Long jail sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil climate campaigners could stifle protest, the United Nations has warned the UK government.

From NOT A LOT OF PEOPLE KNOW THAT

By Paul Homewood

h/t Ray Sanders

Long jail sentences handed to two Just Stop Oil climate campaigners could stifle protest, the United Nations has warned the UK government.

The protestors caused traffic gridlock after scaling the Dartford Crossing Bridge for almost 40 hours in October last year.

Morgan Trowland, 40, was jailed for three years and Marcus Decker, 34, for two years for causing a public nuisance.

In response to the UN, the government said that the right to protest is a fundamental part of the UK’s democracy but that the “law-abiding majority” must be able to go about their daily lives.

At an appeal hearing last month Lady Chief Justice, Lady Carr defended the sentences, saying they met a “legitimate” aim of deterring others from such offending. The activists were refused permission to challenge them in the Supreme Court.

The warning comes in a letter shown to BBC News, sent to the government by the UN Special Rapporteur on the promotion and protection of human rights in the context of climate change, Ian Fry, on 15 August this year.

The sentences are “significantly more severe than previous sentences imposed for this type of offending in the past,” Mr Fry notes.

He says he is worried about “the exercise of their rights to freedom of expression and freedom of peaceful assembly and association”.

The letter goes on to say the new Public Order Act which came into force in July “appears to be a direct attack on the right to the freedom of peaceful assembly”.

The new legislation includes measures aimed at curbing disruptive protests.

The letter sent in mid-August requested a reply within 60 days but has not received one, which the UN special rapporteur described as “troubling”.

“Most countries take these letters seriously and respond,” Mr Fry told BBC News. He suggested that the lack of a formal reply reflected “a general disregard for human rights concerns by the current government”.

The Home Office said it had “responded” to the special rapporteur’s letter.

It said peaceful protest is a vital part of a democratic society and a long-standing tradition in the UK, provided it is done within the law.

The new legislation is designed to “clarify the definition of serious disruption and allow police to clear roads quickly”, it told the BBC, and said the new legislation on protests was put in place following proper parliamentary procedure and is compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cn0p6ll3jjgo

Much though Justin Rowlatt might stamp his little feet, I’m not quite sure a letter from a UN Special Rapporteur is even news at all. These people have no official authority whatsoever; they are just independent experts who have been asked by the UN for advice.

Rapporteurs often merely fill their reports with their own biased views. According to his CV, he has worked for the Tuvalu government for 21 years, focussing on climate issues such as loss and damage, and sustainable development. The idea that he is some sort objective, independent expert is ridiculous:

Mr. Ian Fry is an international environmental law and policy expert. His focus has primarily focussed on mitigation policies and loss and damage associated the Paris Agreement, Kyoto Protocol and related instruments.

Mr. Fry worked for the Tuvalu government for over 21 years and was appointed as their Ambassador for Climate Change and Environment 2015-2019.

Mr. Fry has represented the Tuvalu Government at numerous international fora including the World Summit on Sustainable Development, Commission for Sustainable Development, UN Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC) and the Kyoto Protocol, Convention on Biological Diversity, the United Nations General Assembly and UN SIDS conferences.

Mr. Fry teaches part-time at the Fenner School of Environment and Society of the Australian National University. He specialises in International Environmental Policy and Environmental Law.

Mr. Fry is the Pacific Regional Representative to the United Nations for the International Council on Environmental Law, a member of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law, a Research Associate at the Centre for Climate Policy and Law (Australian National University Law School), a member of the Australian Association for Pacific Studies, the International Studies Association and the International Association for Small Island Studies.

He has regularly attended meeting of the Friends of Human Rights and Climate Change held in the margins on UNFCCC meetings.

Mr. Fry coordinates the Least Developed Countries on matters relating to carbon markets and is currently on the Bureau of the UNFCCC. He has held the position of Vice-Chair of the Facilitative Branch of the Compliance Committee under the Kyoto Protocol and has co-chaired the Durban Forum on Capacity Building.

Mr. Fry has previously undertaken consultancy work, primarily associated with negotiations training in the context of multilateral environmental agreements. His work focuses on building the capacity of government representatives from Least Developed Countries (LDCs), Small Island Developing States and ASEAN countries.

https://www.ohchr.org/en/specialprocedures/sr-climate-change/ian-fry