The third meeting of the Mekong Legal Network (MLN) took place in Chiang Mai, Thailand, from Sept. 9-11. Twelve lawyers from the Mekong region were joined by colleagues from around the world to discuss pressing human rights and environment issues and plan strategic actions to address them.
On the first day, MLN heard from Dr. Carl Middleton, Southeast Asia Program Director for International Rivers, who talked about the imminent threat of 11 large hydropower dams on the Lower Mekong River, as well as additional dams on the Upper Mekong (Lancang) River in China. As Middleton related, these dams threaten the livelihoods of millions of people by eliminating the migratory fisheries they depend upon for protein, as well as their riverbank gardens that provide essential nutrition when planted during the dry season. ERI’s Mekong Legal Coordinator, Marty Bergoffen, provided specific information about the first dam to be officially announced, Xayaburi Dam in the Lao Peoples’ Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). This first dam will disrupt the migration of large freshwater fish such as the Mekong Giant Catfish and Giant Stingray, as well as destroying the habitat of smaller endangered species like Barilius pulchellus. Gao Qi, a Chinese lawyer currently earning her PhD in Australia, talked about her thesis research regarding Mekong countries’ responsibility to produce a Transboundary Environmental Impact Assessment for all of the forthcoming Mekong dam proposals. After these talks, MLN met in small groups, and agreed to investigate Thai banks and companies supporting the Xayaburi dam, as well as confronting the Mekong River Commission concerning their premature support for moving the dam approval process forward.
Friday’s presentations were given by experts on the ASEAN Intergovernmental Human Rights Commission (AICHR), including Prof. Sriprapha Petcharamesree, the Thai representative to AICHR; Prof. Vitit Muntabhorn, co-chair of the Working Group for an ASEAN Human Rights Mechanism; Yap Swee Seng, Executive Director of Forum Asia; and Ibrahima Kane, African Union Advocacy Director for the Open Society Initiative for Eastern Africa. Prof. Sriprapha provided an in depth history of human rights protection in Southeast Asia, leading up to the founding of AICHR. Prof. Vitit deconstructed the Terms of Reference for AICHR, providing insight into many opportunities for human rights defenders to use the Commission as a forum for improving human rights in their own countries. Mr. Yap talked about NGO views of AICHR, presenting the many obstacles to real human rights protection faced throughout ASEAN. The last presentation by Ibrahima Kane was one of the highlights of the day, with an in depth history of human rights protection in Africa. Ibrahima gave many parallels to the ASEAN situation, and provided hope that future endeavors in human rights defense can be as successful in Asia as some recent efforts in Africa. Afternoon discussions were devoted to specific issues relating to human rights protection in Southeast Asia.
The last day of MLN focused specifically on Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR), from both a corporate perspective and an activist point of view. Mark Hodge, the Director of the Global Business Initiative in Dehli, India, provided background on his group’s efforts to engage multinational corporations in the consideration of social and environmental issues in their businesses, based on several different definitions of CSR. Duc Trang, corporate counsel for Motorola in Singapore, gave a concise overview of his company’s CSR program, and related what executives of a large corporation see as their role in CSR programs. Earl Brown, a long time labor lawyer with the Solidarity Center in Washington DC, gave a compelling talk on the limitations of CSR and the problem of voluntary CSR programs replacing the enforcement of substantive labor and environmental laws. Finally, Nussara Meesen talked about her investigation into the CSR policies of Thai banks and companies that are supporting the construction of Mekong dams. The afternoon, as on previous days, was spent in small-group strategy sessions.
Overall, this third MLN session provided exceptional speakers and a host of opportunities for the participating lawyers to take collective action to protect local people in the Mekong region. Whether the issue is extirpated fish species caused by dams, lost livelihoods from illegal land grabs, immoral labor practices or government-sponsored violence against ethnic minorities, MLN has the tools and the experience to confront these practices. We are now all looking forward to using these tools to improve the lives of the people of the Mekong region.
