Home Blog Page 257

PBI-Honduras accompanies ARCAH at presentation of application before Special Prosecutor for the Environment

By
Brent Patterson
-

On February 1, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI accompanies @Arcah_hn [Alternative for Community and Environmental Reclamation of Honduras] in the presentation of an application before the Special Prosecutor for the Environment. 7 defenders are criminalized for their work defending the environmental rights of the Loarque community.”

Last year, Protect Defenders.eu noted: “The seven defenders are accused of ‘forced displacement’, which carries a possible sentence of three to nine years in prison.”

They further explained:

“On March 29, 2021, environmental rights defenders and other members of ARCAH held a peaceful demonstration in front of the offices of the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’ to protest the activities of the company that have polluted a local river, when they were violently detained and threatened by some 90 agents of the State security forces, elements of the Honduran National Police, the ‘Tigres’ Command and the Police Investigation Directorate (DPI).”

“The agents arrived at the scene in two military tanks and five patrols, and did not present any orders for dispersal or arrest. The agents confiscated and searched the defenders’ mobile phones, before taking them to the Police Directorate of Investigation (DPI) in Kennedy, Tegucigalpa.”

Defensores en Linea has also reported that ARCAH was demonstrating against “the pollution caused by the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’, its waste is seriously damaging at least four surrounding communities and the Choluteca River, where much of the company’s toxic waste falls.”

In response to the PBI-Honduras tweet, ARCAH tweeted: “We demand justice. We appreciate the accompaniment of @PBIHonduras.”

Photo: On April 13, 2021, PBI-Honduras observed a court hearing for the seven ARCAH environmental defenders protecting the Choluteca River.

CCAJAR reports OECD National Contact Points will evaluate conduct of multinationals in relation to mine that exports coal to Canada

By
Brent Patterson
-

 

On January 26, CCAJAR reported: “The National Contact Points of Switzerland, Australia and the United Kingdom admitted the complaints filed by several Colombian and international organizations against the multinational companies Glencore, Anglo American and BHP, owners of the Carbones del Cerrejón Company, which for two decades have profited from the largest open-pit coal mine in Latin America in La Guajira, Colombia.”

The Cerrejón mine is owned by the Cerrejón Coal Company, a subsidiary of BHP (Australia), Anglo American (United Kingdom) and Glencore (Switzerland).

The CCAJAR statement adds: “After analyzing the complaints, these bodies published an initial assessment statement in which they found sufficient reasons for the issues raised to be examined in more detail. In this way, the national points will continue to evaluate the conduct of multinationals in their contributions to the negative impacts on the human and environmental rights of the mine in Colombia in light of the minimum standards established by the OECD Guidelines and UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights.”

Media coverage

El Espectador further explains: “A complaint from NGOs from around the world was admitted for study in instances of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) and now in these three countries it will be studied whether Glencore, BHP and Anglo American, the multinational companies that own the coal mine in Colombia, have complied with the guidelines of respect for human rights. The complaint calls for the mine to be closed.”

That article adds: “While the OECD authorities were reviewing the complaints, BHP and Anglo American sold their stakes in Cerrejón to Glencore. That is, the Swiss multinational remained as the sole owner of the coal mine. Given this scenario, one of the preliminary decisions is that the process will continue its course before the PNC of Switzerland. However, as announced by CCAJAR, they will insist that the actions of the other two companies be evaluated right there during the time they had activity in La Guajira.”

Caracol also reports The OECD will evaluate complaints against owners of Cerrejón, Infobae reports OECD accepts complaints against multinationals that own El Cerrejón and El Heraldo reports The OECD will evaluate complaints against multinationals that own Cerrejón.

Colombian coal exports to Canada

The Infobae article notes: “It is worth remembering that there were three cases that were presented in January 2021 due to the ‘multiple impacts of the mine to the detriment of the life and human rights of the indigenous, Afro-descendant and peasant populations of La Guajira, as well as the lack of due diligence and non-compliance with OECD guidelines’… The first complaint was filed against the ESB, Electricity Supply Board, a state company of Irish origin and one of the main buyers of coal from El Cerrejón.”

