City of Ottawa By-law officers continue to issue $490 tickets to people using megaphones at #CeasefireNow marches.

The Ottawa Citizen has reported the tickets are being handed out under bylaw No. 2017-255.

Key excerpts from that bylaw include:

It’s not clear the specific intent or past experiences that generated the language in Section 4, point 5 of this by-law.

Ottawa By-law has also tweeted:

It is also not clear how the bylaw on “sound reproduction” has been justified  given Section 2b of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms or the International Covenant or Article 21 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.

The Charter

As noted on the Department of Justice Canada website:

The Covenant

And as noted on the United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner website:

The UN Human Rights Committee has also adopted General comment No. 37 (2020) on the right of peaceful assembly (Article 21) that specifically notes megaphones:

Tickets being issued at homes

It also appears that By-law officers are choosing perhaps in at least two instances to issue the tickets at the home of someone who has used a megaphone at a protest rather than at the time of the alleged infraction.

On Instagram, we have noted this post from January 21, 2024 (the video has also been posted by Spring Magazine here).

We express our concern about this situation.

Photo: PBI-Honduras was present at the self-convened popular assembly that rejected the Ecotek/Los Pinares megaproject; December 9, 2023.

Guapinol Exige Justicia (Guapinol Demands Justice) has posted on their website: “On Saturday, December 9, 2023, the people of Tocoa were called by the Municipal Corporation to participate in an open town meeting regarding the Ecotek petroleum coke thermoelectric project, one of the seven components of an iron oxide megaproject promoted by the ‘Emco Holdings’ consortium of Ana Facusse and Lenir Perez.”

That post adds: “More than 2000 people showed up early at the Froylan Turcios Institute to ensure that their voice was heard, despite a stigmatization campaign against the human rights defenders of the Municipal Committee in Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa in the run-up to the town hall, with the intention of provoking fear in the population.”

It then notes: “Municipal staff tried to prevent voters from entering the Institute and, upon seeing the large number of people who had arrived to vote against the project, Mayor Adán Funes refused to enter the Institute to hold the open town meeting. As a result, the people self-convened a popular assembly, in which the municipal councillors were present, and voted against the petcoke thermoelectric plant and Emco’s megaproject.”

Photo of the popular assembly.

Now 100+ organizations have demanded that: “The decision of the People of Tocoa validly expressed on December 9, 2023, through a popular assembly, be respected and implemented immediately by all levels of the Honduran government.”

Their demands also call 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.”

The 100+ organizations include the PBI-Honduras accompanied Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (ARCAH) and Civil Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organisations in Honduras (COPINH).

These demands are also supported by the PBI-Guatemala accompanied Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA),

And the letter was signed by organizations in Canada including the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN), Canadian Jesuits International, Comité para los derechos humanos en America Latina  (CDHAL), and Caritas Canada.

To read the full list of signatories, go to 100+ organizations demand Honduran authorities respect decision of the people of Tocoa to say NO to petcoke thermoelectric plant and Emco’s mining megaproject.

Further reading: PBI-Honduras present as consultation rejects Ecotek petcoke plant that would power iron oxide pelletizing plant near the Guapinol River (December 12, 2023)

We continue to follow this.

Mongabay, the U.S.-based non-profit conservation and environmental science news platform (whose readership averages 9 million visitors each month), reports:

“Yuly Velásquez grew up on the banks of the Magdalena River near the Colombian city of Barrancabermeja, an area surrounded by a large network of swamps, lagoons and tropical forests. These wetlands are home to a host of migratory fish species, such as the bocachico (Prochilodus magdalenae) and dorada (Brycon moorei), which riverside communities depend on for their livelihoods.

