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PBI-Canada present at the Ottawa Dyke March that welcomes Queers for Palestine and Labour for Palestine

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Ottawa Dyke March took place on Saturday August 29.

The promotion on the Ottawa Dyke March Instagram page had highlighted: “The Ottawa Dyke March is a volunteer-based, anti-capitalist grassroots organization run by dykes for dykes. Join dykes and allies to march together against the violence of colonialism, capitalism, white supremacy, transphobia, transmisogyny, homophobia, racism, ableism and all other forms of oppression.”

Their website adds: “The Ottawa Dyke March first took place July 10, 2004, in solidarity with other dyke marches around the world. Even though the march has grown and evolved since its inception, it still maintains the same values that inspired Ottawa dykes to take to the street in the first place: namely our opposition to the commercialization of queer culture and the discrimination that affects dykes in our society. We are dedicated to ending all forms of oppression.”

Their “Statement on Police Exclusion” further notes: “For the first years of Ottawa Dyke March we did not acquire a permit or ask for a police escort. In 2024, we did not acquire a permit or ask for a police escort. Today, we continue to choose not to get a permit because the Ottawa Dyke March is a peaceful political protest for the visibility of dykes, to demand political change, to protest the corporatization of the Pride Parade and to practice, in community, what it means when we say we keep us safe.”

An alternative to corporate-sponsored Pride

The Ottawa Citizen reports: “For more than two decades, people have gathered downtown for a Pride event with no floats, no large corporate sponsors and no requirement to sign up before joining the event. Instead, Ottawa Dyke March is built around a rally, political speeches and people taking to the streets together, followed by a community gathering. …[In the view of Carleton University professor Patrizia Gentile, who teaches in the Feminist Institute of Social Transformation and Institute of Interdisciplinary Studies], the large, corporate-sponsored Pride festivals familiar today are actually the historical anomaly. Political marches such as Dyke and Trans marches, she said, more closely resemble what Pride was historically.”

Solidarity with Palestine

Also shared on the Ottawa Dyke March Instagram page is a social media post from Labour for Palestine Ottawa that says: “Join the Palestine contingent with Labour for Palestine Ottawa as we march in this year’s Ottawa Dyke March. …We look forward to seeing you there with your flag or keffiyeh in hand! Bring your Palestine flags, keffiyehs, protest signs, and union flags. Bring your joy, your solidarity, your resistance.”

That post also noted: “This year we are encouraging our communities to prioritize events and actions that are in line with our core values. This year’s Ottawa Dyke March theme is: Dykes Just Wanna Have Liberation for All!”

Queers for Palestine

CTV News reports: “On Saturday [August 29], hundreds took part in the annual Dyke March, starting at the Human Rights Monument on Elgin Street. …The march has supported the LGBTQ+ community for more than 20 years. The group Queers for Palestine was also invited to join the Dyke March this year. In 2025, Queers for Palestine halted the Capital Pride Parade on its route, leading to its cancellation. It came after organizers of Capital Pride issued a statement expressing solidarity with Palestinians but removed it from its website after Mayor Mark Sutcliffe and several organizations pulled out of the parade and related events.”

CBC News adds: “In a late July Instagram post, the group wrote, ‘We will not be at Capital Pride.’ Instead, it planned to attend the Ottawa Trans March on Friday [August 28] and the Ottawa Dyke March on Saturday [August 29]. ‘We’ve always been different from Capital Pride because we put our community at the centre and because we don’t accept money from corporations and we don’t answer to politicians,’ said Kaytlyn Nadjiwon, an organizer with the Ottawa Dyke March.”

Queers for Palestine Ottawa can be found on Instagram here.

The Ottawa Dyke March can be found on Instagram here.

Their website is here.

More photos from the Ottawa Dyke March.

Additional reading: PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoiris and LGBTI+ community at annual Pride march in San Pedro Sula (PBI-Canada, August 14, 2026).

See also: PBI-Canada present at the 2026 March for Trans Rights in Ottawa (August 29, 2026).

PBI-Canada present at the 2026 March for Trans Rights in Ottawa

By
Brent Patterson
-

The 2026 March for Trans Rights took place in Ottawa yesterday evening.

