Democracy and accountability

Democracy and accountability

Introduction

Human rights apply to all the dimensions of food systems, and in particular to the governance, normative and accountability dimensions of food systems. Although the human right to adequate food and nutrition (RtFN) (and all its dimensions regarding adequacy, accessibility, availability, and sustainability) is central in a human rights- based approach to food systems, human rights are indivisible, interdependent, and interrelated. In that sense, the RtFN is closely interconnected with other human rights (HLPE, 2020).

States have the primary responsibility to respect, protect, and fulfil human rights throughout food systems. The RtFN is at the core of the governance of food systems in the context of the indivisibility of human rights, with special reference to the right to health, rights of peasants and other people working in rural areas, rights of Indigenous Peoples, women’s rights, children’s rights, and workers’ rights.[39]

States should put into place effective monitoring and evaluation mechanisms that ensure policies, investments, and other public measures are in line with their human rights obligations. They should further ensure a significant role for civil society, in particular historically disenfranchised groups, in monitoring and evaluation. Monitoring and evaluation must be free from interference by corporate actors. An important part of monitoring and evaluation also relates to prior and continuous human rights impact assessments of (proposed) policies and interventions to identify and prevent potential risks to the RtFN and other related rights.

Accountability is a key condition for democratic and human rights-based governance. States should ensure transparency in their actions and put into place clear frameworks and mechanisms through which they can be held accountable for decisions and actions in relation to food systems that have a bearing on human rights. States should also establish clear regulatory and accountability frameworks for holding private actors, including companies, accountable for actions that affect human rights throughout food systems. An example related to the COVID-19 pandemic is how the ailing industrial food system destroys the environment and creates the conditions for the propagation of zoonoses, whilst producing ultra-processed foods that put people’s health at higher risk of non- communicable diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

The intentional weakening of public institutions in charge of social wellbeing, regulation, and redistribution of wealth exacerbates inequality and destabilizes social peace. Chronic poverty, structural violence, and internal and cross-border conflicts lead to a rise in migrants and refugees, destroy the social fabric, and affect young people’s belief in a decent life. Resistance to these injustices has been criminalized and met with brutal repression. As such, the realization of the RtFN has been severely compromised. Additionally, people on the ground have been exploring alternatives to complement international institutional governance and accountability mechanisms, especially within the context of the weakening of international institutional human rights spaces.

List of keywords

  • Rising populism and extremism
  • People’s mechanisms and alternatives
  • Customary law
  • Judiciary
  • Seed systems
  • Democracy
  • State accountability
  • Human rights defenders
  • Participation
  • Monitoring

 

Main instruments

Guiding Questions

Democracy

  • E.g. white supremacist, anti-human rights, homophobic, misogynist, racist, xenophobic public speech of leaders, influencers, senior government officials, politicians, media, and other prominent figures.

    • Is there any hate speech/crime against migrants, minority groups, or ethnic groups? Have you observed public figures attempting to stoke ethnic tensions and violence?
    • Is there a discriminatory discourse about who “deserves” to be part of a community against certain minority groups of the population?
    • Are the results of democratic elections respected? Has a coup d’état recently taken place in your country (either violent and illegal, or apparently legal using the constitution)?

Institutional state accountability

  • For instance, can people turn to public authorities such as the police or judiciary?

    • What role does the National Human Rights Institution or Ombudsperson play in supporting accountability of violations of the RtFN and other related rights?
    • Do people know how to use institutional or legal mechanisms? Do they have the financial, practical, language, technical, and legal resources to access these?
    • Do people fear any type of negative repercussion or reprisal if they use these institutional mechanisms? Are state authorities involved in these?

Monitoring

    • Does the state have mechanisms in place to monitor the RtFN and other related rights? Are they effective?
    • Are people able to participate in these mechanisms and contribute to the state’s monitoring efforts and monitoring methodologies? (e.g., in the development and definition of monitoring indicators).
    • Do monitoring efforts by the state focus on the analysis of mass quantitative data? Is importance given to qualitative information?
    • Which other actors participate in monitoring efforts? Does the state place importance on including marginalised population groups in such efforts? (e.g., women, peasants, fisher communities, Indigenous Peoples, youth or other specific groups).
    • How participatory and inclusive is your state with regard to international monitoring processes? (e.g., Universal Periodic Review [UPR], preparation of the state’s monitoring report for the Committee on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights [CESCR] or other UN Treaty Bodies).

Peoples’ mechanisms

    • Do “non-institutional” mechanisms such as peoples’ tribunals or other community-based accountability mechanisms exist?
    • Does the constitution recognize indigenous jurisdiction? If yes, is it actually functioning? Are communities using customary law to defend and protect themselves? How?
    • Are communities using intercommunity dialogue spaces to solve inter-community conflicts, e.g. agrarian, territorial or border conflicts?
    • How have customary law, traditions and customs influenced the implementation of judicial decisions that affect your community?
    • In cases where municipal authorities do not have coercive power within their jurisdiction, are communities involved in the implementation of bylaws?
    • Do state policies recognize and protect traditional forms of governance?

