THE United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances wants and open and fair investigation of the Tianjin harbour explosion that killed more than 100 people last week, reports Lloyd's List.
Special Rapporteur Baskut Tuncak called on the Beijing and relevant businesses to ensure complete transparency in the investigation of the chemical disaster in Tianjin, including both causes and effects of the explosion.
"The Chinese authorities should also assess whether China's laws for hazardous substances and wastes are consistent with international human rights standards, including the right to information," said Mr Tuncak, who presents special report on the right to information to the UN Human Rights Council on September 16.
He noted that, under international human rights standards, the state has an obligation to generate, assess, update and disseminate information about hazardous substances, and businesses have a responsibility respect human rights, including effectively communicating information.
"This chemical disaster serves as yet another tragic example of the need of information about hazardous substances to protect, respect and realize human rights," he said.
"The lack of information when needed - information that could have mitigated or perhaps even prevented this disaster - makes this truly tragic," he said.
"Moreover, the reported restrictions on public access to health and safety information and freedom of the press in the aftermath are deeply disturbing, particularly to the extent it risks increasing the number of victims of this disaster."
Special Rapporteurs are part of what is known as the Special Procedures of the Human Rights Council. Special Procedures' experts work on a voluntary basis; they are not UN staff and do not receive salaries.
But Mr Tuncak, a Turk, does draw pay as a senior attorney and chemist with the United Nations Environmental Health Programme, providing legal analysis of national and international laws relevant to the management of toxic chemicals.
ACCIDENTS
22 August 2015 - 08:01
UN volunteer expert says lack of information made Tianjin blast worse
THE United Nations Special Rapporteur on human rights and hazardous substances wants and open and fair investigation of the Tianjin harbour explosion that killed more than 100 people last week, reports Lloyd's List.
ACCIDENTS
22 August 2015 - 08:01
UN volunteer expert says lack of information made Tianjin blast worse
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