On Tuesday, April 18, the five judges who presided over the International Monsanto Tribunal for the past six months, reviewing the testimony of 28 witnesses who testified during the two-day citizens’ tribunal held in The Hague last October, delivered their 53-page Advisory Opinion.
“The upshot of the judges’ opinion? Monsanto has engaged in practices that have violated the basic human right to a healthy environment, the right to food, the right to health, and the right of scientists to freely conduct indispensable research.
The judges also called on international lawmakers to hold corporations like Monsanto accountable, to place human rights above the rights of corporations, and to ‘clearly assert the protection of the environment and establish the crime of ecocide.’ ”
Of course Monsanto responded with their usual denegrations.
“In their Advisory Opinion, the judges didn’t directly address criticism of the Monsanto Tribunal specifically, nor did they address attempts to delegitimize citizens’ tribunals (which the judges referred to as “Opinion Tribunals”) in general. But the judges did outline what an Opinion Tribunal is — and is not — and why they are important:
“Their objective is twofold: alerting public opinion, stakeholders and policy-makers to acts considered as unacceptable and unjustifiable under legal standards; contributing to the advancement of national and international law. ”
You can read the full article here.
You can read more about Permanent Peoples’ Tribunals and previous cases here.
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