UN expert denounces government crackdown on environmental protests

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The government's crackdown on the right to protest has had a "significant chilling effect" on civil society and the exercise of fundamental freedoms, the United Nations' special rapporteur said today. United Nations.

Michael Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental defenders, issued a statement following a two-day visit to the United Kingdom, where he observed first-hand the treatment of protesters under British law.

He said after meeting with lawyers, NGOs, climate activists and government officials, he issued a statement to “in light of the extremely worrying information” he had received regarding “the increasingly severe repression against environmental defenders in the United Kingdom, particularly in relation to the exercise of the right to peaceful protest”.

Environmentalists and human rights activists have protested against the series of anti-protest laws that have been introduced by the government in recent years

(PA Archive)

Mr. Forst condemned the government's use of widespread restrictions on peaceful protests, calling them "a matter of concern for any member of the British public wanting to take action to protect the climate or environment."

He stressed: “The right to peaceful protest is a fundamental human right. It is also an essential element of a healthy democracy.

“States have a duty to facilitate the right to protest, and private entities and society as a whole can be expected to accept a certain level of disruption following the exercise of this right. »

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The UN expert called for the protection of eco-activism, saying that “the environmental defenders act for the benefit of us all”

(Getty Images)

The UN special rapporteur also highlighted that the new rules imposed on defendants in a London court prevented them from explaining their motivations to the jury. In another court, peaceful protesters were barred from mentioning the climate crisis, fuel poverty or even the US civil rights movement in their statements.

“It is very difficult to understand this who could justify denying the jury the opportunity to hear the reason for the defendant's action and how a jury could reach an appropriate decision...