We also recall that the Atlantic Regional Solidarity Network (ARSN) and MiningWatch Canada have highlighted that NB Power has been buying approximately 500,000 tonnes of coal from Cerrejón since the mid-1990s. Nova Scotia Power also imports coal from Cerrejón.

In November 2015, Francisco Ramirez Cuellar, a Colombian lawyer and union leader, asked NB Power to put conditions on the coal leaving his country. He further stated that if NB Power cannot guarantee the rights of labour and Indigenous peoples from its current sources, then it should buy from other sources that respect the rights of those affected.

Unfortunately, NB Power continues to import this coal and burn it at its plant in Belledune, which is located north of Fredericton.

NS Energy has also reported: “[Montreal, Quebec-based] SNC Lavalin was engaged in a major mining infrastructure upgrade and operation optimisation project in 2011 that involved the mine facility upgrades, railway network expansion, as well as the improvement of port material handling facilities at Puerto Bolivar.”

Communities impacted by the mine

About half of the population impacted by the mine are ethnic and Indigenous peoples, including the Wayuu, the largest group, the Wiwa, Arhuaco and Kogui peoples, as well as Afro-descendant and campesino (peasant) communities.

The media release that announced the constitutional action noted: “These communities have suffered serious violations of human rights, affecting their right to a decent life, to water, to health, to food security and sovereignty, to information, to participation and to free prior and informed consent, among others.”

CCAJAR calls for an immediate suspension of the mine

CCAJAR has previously called for “an immediate suspension of the mining operations of Cerrejón” and further stated that “in accordance with its Paris Agreement obligations, relevant to guarantee the human rights of the Wayuu people, the Colombian State should gradually eradicate coal mining.”

The remaining mine life of Cerrejon is estimated to be until 2033.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CCAJAR) since 1995.

PBI-Colombia accompanied CCAJAR lawyer Yessika Hoyos notes concerns with Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

By
Brent Patterson
-

Colombian lawyer Yessika Hoyos Morales recently made these comments about the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement:

“Colombia and Canada have signed a free trade agreement and before that free trade agreement was signed Colombia established concrete commitments which included the respect of human rights, and a reduction in impunity, a responding to previous violations that have taken place. These commitments have not been fulfilled and so I think it’s very important to note that this lack of action, this non-fulfillment, is sending a very clear message. This clear message is that business and money are more important than human lives. And so, it’s extremely important for you all to remind your government that they do have obligations, that commitments have been made that have not been fulfilled and that in the end people’s lives are more important than money.”

Hoyos is with the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective (CCAJAR), which has been accompanied by PBI-Colombia since 1995.

She made these comments on a webinar on January 24th organized by Lawyers’ Rights Watch Canada, the Law Society of Ontario’s Human Rights Committee and Human Rights Watch Canada marking the international Day of the Endangered Lawyer.

The Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement recently marked its 10th anniversary, having come into force on August 15, 2011.

Prior to the agreement being ratified, Hoyos visited Ottawa in May 2009.

At that time, she stated: “If Canada ratifies the free trade agreement it will give a message to Colombians and to the whole international community that Canada supports a government that violates human rights.”

The full text of her comments to the House of Commons Standing Committee on International Trade can be read here.

An interview with her from that time can also be seen here: part 1 and part 2.

Despite this, Prime Minister Stephen Harper’s minority Conservative government passed the implementation act for the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement with the support of the opposition Liberals on June 14, 2010.

The Liberals voted in favour of the agreement after it had been agreed that an annual human rights report would be produced. Notably, that annual report specifically excludes the deal’s foreign investment chapter and focuses instead on tariff reductions.

(By 2018, Natural Resources Canada reported that Canadian energy assets abroad (CEAA) in Colombia totalled $8 billion. The following year, it also reported that 28 Canadian mining companies held assets totalling $1.406 billion in Colombia.)

