A/HRC/36/40 that it became necessary to issue a press release, in which Bank President Jim Yong Kim stated: We deplore the high level of fear and violence in Honduras. Berta Caceres was one of dozens of environmental activists who have been killed during the last six years. We urge the Government to address the deep-rooted land conflict in the region and bring this violence to an end. We know that strong environmental and social policies are key to achieving our goals of ending extreme poverty and boosting shared prosperity. This makes it all the more important that voices of people like Berta are not silenced.53 49. The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights also observed: Over the past year, at least six more campaigners have been killed in Honduras, including … José de los Santos Sevilla, the leader of the indigenous Tolupán people. Seven were killed in Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico during a single week in January, in connection with hydroelectric dams, mining and agribusiness projects … In addition to murder, the tools of repression include curbs on peaceful assembly, clampdowns on non-governmental organizations, attacks on independent media, state censorship, draconian antiterror laws, state-sponsored vilification, surveillance, arbitrary detention, torture and disappearances. In some countries, punitive laws and special law-enforcement agencies have been created specifically to protect investors’ interests.54 F. Business bias 50. In 2002, the Bank started the Doing Business project,55 with the mandate to rank countries on how their national regulations operate in favour of the “ease of doing business”. From its inception, the project was criticized for promoting deregulation and the lowering of social and environmental standards. The Bank responded by removing the project’s “employing workers” indicator from its scoring methodology, because it undermined labour standards and internationally recognized workers’ rights.56 The Oakland Institute has decried that and other flawed benchmarks, including the “paying taxes” indicator, which rewards the reduction of all types of corporate taxes, including environmental and social taxes levied to protect citizens and the planet.57 The most recent Doing Business report actually notes as “good reforms” the abolition of environmental protection fees for corporations in Spain 58 and Viet Nam, 59 and praises the reduction of private sector taxes in a total of 28 countries. 60 Another example of incomprehensible interference in the necessary regulatory space of States is the bad score given to Tanzania as “punishment” for introducing a workers’ compensation tariff to be paid by employers, 61 and the bad grade accorded to Malta for increasing employers’ maximum social security contribution.62 51. Based on the Doing Business model, the Bank initiated the Enabling the Business of Agriculture project in 2013. It scores countries on a range of agriculture-related “good regulatory practices”, including how governments facilitate the importation and distribution 53 54 55 56 57 58 59 60 61 62 12 See www.worldbank.org/en/topic/indigenouspeoples/brief/honduras-and-indigenous-people. See www.miamiherald.com/opinion/op-ed/article136884218.html. See www.doingbusiness.org/reports/global-reports/doing-business-2017. See www.doingbusiness.org/Methodology/Changes-to-the-Methodology, www.ituc-csi.org/ituc-calls-on-world-bank-to?lang=en, www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/text/22/262p%E2%80%939 and old.brettonwoodsproject.org/update/70/bwupdt70_ai.pdf. See www.oaklandinstitute.org/blog/world-bank%E2%80%99s-doing-business-rankingsrelinquishing-sovereignty-good-grade. See www.doingbusiness.org/Reforms/Overview/Economy/spain. See www.doingbusiness.org/reforms/overview/economy/vietnam. See www.doingbusiness.org/reports/thematic-reports/paying-taxes. See www.doingbusiness.org/Reforms/Overview/Economy/tanzania. See www.doingbusiness.org/Reforms/Overview/Economy/malta.