The required form for making a complaint to the Special Rapporteur is available in English and French. Complaints should be sent to the Special Rapporteur at: [email protected].
Section VI of the Complaints Form requires the victim(s) to provide their written consent to the submission of the complaint. If the complaint is submitted by another person on behalf of the victim, or if the complaint concerns more than one victim, each of the victims named in the complaint must provide their written consent to the submission of the complaint, by completing the Consent Form, available in English and French.
A complaint may be submitted to the Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders by:
(a) Any member of the public, either on their own behalf or on behalf of another member of the public;
(b) A Party to the Convention;
(c) The secretariat of the Convention.
The Special Rapporteur will consider any complaint, unless he determines that the complaint is:
(a) Anonymous, although anonymous complaints making credible allegations that can be independently verified may be pursued;
(b) An abuse of the right to make such a complaint;
(c) Manifestly unreasonable;
(d) Incompatible with the provisions of the decision establishing the rapid response mechanism or with the Convention;
(e) De minimis.
Given the urgent nature of the Special Rapporteur’s mandate, complainants are not required to have exhausted domestic remedies before making a complaint.
Information submitted to the Special Rapporteur, including any information that may relate to the identity of the complainant, will be kept confidential unless he or she has explicitly waived the right to confidentiality.