SRT Grantee News – November

Grantee News

• Helsinki Foundation for Human Rights is among groups urging lawmakers in Kazakhstan to reject a draft law with amendments that would ban “propaganda of non-traditional sexual orientation.” If enacted, the law would criminalise public endorsement or portrayal of LGBTQ identities, echoing repressive laws seen in Russia.
• A Bureau of Investigative Journalism investigation reports violent reprisals against whistleblowers who exposed illegal profiteering in the DRC’s Mangrove Marine Park, including a secret palm-oil plantation and illicit logging and oil-trafficking ports. One whistleblower, Kim Rebholz, had his family attacked and his wife raped after he called for an inquiry. No formal investigation followed.
• Inclusive Development International is amplifying voices of communities threatened by the planned expansion of one of the world’s largest bauxite mines in Guinea. “It is total destruction, the forest, the water… Life is not possible.” The report, I Will Do Anything to Stay Here, also urges companies and authorities to negotiate equitable and enforceable agreements with communities to avoid harm and provide compensation.
• An Investigative Reporting Lab documentary has led to the arrest of two tax inspectors and several officials after their role in shielding the Kochani nightclub from scrutiny was exposed, prompting prosecutors to launch a formal inquiry. The officials are now under investigation for bribery and abuse of office, with evidence showing they warned the owner’s son about inspections in exchange for gifts.
• Protection Approaches’ Kate Ferguson told MPs that warnings of genocidal risk in Sudan were repeatedly downgraded or censored by the FCDO, even as evidence of Rapid Support Forces’ atrocities mounted. She warned that, despite years of alerts, the UK still lacks a credible system to turn early-warning assessments into timely preventive action or protection.
• Watershed Investigations’ new report featured with the Guardian and Panoramareveals thousands of hidden legacy landfills across the UK and Europe leaking toxic chemicals, including PFAS and heavy metals, into rivers and drinking-water zones. The team warns that climate-driven flooding and erosion could accelerate contamination without urgent monitoring and remediation.
• A ClientEarth-supported court win against KLM has prompted 21 major airlines, including EasyJet, Ryanair and Wizz Air, to commit to ending misleading green marketing practices. The crackdown marks a major step in curbing aviation greenwashing, such as misleading carbon-offsetting claims, as regulators tighten oversight.
• BirdLife Europe and ClientEarth helped secure a major win when their complaints led the European Ombudsman to rule that the European Commission committed maladministration by fast-tracking 2024 Common Agricultural Policy “simplification” reforms that would have weakened environmental safeguards without proper evidence or consultation.