April, 25 2022, 11:19am EDT
Fishing Community That Took on World Bank Group Immunity Continues Quest for Justice
Landmark corporate accountability case resulted in critical reforms for the World Bank’s
lending arm.
WASHINGTON
Today, the U.S. Supreme Court denied a petition from a fishing community in India whose livelihoods have been destroyed by a coal-fired power plant funded by the International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private lending arm of the World Bank. The Plaintiffs had asked the Court to review a decision by the D.C. Circuit Court of Appeals that had dismissed the claims, finding that they had not shown they satisfied the "commercial activity" exception to immunity. The Plaintiffs are represented by EarthRights International.
"While we are disappointed with this decision, it does not mean IFC is innocent," said Bharat Patel of Machimar Adhikar Sangharsh Sangathan (Association for the Struggle for Fisherworkers' Rights-MASS), one of the Plaintiffs in the case. "IFC has never denied its role in the harms alleged in this case, and no court has ever held that IFC is not responsible for those harms. The IFC's own accountability mechanism has repeatedly called for IFC to remedy the harms in this case. But because IFC refused, the communities were left with no choice but to file suit."
This landmark case, Budha Ismail Jam, et al v. IFC, marked the first time that communities injured by an IFC-financed project took the institution to court. In 2015, Plaintiffs sued the IFC in federal court in Washington, D.C., challenging the IFC's claim that it has "absolute" immunity from suit in U.S. courts. That issue went to the U.S. Supreme Court, resulting in a historic decision in 2019, holding that international organizations like the IFC and World Bank Group can be sued in U.S. courts, where established exceptions to the immunity enjoyed by foreign nations apply.
Following that decision, the Plaintiffs argued their claims could proceed under the "commercial activity" exception to immunity. The lower courts ruled, however, that because the IFC's borrower acted in India, IFC could not be sued in the U.S. in this case. The Plaintiffs in seeking Supreme Court review argued that the decision was at odds with significant legal precedent and wrongly decided.
"This has been a David and Goliath battle," added Joe Athialy of the Centre for Financial Accountability in India, which has long supported the Mundra communities. "This fight resulted in a significant change in the law. While the Court's latest decision is disappointing, it does not mean IFC can rest easy. To avoid future suits in U.S. courts and in other countries, the IFC would be wise to listen to its accountability mechanism."
The construction and operation of the 4,150MW Tatra Munda power plant along the Gujarat coast destroyed the natural resources that generations of local families have relied on for their livelihoods and threatens their health. The IFC's own accountability mechanism has sharply criticized IFC for its role in the project, finding it violated its environmental and social safeguards and the conditions of the loan agreement at virtually every stage and urged the IFC to remedy the harms in the case. IFC chose to ignore it.
"IFC has made it clear that its word is meaningless," said plaintiff Budha Ismail Jam. "During this case, IFC argued that its environmental and social safeguards and the promises it makes to communities to protect them from harm are not serious commitments and that communities like ours can do nothing when IFC breaks those promises. Why would any community ever trust IFC after this? Our experience and our struggle should serve as a warning to others."
"This case remains a black stain on IFC's reputation as a supposed development organization," said Marco Simons, general counsel of EarthRights. "Far from reducing poverty, IFC's actions left these communities worse off. The IFC still has a legal and moral obligation to address the harms inflicted by this plant."
The IFC announced a series of reforms in recent years, prompted in part by this lawsuit. These include changes to how it conducts environmental and social reviews and the functioning of the CAO, its own internal accountability mechanism. These are important but remain insufficient as they fail to address past harm.
"IFC can still do right by these communities. Its credibility depends on it," added Simons. "Despite today's outcome, our clients have sent a clear message that institutions like the IFC are not, as they once believed, above the law. Other communities may follow suit if IFC is not careful. In the meantime, our clients will continue to fight for justice. They don't have the luxury of giving up."
Learn more about the case here.
EarthRights International (ERI) is a nongovernmental, nonprofit organization that combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment, which we define as "earth rights." We specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training grassroots and community leaders, and advocacy campaigns. Through these strategies, EarthRights International seeks to end earth rights abuses, to provide real solutions for real people, and to promote and protect human rights and the environment in the communities where we work.
LATEST NEWS
Amid Israeli Bombs, Bullets, and Blockade, Gazans Now Face Suffocating Heat
"The tent feels like it's on fire," said one young refugee mother. "It's so hot you can't bear it, especially with young children."
