Climate change protester shot in Europe: UN expert

Michel Forst, the UN special rapporteur on environmental activists, told AFP in an interview this week that he was deeply troubled by the hardening of attitudes towards climate change activists in countries such as France, Austria, Germany and the UK. Ta.

He claimed that government ministers were overusing terms such as “eco-terrorists” and “green Taliban” to describe non-violent activists, and that some media reports were pointing to hostile public attitudes. He accused them of becoming more and more aggressive.

“It has a kind of chilling effect,” warned Forst, an independent expert appointed under the United Nations’ legally binding Aarhus Convention governing justice in environmental matters.

“The right to protest is currently at risk in Europe.”

Forst said he had recently visited several European countries following complaints that activists were facing treatment that he said violated treaties and international human rights law.

After a visit to the UK, he publicly warned against “harmful rhetoric” and “increasing repression” against environmental defenders.

Mr Foust said ‘regressive legislation’ is being used in the UK to impose harsh penalties on climate change activists, with one activist jailed for six months for 30 minutes of slow marching that obstructed traffic. accused.

Another activist was sentenced to 27 months in prison in the UK, he said.

He also condemned harsh sentences in other countries, including Germany.

Forst traveled to France last month following complaints about the crackdown on ongoing anti-highway protests near the southwestern city of Toulouse.

Activists known as “Squirrels” continue to squat on trees destined to be cut down to make way for the A69 motorway, with law enforcement denying them access to food and water and using floodlights to prevent them from sleeping. They are accusing the government of stealing people’s lives.

Forst, who had been prevented from bringing in food by activists, said she was “shocked” by what she discovered.

“Deprivation of food, drinking water and sleep is a clear violation of international law,” said Forst, a French national.

These “are considered acts of torture in international instruments,” he added.

Forst said European media coverage often focuses only on the drama surrounding the demonstrations, and not on the climate crisis that sparked them.

The world is in a very “dangerous time,” but the public often doesn’t understand why young people are “blocking access to airports and sticking their hands to the floor.” he said.

As a result, states feel justified in enacting new policies and laws, paving the way for increased police enforcement and harsher penalties.

In Britain, he said, some judges have even barred environmental activists from using the word “climate” when explaining their motives to jurors.

Fost said he was looking into whether large companies, particularly in the oil and energy sector, may be lobbying for more pressure on climate change activists.

The “most dangerous” companies “used their connections with security forces and the mafia to target and sometimes even kill defenders,” he said.

Fost said he is currently consulting with environmental activists facing corporate attacks in Latin America and Africa.

He is also investigating whether European-based companies are involved in attacks on activists through local subsidiaries.

The experts accused European countries of a “double standard” of supporting environmentalists in other parts of the world but “failing to protect their own conservationists within Europe.”

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