The Instagram page for the march had highlighted: “Together, we’ll make our voices heard, reject hate and advocate for trans liberation – for freedom, equality and human rights. We invite trans and gender diverse people, the people who love and support us, and other allies to join us as we take to the streets. Bring your friends, bring your family, and let’s show the power of our movement!”

Ottawa’s first Trans March for Equality took place on Sunday November 19, 2006. There was another Trans March on Friday August 19, 2016. The marches restarted in 2023 and last night was the fourth consecutive march.

Trans people face multiple barriers in Canada

Trans people in Canada are twice as likely as the general population to experience severe poverty and homelessness. Two-Spirit, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, and Intersex (2SLGBTQI) people in Canada are also overrepresented in low-wage and precarious employment and are susceptible to hiring discrimination.

The study titled A Qualitative Look at Serious Legal Problems: Trans, Two-Spirit, and Non-Binary People in Canada also noted: “Nearly all participants who reported any contact with criminal law enforcement (especially with police) described their interactions as harmful or otherwise negative. Indigenous, Black, and racialized participants — including participants who are migrants and/or criminalized — reported the most frequent, recurring, and violent encounters with law enforcement.”

And transgender and gender diverse people in Canada are twice as likely as cisgender people to have experienced unwanted sexual behaviours in public places that made them feel unsafe or uncomfortable (58% versus 23%, respectively) and three times more likely in the workplace (69% versus 23%).

The risk of counter-protestors

Social media posts for this year’s march had indicated: “There is always a risk of counter-protestors or far-right troublemakers, but we have marshals ready to intervene if needed. Marshals will be clearly identified.”

In January 2023, Global News reported: “Protests against drag shows [in Canada] have become a regular occurrence, particularly at those aimed at family audiences like ‘drag brunches’ and ‘drag queen story time.’ Some have led to threats of violence: in December [2022], a bomb threat was called in at an event at a library in Brockville, Ontario, and a protester even gained access to the roof and set fire to the building’s HVAC [heating, ventilation and air conditioning] system.”

And in September 2023, the Ontario Coalition of Rape Crisis Centres also noted: “Egale Canada [has] tracked over 6000 anti-2SLGBTQI protests and instances of online hate in Canada in the first three months of 2023 alone. The organization [Egale Canada] notes: ‘There’s a rising tide of hate in this country’ against 2SLGBTQQIA+ people.”

That article added: “This year in Canada, 2SLGBTQQIA+ rights have faced growing attack. 2SLGBTQ and transgender flags have been being stolen or damaged. Some communities and school boards in Ontario and British Columbia made decisions to not fly the Pride flag, for example, while other communities saw school board protests, such as a rise in student absences on June 1 amid pushback on Pride celebrations.”

Solidarity with Palestine

At the March for Trans Rights in Ottawa last night there were many people wearing keffiyehs (a global symbol of solidarity with Palestine) as well as some carrying Palestinian flags in opposition to the occupation and genocide.

The Ottawa Trans March is calling on the Government of Canada to: “impose a two-way arms embargo on Israel, apply pressure on Israel to end the genocide, and fully withdraw from Gaza” along with other demands.

The situation around the world

There has been an upsurge in attacks against the trans community and movement leaders worldwide.

In November 2025, TGEU (Trans Europe and Central Asia) documented: “281 trans and gender diverse people were reported murdered between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025. …There is a notable rise in murders of activists and movement leaders, who are the second most targeted group by occupation this year, accounting for 14% of cases (up from 9% in 2024 and 6% in 2023).”

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied Arcoíris, the LGTB Association of Honduras, since July 2015.

Reportar Sin Miedo (Report Without Fear) reports: “So far in 2026, 11 trans people have been murdered throughout the country, according to data from the Observatory of the Lesbian Network Cattrachas.”

On August 3, 2026, PBI-Honduras accompanied Arcoiris at the annual Pride march in the city of San Pedro Sula. They posted on social media: “At PBI, we express our support for the tireless work of the LGBT community in defending human rights, in continuing to create spaces for dialogue and in building networks of solidarity.”

Canada less welcome to LGBTQI+ asylum seekers

The government of Prime Minister Mark Carney officially passed Bill C-12, titled the Strengthening Canada’s Immigration System and Borders Act, which received Royal Assent on March 26, 2026.

