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PBI-Honduras continues to accompany trial of the Guapinol River defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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On January 27, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI accompanies the trial of the 8 defenders of the Guapinol river. We recall the importance of a fair and transparent trial.”

Earlier this week, Criterio.hn reported: “After weeks of harassment on social networks, threats to relatives of the eight defenders of Guapinol and the presence of unidentified armed men inside the Sentencing Court in Tocoa, Colón, the United Nations Special Rapporteur for Human Rights Defenders, Mary Lawlor, asked the government to investigate the facts.”

That article adds: “From her Twitter account, Lawlor stated that in November 2021 she addressed the Honduran government in relation to the arbitrary detention of the eight defenders of Guapinol and referred to his concern that two months after that letter the threats against the defenders, their families and legal representatives continue.”

And it notes: “In November 2021, eight UN human rights experts, including Lawlor, again urged Honduras to release the eight defenders of the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers, after Honduras joined the Human Rights Council.”

Today, Erika Guevara Rosas, a human rights lawyer and Americas director at Amnesty International, also commented: “The trial of eight defenders of the Guapinol River, who have been unjustly remanded in custody for more than two years and have been declared prisoners of conscience by Amnesty International, is taking place.”

“The case file reveals multiple deficiencies in the investigation that show they are being detained solely for their defense of the right to clean water and a healthy environment.”

“This case is emblematic of the misuse of the justice system to silence defenders in Honduras and dismantle their resistance processes.”

Guevara Rosas concludes: “The government of Xiomara Castro must transform this reality, publicly recognizing the importance of the work of those who defend rights, establishing a true system of comprehensive protection, and ensuring that the Public Ministry conducts impartial and independent investigations into the violence they face.”

Seven of the defenders have been incarcerated since September 1, 2019, while an eighth defender has been held since December 8, 2018.

Their trial began on December 1-2, resumed on December 9, but then adjourned without ruling on a habeas corpus application filed on December 14. The trial resumed on January 13 and was scheduled to continue to January 27.

From Canada, we continue to closely follow the social media updates on this trial.

Guapinol Resiste tweet: “A historic day in Honduras: As Xiomara Castro takes office, the Defenders’ trial draws to a close. The PEOPLE demand justice for Guapinol.”

PBI-Mexico accompanies solidarity protests in Mexico City and Chihuahua City for murdered journalists

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico at mobilization in Chihuahua City.

On January 26, PBI-Mexico tweeted:

“Under the slogan: ‘#NoSeMataLaVerdad [the Truth is Not Killed] killing journalists’, communicators, civil society organizations and people in solidarity demonstrated in México in more than 40 cities throughout the country.

“In #CDMX [Mexico City], PBI accompanied the concentration that took place on the outskirts of @SEGOB_mx [Ministry of the Interior] to demand justice for the murdered journalists. Lourdes Maldonado and Margarito Martínez, in Tijuana and José Luis Gamboa, in Veracruz have been 3 victims during the last month.”

“In Chihuahua, we were also present at the mobilization that took place in front of the State Government Palace. In Mexico, @article19mex [an international human rights organization for the defense of freedom of expression and the right to information] has documented the murder of 148 journalists since 2000.”

“As the @CIDH [the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] points out, freedom of expression is essential ‘for the development and protection of the #derechoshumanos’ so we join the call for the State to guarantee the safety and integrity of those who exercise it day by day in Mexico.”

PBI-Mexico at mobilization in Mexico City.

PBI-Honduras accompanies Visitacion Padilla Women’s Movement for Peace at Women’s Day march in Tegucigalpa

By
Brent Patterson
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Hon

On January 26, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI accompanies Visitación Padilla in the march organized by different feminist organizations in the framework of Honduran Women’s Day. We highlight the efforts and commitment of Honduran women in the search for a world free of violence against women.”

On Facebook they further note: “Honduras is among the most dangerous countries in Latin America to be a woman, we express our concern for the vulnerability conditions in which women live in this country.”

Visitación Padilla (1882-1960) was the most prominent feminist, pacifist and anti-imperialist in Honduras. The Movimiento de Mujeres por la Paz “Visitación Padilla” (Visitacion Padilla Women’s Movement for Peace) was formed in 1984 as a political movement against oppression and named in her memory.

Criterio.hn reports: “Starting at 8:30 in the morning, in commemoration of the 67th anniversary of the recognition of women’s political rights and the assumption to power of the first president of Honduras, Xiomara Castro, women flooded the historic center of Tegucigalpa, celebrating her day and the historical events that each struggle has spawned.”

