4.6 Concluding observations Based on the interpretation that special procedures and treaty bodies provide, it is possible to conclude that, when states do not take measures to ensure fair and progressive tax collection or when they facilitate or actively promote tax abuse, either at the domestic or cross-border level, they may be in violation of international human rights law. However, they have not yet addressed the issue of resource diversion or foregone tax revenues in a systematic manner. The Independent Expert on foreign debt has noted that efforts to improve revenue collection, close loopholes for tax evasion/ avoidance and ensure tax justice have not been accorded their warranted priority.283 For example, while tax evasion is currently a particularly high-profile issue, few special procedures have addressed it; treaty bodies mention it in passing without giving it the attention it deserves. This constitutes a major failure, considering that a state that does not take strong measures to collect all possible taxes cannot be said to be devoting maximum available resources to the realisation of economic, social and cultural rights. Similarly (with the exception of the most recent CESCR General Comment), human rights monitoring bodies have not paid sufficient attention to multinational corporations’ tax abuses, despite the fact these have major human rights consequences. First, they eliminate resources that could be used for securing human rights as they exacerbate income inequalities. Second, they shift and increase the tax burden to other taxpayers, often in violation of principles of equality and non-discrimination. Third, they increase developing states’ reliance on sometimes unpredictable or unreliable international assistance. While the CESCR has lent greater attention to the issue in its latest General Comment (2017), other human rights bodies, including the Working Group on business and human rights, must speak up and say a great deal more. This should include reference to the necessity for adherence to the rule of law. Better guidance by human rights monitoring bodies would assist states in their efforts to mobilise resources for human rights. 283 ‘Independent Expert comments on the draft outcome document of the 3rd International Conference on Financing for Development in Addis Ababa to all Member States, Juan Pablo Bohoslavsky’ (Human rights must be at the core of development financing) (2015), available at www.ohchr.org/Documents/Issues/IEDebt/Paper3FFD22May2015.pdf accessed 31 October 2016. December 2017   The Obligation to Mobilise Resources: Bridging Human Rights, Sustainable Development Goals, and Economic and Fiscal Policies 71