But in recent decades, the fish have become increasingly scarce as the city’s lucrative oil industry and a nearby landfill discharge oil and toxic waste into water bodies. The country’s largest oil refinery, owned by the national oil company Ecopetrol, is located in Barrancabermeja and contributes to 70% of the local economy, according to the latest estimates. It refines everything from gasoline to propane, and the industrial complex also hosts a large petrochemical plant to produce products derived from petrol, such as plastic. But although the refinery is a pillar in the local economy, researchers and locals say inadequate management and illegal discharge is impacting the health of residents and the livelihoods of fishers.

As a fisher and president of an environmental organization that focuses on protecting the region’s wetlands and waterways, Velásquez has faced violent threats and attacks, including three assassination attempts by unidentified aggressors. Despite efforts by her organization, FEDEPESAN (the Federation of Artisanal, Environmental and Tourist Fishermen of the Department of Santander), to monitor and report pollution and corruption in the region, Velásquez says a lot of their complaints have been ignored. Instead, attacks suffered by environmental defenders have reportedly increased.

These are the challenges Velásquez and her colleagues face on a daily basis. But her passion to protect the wetlands and guarantee access to clean water, she says, pushes her to continue her work, despite the threats to her personal safety and her family’s security.”

In the interview section of the article, Velasquez says:

“Thank God we don’t feel alone, because the international community is also supporting us, showing and making us visible. And this is a weapon that helps us say that we are not alone, there are other people who know the complaints that we are making and, if something were to happen to us, it is because of the complaints we made against the Ecopetrol refinery, due to all the types of pollution that occur here in the territory.”

“We feel that we have made a little progress, with a lot of fear, because as the network becomes stronger, we are also much more visible, and so the latent fear of being attacked is greater, it is strong. That is why we accompany ourselves with CREDHOS, also with Peace Brigades International [an international NGO that works to protect human rights and environmental defenders]. They now accompany us to carry out monitoring of the pipes in Las Ciénegas. We can have a little peace of mind to be able to carry out the work.”

“We are very grateful for the entire international community, for all the colleagues who were now at the U.N. climate and biodiversity conferences providing so much information and making visible everything that is happening here. And also showing what we do as communities to mitigate climate change.”

We add that the UN COP16 summit – the Sixteenth meeting of the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity – will take place in Colombia (in a city to be determined) on October 21 to November 1, 2024.

To read the full interview, go to Courage & calm despite attacks: Q&A with Colombian activist Yuly Velásquez (Mongabay, January 19, 2024).

Photo: PBI-Canada and PBI-Colombia with Yuli, June 30, 2022.

Dramatic Video Shows Militarized Canadian Police Raid Wet’suwet’en Land Defenders & Journalists (Democracy Now!, November 24, 2021).

An abuse of process application was heard in a courtroom in Smithers, British Columbia this past week that alleges the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) used excessive force and violated the Charter Rights of Indigenous land defenders resisting the construction of the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline on Wet’suwet’en territory.

Land defenders Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan) and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) were arrested by C-IRG officers on November 19, 2021.

1- “Lethal-force overwatch” Sergeant Ryan Arnold of the Emergency Response Team (ERT) testified: “We were there to provide lethal-force overwatch for the tac team to go hands-on with people who need to be arrested.”

2- No negotiator Sergeant Arnold also testified that while ERT teams normally include a negotiator, he wasn’t aware of one on site that day. C-IRG Silver Commander Superintendent James Elliott testified: “There was not going to be any negotiation.”

3- “Orcs” While Superintendent Elliott testified that C-IRG officers would have had special training on Indigenous cultural sensitivity, an officer could be heard in an audio recording saying: “They all had the fuckin’ paint like, are you an orc?” This refers to the red handprints that honour missing and murdered Indigenous women.

4- “Mohawk symbology” Superintendent Elliott testified that Mohawk flags (the Warrior/Unity flag), patches and stickers heightened his risk assessment of the situation. Defence lawyer Frances Mahon told the court that the Haudenosaunee word for warrior is Rotisken’rakéhte, meaning “he carries the burden of peace.” Despite his Indigenous cultural sensitivity training, Elliott admitted he was not aware of that context.

