Open Thoothukudi Sterlite plant only after dialogue with affected communities, say UN experts

CHENNAI: The killing of 13 anti-Sterlite protesters in police firing in Thoothkudi had reverberations in United Nations as UN human rights experts have condemned the apparent excessive and disproportionate use of lethal force against protesters calling for the closure of a copper smelting plant over health and environmental concerns.

Expressing concern over the apparent disproportionate and excessive use of force, including the use of live ammunition, against protesters marching to raise legitimate human rights and environmental concerns,
the United Nation Human Rights experts called on the Indian authorities to carry out an independent and transparent investigation, without delay, and to ensure that perpetrators of human rights violations be held accountable

Urging Indian Government to take all necessary measures to ensure that all business enterprises respect national as well as international human rights and environmental norms, the UN Human Rights Experts said Sterlite Copper’s smelting plant should resume operations only after meaningful consultation with affected communities and when fully complying with Indian environmental laws.

Hitting out at Sterlite Copper as well as its parent company, Vedanta Resources, the UN experts said that local and national judicial and administrative bodies have documented water contamination, air pollution and other forms of environmental degradation linked to the copper smelting plant and related activities.

“Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, all business enterprises have a responsibility to respect human rights, including identifying, preventing, mitigating and accounting for how they address their adverse human rights impacts,” the experts said, calling on Sterlite Copper as well as its parent company, Vedanta Resources, to take immediate measures to mitigate pollution and to ensure access to safe water and health care.

The Government should uphold the rights to freedom of expression and assembly, as they are the cornerstone of democratic societies and a critical tool to identify and protect against business-related human rights abuses, the UN Human Rights experts, who are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council, said. Special Procedures, the largest body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name of the Council’s independent human rights monitoring mechanisms.