A/HRC/7/21 page 8 21. The prevalence of low environmental standards, weak or no regulatory institutions and poor monitoring, poverty and development needs in developing countries continue to serve as pull factors for the dumping of hazardous products and wastes. The Special Rapporteur would also like to highlight that corruption, both in the developing and developed countries, is sadly a factor in the transboundary movement of hazardous wastes and products. 22. In spite of relevant international normative frameworks related to both the environment and human rights, the trade in hazardous wastes and products persists and is on the increase. The Special Rapporteur notes with disappointment that, where regional mechanisms such as the Bamako Convention4 exist, the norms and standards they have established are often observed only in the event of breach. Consequently, such regional mechanisms have become ineffective in curbing the illicit transboundary movement of wastes. 23. The impact of the illicit movement and dumping of toxic and dangerous products and wastes can be particularly severe on the enjoyment of the rights to life, health, food and work. The right to a remedy should also be seen as central to the relationship between toxic wastes and human rights. A. Right to life 24. The right to life, which is enshrined in article 3 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and article 6 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, is seen as a right which is “non-derogable” and the most important, since without it, all other rights would be devoid of meaning.5 The Human Rights Committee has said that it is a right that should not be interpreted narrowly and that States should take positive measures to guarantee, including measures to reduce infant mortality and to increase life expectancy.6 25. The right to life involves, at the very least, a prohibition on the State not to take life intentionally or negligently. The right to life is one of the first rights to be affected by the production, use, trading and temporary or final disposal, including dumping, of toxic wastes and products. In extreme cases, where environmental disasters such as Chernobyl and Bhopal occur, this right can be invoked by individuals to obtain compensation from the State insofar as it is responsible for the disaster. 26. According to information gathered by the mandate over the years, many of the violations in various parts of the world involve violations of that right in the form of immediate death, 4 See www.ban.org/Library/bamako_treaty.html. 5 M. Nowak, United Nations Convenant on Civil and Political Rights - CCPR Commentary, second revised edition (Kehl am Rhein, N.P. Engel, 2005), p. 121. 6 See Human Rights Committee, general comment No. 6 (article 6: Right to life), paras. 1 and 5, reprinted in document HRI/GEN/1/Rev.4 (Part II), paras. 1 and 5.