Michel Forst, UN Special Rapporteur on Environmental Defenders under the Aarhus Convention, visited Cyprus this week on a mission to inform about the new mechanism to protect environmental defenders.
Forst was on the island at the invitation of the Minister of Agriculture, Rural Development and Environment, Dr Maria Panayiotou. In an interview with CNA he said that their aim was to provide a safe and enabling environment for defenders.
Speaking to CNA, he talked about the role of his mandate, noting that the Aurus Convention has been adopted by 46 states plus the EU and deals with three pillars, the first access to information, the state’s obligation to provide information on new project developed by the country, the second pillar is public participation which means that the public which is concerned by a project, like a development, needs to be consulted, and has the right to say no and the third pillar is access to justice, and when the first two pillars are not respected, then citizens have access to jus
tice and reparation.
Asked what kind of action does his office take to protect environmental defenders, Forst said this is a very new position created by the states in 2021 with appointments in 2022 and the mandate is ‘to protect environmental defenders. Because in many countries they are at risk, facing many forms of reprisals by the media, sometime the government, security forces or companies, so my role is to take immediate action to protect them wherever I can,’ he noted.
‘They will send me a complain explaining why they are feeling unsafe and then my team will investigate the complaint and then will send a letter to the government, asking the government to address the situation’, he explained.
After that, he meets with the government to discuss what actions can be taken. ‘My action is confidential, it is not public, and even the victim doesn’t know that action has been taken. And after 60 days my letter and the response of the states or company is being posted on the website of the government’, he add
ed.
Forst noted that the complaint ‘becomes public and raises awareness and as the convention is a legally binding instrument, the state has an obligation but to fulfil the recommendations’.
To a question if recommendations are challenged, he replied in the negative, adding that ‘in fact my role is to engage with the government and to find a solution and not simply to send letters but to discuss with government or company and find a solution. If they do not want to comply then there are a lot of internal discussions which another committee will take over. If the states fail to comply, then they could be facing in return problems like diplomatic issues’, he noted, adding this will not be well perceived to be seen as being one of the countries that doesn’t fulfil all the requirements of the convention.
Already he has received some complaints coming from different countries including EU countries. Forst remarked that his mandate applies when a company has its headquarters in one of the countries which is part
of the convention, and then the environmental defenders can seek protection.
He has also visited many countries and countries which are not part of the EU, like Switzerland and Norway. ‘The idea was to try and explain the mandate, to seek political backing, support from the government,’ he noted.
Regarding his visit to Cyprus, he said he was officially invited by the Minister of Agriculture “to discuss with the government and with as many defenders as possible and to come back on how to address better the situation’.
Asked if he considers Cyprus as a country which needs help from his office, Forst replied ‘of course, Cyprus would need the support and help of defenders’.
The UN Rapporteur said he met with a lot of organisations, with individuals and even families that came to him, ‘explaining the situation, what they are doing to protect areas, sometimes facing difficult situations’.
Public participation, he said, is also an issue in Cyprus that he needs to address with the government to see what can be d
one to improve the situation of defenders in Cyprus.
Invited to say what is the message he takes from Cyprus after his contacts, Forst said he had ‘very good meetings with different Ministers and they all told me they want to improve their record’.
Many people in Cyprus do not know the convention, said Forst, ‘and do not know how to approach the mandate, don’t know how to approach the compliance committee so there is a message of trust between the government of Cyprus and myself to do better to protect defenders and they told me they will try to discuss with myself and my team how to provide a safe and enabling environment for defenders without facing repression from anyone’.
He said he was very impressed by ‘the vibrant civil society in Cyprus. Many young people have decided to fight for to protect the environment, different areas to protect the biodiversity as well, and is very impressive what they are doing, so my goal is also to listen to their testimonies and respond to any claim or complain they have
and see if after my visit some of them will decide to send me a complain then I will engage with the government to address the situation,’ he added.
Source:Cyprus News Agency