That article adds: “This date was not chosen randomly, every January 25 Honduran women celebrate the conquest of the right to vote, a right acquired in 1955. At that time, the president of Honduras, Julio Lozano Díaz, issued a ministerial decree that, although it had some restrictions, allowed women to go to the polls to vote for the first time.”

Yesterday the Observatory of Violence of the National Autonomous University of Honduras reported that 318 women were murdered in Honduras in 2021, which is equivalent to a violent death or femicide every 27 hours and 33 minutes.

Proceso Digital reports: “Merly Eguigure, coordinator of the organization Visitación Padilla and representing the feminist movements of Honduras, told Proceso Digital that with the new government hopes are focused on the formation of an elite team to investigate the deaths of women. She indicated that the country needs agility in the investigation of femicides in the face of the increase in cases. She added that no femicide should go unpunished, while criticizing the slowness in the investigation of the cases.”

That Proceso Digital article also highlights: “The feminist leader said that some organizations of women and feminists with representation at the national level, delivered to the transition commission 23 proposals so that they can be taken as state actions in the government of President Xiomara Castro.”

Castro will be sworn into office tomorrow, Thursday January 27.

Photo: Merly Eguigure, coordinator of Visitacion Padilla Women’s Movement for Peace.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies AVECHAV as their March 30th court date nears

By
Brent Patterson
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On January 25, PBI-Guatemala posted: “PBI accompanies several organizations in the region, met with representatives of the Association of Neighbors of Chicoyoguito (AVECHAV) and presented before the authorities in Coban, Alta Verapaz.”

The Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community of Chicoyogüito was violently displaced from their ancestral lands so that an army base – then known as Military Zone 21 – could be established in the department of Alta Verapaz. More than 200 families were displaced from those lands on July 28, 1968, by the military.

After the displacement of the community, the military base became a clandestine centre for illegal detention, torture, extrajudicial executions, enforced disappearance, and rape committed from 1978 to 1990.

At least 565 Indigenous people were disappeared at that base. The bodies identified are of Mayan Achí, Q’eqchi’, Pomochí, Ixil, and Kiché peoples.

The military base that displaced his community was rebranded in 2004 as Creompaz, a training base for UN peacekeepers funded by Canada and other countries.

Domingo, a member of AVECHAV, highlighted on a PBI-Canada webinar in July 2021: “We know Canada has provided a lot of support for [the Creompaz peacekeeping base on our land]. But where is the peace that they say they are creating?”

Historically, the Canadian government was also reticent about Guatemalan President Jacobo Arbenz and his commitment to agrarian land reform that would have begun to address the deeply unequal access to land rooted in centuries of colonization.

The overthrow of Arbenz and the end to his land reform program can be connected to the armed conflict (1960 to 1996), the establishment of Military Zone 21, as well as the estimated 1,000 land conflicts now happening in Guatemala, and the systemic poverty and repression that drive migration across militarized borders.

On June 9, 2021, in the lead up to the July 28 anniversary of their displacement, the community organized a demonstration. Before it could even begin, 21 community members were arrested on the charge of “aggravated usurpation” as they gathered for this protest.

PBI-Guatemala has noted: On October 6, 2021, we were present at the Cóban Courthouse to accompany the 21 community members of the Chicoyogüito Neighbours Association of Alta Verapaz (AVECHAV), who were detained during a peaceful march on June 9, 2021, and who were later tried. The hearing was suspended and rescheduled for March 30, 2022.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied AVECHAV since 2015.

PBI-Guatemala accompanied the first statement hearing for the criminalized defenders on June 18, 2021.

PBI-Honduras accompanies ASODEBICOQ as defenders criminalized for opposition to Santa Lucia dam

By
Brent Patterson
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On January 25, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “Today, we are following the judicial process against defenders criminalized for their legitimate defense against the Santa Lucía I (Sta. Bárbara) hydroelectric plant. We highlight [the Association for the Defense of Common Goods of Quimistan] ASODEBICOQ’s efforts to protect the environment.”

On Facebook, PBI-Honduras further noted: “At PBI, we follow up the judicial process against the defenders of Chemistan (Santa Barbara), criminalized since mid-2021 for their legitimate defense of their communities against the hydroelectric Santa Lucía I dam of the Cuyagual company. Today, the presentation of the indicted persons is expected before the court of Quimistan (Santa Barbara). We want to highlight the enormous efforts of Asodebicoq to protect the environment and common goods of communities in Chemistan and at the same time we want to express our deep concern for continued criminalization of their struggle.”

In February 2019, Radio Progreso reported that the department of Santa Bárbara is “threatened by more than 15 hydroelectric projects and 23 concessions for mining.”