5- Assumption of buried weapons Superintendent Elliott also testified: “I remember one post that I was provided at the time that said something about hiding weapons under the snow, in the forest.” Mahon told the court the social media post referred to the Haudenosaunee great law of peace, in which five warring nations bury their weapons under a pine tree to unite. Elliott admitted he may have misunderstood the post.

6- Officer wanted to shoot at a security camera While C-IRG officers are apparently highly trained, Corporal Sebastien Pilote sought permission to fire his weapon to disable a security camera on the exterior of the tiny house where the land defenders were located. He was instructed instead to disable the camera by cutting its cable.

7- Officer suggested using police dog Defence lawyer Quinn Candler read a transcript from a radio transmission in which Corporal Pilote also suggested sending a police dog into the tiny house. Pilote said over the police radio that day: “We’re going to have to go in. We can use the dog or we can use people.”

8- Use of chainsaw While heavily armed with various weapons, C-IRG officers were not equipped with basic “breaching” devices to get past the locked door of the tiny house. Instead, they used axes, a sledgehammer and a chainsaw they found on the site. An officer joked that it was like the scene in the horror film The Shining in which a character breaks through a door and says: “Here’s Johnny.”

9- Launcher aimed at defenders Bronze Commander Inspector Glen Fishbook of the ERT testified it would have been common practice to shoot gas canisters into the tiny house to force the land defenders out. He then said: “Ultimately, with Superintendent Elliott, I decided not to because of the optics.” Once the door was broken down, Corporal Pilote pointed a 40mm projectile launcher at the land defenders.

10- Use of company lawyer While the RCMP presumably has its own legal counsel, Bronze Sub-Commander Staff Sergeant Sascha Baldinger testified he called the law firm that secured the injunction for Coastal GasLink to determine if a warrant was needed to enter the tiny house where the land defenders were staying.

Disturbing testimony is also coming to light with respect to the arrest of Indigenous land defenders the previous day, November 18, 2021:

11- “Ogre-looking dude” An officer can be heard in an audio recording saying: “That big fuckin’ ogre-looking dude, he’s actually like, autistic.”

12- “Beat the shit out of him” An officer also says: “Then the fucking guys just beat the shit out of him and then he started crying. I felt bad for him. Apparently the sergeant grabbed his balls and twisted. I guess he was on the ground and everyone was just grabbing limbs. He didn’t have a limb to grab, so he’s like, just grab his balls, like, ‘You done now? You done resisting?’”

The abuse of process hearing will resume June 17-21 in Smithers.

Just prior to that, March 9 will mark the one-year anniversary of the Civilian Review and Complaints Commission (CRCC) systemic investigation of the C-IRG and April 17 will mark the 42^nd anniversary of the signing of the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

Further reading:

Abuse of process hearing for Wet’suwet’en leader, blockade members to resume in June (CBC News, January 19, 2024)

Dogs, Snipers and Axes: Inside the RCMP’s Actions in Wet’suwet’en Territory (The Tyee, January 17, 2024)

Audio Reveals RCMP Officers Laughed about Beating a Land Defender (The Tyee)

Caught on tape: RCMP officers laugh about brutal arrests (Dogwood, January 18, 2024)

Abolish C-IRG Twitter feed.

Photo: Irene Khan, David R. Boyd, Mary Lawlor, José Francisco Cali Tzay, Marcos A. Orellana, and Damilola S. Olawuyi.

Three letters have been sent by UN Special Rapporteurs highlighting complaints of judicial harassment and criminalization of journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc Chub in relation to his reporting on the Fénix nickel mine in El Estor, Izabal, Guatemala.

