October 1, 2002
Bucking the trend for public transparency with international treaties, the Inter-American Convention for the Protection and Conservation of Sea Turtles (IAC) adopted a controversial rule at its annual meeting that allows one member country to evict an observer with only minimal justification.
This August in San Jose, Costa Rica, the 11 member-nations of the IAC agreed upon this new rule in a closed-door session in which the observers, whose fate the members held, could neither attend nor comment. Rule 11 allows a member country to eject an observer, unilaterally, by simply submitting a request, along with a written justification stating that the offending observer has undermined the objectives, or violated a rule, of the treaty.
"What this means," explains Rebecca Regnery, Deputy Director for HSI, who attended the IAC meetings, "is that a country could eject an observer for just about any reason, as long as they provide a couple half-hearted sentences scribbled on a scrap of paper as written justification. This is neither fair nor just, never mind transparent."
The IAC is still in the embryonic stages in which members are establishing rules and organizing scientific and consultative committees. Negotiations for the IAC convention were completed in 1996, but the treaty didn't enter into force until May 2001, when eight countries finally ratified it. The convention required eight ratifications.
Aside from the 11 member nations—the most recent is Guatemala—the IAC also allows, like most conventions, international observers. An observer could be a representative from a government of a non-member country, an inter-governmental agency such as the United Nations, a corporation, or a non-governmental organization (NGO) such as HSI. (HSI, incidentally, regularly attends many international convention meetings, including those for the International Whaling Commission and the Convention on the International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora.)
The current trend in international environmental law and international treaties is moving towards greater transparency, including increased observer and NGO participation. In fact, Principle 10 of the Rio Declaration on Environment and Development declares: "Environmental issues are best handled with the participation of all concerned citizens, at the relevant level."
Likewise, Chapter 27 of Agenda 21—the 300-page plan for achieving sustainable development in the 21st century, which was adopted by more than 175 governments in 1992—explicitly notes that NGOs are "partners for sustainable development." The plan calls for strengthening the role of NGOs in international treaties and organizations.
What's more, meetings for all other conventions that HSI attends—not just the IWC and CITES, but also the Convention on Migratory Species and the Convention on Biological Diversity—encourage the participation of observers. To withdraw accreditation of observers at these conventions typically requires one-third of the parties to object to the participation of the observer.
"The IAC's observer rule violates principles of fairness and due process," HSI's Regnery adds. "It fails to create a process of investigation for the complaint and does not allow the observer to provide any explanation or rebuttal."
Leatherback Protections
Costa Rica submitted a proposal at the annual IAC meeting to increase protections for the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle. It was a repeat performance. The country proposed the resolution at last year's meeting, but Mexico's representatives blocked consensus by saying that they needed to discuss the proposal with their government first.
This year, Mexico submitted changes to the resolution, but when the resolution was discussed, IAC members agreed that it should be forwarded to the scientific committee for discussion once that body is established. The United States did not block consensus, but noted that the next opportunity to pass the resolution will be two years after it was originally proposed. U.S. representatives urged members to take immediate steps to protect leatherbacks.
In a similar vein, NGOs, including HSI, distributed a joint statement stressing the urgent need for member nations to take action to protect sea turtles, especially the critically endangered leatherbacks. The statement calls for improved enforcement of turtle excluder devices (TEDs), caps on longline fishing, nesting-beach protections, marine protected areas, and national laws prohibiting trade in sea turtle parts.