Digital and online activism

    • Does the state enable digital and online activism?
    • What kind of digital tools does the state ensure for activism?
    • Have you encountered any obstructions in access to the Internet or use of digital space?

Participation

  • For example: Are there specific participation quota? When communities speak different languages, is participation conducted in such languages so as to guarantee their effective participation?

    • Is there public access to information concerning such processes?
    • Who funds legislative and policy processes?

  • For example: Do corporations participate in spaces where policies on nutrition are discussed and developed? If not, do they use other forms and strategies to influence such spaces? E.g. technique of revolving doors, lobby, bribery?

    • Do you observe:
      • Direct participation of corporate representatives in negotiation processes; Direct or indirect advocacy work in legislative or judicial processes; Philanthropic funding of institutional budgets;
      • The so-called “revolving doors” process by which corporate employees become decision-makers in public institutions?

Human rights defenders

    • Is there legislation/regulation to protect human rights defenders?
    • Is there legislation/regulation to suppress the legitimate exercise of freedom of peaceful assembly and association? Is there criminalization and indiscriminate and excessive use of force to counter or repress peaceful protest?

  • E.g. defamation, sedition, and terrorism laws.

  • E.g. refusing the recognition of groups who are out of favor with the government, who in turn may claim that these groups are engaging in anti-national propaganda. Does the government keep an official list of international NGOs and agencies funding NGOs and movements in the country?

    • Does your state fail to properly investigate and prosecute attacks against human rights defenders, therefore creating a culture of impunity and human rights violations?
    • Are there any constraints to the enjoyment of rights, or is a state of emergency declared during electoral periods, COVID-19, or natural disasters?

Territorial governance

  • (see module on Food Sovereignty)

    • Do communities participate in their territorial management? If so, what spaces or mechanisms are available for such participation?
    • Does your state recognize and regulate the free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC) of communities?
    • Do consultation processes truly take into account the position of communities before a license is granted for a project? Can communities oppose a specific project?
    • Do communities develop and implement their own protocol of FPIC? Do state authorities follow and respect these community protocols?
    • Does your state promote and protect traditional or community-managed seed systems?

Where to find answers to the questions

Mechanisms in place for participation of civil society and especially those affected by hunger and malnutrition (including small-scale food producers) – who participates and under what conditions? In the case of mechanisms including private sector, are safeguards against conflicts of interest put in place?

 

Useful resources on the topic

Democracy and accountability

Dismantling of democracy: Hate speech in Brazil and racist police violence in the USA

The current far right president of Brazil Jair Bolsonaro has promoted hate speech and repeatedly insulted and denigrated the majority of Brazil´s citizens: women, the LGBT community, black Brazilians, and indigenous Brazilians.

On May 25, 2020, George Floyd a 46-year-old black man, was killed after being pinned down by a Minneapolis police officer who held his knee on Floyd’s neck for nearly nine minutes. On the video captured of the incident, Floyd pleads, “I can’t breathe.”

On March 13, 2020, three officers with a no-knock warrant entered Breonna Taylor’s apartment looking for two people suspected of selling drugs, neither of whom was Mrs. Taylor. The officers fired more than 20 rounds into the apartment, hitting her at least eight times. Mrs. Taylor, a 26-year-old African-American was an emergency medical technician.

Mali: 2017 land law recognizes customary rights and village land commission

In 2017 the Malian parliament adopted law N°2017- 001/ of 11 April 2017 on land. The law recognized customary rights over land in Article 12: “The land rights of the rural communities that are derived from possession are transmissible and transferable under conditions defined by custom. These are all the lands of the rural communities linked to customary land law, village living spaces and family agricultural lands.” Additionally, a key aspect is that rural communities are involved in securing their land through village land commissions when it comes to acquiring land under customary law. In this regard, Article 35 stipulates, “The certificate of customary ownership is endorsed by the village chief upon the favorable opinion of the village and fractional land commission of the territorial jurisdiction concerned.” At the moment, village land commissions are being established in a democratic manner and with the inclusion of women and youth, which is particularly important in a patriarchal society. These democratic land commissions are also vital in a context where government institutions are weak, corrupt and contribute to land-grabbing and forced evictions, which in turn cause hunger, malnutrition, land conflicts and forced migration.

Burkina Faso Plan of Action 2019/2022 for the implementation of UPR and UN treaty body recommendations

The Ministry of Human Rights and Civic Promotion of Burkina Faso has approved the National Plan of Action 2019/2022 for the implementation of the recommendations and commitments under the UPR and UN treaty bodies (“Plan d’actions national 2019-2022 de mise en œuvre des recommandations et engagements issus de l’Examen Périodique Universel (EPU) et des organes de traités” – hereinafter the National Action Plan). This represents a space for CSOs to engage with government institutions for the implementation of the UPR/UN treaty body recommendations and the implementation of the SDGs. The National Action Plan includes steps to advance RtFN, for example, by adopting a framework law on RtFN and including this right in the Constitution. Furthermore, the National Action Plan lays down steps to protect communities against forced eviction. This example demonstrates the importance of civil society participation and the need for states to facilitate such participatory spaces for the follow up of recommendations from international human rights monitoring bodies.