Prior to its passage, Rainbow Railroad commented: “Bill C-12 has the potential to endanger the lives of LGBTQI+ people fleeing persecution. …For LGBTQI+ asylum seekers, whose safety often depends on privacy, trust, and time to disclose their identities, Bill C-12 replaces compassion with control, turning Canada’s asylum system into an enforcement tool that undermines fairness, transparency, and due process.”

We continue to follow this.

You can follow the March for Trans Rights Ottawa Instagram page here.

More photos from the March for Trans Rights in Ottawa.

Further reading: PBI-Honduras accompanies Arcoiris and LGBTI+ community at annual Pride march in San Pedro Sula (PBI-Canada, August 14, 2026)

PBI supports Mexican defender Mariana Ávila Montejano who will speak at screening of ‘Toshkua’ in Hamburg, August 31

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Mariana Ávila Montejano.

The Berlin-based Die Tageszeitung (Taz) recently interviewed Mexican human rights defender Mariana Ávila Montejano in Hamburg.

Ávila Montejano tells Taz: “I am a political scientist, human rights activist and accompany people who are looking for their missing relatives. In 2014, I founded the Observatory on Social and Gender-Based Violence in Aguascalientes, a city located above Mexico City in the center of the country – primarily to draw attention to violence against women. But we were asked for help very early on in the search for forcibly disappeared people. From mothers, relatives, families – not only from Mexico, but also from Honduras, El Salvador or Guatemala.”

She further notes: “Thanks to the mediation of Peace Brigades International, I applied for a protection stay of the Elisabeth Selbert Initiative and was accepted. My situation in Aguascalientes has been extremely difficult over the past twelve months. My apartment was broken into, I changed my apartment three times, I was de facto on the run because I helped families find their disappeared, compiled documents, asked the authorities and police and thus also initiated one or the other raid.”

The full article can be read at: „Kartelle kommerzialisieren die Angst“ (Taz, August 27, 2026).

Mariana Ávila Montejano will be at the screening of the documentary “Toshkua” at the Abaton Cinema in Hamburg on August 31.

The Abaton website notes:

“The film ‘Toshkua’ (the word of the indigenous Pesh community living in Honduras for ‘disappearance’) accompanies the Honduran Mary in her search for her son Marco, who has been kidnapped on his way from Honduras to the USA. Over the course of her journey, she joins other mothers in Mexico who are looking for their children. Behind every single missing person is a family that searches and fights for clarification of the whereabouts of their relatives.

On Monday, August 31 at 5:30 p.m., after the film, there will be a conversation with Mary Martínez, mother of the disappeared Marco, director Ludovic Bonleux and Mariana Ávila Montejano (director of the Observatory for Social and Gender Violence in the Mexican city of Aguascalientes) about the disappearance in Mexico, the tireless efforts of the relatives and the reality of life for many Mexican Families.”

We continue to follow this.

 

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Human Rights Law Firm as letters submitted re: French-British oil company Perenco operations in national parks

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:

“Yesterday [August 26], #PBI joined @bufetedh [the Human Rights Law Firm] in submitting formal letters to the President’s Private Secretariat, requesting attention and dialogue regarding the Laguna del Tigre and Sierra Lacandon cases. More than 50 communities also submitted the letters today to the Petén Departmental Government and held a demonstration to protest the lack of consultation regarding the extractive activities carried out by the oil company Perenco and the updating of the Master Plan without their involvement.”

Both Laguna del Tigre and Sierra Lacandon are national parks within the Maya Biosphere Reserve (established in 1990).

In October 2025, Le Monde reported: “The French-British company left the Central American country over the summer. Since 2001, it had been operating an oil field inside the Laguna del Tigre National Park. The group stands accused of failing to fulfill any of its environmental restoration commitments.”

In January 2026, Radio France International (RFI) also reported: “Defenders of the environment and local communities denounce the irresponsibility of the Franco-British company Perenco that extracted oil in the jungle of Petén, in the middle of a protected reserve. The oil activity, which ended in August 2025, left the Guatemalan state with environmental liabilities and millions of dollars.”

RFI further notes: “This is the story of the controversial Xan field, an oil facility in the heart of the Petén Maya Biosphere Reserve, Guatemala’s main protected area in the north of the country. For four decades, the companies Basic Resources [a Paris-based company acquired by Perenco in 2001] and Perenco extracted thousands of barrels of oil from the subsoil until the Guatemalan government of Bernardo Arévalo terminated the operating license on August 12, 2025.”