All three letters were sent by five Special Rapporteurs including the rapporteurs on the promotion and protection of the right to freedom of opinion and expression (Irene Khan); on the question of human rights obligations related to the enjoyment of a safe, clean, healthy and sustainable environment (David R. Boyd); on the situation of human rights defenders (Mary Lawlor); on the rights of indigenous peoples (José Francisco Cali Tzay); and on the human rights implications of the environmentally sound management and disposal of hazardous substances and wastes (Marcos A. Orellana); as well as the Working Group on the Question of Human Rights and Transnational Corporations and Other Business Enterprises (chaired by Damilola S. Olawuyi).

The letters were sent to the Government of Guatemala; Solway Investment Group, Solway Holding, Ltd., Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel SA (CGN), Compañía Procesadora de Níquel de Izabal SA (PRONICO); the Government of Malta and the Government of Switzerland.

The three letters are referenced as AL GTM 6/2023; AL OTH 128/2023; and AL CHE 5/2023: and are dated November 6-7, 2023.

Key excerpts that explain the situation include:

– “In February 2017, a red stain appeared in Lake Izabal, near the operations of the Fénix nickel mine, operated by Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel SA (CGN). Compañía Procesadora de Níquel de Izabal SA (PRONICO) owns the mine’s nickel processing plant, although PRONICO shut down operations in 2023.”

– “Local indigenous communities demanded that the relevant state institutions conduct investigations and reviews of the mine’s waste. In official statements, the state and the CGN claimed that the coloration came from microalgae and that an analysis showed that 90% of the water contamination was not generated by the company’s operations, but by local communities along the Polochi River. However, internal company documents to which they later had access show that CGN allegedly knew from the beginning that the mine’s wastewater was severely polluting the lake.”

– “In mid-May 2017, the Artisanal Fishermen’s Guild, local indigenous Maya Q’eqchi fishermen from Izabal, filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office for the contamination of Lake Izabal. At the same time, they denounced the CGN’s lack of dialogue with local communities. On 27 May 2017, following the failure of roundtable negotiations with the CGN, indigenous fishermen and other affected citizens exercised their right to protest against the mine.”

– “In the course of alleged clashes during the protest, police killed an indigenous fisherman present at the protest and another protester was injured. Police reported six police officers injured.”

– “According to the analysis of samples taken from Lake Izabal on 20 August 2017, carried out by an institute of environmental hygiene and toxicology, and the department of environmental health and water protection of North Rhine-Westphalia, Germany, the amount of nickel present in the samples considerably exceeds the maximum permitted level.”

– “On 27 May 2017, Mr. Choc reported on the protest in which local indigenous fishermen in El Estor demanded an environmental study following the appearance of a red stain in Lake Izabal, which they attributed to the Fénix mine, operated by the CGN. Mr. Choc photographed the exact moment a fisherman was shot dead by police. Police reportedly denied that he had died.”

– “In August 2017, he was charged with the crimes of threats, incitement to commit a crime, illicit association, unlawful assembly and demonstrations, and damage and illegal detention of four CGN employees. These charges were allegedly the result of a complaint filed by the CGN and PRONICO.”

The letters ask a series of key questions including: “Please explain the legal basis for the charge of ‘unlawful detention’ and the charge, now dropped, of ‘incitement to commit a crime’ against Mr. Carlos Ernesto Choc Chub and how they are compatible with article 19 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights.”

We encourage you to read the full letters and complete list of questions at AL GTM 6/2023; AL OTH 128/2023; and AL CHE 5/2023.

We continue to follow this closely.

 For more: PBI-Canada conversation with Maya Q’eqchi’ frontline journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc (August 19, 2023).

On January 18, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“#PBI accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón. We visited the communities of Sactá and Las Tres Cruces. We met with leaders and members of the Resistance who shared with us the risks they face in defending the rivers and the land. PBI is very concerned about the increase in criminalization in the region.”

PBI-Guatemala has explained: “The Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón is made of more than 190 Q’eqchi’ communities who live in the Cahabón River basin. Since 2015 they have organized around defense of territory and against the launch of the OXEC I and OXEC II hydroelectric projects installed on the Oxec River, a tributary of the Cahabón River.”

