On January 24, PBI-Honduras posted:

“Last week we visited the different communities of the San Pedro Sector in Tocoa. For more than 10 years, they are organized in the San Pedro Common Goods Committee for the defense and care of the territory they inhabit.

We express concern over the invalidation of the popular will expressed by the communities repeatedly, against the renewal of the concession to the mining company located in these territories.

Just a few days from the expiration of this concession, we stay tuned for the development of the situation in the sector.”

Criterio.hn further explains:

“In response to Inversiones Los Pinares’ request to renew the ASP mining concession for another 30 years in the Carlos Escalera National Park, environmental defenders asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to act on allegations of abuse of power and indications of corruption in the initial grant.

The members of the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa presented this Tuesday, January 16, a written petition requesting notification of the resolution issued on April 19, 2023, by the General Directorate of Prosecutors’ Offices and ensuring the effective prosecution for the crimes of illegal exploitation and environmental damage.

The legal representative, Rita Romero, explained to Criterio.hn that the complaints accumulated in both the Specialized Prosecutorial Unit Against Corruption Networks (Uferco) and the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office (Fema) are based on the damages caused by ten years of mining concession.

“Why are we here? Because we learned in the last days of 2023 that the company Inversiones Los Pinares – whose ASP mining concession right expires soon on January 28, 2024 – asked on October 26 [2023] for a renewal of its concession contract for up to 30 more years,” Romero said.

The residents of Tocoa are facing a mining megaproject with seven components, which includes a thermoelectric generation plant based on petroleum coke. On December 9 – after a boycott of the open town hall by Mayor Adán Funez – more than 2,000 people constituted a sovereign assembly, through which they rejected the energy project.”

More than 100+ organizations recently called for: “The immediate and unconditional cancellation of the Emco Holdings megaproject, including the ASP and ASP2 mining concessions [100 hectares each] of Inversiones Los Pinares [where they would dig for iron oxide]; the petroleum coke thermoelectric plant and the Ecotek pelletizing plant concession; the concessions for the use of water from the Guapinol, San Pedro and La Ceibita rivers.”

We continue to follow this.

Early dates in this struggle

April 2013: Emco Mining (now Inversiones Los Pinares) requests two mining concessions in the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras Mejía National Park.

January 28, 2014: The first licence is granted to Emco Mining for their planned open-pit iron oxide mine.

2017: The Municipal Committee for the Defence of Public and Common Goods is created and calls for public consultations so that community members can decide whether they wanted a mine in their area.

March 2018: The company begins building an access road to the planned mine site and community members reports that the Guapinol River, a vital source of drinking water for them, has become muddied.

August 1, 2018: The community establishes a Camp in Defence of Water and Life that blocks the construction of the access road.

October 27, 2018: More than 1,500 police officers and military personnel begin the forceful expulsion of the protest camp from the road worksite.

January 20, 2019: Two thousand people from 24 communities gather at the Municipal Summit for Water and Life organized by the Municipal Committee in Defence of Common and Public Goods in Tocoa and declare their opposition to the Los Pinares mine.

Photo: In June 2022, PBI-Mexico accompanied a meeting of Indigenous Communities in Coloradas de la Virgen, Guadalupe and Calvo, Chihuahua with the objective of exchanging experiences on the defence of territory and natural resources.

On December 19, 2023, Raichali reported: “Faced with the unstoppable wave of displacement of entire communities in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo, state and national civil society organizations, accompanied by Peace Brigades International (PBI), have carried out two humanitarian caravans in August and November of this year.”

Those visits took place on August 21-22 and November 28-29, 2023.

The following day, Raichali also reported: “Around 80 people from the Ódami people of Santa Tulita, from the Mala Noche community in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo, in the mountains of Chihuahua, had to flee their land for a few days to save their lives, due to the presence of a criminal group that is dedicated to illegally cutting down the forest.”

Reuters has previously noted: “An academic at UNAM [the National Autonomous University of Mexico], Leticia Merino, estimates that 70% of the wood consumed in Mexico is illegal. [A report by the Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime] found that drug traffickers involved in illegal logging have also been associated with deforestation and land theft, which often affect marginalized indigenous groups.”

January 4-5, 2024 visit

Now, on January 17 of this year, El Puntero also reports: “The Community Technical Consultancy (CONTEC), the Center for Women’s Human Rights (CEDEHM), the Collective of Psychosocial Practices (COPPSAC), Services for Peace (SERAPAZ), Peace Brigades International (PBI) and the Parish of Baborigame, made three visits to the community of Mala Noche in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo, with the aim of addressing the situation of providing humanitarian aid and preventing the forced displacement of Ódames families and communities.”

That third visit was on January 4- 5, 2024.

On January 18, El Diario also highlighted: “In January 2024, in the town of Baborigame, organized civil society documented the violent events that have occurred in the community, where more than 150 people were forced to leave their homes, due to threats and the climate of violence that exists in the area.”

That article further notes: “From 2015 to 2023, 572 people in the municipality of Guadalupe y Calvo have had to leave their homes, after being victims of forced displacement by organized crime, according to information provided by various civil associations that accompany this sector of the population.”

