4017 Human Rights and Environmental Justice
UU Migrant Ministry

On Sunday, June 24, the Reverend William Schulz, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA, discussed the joining together of the Sierra Club and Amnesty International. According to Schulz this merger was a natural extension of the work that these two organizations have been doing. The program started with a video presentation entitled "Defend the Defenders." This moving video described the assaults against those individuals who stood up for the protection of the environment. It eloquently described the huge personal risks that a single individual takes by bearing witness to the ways in which our environment is being degraded and destroyed. While environmental activists like Wangari Maathai have been arrested and beaten, others, like Ken Saro-Wiwa of Nigeria, have been formally executed and still others, like Chico Mendes of Brazil, have been murdered for their activism.

Rev. William Schulz Many basic freedoms that Americans take for granted are, unfortunately, not universal. Environmentally concerned citizens are not only threatened by their own governments; some multinational corporations have pressured nations in desperate need of foreign investment to compete for their business by reducing environmental and labor standards. Indigenous peoples in some countries face extinction because the environment from which they derive their livelihood is being destroyed by activities that result from such investment. And, while foreign investment may help a nation's finances in the short term, companies that take advantage of weak or un-enforced environmental laws can severely deplete natural resources and poison the people. Attacks against environmentalists do occasionally grab headlines. But much of the suffering such activists struggle to prevent still goes largely unnoticed. Often, when these citizens speak out to protect the environment, the infringements of environmental rights are compounded by direct violations of internationally recognized civil and political rights. To help defend these human rights, including the right to organize to protect the environment and the right to have access to full and accurate information about the environment, public awareness of oppressive conditions must be raised in the U.S. and throughout the world. International pressure must be applied to the governments that commit such human rights violations, as well as to the multinational companies that operate in these countries. There have been several successes on the part of individuals to expose and change these practices. Take, for example, the case of Alexander Nikitin. Mr. Nikitin rose through the ranks of the Soviet Navy, to the rank of captain. Eventually, he was placed in charge of the Soviet nuclear inspection program.

Rev. William Schulz What he found was terrifying. Soviet nuclear submarines were left to decay. Their nuclear cores and even the radioactive control rods were exposed. He estimated that over 25% of all active Soviet nuclear subs had serious cracks in their main reactor chambers. Worse yet, the primary means of disposing of nuclear waste was to seal it in 55-gallon drums and sink them in the waters of the Antarctic. The sailors would frequently find that these containers would not sink, so, they shot them full of holes with machine guns. The barrels would then sink, but the radioactive contamination within them would begin to leak out into the sea. Schulz then proposed the following question: How does this directly affect us in North America? The answer was surprisingly clear. The currents of the ocean move from the Antarctic, down along the coast of Russia and Europe, then work their way up the coast of North America. We are being directly poisoned by these habits. Captain Nikitin wrote a book in which he discussed his findings. His government took exception to this expose and arrested him and charged him with high treason, a death penalty offense. Through the combined work of the Sierra Club and Amnesty International, significant pressure was put on the Soviet Government. After nearly five years of imprisonment and house arrest, Captain Nikitin has just recently been allowed his freedom. Schulz recently spoke with a pair of Mexican farmers who were falsely accused of drug crimes and arrested and imprisoned. Their real "crimes?" Standing up against corporate giant Boise-Cascade. This multi-national conglomerate was razing the forests of Mexico for its hardwood. The affect on local farmers was disastrous. Farmland became arid and barren. Hundreds of farmers and their families began losing their livelihoods and income. Again, the collaborative efforts of Sierra Club and Amnesty International saved lives. These men have been released from custody. By standing up to Boise-Cascade and bearing witness to the harm being done, not only to the environment, but to the basic human right to provide a living for themselves and their families, these two men were able, in effect, to run this corporate giant out of their country. Again, at great personal risk. One of these men made this profound statement: "A world without trees becomes a desert, because the soul of the water lives in the trees." Through Schulz’s lecture it becomes clear that environmental issues and human rights issues cannot be considered as separate issues. They are in fact, inextricably intertwined. As Schulz said, "This collaboration [the Sierra Club and Amnesty International] is critical to both environmental and social justice in our world." Schulz was joined in his presentation by the Rev. Bob Murphy, Parish Minister at the Unitarian Universalist Fellowship of Falmouth, Massachusetts. Murphy stated that everyone must consider a few basic concepts if they intend to act in an environmental and human rights positive context. The costs and benefits of any development must be spread equally. This means that developers must consider all persons who may be affected by any project. Consider a major highway improvement project. Perhaps those living in the suburbs will benefit greatly by reduced commute times and easier access. But what about those who must live near the new roads? These people will be exposed to the increased noise and pollution, and infringement on open spaces. He said environmental justice and social justice being intertwined is as simple as this: basic human rights include the rights to clean air and clean water. Murphy said there are at least three things that local congregations can do to promote the concepts of environmental justice with social justice issues: Bring these issues to the fore by bringing them together in our services and celebrations Add these issues to our religious education classes Remember the words of Rene DuBois: "Think globally, act locally." Reporter Phil Hoffman

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