Home Blog Page 281

Colombia is the deadliest country for trade unionists: ITUC report

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI accompanies a National Strike mobilization on April 28, 2021. In October, Colombia’s trade union centres reported that at least 32 acts of violence had been perpetrated against trade union leaders during the strike.

The International Trade Union Confederation (ITUC) reports that Colombia continues to be “the deadliest country for workers and unionists.” Twenty-two labour movement activists were killed between April 2020 and March 2021.

The ITUC Global Rights Index 2021 report states: “Most of these crimes remained unresolved, as the government failed to allocate the necessary means for the timely investigation and prosecution of the cases.”

In another report made possible with funding from Union to Union, an initiative of the Swedish trade unions LO, TCO and Saco, Equal Times notes: “The Human Rights Information System of the National Trade Union School (ENS) recorded 15,430 violations of trade unionists’ rights to life, freedom and integrity in Colombia between 1 January 1971 and 29 September 2021. Around a fifth of the cases reported were murders: 3,288 trade unionists have been assassinated over the last five decades in Colombia.”

That report adds: “According to the ENS [Escuela Nacional Sindical/National Trade Union School], around 90 per cent of the violations targeting labour activism were directed at CUT Colombia (the Central Union of Workers) and its affiliates. The union centre presented a report covering around 3,000 murders of its members.”

Violations of fundamental rights have also been committed against various unions, including those of health workers (Anthoc), university teachers (Sintraunicol), oil workers (USO), teachers (Fecode) and public employees (Sintraofan).

The report also highlights: “One of the departments where the intimidation has worsened as a result of the recent protests is Valle del Cauca, one of the epicentres of the national strike and one of the regions where the police crackdown was the most brutal.”

On July 17 of this year, the Colombian National Police used a Canadian-made INKAS armoured vehicle to detain delegations travelling to Cali, Valle del Cauca for a National People’s Assembly for the ongoing national strike and social protests.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has been accompanying defenders and organizations throughout the national strike that began on April 28.

That includes Berenice Celeita, president of the Association for Social Research and Action (NOMADESC). She has been accompanied by PBI-Colombia since 1999.

In 2004, Celeita was targeted by state agents in an assassination plot known as Operation Dragon because of her opposition to the privatization of Emcali, a state-owned utility that provides water, telecommunications, and electricity services in Cali.

Photo: In July 2021, a Canadian-made armoured vehicle was deployed by the Colombian National Police against a national strike mobilization.

For statements from the labour movement in Canada in solidarity with the national strike, please click on these links: Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), Unifor, Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), United Steelworkers (USW), Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC), National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE),  Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Union of Food and Commercial Workers (UFCW), British Colombia General Employees Union (BCGEU) and Service Employees International Union (SEIU).

PBI-Mexico accompanies ASMAC at commemoration of murdered Indigenous Rarámuri land defender Julián Carrillo

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 24, PBI-Mexico posted: “Today marks the 3rd anniversary of the murder of human right defender Julian Carrillo.”

“In Chihuahua, PBI accompanied the tribute that Alianza Sierra Madre A.C. organized in his memory. During the act, the call was made to ensure the safe and dignified return home for the Carrillo family who, for 3 years, has lived in forced displacement, and with this, faces a constant and multiple violations to several of their human rights.”

It adds: “From Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project we repeat the call for Mexican authorities to ensure their return home in a dignified and safe manner.”

Indigenous Rarámuri environmental, land and territory defender, Julián Carrillo Martínez was murdered on October 24, 2018.

Kathy Price of Amnesty International-Canada has written: “The assassination [of Julian Carrillo] came just a week after he spoke out against the environmental impacts of a mining concession awarded by authorities to a Canadian mining company without the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous people whose lands would be impacted.”

PBI-Mexico has accompanied the Sierra Madre Alliance (ASMAC) since 2018.

Aarhus Convention parties to elect Special Rapporteur with power to issue protection measures for environmental defenders at risk

By
Brent Patterson
-

A recent protest in Vancouver, Unceded Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Territory, in solidarity with the Wet’suwet’en struggle against the Coastal GasLink (CGL) fracked gas pipeline being constructed on their territory without consent. Photo by Mike Graeme.

On October 21, forty-six countries adopted a legally binding mechanism to protect environmental defenders under the Aarhus Convention.

The signatories to the Convention include Belgium, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Netherlands, Norway, Spain, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

Canada is not a signatory to this Convention.

While the Aarhus Convention was adopted in 1998, the new agreement establishes a post for a Special Rapporteur on environmental defenders.

The Parties will reconvene in 2022 to elect the Special Rapporteur.

