"Indigenous human rights defenders and NGOs call on EDF Group to comply with its duty of vigilance regarding human rights prescribed by the French 'Duty of Vigilance' law", 1 Oct 2019

Indigenous human rights defenders, communal representatives from Unión Hidalgo, Oaxaca (Mexico), Mexican human rights organization Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC), and Berlin-based human rights organization European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights (ECCHR), sent a formal letter urging French company Électricité de France (EDF) to comply with its duty under French law to identify risks of violations of human rights and fundamental freedoms in their global operations and provide appropriate measures to prevent such violations...

The letter stresses the lack of human rights risks’ identification and appropriate measures in EDF’s vigilance plan effectively preventing the violation of the rights of indigenous peoples to free, prior and inform consent, to defend human rights, as well as to access to information and public participation in decision-making processes related to EDF’s wind power project “Gunaa Sicarú”...

It is the first time that Mexican indigenous community seeks the exercise of its rights under the framework of French Law on the Duty of Vigilance. It is also the first action on the basis of this Law involving a company majorly state-owned...