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The Coalition for Human Rights in Development, a global alliance of social movements, civil society organizations, and community groups, has issued a joint petition to international financial institutions (IFIs) – including the World Bank, African, Asian, European, and American development banks – to address documented reports of human rights abuses in investments funded by the IFIs.  

The petition – International Financial Institutions’ Responsibility to Ensure Meaningful and Effective Participation in Their Investments – was issued on Thursday asking development banks to ensure their activities around the world are not putting human rights defenders at risk.

The joint petition, signed by 154 development, human rights, and environment groups, says a growing number of governments have been criminalizing the activities of human rights and environmental activists and preventing them from participating in the development process.   

"The fundamental human rights of many people are being systemically violated as a result of development projects. And when we help communities defend their rights we are met with threats and violent attacks,” said an indigenous community member in Nepal who did not want his identity disclosed for security reasons, according to the Coalition for Human Rights in Development.

Human Rights Watch recently documented numerous abuses against individuals and communities impacted by projects financed by the World Bank and its private sector lending arm, the International Finance Corporation.

“In Uzbekistan, the World Bank is pouring money into projects that benefit the government’s abusive cotton sector, marred primarily by systemic forced labour,” said Dmitry Tikhonov, an Uzbek human rights defender who is in exile following government reprisals. “The World Bank has not taken any meaningful measures to ensure that independent human rights defenders like me can monitor abuses linked to the projects they fund. Nor have Bank staff spoken out against the government’s attacks on my colleagues and me.”

The Coalition for Human Rights in Development also reported that in March 2016, a renowned indigenous land rights and environmental defender in Honduras was killed in the middle of the night as she slept in her bed. Two of those facing charges for her murder were employees of a company involved in the construction of the Agua Zarca dam, a project that she and her civil society organization opposed and campaigned against. The dam project is being financed by the Dutch, Finnish, and Central American banks.

“Development banks and their member states can’t hope to achieve sustainable development or eliminate poverty if their investments are contributing to human rights violations or if those who are meant to benefit from development find themselves subjected to abuse,” said Adam Shapiro, head of communications and visibility for Front Line Defenders. “The banks should take responsibility for the outcomes of their investments and take meaningful action to safeguard human rights defenders on the ground.”

The petition details ways in which the IFIs should ensure that the activities they finance respect human rights and that there are provisions for people to participate in the development projects and hold the IFIs to account without risking their safety.