That RFI article from earlier this year also reported: “An activist defending the rights of the communities of the Laguna del Tigre region also accuses the Perenco company of environmental irresponsibility. ‘There was no safe closure that would guarantee non-contamination in the area. The bad smell of sulfur in the area is notorious. And the acid water tanks that the company used to inject into the wells were left in ponds in poor condition. With the rains they overflow and go into the lagoons,’ warns the activist who asked to remain anonymous.”

The Perrodo family

The Guardian has reported: “The Perrodo family, which via Perenco owns more than 3,000 oil wells across the world, has built up an estimated fortune of more than £7bn, which they spend on a jet-set luxury lifestyle detailed in Instagram posts.” The company highlights that it was founded by Hubert Perrodo “the son of a French fisherman” and that “Hubert’s son, François, took over in 2006”.

Accompaniment

The struggle for justice and against impunity. Edgar Pérez and the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) – founded by him in 2010 – provide pro-bono legal representation to victim organizations in judicial proceedings for human rights violations committed during the internal armed conflict and other human rights violations that past and present.

PBI began to accompany Edgar Pérez Archila in August 2010, due to several security incidents Edgar had faced in relation to the high profile judicial processes he was working on. At the end of 2013, we extended the accompaniment to the other lawyers of the BDH who work in high-profile trials to fight against impunity and in defending criminalised human rights defenders.

Additional reading

–Inside the dirty secrets of the oil company Perenco (Disclose, November 2022)

–Guatemala: Oil Companies and the Subservience of the Government (Upside Down World, June 2011)

–The billionaire amateur racing driver who runs the Poole oil leak pipeline (The Guardian, March 2023).

PBI-Canada remembers Margarita Murillo alongside the National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC)

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Margarita Murillo.

The National Union of Rural Workers (CNTC) has posted on social media:

On the 12th anniversary of the cowardly murder of our beloved comrade and peasant leader, Margarita Murillo, the National Federation of Rural Workers (CNTC) raises its voice with the same strength and dignity that she taught us.

Margarita was not just a leader; she was a cornerstone in the defence of the land, the territory and the human rights of the peasants of Honduras. Her entire life was dedicated to the pursuit of social justice, food sovereignty and the dignity of rural families. Her steadfastness and courage in popular struggles made her a moral beacon that the hatred and vested interests of a few sought to silence. She gave her life for a just cause, and her legacy lives on in every furrow we plough and every hectare we defend.

Twelve years on from her vile murder, impunity remains an open wound. It is outrageous that, after more than a decade, the Honduran state has failed to bring the perpetrators and masterminds of this crime to justice. The lack of concrete answers not only revictimises her family and our movement, but also sends a message of complicity with those who persecute and murder those who defend the land.

Margarita Murillo did not die; we keep her memory alive in every woman who raises her voice in the countryside, in every assembly and in every land reclamation. Her legacy was not in vain, and our memory cannot be bought or surrendered.

Margarita Murillo lives on, the struggle continues and continues!

For land, territory and social justice!

Margarita Murillo

Criterio.hn has reported: “On the morning of August 27, 2014, while Margarita Murillo was cultivating the land in the village of El Marañón, Villanueva Cortés, she was brutally murdered by hitmen who fired multiple bullets, leaving her body lying on the land she loved so much. Margarita not only lost her life, but also the voice of a tireless defender of the rights of peasant women and the environment was extinguished.”

Accompaniment

On March 3, 2026, PBI-Honduras, PBI-Canada coordinator Brent Patterson met with Franklin Almendares, General Secretary, and Rosa Santamaría, member of the National Board of Directors, of the CNTC at their office in Tegucigalpa.

The CNTC is affiliated with the Unified Confederation of Honduran Workers (CUTH) which in turn is affiliated with the International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC), along with 150+ labour organizations including the Canadian Labour Congress.

Peace Brigades International has accompanied the CNTC since May 2018.

Additional reading

– Honduras: longtime campesina leader murdered (La Via Campesina, September 11, 2014)

– IACHR Condemns Murder of Human Rights Defender in Honduras (Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, September 17, 2014)

– 12 years after the assassination of Margarita Murillo, her memory continues to flourish in the peasant and popular struggle (Defensores en Linea, August 27, 2026).