Apr 26, 2024
Just a few months ago, Palestinian children exposed to the elements amid Israel's genocidal assault on of Gaza were dying of hypothermia. Now they're facing potentially deadly heat as temperatures soar to over 100°F in the embattled strip, where hundreds of thousands of forcibly displaced people are sweltering in tents and other makeshift shelters.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) warned Friday that "unexpected blistering temperatures across Gaza have added to the daily misery faced by the enclave's people and sparked new fears of disease outbreaks amid a lack of sufficient clean water and waste disposal."
"It is so hard. It's a heat that I can't describe."
Although there was a repsite Friday, temperatures in Gaza have soared as high as 108°F in recent days, and it's not even May yet. During the hotter summer months, the mercury can soar to over 120°F. Even with air conditioning and refrigeration during less trying times, Gazans often struggled with the summertime heat.
Now those luxuries are gone, replaced by suffocating heat, privation, and the ever-present threat of death or injury from Israeli bombs and bullets as the approximately 1.5 million people sheltering in Rafah brace for an impending invasion.
Many refugees are sheltering in structures made from heat-trapping agricultural greenhouses.
"The tent feels like it's on fire," Maryam Arafat, a young mother of three, toldThe New York Times earlier this week as her infant daughter screamed in discomfort. "It's so hot you can't bear it, especially with young children."
Gaza City refugee Mustafa Radwan told U.N. News that "it is like living in a greenhouse, no one can tolerate living inside."
Arafat and Radwan are but two of the approximately 2 million Palestinians forced from their homes by Israel's relentless bombardment and invasion of Gaza following the October 7 attacks.
Day after day, refugees are forced to wait in long lines for water and other necessities. Safe drinking water is particularly hard to find. Ice is nonexistent.
"Everything is a queue, everything is suffering in displacement," lamented Radwan.
Arafat said: "Everything has become difficult in this world. There is no water."
The scorching heat only adds to the misery. So do recent decisions—trees that were chopped down in the cold months for heating and cooking fuel are no longer there to provide shade as spring marches into summer.
Warmer temperatures also bring insects, some of which carry diseases.
"We can't sit outside and we can't sit inside the tent," Fadwa Abu Waqfa, another mother of three living in a tent in Rafah, told the Times. "It is so hard. It's a heat that I can't describe."
Dr. Ahmed Hanouda, director of a pop-up clinic in the Mawasi area of the devastated southern city of Khan Younis, told U.N. Newsthat "with the onset of summer, difficulties increase from water scarcity and overcrowding, leading to the spread of infectious diseases, skin sensitivities, lice, and other illnesses."
"We are, of course, trying to address these problems and provide services to the displaced people under these challenging circumstances based on the available resources," Hanouda added. "We look forward to offering better services and providing better facilities in the coming days."
Keep ReadingShow Less
House Progressives Blast Attempts to Discredit Pro-Gaza Campus Protests
Rep. Ayanna Pressley condemned "misinformation that aims to undermine this movement, outside agitators that detract from peaceful solidarity actions, and the aggressive response by law enforcement."
Apr 26, 2024
Progressives in Congress this week have joined professors and Holocaust survivors in supporting peaceful student protests against the U.S.-backed Israeli assault of the Gaza Strip as the demonstrators have been demonized by the White House, Democratic and Republican political leaders, police, administrators, and the corporate media.
"Peaceful protest is a central tenet of our democracy and students standing for justice have often been a catalyst for much-needed change," Rep. Ayanna Pressleysaid Friday. "From the 1960s Civil Rights Movement, the Vietnam War protests, the struggle for gender equality, and the movement for Black lives, to the global movement for peace in Israel and Palestine, many of the rights we tout today were earned thanks to the sweat equity of students demonstrating on college campuses across the nation."
Already, hundreds of students and faculty have been arrested for protesting at dozens of U.S. college and university campuses.
Pressley, who supports a cease-fire in Gaza, stressed that "every student, regardless of background or faith, has a right to feel safe and show up in the world without fear or discrimination—and we must ensure that those exercising their right to free speech are met with dignity and respect, not criminalization."
"We cannot lose sight of the horrific injustices that Palestinians in Gaza are facing."
"That is why I am deeply concerned about misinformation that aims to undermine this movement, outside agitators that detract from peaceful solidarity actions, and the aggressive response by law enforcement to students peacefully protesting across the country," Pressley said. "The National Guard or riot police should not be called in response to students' peaceful freedom of expression."
"I am grateful to students nationwide and across the Massachusetts 7th—at Emerson, Northeastern, MIT, Tufts, Boston University, Harvard, and more—who are raising their voices and putting their bodies on the line to press for action to save lives in Gaza," she added. "That is what this movement is about. We cannot lose sight of the horrific injustices that Palestinians in Gaza are facing and I am proud to stand in solidarity with peaceful protestors."
