United Nations Radio

Toxic waste

Over the years, the Human Rights Council has noted with grave concern the adverse effects of the illicit dumping of toxic waste on the right to life and health. To redress the situation, the Council is promoting a rights-based approach to chemicals management. Jocelyne Sambira has more on this.

Duration: 3: 38

NARR: On December 19, 2006, 528 cubic metres of waste belonging to a Dutch commodity trading company were dumped in the district of Abidjan. The cargo was transported to Cote d'Ivoire on board a ship called the Probo Koala. The incident made headlines around the world. Dr. Andre Banhouman Kamate, President of the Ivorian Human Rights League recalls that day.

KAMATE: The same day, the initial effects of the toxic fumes were felt in Abidjan where thousands of people went to their local health centres for consultations. The next day, maladorous air covered the whole city, polluting the air and environment and contaminating the local populations.

NARR: The exact composition and toxic nature of the waste is still subject of legal proceedings, but according to Dr. Kamate there is a connection between the dumping of the waste and the deaths that followed.

KAMATE: To this day, the Ivorian court estimates that 17 people have died from inhaling the toxic gases, but fears that there many have been many more. In addition, a number of people with pre-existing conditions such as asthma and other respiratory or health problems saw their health deteriorate.

NARR: The case of Cote d'Ivoire made a splash in the media but the illicit dumping of waste has been going on since the 1970s. Tighter controls in Western countries led to the moving of waste to developing countries, which badly needed the money. But the situation is more complex today, says Dragana Korljan speaking on behalf of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Illicit Dumping of Waste.

DRAGANA: Certainly, hazardous waste generated in the Northern hemisphere continue to be illegally dumped in developing countries by unscrupulous companies, as the Probo Koala case proved. However, we need to acknowledge that toxic and dangerous products and wastes know no boundaries, and are transferred not only from the "north" to the "south", but also - and increasingly-between developing countries and developed countries themselves.

NARR: In modern societies, chemicals have become an integral part of our lives. Their effect on human health is only beginning to be known. Dragana Korljan.

DRAGANA: Every year some 47,000 persons die as a result of acute poisoning from hazardous chemicals, but many more develop serious, life-threatening diseases like various forms of cancer associated with chronic, low-level exposure to hazardous chemicals, particularly pesticides.

NARR: Many of these adverse affects can be minimized by the sound management and disposal of chemicals. Illicit dumping should not only be seen as an environmental risk, but also a human rights violation. Craig Mokhiber, Human Rights Chief at the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.

MOKHIBER: While it is now widely accepted that hazardous products such as chemicals, pesticides and toxic wastes can pose a serious threat to human health and to the natural environment, their potentially adverse impact on human rights and fundamental freedoms has not yet been recognized. Thus environmental degradation and human rights abuse have often been treated as unrelated issues, even in cases where the links between environmental degradation and violation of specific human rights were evident, and distinct mechanisms and procedures have been put in place to address these phenomena.

NARR: Craig Mokhiber, of Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights. Jocelyne Sambira, UN Radio.

(duration: 3'37")