Humphrey Fellows
 

The Role of Governments in a Changing World: Implementing Human Rights, Environmental Protection, and Government Transparency 

International law regulates a growing number of common values of humanity, such as human rights, environmental protection, and the fight against corruption. These values are the result of a wide international consensus, and influence the conduct of those states that are not entirely in compliance with them. Four of AUWCL’s Humphrey Fellows discussed on March 11, 2020 the role governments play in implementing these common values around the world. The discussion was titled “The Role of Government in a Changing World: Perspectives from Brazil, China, Serbia, and Thailand.” The discussion’s moderator Professor Padideh Ala’i, Director of AUWCL’s Humphrey Fellows program, asked the fellows Jiangang Chen, Suphawatchara Malanond, Nikola Mladenovic, and Luis Artur Saraiva, how governments react to an increasingly global world, where human rights violations, environmental degradation, corruption, and the curtailment of freedom of speech become global challenges.

Mr. Jiangang Chen, a human rights attorney from China, advocates for other human rights defenders in China, where the vast majority of licensed attorneys are employed by—and thus under constant surveillance of—the Communist Party government. These attorneys frequently have little to no choice than to follow the Party’s line of thought, rather than defending the legitimate interests of the citizens and clients. Attorneys not directly employed by the Communist Party are subject to intense scrutiny, including surveillance and suppression. If these attorneys are able to even take their case to a court of law, they often find their cases immediately dismissed by judges or other officials, who are appointed solely by the government. Mr. Chen, once himself subject to government surveillance for his human rights work, is now a vocal activist against the Communist Party regime, and hopes to one day achieve fair and equal representation for Chinese citizens, free from the iron ruling of the Communist Party.

Mr. Suphawatchara Malanond, former Dean and Professor of Law at Prince of Songkla University (PSU) in Thailand, analyzed the global response to the “fake news” phenomenon and the tension with the freedom of speech principle. In many countries, the use of fake news for propaganda or manipulation purposes can result in various punishments, ranging from fines to imprisonment. Mr. Malanond gave the example of his home country, Thailand, which addresses fake news in recent legislation put forth by the government. This legislation imposes fines, notice and take down measures, and even jail time on citizens or businesses who take part in fake news, depending on the “severity” of the offense. In addition, some countries have increasingly used social media manipulation campaigns over the last two years. Authoritarian regimes in particular take advantage of this tactic regularly, such as Russia, Turkey, Thailand, Eritrea, and Iran. Mr. Malanond commented on the dangers of censorship against these fake news campaigns, as it is not always clear where the limits are between legitimate free speech and manipulative campaigns.

Mr. Nikola Mladenovic, an Independent Advisor at the Serbian Anti-Corruption Agency, offered a unique and personal perspective to the problem of corruption and the potential solutions to address its prevalence in governments. Corruption can take many forms within governments, including bribery, extortion, cronyism, and embezzlement, among others. While corruption is particularly prevalent in developing countries as many have yet to establish a democratic political system based on the rule of law, Mr. Mladenovic recognized that developed countries are also not free from corruption. He called for greater citizen involvement in the denunciation of corruption.

Mr. Luis Artur Saraiva, Legal Advisor at the Court of Justice of the State of Para in Brazil, addressed the role that governments may play in the preservation of the world’s ecosystems. He referred to the Amazon rainforest, of which the majority of its 1.4 billion acres are located in Brazil. Because of its importance as the greatest biodiversity in the world, the defense of the Amazon rainforest and the environment as a whole goes hand in hand with economic development in the Brazilian Constitution. Over the past century, Brazilian government officials have had to make a choice: protect the Amazon or exploit it for economic gain. Most communities that live inside the Amazon face difficult conditions of life and are often vulnerable and marginalized. For instance, UNICEF has labeled the Amazonian region one of the worst places on Earth to raise a child, based on negative social indicators such as a high child mortality rate, high rate of social inequality, and poor results of economic development. Mr. Saraiva put emphasis on the consumer as a powerful ally in pressuring retailers into doing the right thing, which would be to pay attention to where the products come from and shop for items that support their local communities, not exploit them. He thus defended a model by which the government coordinates the dialectic realization of citizens’ and companies’ interests, while itself remaining neutral as to a specific position on how much the Amazon should be impacted by economic activity.

In conclusion, the various panels expressed the tension that exists between the individual freedoms and the need to protect the common values of the international community. In each case of human rights violations, environmental degradation and lack of governmental transparency the public authorities have to balance the interests at stake and choose between a hands-off approach and let the private interests play out, or a more proactive approach that directly intervenes into the people’s affairs.

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