This Special Rapporteur will be able to provide a rapid response to allegations of violations under the Convention.

The new agreement outlines the various tools available to the Special Rapporteur for resolving complaints and protecting environmental defenders. They include issuing immediate protection measures, using diplomatic channels, releasing public statements, and bringing urgent cases to relevant human rights bodies for action.

Any member of the public, secretariat or Party to the Aarhus Convention, will be able to submit a confidential complaint to the Special Rapporteur, even before other legal remedies have been exhausted.

In contrast to current existing initiatives, which mainly rely on applying political pressure through the media, the Aarhus Convention’s rapid response mechanism will be built on a binding legal framework, giving it much greater powers to act.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres told the Meeting of the Parties: “I remain deeply concerned by the targeting of environmental activists. I welcome your efforts to establish a rapid response mechanism to protect environmental defenders.”

Guterres adds: “As the devastating effects of climate change continue to ravage the world, the Convention’s core purpose – of allowing people to protect their wellbeing and that of future generations – has never been more critical.”

Canada and the Aarhus Convention

While Canada is party to agreements with the European Union, perhaps most notably the EU-Canada Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) that entered into force in 2017, it is not party to the Aarhus Convention.

In April 2020, the Government of Canada stated: “Canada is not a party to the Convention because Canada maintains a well-established system of engaging the public.”

It added: “Canada complies with most of the provisions and objectives of the Convention, thus acceding to the Convention would have limited benefit to existing processes in Canada.”

Currently Indigenous environmental defenders on Wet’suwet’en and Secwepemc territories in Canada face criminalization and harassment due to their opposition to the construction of pipelines on their lands without free, prior and informed consent.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination (CERD) has called on Canada to immediately stop the construction of these projects and withdraw the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) from those territories.

Further reading on the Convention

Governments and stakeholders strengthen commitment to environmental democracy for sustainable, inclusive and resilient development – United Nations Economic Commission for Europe (UNECE) media release, October 22, 2021.

Rapid response mechanism to protect environmental defenders established under the Aarhus Convention – UNECE media release, October 22, 2021.

Photo by Mike Graeme.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Peace Community at meetings with British, Norwegian, French and Swedish embassies

By
Brent Patterson
-

Meeting with the British Embassy. Photo by @UKinColombia.

On October 22, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “We thank the @UKinColombia for supporting peacebuilding in #Colombia, above all for its solidarity with the @cdpsanjose [Peace Community of San José de Apartadó], accompanied by organizations such as PBI, @dhColombia and @OpColombaApg23 [Operazione Colomba].”

That same day it tweeted: “Thanks @NoruegaenCOL for listening to @cdpsanjose of the #Uraba #Colombia accompanied by @dhColombia @OpColombaApg23 and PBI on serious risks in San José de #Apartado, impunity and breaches of international standards in serious violations of #DDHH [human rights].”

It also tweeted: “We thank @France_Colombia for solidarity and support to the @cdpsanjose, especially in these worrisome moments in terms of the violation of the #DDHH in the region.”

And on October 20, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “We thank the embassy of @SwedeninCOL for receiving the @cdpsanjose, accompanied by PBI, and for their support and solidarity. It is essential that the international community continue to express its concern about violations of the #DerechosHumanos in the region.”

PBI-Colombia had also tweeted: “Juliette de Rivero @ONUHumanRights meets with @cdpsanjose, @dhColombia @OpColombaApg23 and PBI Colombia, to learn about the constitutional and security crisis in San José de Apartadó #Uraba#Colombia without being guaranteed #ddhh for victim communities.”

The Peace Community of San José de Apartadó is located more than 700 kilometres northwest of Bogota in the mountainous northern region in the department of Antioquia.

They have posted this update about their situation.

“Once again, our Peace Community of San José de Apartadó sees the need to record before the country and the world the latest events of which we have been victims by paramilitarism that continues to act at ease in our region without being disturbed by any competent authority, because it has its economic and political support, which makes it strong to subject the peasantry to its projects.

The paramilitaries, as since the beginning of 2017, are forcing the civilian population to meet with them and to instill terror in those meetings, groups of them participate in camouflaged uniforms and with long weapons; thus they believe that their orders and directives are obeyed by the civilian population.

San José de Apartadó has become a scenario of yoke and dictatorship by politicians, businessmen, military forces and paramilitaries since all of them coexist in this region and each other is not harmed because the damages are suffered by the peasant who has to submit to all these actions of oppression.”

On March 23, 1997, the Peace Community was formed. The farming community declared itself neutral in the armed conflict and rejected the presence of all the armed groups in its territory.

PBI-Colombia began accompanying them in 1999.

