Human Rights at Sea (HRAS) continues to lobby for the inclusion of fundamental human rights protections for persons at sea to be included within the proposed UNCLOS marine biological diversity Convention being presently discussed by States at the UN.
HRAS issued a legal review and positioning document in September 2019 titled: ‘Proposed Amendments Incorporating International Human Rights Law into the Draft Agreement on the Conservation and Sustainable use of Marine Biological Diversity of Areas Beyond National Jurisdiction’.
HRAS has consistently lobbied that within the new proposed text, human rights protections for those persons involved in enacting the convention must be covered to ensure fundamental protections for those applicable persons working at sea. For this reason, HRAS believes that the draft agreement offers an opportunity to plug that gap.
Marine biological diversity cannot be considered in a vacuum. Effective conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity depends on the activities of people and businesses beyond national jurisdiction. And for many people, marine biological diversity is the foundation of their livelihoods and guarantees their economic, social and cultural rights
Currently, Article 1.3 of the UN Charter 1946 states that one of the purposes of the UN is:
Human Rights at Sea proposes the following amendments to the draft text, which would include human rights law in the interpretative provisions of the draft agreement without affecting the overall content and focus of the agreement.
#1 Additional Clause – Preamble
“Recognising the need to promote and encourage the respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms for all without distinction as to race, sex, language, or religion in achieving international cooperation to solve international problems”.
Or,
Recognising that the human rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights apply at sea as they do on land
#2 Article 4
This Agreement shall be interpreted and applied in a manner that respects the competences of and does not undermine the effectiveness of relevant legal instruments and frameworks including international human rights laws and relevant global, regional, subregional and sectoral bodies and that promotes coherence and coordination with those instruments, frameworks and bodies [or the purposes contained in the UN Charter].
Or an additional paragraph, which will say that:
The provisions of this Agreement shall be interpreted and applied in a manner that respects the rights and freedoms set out in the Universal Declaration on Human Rights and other relevant international human rights instruments
EXPLORE MORE AT HRAS’S LEGAL BRIEFING NOTE
