Ombudsman’s office asks the executive to ratify the Escazu Accord and regrets the Foreign Minister’s statements

Ombudsmanin a statement released today on social media, asked the executive branch to “not revert” to the ratification of the Escazu Agreement, which is “destined guarantee the rights access to environmental information, public participation in environmental decision-making processes and access to justice in environmental problems”.

They also deplored the statements made by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Miguel Rodriguez McKayduring an interview in RPP News regarding said agreement. On this occasion, the head of the foreign policy department stated that “it is archived and there it should be”because” doesn’t match interests from the country”.

“Does not violate sovereignty”

It is worth noting that one of the main arguments of the Minister of Foreign Affairs regarding the agreement was that “violates national sovereignty”. In this sense, the Ombudsman stressed that his principles state the opposite.

<<It is important to emphasize that the Escazu Agreement explicitly includes the principle of permanent sovereignty of states over their natural resources, thereby reaffirming sovereignty of them,” the department said.

He also stressed that “the implementation of the aforementioned agreement is based on mechanisms to strengthen Opportunities, collaboration and public information sharing; while monitoring compliance is done through recommendations.”

Protection of environmentalists

On the other hand, the ombudsman’s office indicated that “only during the pandemic (…) between March 2020 and August 2022” 14 Murders of environmentalists and indigenous rights activists crimes related to “illegal mining, drug trafficking, land trafficking, illegal logging” have been committed in the country.

In this regard, he pointed out that the Escazu Agreement “includes provisions on provide protection environmental rights activists, considering Latin America as the most risky region for their work.

Finally, the Ombudsman noted that it is “extremely important” to include the aforementioned agreement in “to the national legal system”. It is worth noting that our country signed the Escazu Agreement in September 2018, but its ratification has not yet been completed.

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The legislator said that economic interests are behind the project, approved at the insistence of the plenary session of the parliament. On the other hand, MP Alex Paredes of the ruling Magisterial Bloc justified his group’s support for the project’s persistence despite the government’s compliance with the law.