Red TDT has previously highlighted: “Indigenous peoples of the region have denounced that illegal logging intensified since 2015. Currently, there has yet to be a comprehensive action plan to prevent illegal logging in the forests of the Sierra Tarahumara of Chihuahua.”

The El Diario article then notes: “The families and communities that live in these areas of Chihuahua have the right to live in peace and tranquility, so the organizations call on the authorities to attend to and guarantee security, by installing a safeguard with permanent security personnel in the region, so that the communities can return to their homes and thus prevent more people from continuing to be victims of displacement.”

With respect to “permanent security personnel in the region”, Raichali has provided the context and concern: “As in other cases of forced displacement of entire indigenous communities, Rarámuri and Ódami, in the same municipality, the authorities promised to provide them with protection, but they [the communities] fear that it will be temporary, as has happened, and that the violence will return with greater fury.”

The need for recognition of ancestral territory

PBI-Mexico has previously noted that the main causes of the issues faced by the Indigenous communities “are related to economic interests surrounding tourism projects, legal and illegal exploitation of forests, real estate and energy projects such as mining, pipelines and the presence of organized crime.”

The Network in Defense of Indigenous Territories of Sierra Tarahumara (REDETI) has also highlighted: “The lack of legal recognition of ancestral lands is one of the causes of the dispossession of the Indigenous peoples of the Sierra Tarahumara.”

On October 24-29, 2023, PBI-Canada hosted Mariana Azucena Villarreal Frías of REDETI, along with Manuel Jabonero from PBI-Mexico, who highlighted these issues at numerous meetings with officials in Ottawa.

We continue to follow this situation with concern.

PBI-Guatemala has now posted: “We extend the call to January 28 to select volunteers who want to accompany human rights organizations!”

More information on this here.

And PBI-Honduras has posted: “Want to know more about volunteering at PBI Honduras? Read the call on our website and learn about the world behind volunteering at PBI here.”

Their application deadline is January 31.

We remain attentive to upcoming calls from PBI-Mexico (more at Become a Field Volunteer) and PBI-Colombia for field volunteers.

Last May, PBI-Colombia welcomed these three new field volunteers.

And when these PBI-Colombia field volunteers joined in late 2022, they stated: “We consider it an exceptional opportunity to accompany different farmer, indigenous and Afro-descendant organizations in their struggles with land rights issues, their pursuits of justice for victims of the conflict, and their work with families of forcibly disappeared persons. Parting from our own experiences, we connect with each other through our motivation to contribute to the construction of a fairer world and our desire to learn about the organizations that have been working towards the consolidation of a more just society for so many decades.”

Apply today! Help spread the word!

Photo: Image from BBC video of today’s ICJ ruling.

The Guardian reports:

“[International Court of Justice president] Judge [Joan E.] Donoghue says the court has decided that Israel must ‘take all measures within its its power’ to prevent all acts within the scope of the genocide convention.

She says it must ensure ‘with immediate effect’ that its forces do not commit any of the acts covered by the convention.

It must also take immediate measures to improve the humanitarian situation in Gaza, she says.“

The ICJ ruling can be read in full here.

Implications for Canada under the Genocide Convention

In its response to the provisional ruling, South Africa has highlighted:

“Third States are now on notice of the existence of a serious risk of genocide against the Palestinian people in Gaza. They must, therefore, also act independently and immediately to prevent genocide by Israel and to ensure that they are not themselves in violation of the Genocide Convention, including by aiding or assisting in the commission of genocide. This necessarily imposes an obligation on all States to cease funding and facilitating Israel’s military actions, which are plausibly genocidal.”

The CBC has previously noted: “Canada will abide by all rulings arising from South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), officials at Global Affairs Canada have told CBC News.”

That article explains: “[An ICJ provisional measure on preventing genocide] would greatly complicate the sale of Canadian arms or dual-use technologies to Israeli buyers. Countries like Canada that have signed the international Genocide Convention treaty are expected to take proactive measures to prevent and suppress acts of genocide.”

Following the ICJ ruling, the Canadian Foreign Policy Institute and Just Peace Advocates called on the Trudeau government to ensure Canada is not enabling a genocide by immediately suspending direct Canadian assistance to the Israeli military.

We also take note of this tweet from the UK Director of Human Rights Watch:

The Arms Trade Treaty

Amnesty International has also commented: “Any state that is a party to the [Arms Trade Treaty] must obey strict rules on international arms transfers. The Treaty was designed to stop deadly weapons from getting into the hands of people who will use them to commit human rights violations, including genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.”

Canada acceded to the United Nations Arms Trade Treaty on September 17, 2019.

Rachel Small of World Beyond War Canada has observed: “[The Arms Trade Treaty] would absolutely require Canada to cut off shipping weapons to a state that’s at risk of committing serious war crimes.”

Canadian arms sales to Israel

In 2022, Canadian companies sold a total of $21 million in “military goods” to Israel of which $3.1 million fell under a category that includes “bombs, torpedoes, rockets, missiles, other explosive devices and charges and related equipment and accessories.”

