EarthRights International (ERI)

EarthRights International (ERI) combines the power of law and the power of people in defense of human rights and the environment. They focus their work at the intersection of human rights and the environment, which they define as earth rights. They specialize in fact-finding, legal actions against perpetrators of earth rights abuses, training for grassroots and community leaders and advocacy campaigns. Through these strategies, ERI seeks to end earth rights abuses, and to promote and protect earth rights.

Their work includes:

• Documenting human rights and environmental abuses in countries where there are only a few other organizations that can safely operate. The organization exposes and publicizes earth rights abuses through campaigns, reports and articles.
• Organizing the human rights and environmental activist communities around earth rights issues. They are at the forefront of the movement to hold corporations accountable for fair human rights, labor, and environmental practices no matter where they do business.
• Litigating in U.S. courts on behalf of people around the world whose earth rights have been violated by governments and transnational corporations. For earth rights abuses against villagers in Burma, they brought the landmark lawsuit, Doe v. Unocal Corp.
• Teaching people about their earth rights and remedies, especially people living under repressive regimes. They train villagers and refugee women to testify at the United Nations and other international agencies. They also run the EarthRights Schools for activists in Southeast Asia and in the Amazon.
• Advocating for those who have been harmed, and fighting for better earth rights protections at every level, from the local to the international.