Hatch and OXEC II

NS Energy has reported: “Hatch would be engaged to deliver the conceptual design and detailed design-build-engineering for the Oxec II Hydroelectric Project.”

Hatch was founded in Toronto, Canada, by W.S. Atkins as W.S. Atkins & Associates in 1955. It has offices around the world with its headquarters in Mississauga, Ontario.

From list of Hatch Ltd. office locations in Canada.

Commenting on OXEC II, Ian Ainslie, a Hatch project manager based in Niagara Falls, Ontario, noted: “Hatch has been active in developing hydroelectric sites in Guatemala for over 20 years.” And Hatch’s managing director of power, Jim Sarvinis, says: “Projects like Oxec II are exactly why we do the type of work we do at Hatch.”

OXEC II became operational in September 2018.

OXEC III

In April 2023, Power Technology noted: “Oxec III is a 75MW hydro power project. It is planned on Cahabon river/basin in Alta Verapaz. The project construction is likely to commence in 2025 and is expected to enter into commercial operation in 2027.”

On May 10, 2023, PBI-Canada observed a march by the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón in Guatemala City that included a banner that read: “We demand that the Oxec 3 licence be cancelled.”

Breakbulk Magazine has previously reported Hatch’s project manager for Oxec II Hooman Ghassemi “has been working on Oxec II since 2015 and finished the conceptual design for Oxec III [in 2017].”

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has accompanied the Peaceful Resistance Cahabón since July 2017.

We continue to follow the Q’eqchi’ resistance to dams on the Cahabon River.

Photo: Maya Q’eqchi environmental defender Bernardo Caal Xol spent four years in prison for his peaceful resistance to dams being built on ancestral territory without consent. He was released from prison in March 2022. PBI-Canada met with him on May 5, 2023, in Cobán, Alta Verapaz, Guatemala.

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.

Image by Amber Bracken.

We have previously attempted to identify the weapons used by RCMP Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG) officers when they raided Wet’suwet’en territory in November 2021. Specifically, we have tried to identify the weapons pointed at land defenders in a tiny house on the territory on November 19, 2021.

More information is now coming forward as the abuse of process case is heard in a court in Smithers, British Columbia.

The Tyee reports: “On Friday [January 12], the court heard from Cpl. Sebastien Pilote and Sgt. Ryan Arnold, who led the RCMP’s Emergency Response Team, or ERT, as they arrested people at the two structures on Nov. 19, 2021.”

That article continues: “[Arnold] said that RCMP snipers, carrying carbine assault rifles modified to make them more effective at longer distances, were present to provide ‘a quick response unit’ for officers making the arrests.”

It also notes: “Once the door [to the tiny house] was breached [with a chainsaw], Pilote stood in the doorway, pointing a rifle with a flashlight in the ‘ready position,’ which he testified meant a slightly lowered angle.”

The photograph at the top of this article by Amber Bracken, a photojournalist inside the tiny house, appears to show Cpl. Pilote pointing his gun inside the structure.

These screenshots from video posted by CBC from documentary filmmaker Michael Toledano shows us more of this weapon.

We had previously identified this as possibly the Heckler and Koch AG-C/EGLM (40 mm enhanced grenade launching module) that can be attached to any AR-15 type rifle, including the C8 carbine used by the RCMP.

Photo: Heckler & Koch AG-C/GLM.

It’s possible though that this weapon is a Heckler & Koch HK269 40 mm launcher (which may well just be a variant of the AG-C/GLM).

Image from Blue Line Magazine.

PAI Defense says: “The HK269 is an enhanced development of the GLM/M320 in calibre 40 mm x 46 (low velocity) with the option to unlock the barrel either towards the left or right. The interfaces to mount it on assault rifles and the option to use it as a stand-alone weapon remain unchanged. Application range of up to 350 metres. The HK269 is suitable for both lethal and non-lethal ammunition.”

