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PBI-Honduras meets with CEHPRODEC, CAMNECO and UN Human Rights in Minas de Oro, Comayagua

By
Brent Patterson
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On July 8, CEHPRODEC posted: “Today in Minas de Oro we spoke with the Environmental Committee of the Northeast Municipalities of Comayagua (CAMNECO), together with the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OACNUDH) and the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project.”

CEHPRODEC and PBI-Honduras have worked together several times this year, including:

On June 29, PBI and PRODERECHOS (which includes CEHPRODEC) presented to the UN Human Rights Council on the implication of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. The statement was delivered by Carlos Padilla Roiz of CEHPRODEC.

On June 12, Rocío Walkiria of CEHPRODEC participated in an event organized by PBI-Ireland and explained the impact of extractivist projects on land and territory.

On June 10, PBI-Honduras accompanied CEHPRODEC lawyers at the conclusion of the trial of five Indigenous leaders of the Indigenous Council of Simpinula accused of damages for the protection of their ancestral territory.

On June 7, PBI-Honduras posted this quote from CEHPRODEC: “The struggle for the defence of the territory, the struggle against extractivism, the struggle against agrochemicals, the organizational strengthening of the people and the implementation of agroecology, are fundamental in rescuing the environment.”

On March 16, CEHPRODEC lawyer Andrea Regina Pineda presented on behalf of Peace Brigades International to the UN Human Rights Council regarding the adoption of the report on Honduras by the Universal Periodic Review Working Group.

And in January, PBI-Honduras accompanied CEHPRODEC to the Santa Barbara Palace of Justice where Betty Vásquez had planned to file a legal action against a journalist who defamed her for her work defending the land and the environment. The journalist agreed to apologize to Vásquez on television.

PBI-Honduras has accompanied the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development (CEHPRODEC) since May 2014.

British Columbia’s experience with fracking may provide helpful information to Colombians

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo from the British Columbia-based Wilderness Committee.

Fracking began in the Canadian province of British Columbia in the late 1990s. There are now more than 20,000 wells in northeastern British Columbia.

Are there lessons from these wells in British Columbia for Colombia?

Water

1– the wells draw half a million trucks worth of water each year from rivers and lakes

2– the average frack uses between five million and 100 million litres of water

Radioactive wastewater

3– radioactive material has been found to accumulate in the tanks and pits that store the wastewater generated by fracking operations

Methane pollution

4– natural gas fracked in British Columbia is composed mostly of methane, a potent greenhouse gas with a climate warming potential 25 times that of carbon dioxide on a 100-year timescale

5– wells in the Montney region release more than 11,800 tonnes of methane into the air annually, the equivalent of burning 4.5 million tonnes of coal

Human health

6– a toxicologist found traces of the carcinogen benzene were 3.5 times higher in pregnant women in northeastern British Columbia than the national average

7– human health issues related to fracking have been flagged by doctors in Dawson Creek, British Columbia as a potential cause for concern after they saw patients with respiratory illnesses and rare cancers

Orphan wells

8– there were 346 orphan wells in British Columbia in 2019, a number expected to double in 2020, and significantly increase with more fracking

Earthquakes

9– 439 earthquakes up to 4.6 magnitude were associated with fracking in parts of the Montney field in northeastern British Columbia between 2013 and 2019

Fish

10– research done in the neighboring province of Alberta has found that fluids released from fracked oil and gas wells can harm fish even at low concentrations.

These concerns may be of interest to Colombians as two fracking pilot projects move forward in the environmentally-sensitive Magdalena Medio region.

Last month, the Chief Executive Officer of the Calgary-based Canacol Energy commented: “The objectives of these [fracking pilot projects] are to demonstrate that this important resource can be developed in an environmentally safe way, similar to how the same unconventional resources have been implemented in the United States and Canada.”

Peace Brigades International accompanies environmental human rights defenders who have been threatened for their opposition to fracking in Colombia.