That article notes: “In the municipality of Quimistán, there is an imminent danger from the installation of the Santa Lucia hydroelectric dam, which is advanced by 90%. And, despite the fact that there is a strong rejection by the population, they currently intend to build a second hydroelectric dam also on the Cuyagual River.”

ASODEBICOQ is opposed to the construction of the Santa Lucia I and Santa Lucia II dams. It has called on the Government of Honduras to stop construction of the dams because the project violates the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, an International Labour Organization Convention, also known as ILO-convention 169.

PBI-Honduras has accompanied ASODEBICOQ since May 2018.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies unjustly imprisoned Maya Q’eqchi’ defenders Jorge Coc Coc, Marcelino Xol Cucul and Bernard Caal Xol

By
Brent Patterson
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On January 25, PBI-Guatemala posted: “Yesterday, PBI accompanied Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul, indigenous authorities of the CCDA Verapaz and Bernardo Caal Xol of the Pacific Resistance of Cahabon. The three fulfill sentences, results of criminalization processes for their work in defense of the land and the territory.”

Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul

In their December 2021 monthly update, PBI-Guatemala explained: “Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul [are] human rights defenders and community leaders from Choctún Basilá, who have been criminalized and imprisoned since 2018.”

Both are Maya Q’eqchi defenders with the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) in the Verapaz region that fights for access to land and against continued evictions and dispossession from ancestral lands.

Earlier this month, the German newspaper Junge Welt also reported: “Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul, local indigenous authorities from the Choctun Basilá community in Cobán County and members of the CCDA, were sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2019 on fabricated charges of murder and attempted murder.”

On December 6, 2021, the CCDA tweeted: “This day the Criminal Chamber suspends the public hearing in the case of Jorge Choc and Marcelino Xol due to lack of integration; this constitutes malicious delay because the hearing was scheduled for November 10, 2020.”

Bernardo Caal Xol

Bernardo Caal Xol is a leader of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón, a collective of 38 Maya Q’eqchi communities formed to oppose the construction of the Oxec and Renace dams on the Cahabón River and its tributaries.

PBI-United Kingdom has noted: “In August 2017, PBI provided security support to the good-faith consultation in which the 195 communities of the Cahabón River overwhelmingly rejected the Oxec hydroelectric projects.”

The Guatemalan Human Rights Commission (GHRC) highlights: “A few months later [in December 2017], Bernardo was arrested [in] a clear act of retribution for the defense of his community’s water rights.”

In November 2018, Bernardo was sentenced to seven years and four months in jail.

In July 2020, Amnesty International declared that Caal Xol is a prisoner of conscience who has been wrongfully imprisoned.

On January 23 of this year, Bernardo tweeted: “On January 30, 2022, I will complete 4 years of being imprisoned without proof of the crimes that have served to accuse me.”

PBI accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) Verapaz since July 2018 and the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón since 2017.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), receives update on their latest activities

By
Brent Patterson
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On January 24, PBI-Guatemala posted: “PBI accompanies CCDA Verapaz and got updated on the latest activities.”

PBI-Guatemala has explained: “The CCDA is a peasant organization that accompanies and advises communities, mostly indigenous, that fight for access to land and ownership to create dignified living conditions in the face of eviction and dispossession of their lands where these communities have lived for many generations.”

The CCDA accompanies some 150 Q’eqchi communities, supporting them in the resolution of conflicts related to the possession of the land they inhabit.

Last month, PBI-Guatemala posted: “Communities unionized in the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) of the Verapaces struggle for their territory in spite of death threats and criminalization. Learn about the struggle of Don Lorenzo and Don Pedro of the Santa Elena Samanzana II community, Cobán, Alta Verapaz.”

Video

In their December 2021 update, PBI-Guatemala also noted:

“As part of our accompaniment of the Community Council of the Highlands (CCDA) – Las Verapaces Region, we visited Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul in Cobán prison. They are human rights defenders and community leaders from Choctún Basilá, who have been criminalized and imprisoned since 2018, We also maintained regular contact with Lesbia Artola and Imelda Tuyul, coordinators of the organization.”

And earlier this month, the German newspaper Junge Welt reported:

“The agricultural workers’ organization Peasants’ Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) speaks of a total of 962 arrest warrants against its members and other agricultural workers in connection with resistance to land grabbing and major projects. Another drastic case of criminalization also occurred in the Department of Alta Verapaz. Jorge Coc Coc and Marcelino Xol Cucul, local indigenous authorities from the Choctun Basilá community in Cobán County and members of the CCDA, were sentenced to 35 years in prison in 2019 on fabricated charges of murder and attempted murder.”