Our initial assessment was that the weapon was mounted to a C8 carbine rifle, but it’s possible that it was deployed as a standalone weapon.

After Cpl. Pilote points his weapon inside the tiny house, the video by Toledano posted by CBC News shows a second C-IRG officer pointing his weapon inside the structure.

We continue to express our concern about the militarized response by RCMP C-IRG officers against Indigenous land defenders upholding their rights on unceded territory against the Coastal GasLink fracked gas pipeline.

We also continue to highlight that the United Nations Committee of the Elimination of Racial Discrimination urged Canada, prior to this November 2021 raid, to withdraw the RCMP from Wet’suwet’en traditional lands and “to prohibit the use of lethal weapons, notably by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police, against indigenous peoples.”

On January 3, Espacio OSC tweeted:

“Today we met with @MaryLawlorhrds Special Rapporteur of the @UN on Human Rights Defenders and @UNHCHRmexico, to share the progress of the Working Group for the strengthening of the @Mecanismo_MX.

This Working Group represents a potential good practice of dialogue and collaboration between government entities and civil society in the protection of defenders in #México and the region, especially in the design of public policies.

We appreciate the willingness of @MaryLawlorhrds and her team to learn about the Working Group and provide technical support for the benefit of #HRD defenders in #México, as well as to specifically monitor the context of violence they face.”

Mary Lawlor then tweeted:

“I was very happy to learn more about the progress of the working group for the strengthening of the @Mecanismo_MX for the protection of HRDs and journalists in #Mexico. This collective work is fundamental and must continue @MisionMexOI [the Mexican Mission to the United Nations in Geneva].”

Espacio OSC

PBI-Mexico has previously explained: “Espacio_OSC is a coordination platform of 18 civil society organizations from throughout Mexico.”

It adds: “These organizations advocated jointly for the creation of the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, and they now monitor its implementation. PBI provides accompaniment and technical support to the platform.”

The Protection Mechanism

PBI-Mexico has also previously explained that a Protection Mechanism was created for journalists in Autumn 2010.

Later, the Law for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists was signed into law in June 2012. That law obliges both federal and state authorities to protect the rights of journalists and human rights defenders.

In March 2020, PBI-Mexico commented “the Mechanism continues to demonstrate notable deficiencies and concerning failures.”

The year before that, PBI also highlighted: “The Mechanism can’t possibly address its shortcomings with its current budget and staffing levels. Providing additional funding would be the first step the Mexican government can take to ensure the Mechanism has the resources necessary to manage its rapidly growing caseload.”

For more, please see the report Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico.

Journalists and human rights defenders killed in Mexico

On January 11, the Washington Post reported: “According to Article 19, an international organization that protects journalists, 163 journalists have been murdered in the country since 2000.”

In their 2023 Round-Up, Reporters Without Borders notes: “In Mexico, four deaths were recorded in 2023, less than half the number recorded in 2022 (11). However, this does not mean that security has improved for journalists there, as demonstrated by the kidnappings of three reporters and the armed attacks against four journalists towards the end of 2023. Given the record number of cases of violence in 2022, some journalists have been more systematic in calculating the risks to which they are exposed, which implies more self-censorship and the spread of information black holes.”

And in November 2023, following the murder of land and environmental defender Higinio Trinidad de la Cruz, Global Witness highlighted: “Between 2012 and 2022, 185 land and environmental defenders have been killed in Mexico.”

PBI-Mexico

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project opened in 1998. Their Annual Report 2022 notes that they had 20 field volunteers from 11 countries with 8 people in the support office and 5 people who were part of the team outside of Mexico.

For more, please see their website.

Video still: Arevalo moments after being sworn-in.