PBI-Colombia has stated: “PBI will stand by the Community in this dignified struggle until they have security guarantees and the life they long for and deserve.”

PBI-Guatemala rejects state violence against Q’eqchi’ peoples opposed to the Fenix mine

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: “This they have given us as dialogue and profit” say Q’eqchi’ communities as this woman displays the tear gas cartridges fired at them.

On October 23, PBI-Guatemala posted: “We join the rejections of violence exercised against the demonstrations of Q’eqchi’ peoples in El Estor.”

Indigenous Q’eqchi’ communities in El Estor, Izabal, Guatemala are protesting the open-pit Fénix nickel mine now owned by Compañía Guatemalteca de Níquel (CGN), a subsidiary of the Russian company Solway Investment Group.

They have been in a roadside makeshift camp since October 4 to prevent the passage of machinery to the mine. On October 22, the National Civil Police and Guatemalan Army attacked with tear gas.

The Guatemalan Human Rights Ombudsman, Jordán Rodas, has stated: “Since 2019, the Constitutional Court (the highest court in the country) ordered CGN to suspend the mining exploitation license, for not having carried out prior consultation.”

Rodas adds: “The Government of Guatemala guards CGN trucks” to enter the mine while security forces “repress the population and journalists.”

Canadian ownership of the mine

The mine was first developed by Toronto-based Inco in 1960 and was in operation until 1980 (throughout the period of the civil war that ended in 1996).

Vancouver-based Skye Resources Inc. acquired the rights to the Fenix mine in 2004. In 2008, Toronto-based HudBay merged with Skye Resources.

Between 2007 and 2009, personnel from the mine along with the police and military violently expelled members of the community of Lote Ocho from their homes.

During an expulsion in 2007, eleven Mayan Q’eqchi’ women were gang-raped. In 2009, community leader Adolpho Ich was killed, while another community member, German Chub, was shot and paralyzed.

The mine was then purchased in 2011 by the Russian-owned Solway Group that is based in Zug, Switzerland.

In January 2021, Mynor Padilla, a former army lieutenant colonel and security chief for the Fenix mine, was found guilty of homicide in the death of Adolfo Ich.

PBI accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH), the Verapaz Union of Campesina Organizations (UVOC), the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya, and Bernardo Caal Xol, a leader of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón.

Eduardo Bin Poou, a Q’eqchi’ human rights defender and vice president of the Fishermen’s Association of El Estor, Izabal, has been criminalized since May 2017 for his opposition to the Fenix mine. The Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) has represented Bin Poou in court against this criminalization.

The Verapaz Union of Campesina Organizations (UVOC) has also previously denounced the Fenix mine.

On October 23, a group of women arrived from the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya to support the peaceful resistance against the mine.

And imprisoned Q’eqchi’ river protector Bernardo Caal Xol has denounced the violence against the Q’eqchi’ peoples in El Estor.

On October 27, this webinar, during the 7th Session on a United Nations Binding Treaty (October 25-29) will discuss the impact of mining on Guatemala and feature testimonies affected by the Fenix mine.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez calls on Biden Administration to protect environmental defenders ahead of COP26 summit

By
Brent Patterson
-

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Veronica Escobar, Norma J. Torres and James P. McGovern are among the signatories of the letter to the Biden Administration.

Twelve members of the U.S. Congress have called on the Biden Administration to protect environmental defenders in the lead-up the United Nations COP26 climate summit that starts on October 31 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Their letter states:

“We write to you to express our growing concern over the treatment of indigenous and local environmental activists—often referred to as ‘environmental defenders’—across the world. We urge you to consider using existing authorities, as provided by the Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act … to impose targeted sanctions against those persons, including entities, responsible for human rights abuses of environmental defenders and corruption related to climate-impacting industries; and to integrate these tools into the Administration’s strategy to combat climate change.”

It highlights:

“Because these abuses are often connected to ecologically-destructive industrial and corporate activities, using sanctions in this context would create a deterrence against destructive activities that exacerbate climate change.”

Their letter further notes:

“Indigenous and local communities are leading the global effort to fight climate change, often at great personal risk and sacrifice. Thus, doing what we can to defend them from human rights abuses and destructive climate actions should be at the forefront of American foreign policy efforts to tackle climate change.”

Their letter cites Colombia where UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst received “allegations of collusion between companies and politicians, sometimes at very high levels” and Honduras where Berta Cáceres “was harassed and received numerous death threats from industry members prior to her killing.”

The Global Magnitsky Human Rights Accountability Act authorizes the President to impose economic sanctions and deny entry into the United States to any foreign person identified as engaging in human rights abuse or corruption.

