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NEWS May 11 2001
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Related Articles ‘The Human Rights Act and Corporations' Or - What happened to mine and how did they get theirs?’ Dan Bennett, (CW12 Nov 2000) |
Biotech backlash The biotechnology industry has weighed into the election debate with a ‘manifesto’ saying they effectively want to ban protest against companies. Ostensibly aimed at ‘violent animal rights activists’, the Bioindustry Association’s proposal aims to make it an offence to ‘organise a campaign purely to attempt to cause the demise of a legitimate business’. This would, quite literally, criminalise dissent – the Bioindustry Association presumably refers to the current legal definition of a ‘legitimate’ business – the whole point about protest against companies is that the protesters disagree with the government as to what is ‘legitimate’ in business practices. For example animal testing or drilling for oil in wilderness areas abroad are currently ‘legitimate’ – under this proposal, to organise a campaign saying they are not would be a criminal offence. Greg Avery of Stop Huntingdon Animal Cruelty, said: ‘The way the Human Rights Act stands, they haven’t got a chance of this. The industry is always saying they don’t oppose legitimate protests - this shows that they obviously do.’ |