Project overview

This website documents a student project which was carried
out as part of our course work for a University Wide Module
UW0012 Global Citizenship and Development Education,
run by the Praxis Project and the School of Education, UCC.
Course lecturer was Dr. Gertrude Cotter.

For this project students from the Universidad Veracruzana,
Mexico and University College Cork, Ireland partnered with Trócaire,
the Irish overseas development agency, on their Business and Human
Rights Campaign. Trócaire’s campaign highlights important policy
changes they wish to make in relation to business and the issue of
human rights.

On this website students from Cork and Veracruz share
findings on big business impacts on human rights in both Ireland
and Mexico.

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Student presentations and resources

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Partnership

Trócaire

Founded in 1973 by Pope Paul VI, Trócaire is an official
overseas development agency of the Catholic Church of Ireland.
Working in over 20 countries, they tackle issues such as poverty,
and social injustice within local and broader communities, as well
as providing aid to those caught in conflict. According to their
website, in 2020 alone they brought relief and support to 2.5
million people. On top of this, Trócaire also supports the
education and campaigning of these issues both at home and abroad.

Within our project, Trócaire was a vital source of
information, support, and encouragement. Providing us with both
the documentary that inspired our project and friendly staff like
(Jeannie McCann and Joanne McGarry) who were both passionate and
supportive during this project.

University of Vera Cruz, Mexico – As a co-hosted project,
it’s needless to say that the law students of Universidad Veracruzana,
Mexico, have been our esteemed colleagues, and friends. Working
together, we were able to investigate the impacts of big businesses
on human rights violations from both an Irish and Mexican perspective,
and bring the results to light for our attendees. Our end result
would not have been possible without our friends; Daria, Eduardo,
Fernanda, Diego and Monserrat. We thank them for the opportunity
to work together on part this project.

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Trócaire campaign background

https://x.com/trocaire/status/1314470150549180416?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1314470150549180416%7Ctwgr%5E416094c17a6023499bf1e17c16b6a195e967bd7b%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2F2021businesshumanrights.praxisucc.ie%2Fblog%2Ftrocaire%2F

Delighted to be a partner of the @OneWorldFestNI next week. 📺 WATCH the premiere of our documentary, 'Never Waste A Crisis', about the impact of COVID-19 on #HumanRights in the countries where we work. Tue 13th Oct at 1pm #weareone https://t.co/svFDxTLpEk pic.twitter.com/xqngn1M4Dc

— trócaire (@trocaire) October 9, 2020

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Evaluation

How would we describe the project in one word?

Why did we decide to participate in the project?

As you can see from these quotes from our team, there are a
variety of reasons why we got involved in the project. On one hand,
it was an opportunity for a social experience in these times of the
pandemic. On the other hand, there was the serious business of
learning about and contributing to the campaigns fighting for human
rights and environmental justice. To be able to make connections
with the students from Mexico and with Trócaire was an opportunity
too good to pass up!

“I chose to participate in this project because I wanted
to meet new like-minded people and learn how I could
help make an impact in the fight against human rights
abuses and the environment. It was an amazing opportunity that was
too good to pass.” (Mary McNicholas)

“For the experience” (Karina Isabel Miros Toto)

“I personally chose to participate since I wanted to
learn more about the abuses in the Americas,
be more globally informed, and make more
international connections.” (Liam O’Leary)

“Mainly, to get the opportunity to
meet students from Mexico (in a time where meeting
new people is almost impossible!) and to
work with Trócaire, an organisation which is renowned
for the work they do both nationally and internationally.”
(Lucy Creedon)

“To gain a better insight into the policy
aspects of social justice issues.” (Mark Hartery)

“I jumped at the opportunity to
work with Trócaire and learn
about this important social justice issue.”
(Catherine O’Sullivan)

“I mainly wanted to gain insight into human right abuses
in other parts of the world. I was also excited to meet new people
and learn from all the people involved” (Lucia Garcia)

“To get an international perspective on important issues”
(Ciara Georgina O’Dwyer)

What was our favourite part of the project?