Since October, Israeli forces have
killed at least 34,356 Palestinians, wounded another 77,368, and displaced around 90% of the besieged enclave's 2.3 million people. Thousands more remain missing in the rubble of devastated civilian infrastructure. The International Court of Justice has deemed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's war—fueled by U.S. weapons and diplomatic support—plausibly genocidal.
Rep. Ilhan Omar's (D-Minn.) daughter Isra Hirsi was suspended from Columbia University's Barnard College earlier this month for "standing in solidarity with Palestinians facing a genocide." Omar—a war refugee and longtime critic of the Israeli government—has not only grilled the Ivy League school's president at a congressional hearing but also attended the ongoing demonstration.
"I had the honor of seeing the Columbia University anti-war encampment firsthand," Omar said Thursday. "Contrary to right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza. I'm in awe of their bravery and courage."
I had the honor of seeing the Columbia University anti-war encampment firsthand.
Contrary to right-wing attacks, these students are joyfully protesting for peace and an end to the genocide taking place in Gaza.
I’m in awe of their bravery and courage. pic.twitter.com/yC6hcBMwCP
— Ilhan Omar (@IlhanMN) April 25, 2024
Omar is a frequent target of right-wing attacks, which she has faced in the past for being outspoken on foreign policy issues and this month for supporting student anti-war protesters.
House Majority Whip Tom Emmer (R-Minn.) claimed that "Omar's pro-Hamas rhetoric solidifies the Democrat Party as the pro-terrorist party."
Responding to Emmer, Rep. Jamaal Bowman (D-N.Y.) said that "this rampant Islamophobia is unacceptable. My sister Ilhan Omar is standing up with the students peacefully demanding a cease-fire to end the bombing, starving, and killing of Palestinian people. No amount of hatred is going to stop this movement for peace."
Bowman—who faces a primary challenger backed by the American Israel Public Affairs Committee—has also slammed House Speaker Mike Johnson's (R-La.) trip to Columbia and law enforcement's crackdown against students.
"As an educator who personally experienced the overpolicing of our schools, this is personal to me," Bowman said. "We must resist right-wing demagoguery and stop suppressing peaceful protest if we are to keep students safe."
Both Bowman and Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-N.Y.) visited the Columbia encampment on Friday. The congresswoman has also publicly
challenged comments from New York Police Department of Patrol John Chell and taken aim at "vulnerable N.Y. Republicans in tight seats" who have gone to campus to condemn the nationwide demonstrations.
"They have played a key role drumming up pressure to crack down on students and asymmetrically police Palestinian human rights speech," Ocasio-Cortez said of her Republican colleagues. "Those campus hearings? GOP-led. They need to lose."
Police violence against students and professors has been on display across the country. A day after state troopers descended on a demonstration at the University of Texas at Austin, Rep. Greg Casar (D-Texas) addressed protesters, noting the decades of protests at the campus.
"We need a cease-fire now in Gaza. And it is up to us to live that out here today," Casar said, with the crowd echoing his speech line by line. "My message to the university is clear: Students and faculty are not the enemy. Students and faculty are the university. We are the university. This is our democracy. And we are going to save it, here and for the world."
"I am so proud of each and every one of you. Because you have raised your voices, Austin is the largest city in this country where your entire Democratic delegation voted 'no' on sending more weapons to Netanyahu," he noted, eliciting cheers. "There are millions more lives at stake and your continued organizing is the only way we can stop being complicit in this killing and instead get to saving our shared humanity. Solidarity forever."
After defeating a primary challenger backed by a billionaire Republican megadonor and Netanyahu ally earlier this week, Rep. Summer Lee (D-Pa.) on Thursday addressed the University of Pittsburgh's encampment.
"While Netanyahu compares students on campuses like Pitt—including Jewish students—protesting peacefully against genocide to Nazis and attempts to define the limits of our free speech and assembly, it's worth noting that there are no universities left in Gaza from Israeli and U.S. bombs," Lee said in a social media post about her speech.
"We must always confront and root out antisemitism anywhere it appears, and not let the white nationalist GOP be the arbiters or weaponizers of it," she continued. "Students engaging in the time-honored tradition of activism and civil disobedience is a crucial right we must all protect."
Rep Summer Lee @RepSummerLee drops by the University of Pittsburgh’s Palestine encampment to support and give propers to the students leading the fight for Pitt to divest from the occupation as part of the broader student movement that erupted across the US. 🇵🇸✊🏼 pic.twitter.com/KFeTNX138G
— Abdelrahman ElGendy (@El_Gendy_95) April 25, 2024
As
Common Dreamsreported Thursday, Jewish Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.)—who lost family members to the Holocaust—also pushed back against Netanyahu's mischaracterization of U.S. campus protests, asserting, "It is not antisemitic to hold you accountable for your actions."