The letter calls on the Biden Administration to take steps that include:

“Encouraging partner governments with similar sanctions authorities to take a coordinated, multilateral approach to designating appropriate targets.”

The Canadian equivalent to the Magnitsky Act is the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (more at Canada is getting its own Magnitsky Act).

PBI webinar, November 6

Peace Brigades International will be holding a webinar on COP26 and environmental defenders that will take place on Saturday November 6 at 1 pm EST (Ontario/Quebec), 7 pm CEST (European time) and 8 pm East Africa Time (Kenya).

The webinar will have simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.

It will feature land and environmental rights defenders from Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua, Mexico and Kenya.

The webinar will also include an introduction by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David R. Boyd.

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Our speakers will include Danilo Rueda (Colombia), Juana Ramona Zuñiga (Honduras), Amaru Ruiz (Nicaragua), Nelly Madegwa (Kenya).

UN Special Rapporteur David R. Boyd

PBI-Guatemala accompanies four criminalized water defenders on the South Coast

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 22, PBI-Guatemala posted: “PBI accompanied the 4 criminalized defending people on the South Coast for defending water.”

“After 6 suspensions since 2019, today is the hearing in which Anabella Spain, Abelino Mejía, Flavio Vicente and Virgilio Garcia is feared to be brought to trial for the crimes of coercion, threats and illegal arrests such as sends the ruling of an appeals court.”

“Judge will decide on coercion measures.”

REDSAG then tweeted: “We made known the substitute measures under which the comrades were subjected after being tied up in the process. Criminalization is a strategy to wear down the defense of the water and the territory that the companions carry on the South Coast.”

PBI-Guatemala further explains: “The 4 defendants are tied to the process with substituting measures for house arrest.”

Later in the day, REDSAG tweeted a communique and noted “The undersigned Council of REDSUR Communities, Peoples and Organizations denounce the criminalization and prosecution of defenders Anabella España, and defenders Virgilio García, Flavio Vicente and Abelino Mejía, from different communities on the South Coast.”

PBI-Guatemala also noted: “Observers and companions were not allowed in.”

And, as seen in the image below, REDSAG tweeted: “In the Retalhuleu Court, where the hearing of the first statement of the human rights defenders of the South Coast is held, they do not allow the entry of Peace Brigades International, who accompany the defenders observing the fulfillment of their rights.”

Background/context

Earlier this month, La Prensa reported: “On November 24, 2017, residents of the Nueva Candelaria community held a protest because sugar mills such as Tululá, Magdalena and El Pilar had made them offers for projects that they did not fulfill.”

“In addition, one of the rivers where the ladies washed their clothes and extracted water, Canillas, dried up, for this fact a complaint was filed with the Public Ministry.”

“That situation angered the people, who proceeded to stop several cars of workers from these companies that passed through the community.”

“Karina Alejandra Imeri, who identified herself as a community manager of the El Pilar sugar mill, located in San Andrés, Retalhuleu, denounced in 2017 four members of the Board of Directors of the Council of Organized Communities of Retalhuleu and Champerico.”

“Although a judge ruled lack of merit in favor of the community in 2019, the complainant appealed in a Chamber in Retalhuleu that ordered the Court to repeat the process, a hearing that will be held on October 22.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the four defenders since April 2020.

PBI COP26 webinar to feature Kenyan environmental defender Nelly Madegwa

By
Brent Patterson
-

Kenyan environmental rights defender Nelly Madegwa will be speaking on the PBI ‘COP26 and land defenders’ webinar on November 6.

To register to hear her speak, click here.

Nelly advocates for women’s voices in community committees that deal with land disputes and the conservation of forests and rivers in the county of Kakamega.

She also works on cases that involve violations of women rights to land ownership and leads community cafes on the importance of women’s right to own land being respected and how it connects to them contributing to food security for the country.

The BBC has reported: “Women are more likely than men to be affected by climate change, studies show. United Nations figures indicate that 80% of people displaced by climate change are women. The UN has highlighted the need for gender sensitive responses to the impacts of climate change.”

Climate Change News adds: “Owning land [in Kenya] is key to helping women cope with the impacts of climate change, such as drought, and enables them to feed their families. Women head about 32% of households, but individually hold only 1% of land titles.”

IPS has also reported: “Climate change [in Kenya] is worsening droughts and erratic rainfall, leading to desertification and soil erosion, deforestation and unsustainable agricultural practices are also driving up emissions at the same time.”

And Reuters has noted: “Kenya is highly vulnerable to climate change. Rainfall will become more intense and less predictable. Even the slightest increase in droughts will present major challenges for food security and water availability.”

