“…The ideal of free human beings enjoying freedom from fear and want can only be achieved if conditions are created whereby everyone may enjoy his economic, social and cultural rights, as well as his civil and political rights…” (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights preamble)

Shocking Human Rights Violations

Forty million people, two-thirds of the population in the Democratic Republic of Congo, depend on the Congo Basin rainforest for food, shelter and medicine. A community living in forest has a land and labor dispute with a logging subsidiary of a large transnational corporation based in Europe. State police and armed forces aided by the logging company retaliate with violence, raping and beating community members, destroying property, and arbitrarily arresting members of the community. At least one person dies from his wounds.

Brutal injustices like these constitute a range of human rights violations – civil, political, economic, social and cultural.  Addressing just one type of right, such as labor rights, the right not to be subjected to arbitrary arrest or detention, or the right to an adequate standard of living, cannot be done in isolation.  When people protest exploitation of their land and are prevented from their traditional way of life, many of their rights are harmed.

What are Economic and Social Rights?

“Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing, and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control.” (Universal Declaration of Human Rights, Article 25.1)

Economic and social rights are the human rights related to work, social security, an adequate standard of living, education, health care, housing, food, water and sanitation.

• When the above mentioned community members work in dangerous conditions for little pay (an average of $0.70 for a work day of ten hours), their right to enjoy just and favorable conditions of work is violated.
• When their efforts to organize and complain about these conditions exposed them to rape, beatings, destruction of property and arrest, their right to form organized labor unions is violated.
• When the logging company destroys the forest, using bribes to obtain logging licenses, and evading taxes to maximize their profits, the forest peoples’ right to an adequate standard of living, including adequate food, clothing and housing is violated, as well as their right not to be deprived of their own means of subsistence.
• When the State makes a deal with the logging company to provide health clinics and schools in the area in which they are active, and does not follow-up on the non-compliance of these commitments, people’s right to the highest attainable standard of health and right to education is violated.

Women returning from a work day at the field, Walungu, DR Congo © ASF - Claude Maon

ASF and Economic and Social Rights

ASF promotes human rights through legal means, ensuring that the world’s most vulnerable people have access to justice. An emphasis on economic and social rights highlights that basic injustices related to health, education, housing and work are not inevitable; rather, that there are legal mechanisms to ensure that everyone can lead a life in dignity. ASF can do this by:

• Providing legal aid to the community for negotiations with the logging company. Mediation among the involved parties could also help prevent future violations;
• Focusing on legal empowerment and its various features to ensure that people better understand their rights and are empowered to claim them;
• Using its international network of lawyers (ILN) to bring parent companies to justice for the human rights violations perpetrated by their subsidiaries;
• Encouraging legislative reform so that the law explicitly recognizes economic and social rights;
• Supporting advocacy campaigns, ensuring that local and national government officials are aware of their human rights obligations and are better equipped to guarantee just application of the law.

History of Economic and Social Rights Activities at ASF – Globalisation and Justice

ASF saw the need for a more comprehensive approach to economic and social rights violations after carrying out its “Globalisation and Justice” project from 2007-2009. An awareness-raising campaign based in Europe, its aim was to increase lawyers’ knowledge about and interest in the economic interdependence between the EU and developing countries, and the consequences for those in the Global South. The project included touring photo exhibitions, workshops and round tables, and publications of training and sensitization materials. 

Pdf of the report "Globalisation and Justice"