The NDP responded: “It’s a sham. Investment is a very big part of our trade with Colombia and to arbitrarily exclude that is another indicator that the government has no intention of producing a real report.”

The first full report on the deal concluded: “It is not possible to establish a direct link between the CCOFTA and the human rights situation in Colombia. There is no evidence of a causal link between reductions in tariffs by Canada in accordance with the CCOFTA, and changes in human rights in Colombia.”

Despite the acknowledged limited scope of the agreement’s annual human rights report mechanism, PBI-Canada made a submission in 2021 to highlight concerns raised by the PBI-Colombia accompanied organizations Association for Research and Social Action (NOMADESC), the Inter-Church Commission on Justice and Peace, and the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation for Human Rights (FNEB). You can read more about that here.

We also recall that the free trade agreement with Colombia was negotiated between June 7, 2007, and November 21, 2008.

During her May 2009 visit to Ottawa, Hoyos told Members of Parliament: “Extrajudicial executions by the national army have grown a lot, achieved through what is called ‘false positives’. The office of the public prosecutor reported that as of September 2009, they had been investigating 2,077 such executions. People were killed by the national army, by people who were supposed to protect them.”

The Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP), which was set up to prosecute crimes committed during the armed conflict, has now confirmed that 6,402 civilians were killed by the military between 2002 and 2008 and falsely passed off as enemy combatants.

CCAJAR continues to speak out against this injustice.

Likewise, we continue to work with PBI-Colombia, CCAJAR and others to amplify concerns about Canada’s responsibilities in relation to its investments in Colombia (notably in oil and gas, as well as mining) and the Canada-Colombia Free Trade Agreement.

PBI-Honduras visits Guapinol River impacted by the Los Pinares open pit iron oxide mine

By
Brent Patterson
-

On January 31, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project tweeted: “Recently, the community of #Guapinol showed us the importance of the river in the lives of the people who live in the surroundings. We express concern about the constant criminalization of environmental defenders in #Honduras.”

In June 2021, PBI-Honduras also accompanied a media conference, convened by the Municipal Committee of Tocoa with representation from Guapinol and San Pedro communities, that presented a technical report on the impact of the Los Pinares mine.

At that time, Criterio reported:

“Members of the Municipal Committee for the Defense of the Commons and Public Goods presented on [June 29] to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment a technical environmental report on the pollution that affects the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, product of the exploration and mining exploitation of Inversiones Los Pinares in the Montaña de Botaderos National Park.

The presentation was made in Tegucigalpa by environmental defender Carlos Leonel George and engineer Limber Velásquez, who said that they hope that through this technical report, the Secretariat will cancel the environmental license granted to Inversiones Los Pinares, owned by the business couple, Lenir Pérez and Ana Facussé, son-in-law and daughter, respectively, of the late businessman Miguel Facussé Barjum.

In the engineer’s opinion, the environmental licence should not have been granted or at least should be cancelled now that the environmental consequences of the concession to the mining company are known.

The author of the technical report presented to the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment explained that currently the road section that serves as access to the mine area is contaminating with sediments the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, both tributaries of the Aguán River that flows into the Atlantic coast.

Velásquez [also] warned that more than 35 micro-basins would be directly affected by mining.”

Criminalization of water defenders

The Guardian has reported: “In March 2018, shortly after the company started widening a road within the national park, the tap water in Guapinol turned chocolate brown and thick with muddy sediment. Residents were forced to buy bottled water to drink, cook and even bathe after children began suffering from diarrhea, while some adults reported skin complaints.”

The Unitarian Universalist Service Committee (UUSC) adds: “In August 2018, when development of the mine began to contaminate the drinking water for 14 nearby communities, residents of Guapinol erected a ‘Camp in Defense of Water and Life’.”

Juana Zúñiga says: “They ruined our river … We couldn’t use water for anything, that’s why we organized, that’s our struggle.”

