The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal: An Experiment in Populist Justice

            Imagine, for a moment, that the State has polluted your water with toxic levels of arsenic, or robbed you of your family land, or disappeared your brother, or assassinated the members of your community. Where would you seek redress?  To what forum would you take a case of that nature?
                                 

            If a society’s legal system still functions properly to some extent, you might find “relief” in that society’s courts.  But, in a society where the legal system no longer functions - where the legal system has broken down completely - one cannot hope for justice in that society’s courts.  Instead, new spaces for such cases are needed - like the proceedings held by international courts.

            International courts generally come in two different kinds.  First, there are the courts whose jurisdiction States have recognized by treaty or statute.  Then, there are “opinion tribunals,” whose jurisdiction States have not recognized.  Currently, two opinion tribunals of substantial weight are being conducted in the world today: (i) the Russell Tribunal, which just completed its final session investigating allegations of human rights abuses in Palestine; and (ii) the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, which is currently holding hearings on allegations of human rights abuses throughout Mexico.

            This article is the first in a series of articles that will discuss the work of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico - its history, structure, goals, role as a community-organizing tool, and legal findings.  This Tribunal provides the opportunity to fuse legal advocacy with grassroots movements, meaning it is a legal experiment with great potential both for organizing communities and justice advocates alike.

             

“Public Opinion” Courts

The Russell Tribunal and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal are “public opinion courts,” convened by citizens who seek a forum in which to present legal complaints, usually against a government or State-supported actors.  Because they are “public opinion” courts, they do not have legal status or the power to enforce their judgments.  Nevertheless, due to the prominence and respect accorded to members of these Tribunals, their pronouncements (decided based on evidence presented in court) exert social pressure on the State to take action against those found guilty in Tribunal proceedings   

For communities charging the State with human rights violations, these Tribunals serve as an alternative to the State courts.  Presenting a case against the State in a domestic court may prove impossible, dangerous, or pointless.  These opinion tribunals are a grassroots solution to counteract the impediments faced when bringing a case against the State in its own court.

History of the Russell Tribunal and the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal

After the Vietnam War, British philosopher Bertrand Russell and French philosopher Jean-Paul Sartre joined other notable public figures to form the Russell Tribunal.  The original purpose of the Russell Tribunal was to provide a forum in which witnesses could testify about war crimes committed during the Vietnam War, particularly war crimes committed by United States’ military forces.

The Russell Tribunal began its work in 1966 and 1967 by holding hearings on the Vietnam War in various cities in Europe.  After the hearings on the Vietnam War, the Russell Tribunal held hearings from 1973 through 1976 on human rights violations in Latin America.  After the Latin American hearings, the Russell Tribunal did not convene for twenty-five years.  Thereafter, the Russell Tribunal held a series of hearings on various subjects: a hearing in 2001 on Human Rights in Psychiatry; a hearing in 2004 on war crimes in Iraq; and, beginning in 2009, hearings on Palestine, lasting from 2009-2013.[1]

During the quarter century that the Russell Tribunal was inactive, Italian Senator Lelio Basso sought to continue the work of opinion tribunals on a permanent basis.[2]  He sought to identify and to publicize cases of systematic violations of fundamental human rights, particularly those in which legislation failed to protect the people facing oppression.[3]  Concerning the legitimacy of public opinion courts, Basso stated: 

“The needs of public conscience can become a recognized source of law [...] and a tribunal that emanates directly from the popular consciousness reflects an idea that will make headway: institutionalized powers and the people, from whom the former claim legitimacy in actual fact tend to diverge and only a truly popular initiative can try to bridge the gap between people and power.”[4]

            In 1979, Basso founded the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal (PPT) in Italy on the basis of principles set forth in the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Peoples.  The Tribunal headquarters remain in Italy.  Currently, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal comprises more than 130 members of high moral reputation.  Its President is Salvatore Senese, and its Secretary General is Gianni Tognoni.

            To date, the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal has held thirty-six sessions all over the world, including recent sessions in Sri Lanka, the Philippines, and Colombia.[5]  The Tribunal is currently holding “audiences” (its term for its sessions or hearings) in Mexico, which began in 2011 and will end in 2014.[6]

Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico

            The current hearings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal are taking place throughout communities in Mexico.  Although the international press has given attention to the drug war in Mexico, the scope of human rights violations in Mexico goes far beyond drugs and cartels.  The international press has allowed this larger scope of human rights violations in Mexico to pass largely unnoticed.  The hearings of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico allow communities suffering injustices to bring the facts about the injustices and the intensity of their suffering to the world’s attention.

            The next article in this series will examine the structure and the work of the Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal in Mexico.

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[1] Russell Tribunal on Palestine, available at http://www.russelltribunalonpalestine.com/en/ (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[2] Janine Odink, The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, 11 Neth. Q. Hum. Rts. 229-232 (1993).

[3] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[4] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[5] Lelio and Lisli Basso Foundation, International Section, Introduction, available at  http://www.internazionaleleliobasso.it/?page_id=207&lang=en (last visited on March 8, 2013).

[6] Tribunal Permanente de los Pueblos México, available at http://www.tppmexico.org/ (last visited on March 8, 2013).

From Bad to Worse . . .

