PBI-Guatemala accompanied Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) highlights need for water legislation
Photo: The CCR observes water being taken from a river for a water-intensive sugar plantation; May 3, 2023.
In this article published by Peace Brigades International-United Kingdom, former PBI-Guatemala field volunteer Lorna Ní Shúilleabháin contrasts the theory versus the reality of Indigenous rights in Guatemala.
She highlights: “Approximately 43.75% of Guatemala’s population belong to Indigenous communities. Rights, laws and mechanisms exist to protect these Indigenous peoples. However, PBI has seen that these laws and mechanisms are not being implemented on the ground and Indigenous communities suffer grave human rights violations.”
Photo: Lorna Ní Shúilleabháin was a field volunteer with PBI-Guatemala from March 2023 to February 2024.
Ní Shúilleabháin notes the Agreement on Identity and Rights of Indigenous Peoples, Articles 67 and 68 of the Guatemalan Constitution, the UN Convention on the Rights of Indigenous People, Convention 169 of the International Labour Organisation, and the protocol for police action during evictions.
She adds: “According to PBI’s observations of the situation on the ground, these laws and treaties are not being implemented in indigenous communities.”
Water Law Framework Initiative 5070
Ní Shúilleabháin further notes: “The water law framework initiative 5070 proposes a new law aimed at empowering communities to manage their water resources and ensuring their right to be consulted on any agribusiness or mining projects in their areas. Civil society and grassroots organisations including the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) have united to form Campaña Agua Para la Vida and have highlighted what should be included in the water legislation.”
The human right to water
More than five years ago, the PBI-Guatemala accompanied Chinautla Multisector Urban Platform indicated their desire to “create a water law and government and municipal agreements that guarantee community and indigenous peoples’ participation to guarantee equal rights to water” within a two year period.
This demand has a constitutional context.
The Oxford Human Rights Hub has explained: “Guatemala’s constitution has several provisions that provide for or implicate the right to clean and safe water. In April 2016 there was nationwide mobilization by rural and indigenous communities to demand a stop to the theft and contamination of water. This led to a proposal for a new law (5070) which seeks to give the greatest possible power to communities to manage their water resources and to enforce the right of communities to be consulted on any agribusiness or mining project in their area.”
Accompaniment
The PBI-Guatemala Project has accompanied the Chinautla Multisector since December 2018 and the Retalhuleu Community Council since April 2020.
In May 2023, PBI-Canada travelled to Guatemala and met with both the Chinautla Multisector and the Retalhuleu Community Council. For more on this, please see: Photo-journal of PBI-Canada visit with PBI-Guatemala accompanied organizations, defenders and communities (May 9, 2023).
Photo: PBI-Canada visits Poqomám territory to meet with Chinautla Multisector and learn about their struggle to defend the right to water; May 1, 2023.
Photo: The plantations and mills that export sugar from Guatemala to Canada impact communities and waterways in Guatemala. PBI-Canada has highlighted this at Canada has imported 1.46 million metric tons of sugar from Guatemala since 2015 (May 14, 2023).
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