Mr. Ian Fry
Special Rapporteur on human rights and climate change
OHCHR-UNOG
8-14 Avenue de la Paix
1211 Geneve 10, Switzerland
Email: ohchr-srclimatechange@un.org

Help us end the British Government and judicial repression of those standing up for climate, economic and racial justice

“What we do over the next three to four years, I believe, is going to determine the future of humanity. We are in a very, very desperate situation.” Sir David King, former UK Government Chief Scientist, February 2021

The Universal Declaration of Human Rights is explicit that if people are “not to be compelled to have recourse, as a last resort, to rebellion against tyranny and oppression, that human rights should be protected by the rule of law”.

Fundamental rights are currently in grave danger in Britain. We petition you, Mr Fry, for your urgent intervention.

On 21st April 2023, two brave and brilliant people, Morgan Trowland and Marcus Decker, were sent to prison for periods of 3 years and 2 years, 7 months respectively. Their so-called ‘crime’ was to climb a road bridge and hang a banner, to demand an end to the British Government’s licensing of new oil and gas projects. These new projects are known to be inconsistent with international climate obligations, and unless opposed, will accelerate mass loss of life and displacement of people, in Britain and around the world.

In April 2022, Antonio Guterres, the UN Secretary General, said:

“Investing in new fossil fuels infrastructure is moral and economic madness.”

To put these prison sentences in perspective, they are longer than the starting sentence for a serious sexual assault. To put them in perspective, the directors of the fossil fuel companies, who have lied to the public for decades about the impact of their products, walk free. Morgan and Marcus are political prisoners.

The sentences form part of a pattern of escalating oppression against those in Britain standing up for climate, economic and racial justice. The Government has introduced a raft of new legislation which renders meaningless fundamental rights of protest and freedom of expression. To give one example, the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Act 2022, s.78(4) threatens those engaging in peaceful acts of conscience with 10 years’ imprisonment.

On 27 April 2023, following the passage of the Public Order Bill into law, which introduces ‘Serious Disruption Prevention Orders’ to restrict the rights and freedoms of those not even convicted of any offence, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Volker Türk, called on the British Government to reverse the legislation:

“This new law imposes serious and undue restrictions on these rights that are neither necessary nor proportionate to achieve a legitimate purpose as defined under international law …the law appears to target in particular peaceful actions used by those protesting about human rights and environmental issues. As the world faces the triple planetary crises of climate change, loss of biodiversity and pollution, governments should be protecting and facilitating peaceful protests on such existential topics, not hindering and blocking them.”

In other cases, those who are arrested for “protest offences” have been banned from explaining their motivations to the jury, in violation of the right to a fair trial. People are now being sent to prison, simply for using the words “climate change” and “fuel poverty” in court.

When Trudi Warner, 68, held a sign outside Inner London Crown Court reminding jurors of their right to act on conscience, she was arrested for contempt of court, despite a plaque in the Old Bailey stating this legal principle. Her case has now been referred to the Attorney General.

Meanwhile the UK Government contemplates withdrawal from the European Convention of Human Rights to further its immoral and lawless plans to deport those seeking asylum to Rwanda.

Such events have prompted Civicus Monitor, which tracks the democratic and civic health of 197 countries across the world, to say in March of this year:

“The UK is becoming increasingly authoritarian and is among concerning company in the Civicus Monitor ratings as restrictive laws and dangerous rhetoric are creating a hostile environment towards civil society in the UK.”

We recall that when the former UN Human Rights High Commissioner, Michelle Bachelet, described climate change as the greatest ever threat to human rights, she was referring not only to the direct impacts of global heating, but also to the repression of those standing up to the vested interests in the carbon economy. We recall, also, that the City of London is the arch financier of the carbon economy and is estimated to support around 15% of global emissions. It is disingenuous to claim that the UK is not a major contributor to the accelerating crisis.

We will not be intimidated by the oppressive actions of the British Government and its courts. We will never give up on the life and lands that we love and we will never give up on the international community. But, following the sentencing of Morgan and Marcus, we call for your urgent intervention to avert a rapid collapse of the human-rights based order in the UK.

Signed:

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