Overall, Africans make up 17 per cent of the world’s population but have generated just 4 per cent of global carbon emissions. The UN has cautioned that climate change on the African continent is “hitting the most vulnerable hardest, and contributing to food insecurity, population displacement and stress on water resources.”

PBI webinar, November 6

Peace Brigades International will be holding a webinar on COP26 and land defenders that will take place on Saturday November 6 at 1 pm EST (Ontario/Quebec), 7 pm CEST (European time) and 8 pm in Kenya.

The webinar will have simultaneous translation in English and Spanish.

It will feature Nelly along with land and environmental rights defenders from Colombia, Honduras, Guatemala, Nicaragua and Mexico.

The webinar will also include an introduction by the UN Special Rapporteur on human rights and the environment David R. Boyd.

To register for this webinar, please click here.

Our speakers will include Danilo Rueda (Colombia), Juana Ramona Zuñiga (Honduras), Amaru Ruiz (Nicaragua), Nelly Madegwa (Kenya).

UN Special Rapporteur David R. Boyd

PBI-Mexico presents at the World Peace Congress panel on ‘How People Power and Nonviolent Action is Changing the World’

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 17, Camila Marin of the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project presented at the World Peace Congress that took place in Barcelona, Spain.

She spoke on the panel titled: How People Power and Nonviolent Action is Changing the World (listed on page 36 of the conference programme).

The promotion for this panel notes: “This panel will explore civil society initiatives addressing global challenges through nonviolent means. Nonviolence is a recognized powerful force for social and political change. Many social movements, organizations and campaigns around the world build their struggles over people power. This panel will present some examples of current actors involved in major conflict transformation processes looking to increase protection for humans or the environment, achieve social justice, or end wars. It aims to show the increasing effectiveness of nonviolent means and the diversity of approaches to deal with some of the main global challenges.”

At the beginning of her presentation, Camila noted that her father is an exiled human rights defender from Colombia and that his lawyer is accompanied by PBI-Colombia.

Near the end of her presentation, she highlights: “The role of international solidarity is key in the work of PBI. International support and solidarity can help to create a secure ecosystem so that the space in which human rights defenders work can be expanded and it dissuades attacks from actors who have political costs.”

To watch Camila’s 20-minute presentation, click here (her presentation starts at the 16:12 mark). She also answers two questions on communications and consensus at the end of the panel.

To read Camila’s reflections on when she was a field volunteer beginning in January 2019, please see Reflections from the field.

There is also this Gender Action for Peace and Security (GAPS) interview with Camila. In it, she notes: “Peace cannot exist where marginalized communities are being displaced to make way for large-scale economic projects or when their environments are being polluted.”

ACAFREMIN calls for freedom for Bernardo Caal Xol, the Guapinol River defenders, South Coast water protectors

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo from Radio Progreso. The image on the banner is Bernardo Caal Xol, a leader of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón, a collective of 38 Maya Q’eqchi communities opposed to the Oxec and Renace dams on the Cahabón River and its tributaries.

Criterio.hn reports: “Alliance of defenders of water and territory demand an end to their criminalization in Central America.”

That article highlights that the Central American Alliance Against Mining (ACAFREMIN) held its seventh regional meeting on October 21 in Tocoa, Colón, Honduras.

It was attended by defenders from Honduras, El Salvador and Guatemala. The membership of ACAFREMIN, which was founded in Managua in 2017, includes the Resistencia de La Puya which is accompanied by PBI-Guatemala.

The meeting analyzed “the impact of the continuity of the extractive economic model in an environment where the effects of climate change are felt more and more every day.”

Their statement highlighted: “The effects of climate change continue to violate the Central American populations, increasing the conditions of poverty and migration in the face of an economic model that continues to promote the migration of thousands of people in the face of the abandonment of their governments that prevent the development and decent living conditions of their citizens.”

Among their demands:

– freedom for Guatemalan political prisoner Bernardo Caal Xol

– an end to the criminalization of the defenders of water on the South Coast of Guatemala who face the sugarcane industry

– freedom for the Guapinol defenders in Honduras

– ratification of the Escazú Agreement

– Water Laws that have as a principle the human right to water and sanitation and that recognize shared or transboundary waters

– end the repression of human rights defenders in Nicaragua

– freedom for socio-environmental defenders in El Salvador.

The full Criterion.hn article can be read in Spanish at: Alianza de defensores del agua y el territorio demandan un alto a su criminalización en Centroamérica.

ACAFREMIN can be found on Twitter and Facebook.

1...280281282...476Page 281 of 476