within that State with impunity if the State(s) in which it is located does not
prevent it from doing so.
This letter will show that the Philippines can properly exercise jurisdiction over
the Carbon Majors pursuant to and in accordance with international law and
standards. The State duty to protect against human rights abuses by businesses is
an obligation under human rights treaty law, as affirmed and reinforced by the
plain language of human rights treaties. This obligation is further clarified by
treaty interpretation by international and regional courts and human rights treaty
bodies, and by principles and other standards adopted by the UN. This duty
applies equally to circumstances in which the victims, but not the businesses
responsible, are domiciled in the relevant State.
The signatories to this letter do not address the underlying factual allegations of
the complaint, nor the other legal questions that may arise, particularly those
related to the attribution of legal liability and the jurisdiction of the Commission
under the law of the Philippines.
This letter is joined by:
Olivier De Schutter, former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to
food and professor at the University of Louvain, Belgium;
Asbjørn Eide, former Director and presently Professor Emeritus at the
Norwegian Center for Human Rights at the University of Oslo;
Ashfaq Khalfan, Director of Law and Policy Programme Amnesty
International - International Secretariat;
Marcos A. Orellana, Director of the Center for International Environmental
Law’s (CIEL) Human Rights and Environment Program;
Ian Seiderman, Legal and Policy Director of the International Commission of
Jurists;
Rolf Künnemann, Human Rights Director, FIAN International Secretariat;
Jernej Letnar Černič, Associate Professor of Human Rights Law, Graduate
School of Government and European Studies, Slovenia; and
Bret Thiele, Co-Executive Director, Global Initiative for Economic, Social
and Cultural Rights.3
The first five individuals mentioned above were part of a drafting group that led
the drafting process and elaborated the commentary to the Maastricht Principles
on Extraterritorial Obligations of States in the Area of Economic, Social and
3
The authors of this letter are signing in their personal capacities. The institutions listed with the names of the authors of
this letter are for the purpose of identification rather than endorsement of the content by these institutions. The authors
thank Kristine Perry for her assistance in drafting this letter.
2