“Not at the cost
of human rights” – UN expert warns against more austerity measures for Greece
ADDIS ABABA / GENEVA (15 July 2015) – The United Nations
Independent Expert on foreign debt and human rights, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky,
today urged the European institutions, the International Monetary Fund and the
Greek Government to fully assess the impact on human rights of possible new
austerity measures to ensure that they do not come as a cost to human rights.
“I am seriously concerned about voices saying that Greece
is in a humanitarian crisis, with shortages in medicines and food,” Mr.
Bohoslavsky said from Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, where he is currently
participating in the Third International Conference on Financing for
Development.
“I hope that the deal struck this week in Brussels will
avoid a larger crisis in Greece,” the expert said. “However, further adjustment
policies should respect the human rights obligations that are binding not only
for the Government of Greece, but as well for the creditor countries and
lending institutions. There is real legal risk that some of the harsh austerity
measures could be incompatible with European and international human rights
law.”
“Priority should be to ensure that everybody in Greece
has access to core minimum levels of economic, social and cultural rights,
including the right to health care, food and social security,” he added.
The human rights expert said there is a need to integrate
social and distributional aspects in debt sustainability analysis to make fully
informed decisions before new austerity measures are adopted.
“A debt service burden that may be sustainable from a narrow
financial perspective may not be viable at all if one considers the
comprehensive concept of sustainable development, which includes the protection
of the environment, human rights and social development,” he noted.
“Greece seems to be already in a situation in which
insolvency and illiquidity are indistinguishable. As the International Monetary
Fund has noted on Tuesday this week, debt relief in the form of a haircut would
have been the better choice to bring Greece’s debt back to sustainability. It
would also reduce Greece’s unhealthy dependence on creditor institutions and
reflect the principle of co-responsibility in the built-up of the public debt
of Greece,” the Independent Expert argued.
Mr. Bohoslavsky stressed that interim financing for banks
is now most urgently needed to ensure that the businesses can continue their
economic activities. “However, I urge all parties, including the ECB, to be
particularly careful when deciding on emergency credits to Greek banks, given
the deep and irreversible political and social processes that a banking
collapse could trigger in the country and the region,” he underlined.
“This is in particular important if such decisions are
made on emergency credits immediately before referenda or parliamentary decisions
to accept or refuse a bailout and adjustment programme,” Mr. Bohoslavsky said.
The expert noted that events before and after the
referendum have shown that the democratic assertion that put into question
austerity policies produced little positive response from official creditors.
“If this people’s democratic pronouncement becomes almost
irrelevant, there is obviously a great challenge in Europe on how the
democratic dialogue integrates national, regional and financial interests at
stake when negotiating debt agreements without compromising human rights,” he
stated.
The Independent Expert has been invited by the Government
of Greece to undertake an official country visit from 30 November to 7 December
2015. He is also planning to visit Brussels to meet representatives from
European institutions, the IMF and main creditor countries.
ENDS
Mr. Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky (Argentina) was appointed as
Independent Expert on the effects of foreign debt and human rights by the UN
Human Rights Council on 8 May 2014.
Before, he worked as a Sovereign Debt Expert for the United Nations
Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) where he coordinated an Expert
Group on Responsible Sovereign Lending and Borrowing. Learn more, log on to:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/IEDebt/Pages/IEDebtIndex.aspx
The Independent Experts are part of what is known as the
Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures, the largest
body of independent experts in the UN Human Rights system, is the general name
of the Council’s independent fact-finding and monitoring mechanisms that
address either specific country situations or thematic issues in all parts of
the world. Special Procedures’ experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not
UN staff and do not receive a salary for their work. They are independent from
any government or organization and serve in their individual capacity.
Read the Independent Expert’s media statement on Greece
(2 June 2015): http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=16032&LangID=E
Check the UN Guiding Principles on Foreign Debt and Human
Rights:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Issues/Development/IEDebt/Pages/GuidingPrinciples.aspx
UN Human Rights, Country Page – Greece:
http://www.ohchr.org/EN/Countries/ENACARegion/Pages/GRIndex.aspx
For more information and media requests, please contact
Gunnar Theissen (+41 22 917 9321 / gtheissen@ohchr.org) or write to
ieforeigndebt@ohchr.org
For media inquiries related to other UN independent
experts:
Xabier Celaya, UN Human Rights – Media Unit (+ 41 22 917
9383 / xcelaya@ohchr.org)
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