The Associated Press reports: “Bernardo Arévalo was sworn in as Guatemala’s president on Monday [January 15] minutes after midnight despite months of efforts to derail his inauguration, including foot-dragging and rising tensions right up until the transfer of power [that was delayed by more than nine hours].”

“Arévalo arrives in the presidency after winning August’s elections by a comfortable margin [winning with 58 percent of the vote]. But nothing has been straightforward since, with Attorney General Consuelo Porras and the establishment forces observers say she represents throwing one legal challenge after another at Arévalo and his party.”

The article adds: “That Arévalo made it to within a day of his inauguration was largely owed to thousands of Guatemala’s Indigenous people, who took to the streets last year to protest and demand that Porras and her prosecutors respect the Aug. 20 vote.”

Photo: “After #53 days of resistance, the women of the Q’eqchi’ people add their voices ‘Corruption despoils our rivers, out with coup plotters’ they express in the march that heads to #MP [Public Ministry].” November 23, 2023.

“Ni un paso atrás” (not a step back)

Indigenous peoples were on the streets this Sunday as well.

The BBC notes: “The Solemn Session, as the presidential inauguration ceremony is called, was scheduled for 3:00 p.m. on Sunday.”

Agence France Presse reports: “The delay in the inauguration sparked discontent among Arévalo’s supporters, including many indigenous people, who, amid shoving with the police, pushed their way towards the parliament headquarters.”

At 3:20 pm local time, Maya Q’eqchi’ journalist Carlos Ernesto Choc posted this dramatic video of people chanting “ni un paso atrás”.

Around 3:54 pm, Quorum tweeted: “Police repression. The @PNCdeGuatemala [National Civil Police] repressed with tear gas the citizen protest demanding the inauguration of the new Congress and the elected president Bernardo Arévalo.”

El Pais reports: “The international delegations present in Guatemala signed a document in support of the president and democracy that was read by the Secretary General of the Organization of American States (OAS), Luis Almagro, at around 5 p.m.”

That statement said: “We call on the Congress of the Republic to comply with its constitutional mandate to hand over power as required by the Constitution today to president-elect Bernardo Arevalo and Karin Herrera.”

Almagro was accompanied by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, the Mexican Minister of Foreign Affairs, the president of Costa Rica, the vice president of Brazil, and the high representative of the European Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy.

Choc then tweeted at 6 pm: “The Izabal resistance is present in Guatemala City, joining the resistance of the indigenous peoples and asking more people to join. They are located on 8th Avenue and 9th Street, Guatemala City, Zone 1.”

By 12:30 am in Guatemala, just after Arevalo was sworn into office, the Embassy of Canada in Guatemala tweeted: “We congratulate the President @BArevalodeLeon! Today’s inauguration demonstrates the unwavering commitment of the people of Guatemala to democracy. …Canada looks forward to working with you to strengthen prosperity, security, human rights, the rule of law and safe and regular migration.”

Photo by Carlos Ernesto Choc. At about 1:16 am, people await President Arevalo.

Ilan Palacios Avineri comments in Time magazine: “To grasp the importance of Bernardo’s inauguration, we must first understand the Ten Years of Spring (1944-1954), a vital but frequently ignored era when his father, Juan José Arévalo Sr., became Guatemala’s first democratically-elected president. …The CIA-orchestrated coup of 1954, led by Castillo Armas [against Arevalo’s successor Jacobo Arbenz], was disguised as a fight against communism but fundamentally aimed to protect U.S. economic interests in the region. The abrupt end of the revolution plunged Guatemala into an extended period of authoritarian rule and civil strife [that claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people].”

Now, almost 70 years after the June 18-27, 1954, coup, Arevalo has been sworn in as the President of Guatemala.

We continue to follow this situation.

Peace Brigades International had an accompaniment project in Guatemala from 1983 to 1999. It closed following the Peace Accords that concluded the 1960 to 1996 internal armed conflict. The current project opened in 2003. The groups and individuals currently accompanied by PBI-Guatemala can be found here.