A/HRC/14/21 42. The Paris Club creditors have collectively committed not to sell claims on HIPC countries to creditors who do not intend to provide debt relief, and called upon other creditors to make the same commitment.46 43. In 2008, Commonwealth Finance Ministers issued a communiqué in which they “recognized the importance of Commonwealth creditors leading by example by providing full HIPC relief and not selling claims on to other creditors”.47 44. In May 2008, European Union countries pledged to take action to “deter aggressive litigation by distressed-debt funds” and agreed not to sell claims on HIPCs to creditors who are not willing to provide debt relief.48 They further agreed to support: (a) dialogue with other creditors (bilateral, multilateral and commercial) and with borrowing countries; and (b) technical assistance to strengthen the debt management capacities of low-income countries and assist efficient debt negotiations; and (c) commercial debt buy-backs complementary to HIPC debt relief operations.49 45. In June 2009, AfDB launched the African Legal Support Facility with the goal of maximizing resources available for economic development and social progress for its member countries by enhancing their access to technical legal advice in dealing with lawsuits and other claims brought by vulture funds, in addition to other ancillary areas.50 The facility is designed to, among other things: (a) provide members of the facility involved in creditor litigation with legal advice and services; and (b) provide members of the facility with technical legal assistance to enhance their legal expertise and negotiating capacity in matters related to debt management; natural resources and extractive industries management and contracting; investment agreements; and related commercial and business transactions. 46. The independent expert welcomes the foregoing multilateral initiatives against vulture funds. However, he is of the view that they are insufficient to prevent vulture fund activity. All of these initiatives depend on voluntary commitments not to sell debt obligations on to speculative investors or they provide funds or technical legal support to heavily indebted poor countries. Further, as the European Network on Debt and Development has argued, multilateral initiatives to discourage vulture fund activity appear to have ignored the fact that “it is entirely legal for vulture funds to pursue their claims in court”.51 Significantly, these measures do not prevent speculative commercial creditor litigation against poor countries. Indeed, the potential for profit remains a strong incentive for vulture funds to continue their activities.52 The problem is aptly summed up in the 46 47 48 49 50 51 52 14 Paris Club, press release on the threats posed by some litigating creditors to heavily indebted poor countries, 22 May 2007. Available from www.clubdeparis.org/sections/communication/archives2007/communique-presse-du/switchLanguage/en. See www.thecommonwealth.org/document/184212/commonwealth_finance_ministers_meeting_communi qu.htm. Council of Europe, “Council conclusions: speeding up progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)”, 2870th External Relations Council Meeting, Brussels, 26 and 27 May 2008, para. 41. Available from www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_Data/docs/pressdata/en/gena/100688.pdf. Ibid. See www.afdb.org/en/topics-sectors/initiatives-partnerships/african-legal-support-facility/goals-andobjectives/. See also IDA and IMF, “HIPC Initiative” (2009) (see sect. III, footnote 7), para. 25. Eurodad, “Taming the vultures: are new measures enough to protect debt relief gains?” (Brussels, 2008), p. 11. The Government of the United Kingdom acknowledges the problem as follows: “These methods cannot prevent creditors intent on pursuing their claims through the courts from doing so. So long as it remains possible and potentially profitable (depending on the price paid for the debt) to litigate for GE.10-13156