     based on free, prior, and informed consent;
       (13) encourages the United States Government to use its 
     voice and vote within international financial institutions to 
     ensure that United States taxpayer dollars do not support 
     individuals, foreign governments, or private sector entities 
     that adversely affect the environment or target or expose to 
     harm persons who speak out against such individuals and 
     entities;
       (14) encourages the United States to use its leadership in 
     the United Nations Human Rights Council to ensure that the 
     intergovernmental working group on transnational corporations 
     and other business enterprises with respect to human rights 
     that was adopted by United Nations Human Rights Council 
     Resolution A/HRC/RES/26/9 (2014), creates an internationally 
     legally binding instrument that supports and protects human 
     rights defenders, including environmental defenders;
       (15) calls for responsible conduct of United States 
     companies, financial institutions, and investors in relation 
     to the freedoms and rights of Indigenous communities and 
     other environmental defenders, particularly in the 
     agribusiness, fossil fuel, mining, and hydroelectricity 
     sectors; and
       (16) calls for the United States to use its influence as a 
     member of the Parties to the United Nations Framework 
     Convention on Climate Change to push for the Conference of 
     Parties to only take place in countries that have and 
     actively encourage a thriving civil society and have taken 
     concrete actions to tackle climate chaos, which stands in 
     contrast to the selection of Egypt and the United Arab 
     Emirates who were selected as hosts in 2022 and 2023, 
     respectively.

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