The Permanent People’s Tribunal Takes On Fracking
The Permanent Peoples’ Tribunal, based in Rome, has scheduled a Session on the human rights impacts of hydraulic fracking and other unconventional fossil fuel extraction processes. Two hearings will take place in March 2017, one in the U.S. and one in the U.K. A group of U.S. and British environmental and human rights organizations have joined together to organize and plan the session. The organizers have developed quite a bit of evidence and have connections in the U.S. and the U.K. with communities impacted by fracking. At this point the organizers are seeking the following: 1) help building their U.S. legal arguments and developing the legal case regarding human rights violations (maybe from a law clinic or clinics); 2) human rights attorneys to serve as “prosecutors” at the hearings in March 2017; 3) groups interested in organizing mini-tribunals or mini-hearing here in the U.S. leading up to the Session (we are considering organizing one of these in Ohio); and 4) authors for a series of articles related to the human rights impacts of fracking. If you are interested helping with any of the above or have any questions, please contact me and I will put you in touch with one of the organizers.