Mary McNicholas – “I found the whole process of the project
an amazing experience and was lucky to have spent it with amazing
people. Thankful for the opportunity to be part of such a fantastic
group!”

If we could start again, what would we do differently?

Overall, the team were happy with how the project went.
On the night of the webinar, there was a great sense of pride and
satisfaction in what we had carried out. Everyone was in good spirits
and the audience seemed to enjoy it. It all came together in the end!

However, there is always room to improve and there are a few
things that might have made the project a little bit better. The
beginning seems to be the point where the most changes could be made.
There were some problems with cohesiveness and balance at the beginning.
We were not entirely sure where to take the project and we struggled
with our communication with the Mexican students. Also as Lucy suggests,
maybe some deeper reading and learning on human rights, the environment
and Big Business before the meetings started would have enhanced the
project.

Despite these struggles, with the leadership of Mary, the
translations and collaboration by Eduardo and Daria, and the helpfulness
and initiative of the whole team, we managed to make it a successful
project.

“I don’t think I would do anything differently. I enjoyed
the whole process and the people involved.” (Mary McNicholas)

“The organization in Teams” (Karina Isabel Miros Toto)

“I would structure our first weeks quite differently,
for a while the project was dominated from one side and I felt it
wasn’t as inclusive as it could’ve been. An initial more casual
introduction to the Mexican participants would have led to more unity
at those early weeks I think.” (Liam O’Leary)

“I would have read up on the issues we tackled beforehand
in order to get the most out of the project, though I still learned
a lot.” (Lucy Creedon)

“Very little, I’m really happy with how we all worked
together and how everything came together.” (Mark Hartery)

“I would create more balance between the Irish and Mexican
students. Translating and knowing what we were doing was challenging
at the beginning. Maybe brush up on my Spanish, too!”
(Catherine O’Sullivan)

“I would design a better system to share our ideas and
communicate with each other in general. Other than that I really
enjoyed the process and wouldn’t change anything” (Lucia Garcia)

“Probably ensure a stable wi-fi connection, and maybe
participate in the presentations.” (Ciara Georgina O’Dwyer)

Anne’s Analysis
(by Anne Barrett)

The educational development process was most effective in the
following ways:

1. Interaction in chat rooms: working together
on offering solutions to set questions was a beneficial way of getting
to know the knowledge and training of others and finding where skills
can combine. The most enjoyable part was collaborative interaction on
projects.

2. Working on our project was the next enjoyable part.
Practical application of skills in a creative way
is a good way of retaining what is learned.

3. The teaching methods are very interesting in
that they are very interactive and seem to operate
without hierarchical structures. This seems to be very much how
educational training is most effective.

4. The speakers brought in to offer insights were
enriching to listen to and helped broaden perspectives.

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Theoretical Perspectives

Theoretical Approaches to this project.

This project solely used the theoretical concept of human rights as
a framework of analysis to understand and quantify the effects that
large corporations have on both the environment and the land of
indigenous communities worldwide through their self-serving business
interests that have little regard for anything but profit. Through
the lens of human rights, it was immediately obvious which rights
the affected populations were being denied, for example, understanding
how the attacks on human rights defenders infringe on the fundamental
right to life, which serves to prove or back-up the negative effect
of these businesses.

Human rights are rights we have simply because we exist as human
beings – they are not granted by any state. These universal rights
are inherent to us all, regardless of nationality, sex, national or
ethnic origin, colour, religion, language, or any other status. They
range from the most fundamental – the right to life – to those that
make life worth living, such as the rights to food, education, work,
health, and liberty.
(Source: OHCHR –

https://www.ohchr.org/en/issues/pages/whatarehumanrights.aspx
)

Since their conception, human rights have become a guiding framework
for international law and international charters. Thus they feed into
the policy context of Development Education Perspective, through
analyses of the UNGPs, (UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human
Rights) we could begin to understand how human rights can translate
into government policy.

