UN Expert Reprimands Switzerland Over Complaint Against Bruno Manser Fund
Date
10/27/2023 2:19:34 PM
(MENAFN- Swissinfo) A spokesman for the federal Office for the Environment confirmed to the Swiss News Agency Keystone-SDA on Friday that it had received the letterExternal link . The letter will be answered, he said. However, the office is not yet saying anything about the timing and content of the reply.
Forst had sent the letter on August 8, 2023 and asked for a reply by October 7. The letter has since been published on the website of the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE).
In it, Forst expresses“grave concern” about several legal steps taken by the Malaysian-Canadian entrepreneurial couple Jamilah Taib Murray and Sean Murray and their company Sakto Corporation against the Bruno Manser Fund. He pointed to the“apparent use” of court proceedings, the lodging of criminal complaints and the PR campaign by Sakto and its Swiss-based agents to“silence” the environmental organisation and its director Lukas Straumann. This, he said, would prevent the Bruno Manser Fund from exercising its rights under the Aarhus Convention.
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Forst refers to Article 3 paragraph 8 of this UN Convention, which regulates rights in matters of environmental protection. It requires that persons exercising their rights in accordance with this Convention not be“penalised, persecuted or harassed in any way” for doing so. The Special Rapporteur writes that he is“deeply concerned” that Switzerland is not fulfilling its obligation under the Aarhus Convention to ensure that precisely this is prevented.
He calls on the government to exhaust all legal means to prevent so-called Slapp lawsuits (strategic lawsuits against public participation). In addition, it must provide information on the ethical guidelines for lawyers in Slapp lawsuits.
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Litigation still open
The letter was prompted by several legal actions against the Bruno Manser Fund. Most recently, a hearing took place on August 16, 2023, before the Civil Court of Basel City. The Taib-Murray couple, represented by the Basel law firm Vischer, sued for alleged violation of personality rights. The legal dispute is not yet over, as both parties were unable to reach an agreement during settlement talks.
The background is various publications by the Bruno Manser Fund about Jamilah Taib Murray. She is the daughter of Abdul Taib Mahmud, who served as head of government of the Malaysian state of Sarawak for 33 years. There, the environmental activist Bruno Manser, who was declared missing in 2005, fought with the indigenous Penan people against the deforestation of the rainforest.
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