The previous article posted on this blog dealt with the subject of the asphalt plant located in the Colony Las Peras of San Cristóbal de Las Casas. In this article, the asphalt plant was indicated as actively violating various human rights, such as the right to health, the right to life, and the right to education.

This week, the Mexican government mocked the citizens of San Cristóbal, permitting the installation of a new asphalt plant less than a kilometer from the asphalt plant of the Colony Las Peras. This new plant was discovered when various residents sighted a large cloud of smoke settling over the region of Las Peras early Monday morning. When both of the plants operate at the same time, these witnesses report that smoke engulfs the entire area. Appalled at the ramifications that the operation of this new plant carries for the people of San Cristóbal, above all the children, various concerned citizens sat down this week to write and publish a communiqué manifesting their outrage and indignation. A copy of this communiqué, first in Spanish and then in English, is provided below, as well as photos and videos taken yesterday, Wednesday, November 16, 2011, at the site of the new asphalt plant.

Thank you for reading the following communiqué – please feel free to share widely.

Spanish Version

A LA OPINIÓN PÚBLICA.

IMPUNIDAD=MUERTE LENTA

Hoy San Cristóbal se llena de luto por la apertura de una nueva planta de asfalto, ubicada a en la carretera San Cristóbal a Tenejapa, a 500 metros del cruce con el periférico Oriente, a menos de un kilometro de la planta de asfalto del Grupo ALZ ubicada en la Colonia Las Peras.

En San Cristóbal de Las Casas, los tres niveles de gobierno (municipal, estatal y federal) han permitido desde el 2008 la proliferación de estas plantas asesinas, en febrero de 2011 se fueron cuatro de las cinco que teníamos frente a escuelas y hoy con la complicidad de funcionarios, abren otra.

Hasta cuando permitiremos que los tres niveles de gobiernos les den más protección a los intereses de empresarios que lo único que los motiva es el dinero que están “ganando” a costa de nuestra salud, a costa de nuestros niños, a costa de nuestra vida.

Y nos preguntamos, acaso la Lic. Cecilia Flores Pérez, autorizó el cambio de uso de suelo, lo que permite la instalación de la planta de asfalto. Que hace el delegado de la SEMARNAT, ex delegado de la PROFEPA, Biol. Ricardo Frías, si autorizó el Manifiesto de Impacto Ambiental de esta nueva planta? Y si la Lic. Lourdes López Moreno, Secretaria de Medio Ambiente e Historia Natural, que tiene que decir ante las violaciones a la Ley de Medio Ambiente de Chiapas con esta nueva planta?

Invitamos a la ciudadanía a manifestar nuestra INDIGNACIÓN. Es la hora, no podemos permitir que nos asesinen lentamente, la combustión de derivados del petróleo crudo (AC 20) dispersan químicos altamente peligrosos para cualquier ser viviente, contamina nuestro aire, nuestra agua, nuestra tierra, nuestro ser y el de nuestros niños, hasta cuando lo vamos a permitir???

San Cristóbal de Las Casas a 15 de noviembre de 2011

"ALIANZA POR EL DERECHO A UN AMBIENTE SANO"

English Version

TO THE PUBLIC OPINION.

IMPUNITY = SLOW DEATH

Today, San Cristóbal is filled with mourning due to the opening of a new asphalt plant, located in the highway from San Cristóbal to Tenejapa, 500 meters from the intersection with the Eastern Periphery highway, and less than a kilometer from the asphalt plant owned by Grupo ALZ that is located in the Colony Las Peras.

Since 2008, the three levels of government (municipal, state, and federal) in San Cristóbal de Las Casas have permitted the proliferation of these killer plants. In February of 2011, four of the five plants that were located in front of schools left the city. Yet today, with the complicity of government authorities, they have opened another plant.

Up to what point will we permit these three levels of government to give more protection to the interests of businessmen, whose only motive is the money they are “winning” at the cost of our health, at the cost of our children, at the cost of our life?

We ask ourselves, could it be that Mayor Cecilia Flores Perez authorized the permit for the land use change, which thereby allowed the installation of the asphalt plant? Could it be that the delegate of SEMARNAT (equivalent of the Cabinet-level department of the EPA), the ex-delegate of the PROFEPA (federal EPA), Biologist Ricardo Frias indeed authorized the environmental impact statement of this new asphalt plant? And Lourdes Lopez Moreno, Secretary of the Environment and Natural History (state EPA), what does she have to say about the violations of the environmental laws happening here in Chiapas due to this new asphalt plant?

We invite the citizenry to manifest our INDIGNATION. Now is the hour, we cannot allow them to kill us slowly! The burning of crude petroleum derivatives (AC-20) disperses highly toxic chemicals that pose a danger to the health of every life form. It contaminates our air, our water, our land, our very being and that of our children. Up to what point will we allow this to continue???

San Cristóbal de Las Casas

November 15, 2011

"ALIANZA POR EL DERECHO A UN AMBIENTE SANO"

(“Alliance for the Right to a Healthy Environment”)

Note: In the truck on the left, fumes can be Note: These workers are working

seen rising out of the bed of the truck without any protective equipment.

immediately after the plant deposits a new

batch of asphalt into its hold. These fumes

are known as "fugitive emissions," and

contribute to the contamination spread

through the production of asphalt.