We were inspired by the ‘Praxis’ ethos in UCC which Freire defines
as “reflection and action directed at the structures to be transformed”
(Freire and Macedo, 2001a: 51) because it is not “enough for people
to come together in dialogue to gain knowledge of their social reality”
as we have done in understanding these issues, he writes that “they
must act together upon their environment in order critically to reflect
upon their reality and so transform it through further action and
critical reflection.” This is why our campaign focused on awareness
along with political action through supporting the Trócaire campaign
on Business and Human Rights.

Human rights were important to our research in understanding the
environmental impact of TNCs (Transnational Corporations) on the
environment.

Environmental figures

The Guapinol 8 and Berta Caceres –
Porfirio Sorto Cedillo, José Avelino Cedillo, Orbin Naún Hernández,
Kevin Alejandro Romero, Arnold Javier Aleman, Ever Alexander Cedillo,
Daniel Marquez and Jeremías Martínez Díaz, otherwise known as the
Guapinol 8, are currently in prison in Honduras. They are being held
without evidence or trial and were arrested after engaging in a
peaceful protest against the activities of a mining company,
‘Inversión Los Pinares,’ which led to the pollution of natural areas
such as the Guapinol River, a vital water source for the local people
of Guapinol.

Berta Cáceres was an environmental activist. She was a Lenca
indigenous leader and co-founder of the Council of Popular and
Indigenous Organizations of Honduras. She opposed the construction
of a dam in the Gualcarque River as part of the Agua Zarca
hydroelectric project, as that river is sacred for the Lenca community.
The National Court of Honduras determined that her murder in March
2016 was carried out on behalf of the Honduran corporation in charge
of the Agua Zarca project.

Relevant Human Rights –
Berta Cáceres and the Guapinol activists defended and are defending
their right to free thought, expression and speech, the right to water,
their right to a clean environment, and the rights of indigenous
peoples. Their persecution is a breach of their right to health, to a
fair trial, and in Berta’s case, her right to life.

Honduras is a party to the ICCPR, the ICESCR and the American
Convention on Human Rights (“ACHR”). The ICCPR and the ACHR protect
the right to life, freedom of speech and expression, and a right to
a fair and impartial trial. Those rights have and are being breached
by the Honduran government in respect of Berta Cáceres and the
Guapinol 8. Not only were they persecuted by the state for the
expression of their beliefs; the treatment of those activists creates
an environment in which it is highly dangerous to express one’s beliefs,
which would almost certainly have a chilling effect on the exercise of
those rights by other people. It also shows the bravery of these
activists in standing up for their beliefs in perilous circumstances
and makes them powerful symbols of the exercise of the right to freedom
of thought.

The UN Committee on Economic Social and Cultural Rights has, in a
General Comment, stated that the ICESCR entails a right to water
including a right to be free from arbitrary contamination of water
supplies. There is increasing support for the recognition of a more
general right to a healthy environment too. In a 2018 Report, the UN
Special Rapporteur on the issue of human rights obligations relating
to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment
recommended legal recognition of a right to a healthy environment at
a global level. The rights of indigenous peoples, including their right
to develop their spiritual traditions and to have access in privacy to
their religious and cultural sites, as set out in the UN Declaration
on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, adopted by the General Assembly
on 13 September 2007. The Guapinol 8 and Berta Cáceres defended these
rights by protesting the activities of mining companies in Honduras.

The ICCPR and the ACHR protect the right to a fair trial, which has
been denied to the Guapinol 8 in their continued detention without
trial or evidence of crimes. Those conventions also protect the right
to life. Berta Cáceres was deprived of this right when she was murdered
by hit-men in March 2016. The right to health, protected by the ICESCR
is also being denied to the Guapinol 8. Reports have disclosed how the
Honduras prisons are overcrowded, have inadequate nutrition and
sanitation which has further led to prisoners being at more risk of
contracting Covid-19. Despite measures being introduced in Honduras
to allow home detention for some prisoners as a result of the pandemic,
the Guapinol 8 were denied this right despite the lack of evidence
against them. Studies have reported overcrowding within the prisons,
inadequate nutrition, and poor sanitation, which has gotten worse due
to the Covid-19 pandemic.

