NCJ Number
142116
Date Published
1992
Length
123 pages
Annotation
This report presents nine case studies focusing on the overlap between human rights and environmental concerns and documenting the ways in which governments have harassed individuals and groups working to protect the environment and suppressed debate regarding environmental issues.
Abstract
The countries studied include the United States, the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, Brazil, Eritrea, India, Kenya, Malaysia, Mexico, Philippines. In the United States, "whistleblowers" who alert the public to safety hazards in the nuclear weapons industry have been persecuted, demoted, and fired. India's government has engaged in police abuses and used its Official Secrets Act to suppress opposition to an environmentally hazardous dam project. In the former Soviet Union, the extreme repression by the government left numerous serious environmental problems. The other countries involve a variety of political systems and environmental problems.