Furthermore, at least 110 Canadian-based suppliers have been awarded contracts valued in excess of $38 billion to develop the F-35 fighter jet, an aircraft the Israeli military is reportedly using to bomb Gaza. A study commissioned by its manufacturer Lockheed Martin says there are US$2.3-million worth of Canadian components in every F-35 jet.

Yesterday, Alex Cosh of The Maple reported: “Peace activists and humanitarian organizations are accusing the Trudeau government of sowing confusion in its responses to questions about whether or not it has allowed Canadian companies to continue exporting military goods to Israel since October 7.”

Canadian groups have called for an arms embargo

Just two days prior to the ICJ ruling, Doctors of the World Canada, Mennonite Central Committee Canada, Humanity & Inclusion Canada, Islamic Relief Canada, Oxfam-Québec, Oxfam Canada, Save the Children Canada called for Canada “to immediately halt the direct or indirect transfer of weapons, parts, and ammunition to Israel and Palestinian armed groups while there is a risk they are used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law.”

The Waterloo, Ontario-based peace research institute Project Ploughshares has also previously commented: “The gravity of this situation calls for immediate action to ensure Canada is meeting its domestic and international obligations to mitigate the risk of contributing to violations of international law, for example, violations of international humanitarian law (IHL), including possible war crimes, in Gaza. Given the substantial risk that Canadian military goods could contribute to such abuses in Gaza, Canada must immediately halt all transfers of weapons to Israel.”

The human costs

Israel’s assault on Gaza has killed at least 25,490 people — the majority women and children — and wounded another 63,354 people. The offensive has also displaced nearly 85% of Gaza’s population of 2.3 million from their homes.

More than 10 children on average have lost one or both of their legs every day in Gaza since October 7, with many amputations performed without anesthesia.

Peace Brigades International (PBI) supports the call for an immediate ceasefire in Palestine and Israel, respect for international humanitarian law, an end to collective punishment and a process of negotiations leading to a just and lasting peace.

On January 24, PBI-Honduras posted:

“Last week we visited the different communities of the San Pedro Sector in Tocoa. For more than 10 years, they are organized in the San Pedro Common Goods Committee for the defense and care of the territory they inhabit.

We express concern over the invalidation of the popular will expressed by the communities repeatedly, against the renewal of the concession to the mining company located in these territories.

Just a few days from the expiration of this concession, we stay tuned for the development of the situation in the sector.”

Criterio.hn further explains:

“In response to Inversiones Los Pinares’ request to renew the ASP mining concession for another 30 years in the Carlos Escalera National Park, environmental defenders asked the Public Prosecutor’s Office to act on allegations of abuse of power and indications of corruption in the initial grant.

The members of the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa presented this Tuesday, January 16, a written petition requesting notification of the resolution issued on April 19, 2023, by the General Directorate of Prosecutors’ Offices and ensuring the effective prosecution for the crimes of illegal exploitation and environmental damage.

The legal representative, Rita Romero, explained to Criterio.hn that the complaints accumulated in both the Specialized Prosecutorial Unit Against Corruption Networks (Uferco) and the Environmental Prosecutor’s Office (Fema) are based on the damages caused by ten years of mining concession.

“Why are we here? Because we learned in the last days of 2023 that the company Inversiones Los Pinares – whose ASP mining concession right expires soon on January 28, 2024 – asked on October 26 [2023] for a renewal of its concession contract for up to 30 more years,” Romero said.

The residents of Tocoa are facing a mining megaproject with seven components, which includes a thermoelectric generation plant based on petroleum coke. On December 9 – after a boycott of the open town hall by Mayor Adán Funez – more than 2,000 people constituted a sovereign assembly, through which they rejected the energy project.”

More than 100+ organizations recently called for: “The immediate and unconditional cancellation of the Emco Holdings megaproject, including the ASP and ASP2 mining concessions [100 hectares each] of Inversiones Los Pinares [where they would dig for iron oxide]; the petroleum coke thermoelectric plant and the Ecotek pelletizing plant concession; the concessions for the use of water from the Guapinol, San Pedro and La Ceibita rivers.”

We continue to follow this.

Early dates in this struggle

April 2013: Emco Mining (now Inversiones Los Pinares) requests two mining concessions in the Montaña de Botaderos Carlos Escaleras Mejía National Park.

January 28, 2014: The first licence is granted to Emco Mining for their planned open-pit iron oxide mine.

2017: The Municipal Committee for the Defence of Public and Common Goods is created and calls for public consultations so that community members can decide whether they wanted a mine in their area.

March 2018: The company begins building an access road to the planned mine site and community members reports that the Guapinol River, a vital source of drinking water for them, has become muddied.

August 1, 2018: The community establishes a Camp in Defence of Water and Life that blocks the construction of the access road.

October 27, 2018: More than 1,500 police officers and military personnel begin the forceful expulsion of the protest camp from the road worksite.

January 20, 2019: Two thousand people from 24 communities gather at the Municipal Summit for Water and Life organized by the Municipal Committee in Defence of Common and Public Goods in Tocoa and declare their opposition to the Los Pinares mine.