On January 14, CCDA Nacional posted: “We condemn that the State of Guatemala, instead of resolving conflicts, speeds up arbitrary evictions to dispossess the ancestral lands of the original peoples.” In the photo below, PBI-Guatemala is seen accompanying the press conference that highlighted these concerns.

You can find Comité Campesino del Altiplano CCDA on Twitter and Ccda Nacional on Facebook.

PBI-Guatemala began to accompany the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) Verapaz in July 2018.

Did the Colombian army and police use Canadian-made helicopters to arrest social leaders critical of a Toronto-based oil company?

By
Brent Patterson
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Bell CH-135 (CUH-1N) helicopter. Photo by Santiago Rivas.

El Espectador has reported: “On November 27, 2018, at 2:45 in the morning, an operation of 200 men, between members of the Police and the National Army, who landed in two helicopters, captured [eight social leaders who raised concerns about the social and environmental impacts of Toronto-based Frontera Energy] in San Luis de Palenque.”

Earlier that month, Frontera Energy had signed two agreements with the Ministry of Defence for a total of US $1.3 million to secure army protection for its activities.

The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders Michel Forst reported to the UN Human Rights Council: “The Special Rapporteur is concerned at the apparent connection between Frontera Energy, the army’s 16th brigade and the Attorney General’s Support Office in this criminalization.”

Notably, the 16th Brigade is “charged with defending oil drilling operations” in Colombia, according to a 1993 report by Human Rights Watch.

What helicopters were used in the operation that arrested the social leaders? We ask because it is possible that they were helicopters manufactured in Canada.

Waterloo, Ontario-based Project Ploughshares has previously reported in this briefing that Canada sold 40 surplus Bell CH-135 Huey II military helicopters to Colombia via the United States between September 1998 and February 2000. That briefing also notes that Canada shipped 12 Bell 212 helicopters from Mirabel, Quebec to the Colombian police and military between 1994 and 1996.

The type of helicopter used by the Colombian police and army to detain the social leaders critical of a Canadian corporation could be a question for the Canadian Commercial Corporation, a federal Crown corporation that facilitates exports.

But regrettably, Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese has reported: “The Ottawa-based CCC [Canadian Commercial Corporation], which helps Canadian exporters get contracts with foreign governments … acknowledges  it conducts no follow-up to ensure exported Canadian-built equipment isn’t being used to abuse human rights.”

As such, it’s not likely the Canadian Commercial Corporation has looked into the possibility that Canadian-made helicopters were used to criminalize and hold captive these social leaders for more than 500 days.

On September 16, 2020, El Nuevo Oriente reported: “Due to expiration of terms when more than 500 days have elapsed without a formal trial having been installed, a guarantee control judge ordered the release of the eight social leaders prosecuted in the middle of a lawsuit by the oil company Frontera Energy in San Luis de Palenque (Casanare).”

The article also noted: “The release decision was appealed by the Prosecutor’s Office and by Frontera Energy’s lawyers.”

This community struggle has been accompanied by two organizations: the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP) and the Social Corporation for Community Advisory and Training Services (COSPACC).

PBI-Colombia accompanies both the CSPP and COSPACC.

We continue to research and learn what we can about this situation.

Bell 212 (UH-1H) helicopter. Photo by Paul Filmer.

Canada has exported helicopters to the Colombian and Mexican military

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: A former Canadian Forces CH-135 (CUH-1N) carries Colombian soldiers as they head out to perform a patrol mission. Photo by Santiago Rivas.

Global Affairs Canada produces an annual Report on Exports of Military Goods from Canada. We went through the 2010 to 2020 reports and found that Canada had exported $48.9 million in “military goods” to Colombia and $26.4 million to Mexico.

The actual numbers over this period could be significantly higher.

In March 2001, Project Ploughshares published Transfer of Military Equipment to Colombia Exposes Loopholes in Export Controls.

Their briefing highlighted the sale of 40 surplus Bell CH-135 Huey II military helicopters to Colombia via the United States between September 1998 and February 2000 did not require a Canadian permit because they were refurbished in the US before being sent to Colombia.

They add: “This loophole is a major one, since significant levels of Canadian military exports are of components and subsystems used in the importing country for the manufacture of weapons systems which are in turn sold to third countries.”

They also note: “Canadian equipment exported for military use, but classed as civilian, is not subject to export controls.”

As such, “when Bell Helicopter Textron Canada shipped 12 Bell 212 helicopters from Mirabel to the Colombian police and military between 1994 and 1996, the transfers did not require export permits because the 212 helicopter, a model based on an earlier military design, has received commercial certification by Transport Canada.”