Others who have spoken out this week include Rep. Hank Johnson (D-Ga.), who denounced Republican Gov. Brian Kemp's decision to deploy the Georgia State Patrol at Emory University, saying the officers have "no place on the college campus. And neither do outside agitators who seek to usurp the peaceful protests against the Netanyahu government's killing of tens of thousands of innocent Gazans by giving life to a false narrative that the protest movement is violent and antisemitic."
Drawing on her own experiences with the Black Lives Matter movement, Rep. Cori Bush (D-Mo.) said that "as a Ferguson activist, I know what it's like to have agitators infiltrate our movement, manipulate the press, and fuel the suppression of dissent by public officials and law enforcement. We must reject these tactics to silence anti-war activists demanding divestment from genocide."
Rep. Delia Ramirez (D-Ill.) declared that "the rights to peaceful assembly and to express dissent are constitutional freedoms. Criminalizing young people who are using their voices to call for peace is not only harmful; it endangers the well-being of the students and the health of our multiracial, multicultural democracy. Resisting war and standing up for peace are not a crime."
Keep ReadingShow Less
Alabama House Passes Bill That Could Be 'Used to Arrest Librarians'
"I feel like this is a violation of the First Amendment, and it's easily going to be abused," one Democratic lawmaker said.
Apr 26, 2024
The Alabama House of Representatives voted 72-28 on Thursday in favor of a bill that would apply the state's criminal obscenity laws to public libraries, public school libraries, and the people who work there.
Critics, including the Alabama Library Association, have warned that the bill could see librarians jailed and argued that it violates the First Amendment.
"This is a pig," Rep. Chris England (D-70), said during the debate, as AL.com reported. "It is a bad bill, and when you attempt to take what is normally non-criminal conduct and make it criminal, you bend yourself into ways that potentially not only violate the Constitution but potentially subject somebody to an illegal arrest with no due process."
"Why are they coming into libraries or thinking that they can come in and run the place better than us as professionals?"
House Bill 385 would allow anyone to write a letter to a school district superintendent or head librarian claiming a book is obscene. The Montgomery Advertiser explained further:
The library would be required to remove the materials within seven days of receiving the required written notice. Failure to remove said materials would result in a Class C misdemeanor upon the first offense, a Class B misdemeanor upon the second offense, and a Class A misdemeanor after the third and beyond. They may challenge the claim during the seven-day period.
In Alabama, a Class C misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of three months in jail and fee of $500. The maximum sentence for a Class B misdemeanor is six months of jail time and a $3,000 fee, while a Class A misdemeanor carries a maximum sentence of one year in jail and a $6,000 fee.
The bill also adds to the definition of the "sexual conduct" minors must be protected from to include "any sexual or gender-oriented material that knowingly exposes minors to persons who are dressed in sexually revealing, exaggerated, or provocative clothing or costumes, or are stripping, or engaged in lewd or lascivious dancing, presentations, or activities in K-12 public schools, public libraries, and other public places where minors are expected and are known to be present without parental consent."
During the debate, England warned, "This process will be manipulated and used to arrest librarians that you don't like, and not because they did anything criminal. It's because you disagree with them," as The Associated Press reported.
Rep. Mary Moore (D-59) warned that the description of sexual conduct was loose enough that it could apply to students dressed up for prom, according to AL.com.
"Some of them would be under the jail because of this," Moore said.
Rep. Neil Rafferty (D-54) also expressed concerns that the language could apply to people in Halloween costumes or wearing summer clothing.
"I feel like this is a violation of the First Amendment, and it's easily going to be abused," he said, according to AP.
Rep. Barbara Drummond (D-103) said the bill was "putting lipstick on a pig," and added that the government "can't legislate morality," and that it would prevent children from "having an open mind," AL.com reported.
The bill comes amid increased politicization of libraries and attempts to ban books, especially in Republican-led states.
In Alabama, the legislature is also considering making $6.6 million in public library funding dependent on whether a library relocates materials deemed inappropriate for children, AL.com reported further. Nationwide, PEN America found that the total number of book bans in schools and libraries during just the first half of the 2023-2024 school year was greater than all the titles banned in 2022-2023, and that number had already jumped by 33% from the school year before.
The bill applying obscenity laws to libraries now heads to the Senate, but Alabama Library Association president Craig Scott told AP the state should expect to lose "lawsuit after lawsuit" if it becomes law.
"Why are they coming into libraries or thinking that they can come in and run the place better than us as professionals?" Scott asked.
Keep ReadingShow Less
Most Popular