The camp was in place for 90 days. The UUSC notes: “In October 2018, 1,500 Honduran military and police officers violently attacked and evicted the camp.”

Eight water defenders are now on trial. One of them has been held since December 8, 2018, while seven have been incarcerated since September 1, 2019.

After a long delay, their trial began on December 1-2, 2021, resumed on December 9, but then adjourned without ruling on a habeas corpus application filed on December 14. The trial resumed on January 13, 2021. It is reportedly drawing to a close.

We continue to follow this situation closely.

PBI-Honduras accompanying the trial of the Guapinol 8 on January 27, 2021.

PBI-Mexico accompanies human rights organizations opposed to the Mayan Train megaproject

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: Indigenous protest in Chiapas. The banner says: “Megaprojects bring death. Out with the neoliberal projects. No to the Mayan train.”

On January 28, Mongabay reported: “The Tren Maya line is supposed to run 1,525 kilometers (948 miles) across Quintana Roo, Yucatán, Tabasco, Campeche and Chiapas, states with large Indigenous populations and high rates of biodiversity.”

It adds the Mexican Center for Environmental Law (CEMDA) is “responsible for an injunction alleging that officials failed to properly consult Indigenous communities before starting construction” and highlights that the failure to consult is “one of the most common claims against the Tren Maya project to date.”

Overall: “Twenty-five injunctions have been filed so far against different sections of the project by 327 plaintiffs… Many of the injunctions, aiming to pause or permanently stop the project, focus on deforestation and the loss of local ecosystems in and around protected areas… Others allege the government is committing human rights violations by displacing hundreds of residents living in the path of the train.”

CEMDA has also previously stated: “Since this defense process began, those involved, both in individual cases and collectively, have been targets of attacks, threats, delegitimization and criminalization for the mere fact of opposing this project.”

Ominously, the article also notes: “In late 2021, the Mexican government made a controversial announcement that many of the country’s major infrastructure projects, most notably the Tren Maya [Mayan Train] project being built across the Yucatán Peninsula, were now a matter of ‘national security’.”

Vancouver-based Renaissance Oil Corp., Regina-based Sask Energy

El Pais has reported: “It is estimated that 70% of the revenues will result from the transport of cargo, largely from fuels (to serve the six gas pipelines in the southeast of the country) and products of the region’s thriving agribusiness, such as soybeans or pork.”

The Mexico City-based Project on Organizing, Development, Education and Research (PODER) has also published The train of the elites that lists the companies and energy projects that would benefit from this megaproject.

Their report highlights (on page 34): “The main source of income for the Mayan Train will be the transportation of fuels, it seems clear that the Mayan Train will function as a platform infrastructure for the energy sector.”

It then notes: “If this is consolidated, the construction of the train will favor extractive energy projects in the region that have led to environmental and social conflicts and are largely owned by companies with Spanish, Canadian and US capital.”

The chart below from the PODER report notes Vancouver-based Renaissance Oil Corp. and Regina-based provincial Crown corporation Sask Energy Incorporated.

Quebec City-based Caisse de Dépôt

In July 2019, Milenio also reported: “Foreign Affairs Secretary Marcelo Ebrard said there are several Canadian companies interested in investing in the Mayan Train. … As for pension funds, Ebrard mentioned La Caisse dé depot a Quebec company that currently has an investment in Mexico of two billion dollars.”

The PODER report further explains (on page 19): “In recent years [Empresas ICA S.A.B. de C.V.] has gone through a strong financial crisis that has led it to accept foreign capital, as happened in 2015 with the signing of an association agreement with Canadian fund manager Caisse de Dépôt et Placement du Québec (“CDPQ”). The agreement establishes the formation of a business which initially involves four highway concessions between which is the Mayab Consortium, S.A. of C.V. (“Mayab”), which has the concession of the Mayab highway and through which the Mayan Train track.”

Montreal-based Bombardier Inc.