A Bell 212 in use by the Colombian Air Force. Photo from helis.com.

Similarly, Open Canada has reported: “In March 2016, Textron’s subsidiary Bell Helicopter delivered the final Bell 407GXP helicopter from its factory in Montreal to the Mexican air force in a deal worth $37.5 million.”

Photo: In March 2015, Bell was awarded a contract to deliver 15 407GXP helicopters to the Mexican Air Force. Bell says: “The 15 Bell 407GXPs are operated by the 111th Air Squadron based at the Military Airbase in Zapopan, Jalisco.”

Open Canada adds: “The Bell 407GXP is billed as a multi-mission capable helicopter. That means while both can provide airlift capabilities for soldiers and medical emergencies, each can also be armed as a light attack helicopter.”

The Government of Canada’s Report on Exports of Military Goods from Canada – 2016 says the total value of military goods exported to Mexico that year totalled $1,885,809.46. Given similar amounts were reported in previous years, it’s hard to account for the $37.5 million export of the Bell 407GXP helicopters to the Mexican Air Force.

Photo: The UH-1H is a variant of the 212 helicopter. Photo by Paul Filmer.

El Espectador has reported, “On November 27, 2018, at 2:45 in the morning, an operation of 200 men, between members of the Police and the National Army, who landed in two helicopters, captured [eight social leaders who raised concerns about Toronto-based Frontera Energy] in San Luis de Palenque.” We are in the process of trying to find out more about those two helicopters.

Ottawa Citizen reporter David Pugliese has also reported: “The Ottawa-based CCC [Canadian Commercial Corporation], which helps Canadian exporters get contracts with foreign governments … acknowledges  it conducts no follow-up to ensure exported Canadian-built equipment isn’t being used to abuse human rights.”

We continue to follow this situation with concern.

PBI-Honduras accompanies COPINH, discusses situation for Indigenous people in Honduras

By
Brent Patterson
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Lenca water protector Berta Cáceres, who co-founded COPINH, was murdered in March 2016 for her opposition to a hydroelectric dam on the Gualcarque River.

On January 21, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “PBI was with @COPINHHONDURAS in La Esperanza [the capital city of the department of Intibucá]. They shared with us their concern about the situation of the indigenous peoples and their commitment to continue fighting for these rights through the proposals presented to the new government and the continuous follow-up that they will give them.”

On Facebook, PBI-Honduras adds to this post: “At PBI we highlight the tireless work of COPINH in favor of the indigenous peoples of Honduras.”

With the swearing in of Xiomara Castro as the new president of Honduras on January 27,  the COPINH proposals for a Government of Justice and Life for the Indigenous Peoples of Honduras includes demands such as: “Autonomy and indigenous culture. Recognition of indigenous authorities and their territorial autonomy, including the rights to free, prior and informed consultation and consent.”

The Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) is an Indigenous Lenca organization made up of 200 Lenca communities in western Honduras. Berta Cáceres co-founded COPINH in 1993 when indigenous and popular movements came together to stop logging and advance popular struggles.

In 2006, community members from Rio Blanco came to COPINH asking for help. They had witnessed an influx of machinery and construction equipment coming into their town. They saw this construction as an act of aggression against the Gualcarque River, a place of spiritual importance to the Lenca people.

In April 2013, Cáceres organized a road blockade to prevent access to the dam site by DESA, the company building the dam. For well over a year, the blockade withstood multiple eviction attempts and violent attacks from militarized security contractors and the Honduran armed forces.

During this time, Cáceres also opposed a dam being constructed on Lenca territory by two Canadian companies. In January 2015, COPINH issued a condemnation of a dam being built without Lenca consent on the Canjel River by Montreal-based Hydrosys and Vancouver-based Blue Energy. By April 2015, Cáceres claimed “men close to Blue Energy” were behind death threats against her.

On March 3, 2016, Cáceres was killed by gunmen in her home in La Esperanza. Twelve days later COPINH member Nelson García was also murdered.

In 2018, a Honduran court ruled that DESA executives ordered the killing of Cáceres.

In July 2021, David Castillo, the former president of DESA and a former Honduran army intelligence officer, was found by a court to be a co-collaborator in ordering the murder. He has yet to be sentenced for this crime.

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project began to accompany COPINH in May 2016, just a couple months after Berta Cáceres was killed.

In January 2019, Berta’s daughter Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres (standing behind the boy in the blue coat with the raised fist), joined with other members of COPINH to express solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en struggle against Coastal GasLink.

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