Conclusion – In a political environment that threatens
the right to freedom of thought and expression, Berta Cáceres and the
Guapinol 8 have stood up for the rights of indigenous people, the right
to water and the right to a healthy environment. The Honduran government
has displayed a continued disregard for indigenous and environmental
rights through the illegal awarding of mining licences in protected
areas. Despite threats to their freedom, their health and their lives,
the activists have peacefully protested those actions of the government,
showing they are brave and tireless defenders of human rights, and in
particular the rights to free thought and expression.

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Project log

As part of our Global Citizenship and Development Education module,
we were tasked with carrying out a group project, Ours, UCC UV Trocaire,
would see us coming together with students from Universidad Veracruzana
in Mexico and spokespeople from Trócaire to spread the word about the
impact of Big Business on Human Rights. We had the opportunity to attend
an introductory lecture, where Jeannie McCann and Garry Walsh [?]
contextualised the project for us. Through this, and the short film we
watched in preparation for the lecture (Never Waste a Crisis), we
familiarised ourselves with the task at hand. To tackle corporate
exploitation of indigenous communities, such as that of Berta Caceres,
a UN binding treaty would need to be made. I think that, back in that
first lecture, we were a little apprehensive: how would we do our part
to tackle such a mammoth and complex issue? Luckily, Jeannie McCann was
more than willing to give us some much-needed direction. Jeannie met
with us over Zoom in the first of what would become weekly meetings
with the UV students, who we had also been introduced to in the initial
lecture. Together, we set out a list of goals for the project. Jeannie
explained the importance of the upcoming vote on corporate human rights
due diligence in the EU parliament next week. She offered to send Mary
an email template that we could each customize and send to our MEPs in
advance of the vote. As well as this, Jeannie suggested that the main
aspect of our project could be an online webinar in which students from
both UCC and UV discuss the impact of Big Business on Human Rights.

Although a few things got lost in translation at the beginning
(thank you to Lucia for translating during the meetings!), we built up
a great rapport with the UV students. Throughout our weekly meetings and
through our WhatsApp group chat, we worked towards creating an event
that aimed to spread awareness of the need for a UN binding treaty on
business and human rights. Speakers from both universities, Catherine,
Lucia, Mark and Anne from UCC and Daria, Eduardo, Fernanda, Diego and
Monserrat from UV undertook thorough research to create compelling and
informative presentations. On the evening of Tuesday 13 April, we held
our webinar: “What Business Is This of Yours? A Glimpse into the Impact
of Big Business in Ireland and Mexico.” After a few inevitable technical
difficulties (it wouldn’t be a virtual event without them!) Mary kicked
us off with an introduction to the night’s events. Joanne McGarry from
Trócaire then brought us through the reasons behind Trócaire’s campaign
to implement a binding treaty on Human Rights, providing some valuable
expertise on the subject. We then heard from Mark, Lucia, Catherine and
Anne on the impact of Big Business on Human Rights in Ireland. The
speakers’ presentations illuminated the concerns around systems such as
Direct Provision and the subsequent need for a UN binding treaty on
business and human rights. Then, the students from Daria, Eduardo,
Fernanda, Diego and Monserrat presented on the impact of Big Business
in Mexico. In particular, these presentations focused on the exploitation
surrounding mining in Mexico. Both the Irish and Mexican presentations
included translations for them to be accessible to audiences from both
countries. The opportunity to hear student from Mexico in conversation
about some of their country’s most pertinent political and social issues
was both unique and worthwhile. The event as a whole was a huge success
and everyone, from the speakers to those working behind the scenes,
should be proud of their efforts in pulling off a wonderful event during
challenging times. I hope that, in the spirit of this project, we can
maintain contact with our Mexican friends and one other, because it has
been a pleasure!

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