And Reuters has reported: “A consortium led by a unit of [Montreal-based] Bombardier Inc. won a bid for the rolling stock and rail systems for Mexico’s flagship ‘Mayan Train’ infrastructure project, the government said on Wednesday [May 26, 2021].”

Toronto-based Scotiabank

The Toronto-based Scotiabank has also been linked to the megaproject when it denied a media report that it had withdrawn from it, stating: “[Scotiabank] carefully analyzes the opportunities in public and private projects that are presented exclusively according to business criteria. This process in the project in question continues its course.”

Other Canadian companies?

In February 2020, EFE reported: “The director of the National Fund for the Promotion of Tourism (Fonatur), Rogelio Jiménez Pons, explained at the end of January the details of the tenders and indicated that there was interest from 85 companies. There were 65 national and 20 international from Spain, Canada, Portugal, Brazil and China.”

PBI accompaniment

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has commented: “The organizations that we accompany continue to be concerned about [Mexican president Andrés Manuel López Obrador’s] position on the rights of indigenous populations, given that his public discourse seems to respect their autonomy, but he continues to propose initiatives of megaprojects such as the Mayan Train or new mining investments.”

Many organizations have signed this open letter that states the consultation of Indigenous peoples on this megaproject did not meet international standards.

Among the groups that signed that letter are the Frente de Pueblos en Defensa de la Tierra y Agua Morelos, Puebla y Tlaxcala; Centro Diocesano para los Derechos Humanos “Fray Juan de Larios”, A.C.; Proyecto de Derechos Económicos, Sociales y Culturales (ProDESC); and Centro de Derechos Humanos de la Montaña, Tlachinollan, A. C.

We continue to follow this.

Mayan Train route.

PBI-Colombia meets with the Basque Delegation for the Observation of Human Rights in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
-

On January 29, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “We appreciate the solidarity, support and commitment to peace in Colombia manifested by #DelegaciónVascaDeObservación [Basque Observation Delegation] of #DDHH [human rights] who denounces the increase in violence and worsening of the conflict, and urges the implementation of effective protection measures. Read full statement.”

The Basque delegation included the Deputy Minister of Human Rights, Memory and Cooperation and six representatives of the Basque Parliament. The Basque Government is the governing body of the Basque Autonomous Community of Spain.

Excerpts from their statement include:

“The Deputy Minister of Human Rights, Memory and Cooperation of the Basque Government, José Antonio Rodríguez Ranz, led a Human Rights Observation Delegation in Colombia between 23 and 29 January, within the framework of the Basque Programme for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders.

After the meetings held, the testimonies received and the documentation previously analyzed, the Basque Delegation shows its SUPPORT and SOLIDARITY with human rights defenders, indigenous peoples, black people and peasant communities, the main victims of violence and conflict.

The Delegation recognizes the commitment to peacebuilding of these individuals and groups and claims their right to the legitimate exercise of the use of social protest as a tool for social and political transformation.

The Delegation expressly DENOUNCES the increase in violence and the intensification of the conflict, which translates into greater harassment, massacres, murders, threats, massive forced displacement of rural communities and human rights defenders.

In 10 years of the Program, after several follow-up visits to the country, it is the first time that we cannot access the territories. In the same way, the security conditions are not in place to guarantee the entry of international organizations and control entities. All this is a clear example of the insecurity experienced by ethnic communities and human rights defenders.

In a context of massive and peaceful mobilizations in the country, which had a military treatment by the Colombian Government, the delegation expresses its concern about the criminalization of protest that may be aggravated by the recently approved Citizen Security Law, increasing the risk of judicial set-ups against the people who took part in the mobilizations, mainly young people who came out peacefully to vindicate their basic rights.

The most affected territories are those in which there is a greater presence of illegal economies (mining, expansion of illicit crops…). We consider necessary the integral institutional presence in the territories, beyond the exclusively military presence.

The lack of implementation of the Peace Agreements, signed in 2016 to overcome the conflict, is at the base of the humanitarian crisis that the country is going through and that has been confirmed by this Delegation.