PBI-Guatemala open call for field volunteers, deadline to apply is September 1

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project is looking for people who want to volunteer to work on the field team.

Deadline for receipt of applications and references: September 1st, 2026

Training and selection week in Navarra / Spain: January 24–30, 2027.

More information here.

PBI-Guatemala Facebook post.

Honduras police water cannon truck deployed against peaceful demonstration appears to be made by HOS/Beit Alfa

By
Brent Patterson
-

Video still: HCH Television coverage of water cannon truck.

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“On 24 August, PBI was present during the organizations’ peaceful demonstration outside the INA [National Agricultural Institute] premises and witnessed the excessive use of force by the police to disperse the protest, using tear gas and a water cannon, without taking into account the presence of elderly people and those with health conditions.

We at PBI wish to express our concern regarding the infringement of the right to protest and the shrinking of civic space, as well as the arrest of one of the people taking part in the protest in defence of the right to land and territory.”

HCH Televisión also reported: “The protest of a group of peasants from Bajo Aguán in front of the facilities of the National Agrarian Institute (INA) ended with the intervention of riot police, who used a tank and tear gas to evict the demonstrators who were occupying the street in the Alameda neighborhood. The peasants had come to the place to demand answers to their claims related to the defense and respect of their lands, in addition to requesting the departure of the INA minister, Javier Talavera.”

The HCH video coverage included this image of the water cannon truck deployed to disperse the peaceful demonstration.

The water cannon truck in the news video appears very similar to this water cannon truck on the HOS/Beit Alfa Technologies (B.A.T.) website.

That website says: “More than 15 different models of the most advanced and effective Riot Control Vehicles have been designed, manufactured and delivered by B.A.T. to 40 different countries. HOS/BAT is a leading manufacturer of Riot Control vehicles which presents complete line of highly effective Riot Control Vehicles based on over 50 years of expertise in specialized vehicle design and production.”

The website also notes: “During the year 2020, all Beit-Alfa activities were acquired by  HOS.”

Beit Alpha Technologies (B.A.T) is a private Israeli company with its head office in Kibbutz Beit-Alfa, Israel. HOS Technology R&D is also an Israeli company with its head office in Kokhav Yaier, Israel.

The Database of Israeli Military and Security Export confirms that Beit Alfa’s the “armored riot control vehicle” is used in multiple countries including Honduras, Guatemala, Chile, Spain and France.

The Database website adds that the “Riot Control Vehicle with Water Restraint System … was originally designed during the first Intifada to be used to suppress Palestinian protests in less lethal means due to criticism on Israel for use of rubber coated bullets. They are in use by Israeli military forces and Israel police. Riot Control vehicles with WRS and the Skunk are used regularly in the West Bank by Israeli military and police forces against Palestinian protestor and civilians.”

Honduras imports arms and military goods

Trading Economics notes that Honduras imported $15.69 million “from Israel of Arms and ammunition, parts and accessories” in 2024.

The Observatory of Economic Complexity has posted on their website: “In 2024, Honduras imported Weapons primarily from: Brazil ($3.24M), Turkey ($2.29M), United States ($1.53M), Czechia ($1.38M), and Mexico ($1.08M). The fastest growing origins for Weapons imports in Honduras between 2023 and 2024 were: Brazil ($1.16M), Spain ($619k), and Germany ($4.39k).”

In June 2019, Stop US Arms to Mexico documented: “Colt Manufacturing, based in Hartford, Connecticut, exported machineguns to Honduras that were used by military police to fire on protesters against electoral fraud in 2017. Colt shipped 1,714 machineguns to Honduras in 2015, 350 in 2016, and 1,000 in 2017, at a value of $3,558,686. Honduran police frequently attack nonviolent protests with CS tear gas, which is manufactured by Nonlethal Technologies in Homer City, Pennsylvania.”

“Defence” exports and human rights obligations

Peace Brigades International-Canada is examining the relationship between the export of weapons, military equipment and technology and their impact on human rights, organizations, defenders and communities, specifically those accompanied by PBI.

Amnesty International has highlighted:

“Under the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, all companies have a responsibility to respect human rights and undertake human rights due diligence to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address both their potential and actual human rights impacts. In relation to the defence sector, this means companies must assess and address human rights risks and abuses arising in all aspects of their business, including how clients such as national armies and police forces use their weaponry and related services.

The primary purpose of due diligence is to avoid causing or contributing to human rights abuses. Therefore, if a company cannot prevent or adequately mitigate adverse human rights impacts, it should avoid or cease supplying the relevant arms and related services. These responsibilities exist over and above compliance with national laws and regulations – such as state licensing systems – aimed at protecting human rights.

Failure to carry out adequate human rights due diligence increases both reputational and legal risks for an industry that supplies high-risk products to dangerous environments. Legal concepts of “corporate complicity” in and the “aiding and abetting” of international crimes continue to evolve and could in the future apply to arms companies that continue supplying weapons in the knowledge that they may be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international human rights or humanitarian law.”

We continue to follow this.

Additional reading

– High-pressure water cannon causes long-term ocular injuries and psychological impact on Cristian Espinoza, a Honduran artist and activist (Honduras case study, Lethal in Disguise, a project by Physicians for Human Rights and the International Network of Civil Liberties Organizations).

– Arms companies are ‘washing their hands of their responsibilities’ – new report (Amnesty International, September 2019).

– Israeli military exports linked to eviction of CNTC farming community, violence against human rights defenders in Honduras (PBI-Canada, April 22, 2026).

 

PBI-Guatemala accompanies gathering of people alongside the Peaceful Resistance of the Poqomán People in Chinautla

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:

“On Sunday [August] 9th, #PBI accompanied a gathering that brought together around 100 people from Guatemala, El Salvador and Mexico, alongside the Peaceful Resistance of the Poqomam People of #Chinautla and community leaders.

The day began with a tribute to Mother Earth, followed by a mass at the Santa Cruz Parish. During the gathering, community leaders emphasised the importance of continuing to organise and defend their rights and territories, and of creating these spaces for collaboration between communities and peoples.”

Accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala has previously explained on their website: “Since 1989, the Peaceful Resistance of the Poqomán People in Chinautla have been defending their right to be consulted on the activities of various clay extraction companies operating in their territory (Arenera La Primavera, Arenera El Pino, Piedrinera San Luis and San Fernando Arenera). They are also defending their territory against the pollution caused by other businesses operating in the region. Another problem faced by Poqomam communities is the pollution of the Las Vacas river that passes through Chinautla which flows directly out of the landfill in zone 3 of the capital city.”

PBI received a request for accompaniment from the Peaceful Resistance of the Poqomán People in Chinautla, as they have been subject to attacks and criminalization. PBI began accompanying them in December 2018.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies sisters of Luz Leticia at court hearing, next date set for August 31

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted on social media:

“Also this week, #PBI is accompanying the sisters of #LuzLeticia at the hearings in the #casoluzleticiayotros [Luz Leticia and others] case.

On Monday [August 24], the Public Prosecutor’s Office, the plaintiffs’ lawyer and the lawyer for @FAMDEGUA [the Association of Relatives of the Detained and Disappeared of Guatemala] presented their closing arguments. They sought a guilty verdict for the sole defendant, Juan Francisco Cifuentes Cano, on charges of the enforced disappearance of Luz Leticia Hernández Agustín and Ana María López Rodríguez, and crimes against humanity committed against Luz Leticia, Ana María and Leandro Gabriel Calate Temú; and a sentence of 170 years.

On Tuesday [August 25] and Wednesday [August 26], the defence lawyer, José Axel Marín Quintanilla, presented his closing arguments, in which he asserted that the alleged offences had not been committed: Luz Leticia and Ana María were not present at the scene of the events; the identity of Leandro Gabriel has never been established; and his client was solely responsible for perimeter security at the time of the events and withdrew with his unit before the military operations had concluded, on the basis of which he requested an acquittal.

The court adjourned the hearing and postponed it until Monday 31 August at 9.00 am to hear the response from the Public Prosecutor’s Office.”

Who was Luz Leticia?

Verdad Justicia has posted: “Luz Leticia was born on November 22, 1957, the same day she was detained-disappeared, when she was 25 years old. Her family remembers her as a woman, she was a very intelligent, affectionate woman, such a beautiful smile and a hard worker.”

Mirtala has shared in an interview with El Salto that Luz Leticia was a member of Nuestro Movimiento (Our Movement). She explains: “The organization originated as a militant guerrilla group whose goal was to defend the people against poverty, abuses of power, and the actions of the security forces.”