The electoral context of the first half of the year is generating an increase in violence against human rights defenders. Of particular concern is the attempt to block, through violence, the access of victims to the House of Representatives through the 16 Special Transitional Peace Constituencies and the Special Seats of ethnic minorities.”

The recommendations from the delegation included: “Strengthen and advance in the implementation of prevention and collective protection mechanisms, and make visible and value the work of defenders; specifically the recognition and strengthening of the mechanisms of protection and territorial control typical of ethnic groups: Indigenous guards and [Afro-Colombian] guards.”

The full statement from the delegation can be read here. The statement from the delegation prior to their trip to Colombia can also be read here.

PBI-Mexico present at demonstration demanding justice for murdered couple Julissa Ramirez and Nohemi Medina

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Mexico has tweeted: “On January 25 we were present at the demonstration that took place in front of the [state government] representative of #Chihuahua in #CDMX [Mexico City] where women gathered to demand #JusticiaParaJulissayNohemi, who were a couple and were found dead on Monday 17 in #CiudadJuarez.”

It then noted: “Violations of human rights based on sexual orientation or gender identity constitute a global pattern. México is the 2nd Latin American country with more attacks of homophobia, transphobia and biphobia. #Chihuahua is the 2nd state where most hate crimes are committed.”

And it added: “The Yogyakarta principles point out something important: ‘Every person, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, has the right to personal security and the protection of the State against any act of violence or bodily harm.’”

EFE has reported: “Several dozen people demanded justice and joined in their grief on Tuesday [January 25] in Mexico City for the recent murder of two lesbian women in Ciudad Juarez, in the northern state of Chihuahua.”

“Noemi Medina and Julissa Ramirez were a lesbian couple, aged 25 and 30, respectively, who married last summer and had two girls and a boy in their custody.”

The article adds: “On January 16, the dismembered bodies of two women were found on a highway in Ciudad Juarez. Authorities said they were a couple of women living in El Paso, Texas, and that they were mothers of three children.”

As PBI-Mexico notes in their tweets, EFE also reports: “Mexico is the second country in Latin America with the most violence due to homophobia and transphobia, after Brazil, according to the National Observatory of LGBT Hate Crimes of the Rainbow Foundation.”

Julissa Ramírez and Nohemí Medina Martínez.

Excelsior photo.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nomadesc at commemoration for assassinated social leader Temístocles Machado

By
Brent Patterson
-

On January 28, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “This January 28 and 29 we commemorate [the life of Temístocles Machado] and his struggle in Buenaventura , accompanying @Nomadesc, who together with the UIP [Intercultural University of Los Pueblos] commemorate. In homage to Don Temis, just as he said: ‘the fight here does not end’.”

Don Temis was assassinated on January 27, 2018.

The BBC has noted:

“Machado’s most ambitious work was the collection of tens of thousands of documents that he accumulated to support that he and his neighbors were owners of the lands on which they had settled more than half a century ago.

For Don Temis, each document was a weapon to defend against eviction attempts that had multiplied in the area in recent years.

Following a road built in 2006 that divided Isla de Paz in two, the neighborhood became, overnight, a strategic area for commercial activity and port expansion as it linked the city of Buenaventura with the port. Suddenly ‘old owners’ of the neighborhood appeared, with papers and everything, that had not appeared in the place for decades.

That is why Don Temis did not hesitate to travel to Bogotá or wherever necessary with his mountain of papers to defend the ownership of the land.

At the time of his murder, Don Temis was in a legal dispute with one of the alleged owners of Isla de la Paz, who claims that his grandmother ceded those lands decades ago.”

PBI-Colombia adds: “For his activities and tireless commitment he received threats for years, until they came true four years ago. To date, seven people have been captured and prosecuted as responsible for the murder of Temistocles.”

The Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) has also highlighted that he was one of the main leaders of a civic strike in Buenaventura:

“In 2017, the leaders helped organize a massive civic strike—also known as a general strike—in Buenaventura, home to Colombia’s key port on its Pacific coast, to protest the city’s deepening socioeconomic and human rights crisis.

For three weeks in May, 114 social organizations took over the streets, holding protest marches, community kitchens and cultural festivals, effectively shutting down Colombia’s most important trading hub.

The strike won an agreement containing important concessions from the government to improve public services, including community housing, health services, roads, the justice system, and a new framework agreement to protect the rights of port workers.”

PBI-Colombia has accompanied the Association for Research and Social Action (NOMADESC) since 2011 and its president Berenice Celeita since 1999.

PBI-Honduras attentive to the court hearing of Garifuna ancestral land defender Leonard Brown

By
Brent Patterson
-

On January 28, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “From PBI we are very attentive to the hearing of the Garífuna and human rights defender Leonard Brown. @OFRANEH [Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras] warns of rumors of eviction in the recovery of Wabato, territory that is part of the ancestral title granted to the Garífuna people since 1901.”

OFRANEH also tweeted: “The hearing continues today in the Court of Trujillo, where the defender of mother earth Leonard Brown, is accused of invading a community land given decades ago by the Municipality of Trujillo to a foreigner. The hearing will take place today [Friday January 28] at 1 pm.”

OFRANEH coordinator Miriam Miranda has tweeted about this court case: “We are not invaders. We only defend what is ours!”

And Honduras Now has tweeted: “Charges against him are linked to his defense of ancestral Garifuna land titles. OFRANEH denounces the systemic dispossession of land suffered by Garifuna communities in Trujillo Bay.”

The InterReligious Task Force on Central America (IRTF) has noted: “For generations, the Afro-Honduran Garífuna community has resided along the northern coast of Honduras and in La Mosquitia in the east. Many of the core Garífuna religious and cultural practices are inextricably linked to the land, including their collective claim to certain territories.”

They add: “However, because the Garífuna live on a prime section of coastal territory, the growth of the tourism industry threatens their way of life and encroaches on what they regard as their ancestral lands.”

Further reading:

PBI-Honduras accompanies Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras (OFRANEH) as Garifuna land defenders criminalized (January 17, 2022)

PBI-Honduras observes march in Tegucigalpa demanding the return of four missing Garifuna land defenders (July 20, 2021)

Aamjiwnaang land defender Vanessa Gray criminalized for her solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en in court on February 9

By
Brent Patterson
-

The National Observer reports: “Young land defender Vanessa Gray made a virtual appearance in an Ontario court on Wednesday [January 26].”

“Gray, from the Aamjiwnaang First Nation near Sarnia, was detained soon after a solidarity action in Toronto on Nov. 21 — the only one charged in relation to the blocking of a freight railway line in support of the Wet’suwet’en, whose hereditary chiefs oppose the construction of a pipeline in their unceded territory in northern B.C.”

The article adds: “Members of the group and others tried to attend the virtual hearing using the name ‘Drop the Charges’ but were quickly told that to join the video conference they would have to turn on their cameras to confirm their identities to the judge.”

Donations to support Vanessa are being accepted at Legal Support for Anishinaabe Kwe Land Defender.

That page notes: “In addition to experiencing surveillance and harassment, Vanessa has been wrongfully charged with three counts of mischief, interference with property, causing disturbance, loitering, unlawful assembly, trespassing, and failure to give way. The charges have been issued by the Canadian Pacific Police Service, a company that has directly benefited from dispossessing Indigenous peoples from millions of acres of land through the Dominion Lands Act of 1872.”

This solidarity statement initiated by the Mining Injustice Solidarity Network and signed by 285 organizations also highlights: “The targeting of Gray is part of a larger pattern of colonial violence in which the Canadian state collaborates with corporations to criminalize Indigenous Land Defenders for the sake of industry interests.”

While this first hearing was about the conditions placed on Vanessa, the first court date to hear the case will be held on February 9.

1...256257258...476Page 257 of 476