The state agent accused in her disappearance

On the accused Juan Francisco Cifuentes Cano, Prensa Libre also reports: “Cifuentes Cano was the director of a police division and worked closely with the Army in counterinsurgency operations during the de facto government of the dictator Efraín Ríos Montt (1982-1983), as explained by the Prosecutor’s Office before the Fifth Criminal Court of First Instance. The ex-commander is accused of the forced disappearance of the university students Luz Hernández and Ana López, who 40 years later have still not been located.”

Judge expected to issue sentence soon

On August 13, Prensa Comunitaria reported: “The oral and public trial for the disappearance of university student Luz Leticia Hernández Agustín, 44 years ago, which is taking place in the Eighth Criminal Court against Juan Francisco Cifuentes Cano, reaches its final phase. On Tuesday, August 18, the last witness will be heard by videoconference, then the legal representation of Luz Leticia’s family, the prosecution and the defense of the accused will issue their conclusions before the judges issue a sentence.”

PBI accompaniment

This week, PBI-Guatemala posted ten slides – that can be read here – including this one that says:

“The Luz Leticia case has finally reached the courts thanks to the tremendous efforts of her family: ‘Our sister’s despair cut deep into our family, and in order to heal we need to recover Luz Leticia’s remains and ensure that her killers are brought to justice once and for all.’

PBI continues to support Valentina, Marta and Mirtala, Luz Leticia’s mother and sisters.”

Luz’s sister in Canada

PBI-Guatemala had also previously accompanied another sister during the 1980s before she had to go into exile in Canada.

Mirtala further explains to El Salto: “In 1987, my sister was a political exile in Canada, and my mother went to be with her. My sister took a job with the Canadian government, and with her salary, they decided to launch this legal battle. They hired legal counsel from the human rights law firm led by Edgar Pérez Archila, one of the attorneys handling several cases related to the genocide in Guatemala.”

Two years ago, Publico reported: “In addition to resolving their sister’s case, the family is fighting to create a museum that tells the story of repression in Guatemala. [Mirtala says] ‘We want the museum to be built in a military base in the capital, but the right wing is intransigent with this.’”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Honduras accompanies Camp for Life in Tegucigalpa, witnesses police using tear gas and water cannon against camp

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted on social media:

“’We had a table full of applications for a declaration of unconstitutionality, waiting for someone to come forward. But they wouldn’t let us demonstrate; peaceful protest is not permitted. It was a completely violent reaction to the peaceful action we were carrying out,’ explain the organizations @cntctegucigalpa [the National Union of Rural Workers], Plataforma Agraria [the Agrarian Platform] and Ofraneh [the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras], based at the Garífuna People’s ‘Camp for Life’, located opposite the Supreme Court of Justice in Tegucigalpa, following the police action to disperse the protest outside the National Agrarian Institute on 24 August.

On Monday 23 August, PBI was accompanying peasant, indigenous and Garífuna organizations as they submitted a petition challenging the constitutionality of the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-industrial Sector (Decree 107-2026), signed by 25 organizations, cooperatives and peasant groups from different regions of the country, who stated that the decree contravenes the Agrarian Reform.

On 24 August, PBI was present during the organizations’ peaceful demonstration outside the INA [National Agricultural Institute] premises and witnessed the excessive use of force by the police to disperse the protest, using tear gas and a water cannon, without taking into account the presence of elderly people and those with health conditions.

We at PBI wish to express our concern regarding the infringement of the right to protest and the shrinking of civic space, as well as the arrest of one of the people taking part in the protest in defence of the right to land and territory.”

News coverage

El Heraldo reports: “A group of peasants who came to protest in front of the facilities of the National Agrarian Institute (INA) were evicted by riot police of the National Police, who used tear gas and a water tank. …Since the Law for the Strengthening and Protection of the Agro-industrial Sector, Energy, Tourism, Livestock and Small Agricultural Producers Projects was approved in June, there has been rejection by peasant sectors, denouncing greater repression in evictions.”

HCH Televisión adds: “The peasants had come to the place to demand answers to their claims related to the defense and respect of their lands, in addition to requesting the departure of the INA minister, Javier Talavera.”

Video stills from HCH.

We continue to follow this.

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