PBI-Guatemala seeking field volunteers, deadline to apply is August 1

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project is seeking new field brigadistas.
The application deadline is August 1.

Following this deadline, the next key date in this process is the training and selection week (December 5-11).

The application forms can be found here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies organizations including the Peaceful Resistance La Puya, the Network of Ancestral Healers of Community Feminism, the Human Rights Law Firm, and the Union of Campesino Organizations for the Verapaces (UVOC).

Key requirements to be a volunteer include a working proficiency in Spanish; a commitment to at least twelve months of field work; an ability to work in a horizontal structure where decisions are made through consensus; and experience working and living in groups, especially in stressful situations.

Volunteers are also normally over 25 years of age.

If selected, the following expenses are covered: return flights, room, board and medical insurance. Volunteers also receive economic support of $175 monthly for personal expenses, and a repatriation grant when they have completed their service.

For more information, please click here. You can email formacion@pbi-guatemala.org.

Q’eqchi’ community displaced by Guatemalan military base wants their land back

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by CasoCreompaz.

The Indigenous Q’eqchi’ community of Chicoyogüito in Guatemala has long sought their land back. On July 28, 1968, they were displaced by a military base known as Military Zone 21 that was built in the city of Cobán in the department of Alta Verapaz.

Between 1981 and 1988 at least 565 Indigenous people were disappeared at that base. Exhumations of mass graves at the military base began in 2012. The bodies identified are of Mayan Achí, Q’eqchi’, Pomochí, Ixil, and Kiché peoples.

At least 90 of the bodies found belonged to children.

The military base was closed in 2004 and despite its notoriety became CREOMPAZ, a United Nations peacekeeping training base.

Every year since 2008, the Chicoyogüito community has held a peaceful march to demand that their lands be returned to them.

The Government of Canada has seemingly been indifferent to their demand.

In 2009, it made a CAD $250,000 grant to CREOMPAZ to assist Central American armies to participate in UN peacekeeping missions.

In 2011, the Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT) funded a workshop at CREOMPAZ on police and military cooperation. By 2014, the Canadian Armed Forces hosted a course at CREOMPAZ and bought specialized equipment for the base.

In 2015, CREOMPAZ was funded through Canada’s Global Peace Operations Program. And Global Affairs Canada currently funds a program at CREOMPAZ through its Peace and Stabilization Operations Programme.

The Q’eqchi’ continue to want their land back.

On June 9 of this year, 21 residents of Chicoyogüito were arrested as they prepared to participate in a demonstration with that demand.

The Observatory for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders, the Centre for Human Rights Legal Action (CALDH) and UDEFEGUA have stated: “The authorities are thus obstructing the human right to social protest, enshrined in the Guatemalan Constitution and in international human rights treaties signed by the Guatemalan State.”

CALDH has further noted: “The National Civil Police used excessive force, injuring some of the demonstrators and violating the right to freedom of demonstration. It indicates that those captured were taken to the Cobán Penal Center without being heard by a competent judge or being treated for their injuries.”

And La Hora reports: “On June 18, the first statement hearing was held, where they were linked to trial for the crimes of aggravated usurpation and three for attack. 18 of them were granted coercive measures, including financial security of 5,000 Quetzal [about CAD$800], while three were sent to pretrial detention.”

The hearing on those coercive measure will be on July 12.

Just a few days after that hearing, PBI-Canada will be holding a webinar with a member of Q’eqchi’ community of Chicoyogüito and human rights lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila who represents the families displaced by the military base.

Rachel Small of World Beyond War Canada will also provide context on the displacement of Indigenous peoples around the world for military bases.

To register for the webinar on Thursday July 15, click here.

#JusticiaParaChicoyogüito

PBI-Canada awaits Global Affairs response to CIDH-IACHR report on human rights in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Colombia with the CIDH-IACHR at Portal Resistencia in Bogota, June 10.

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH-IACHR) has released their report following its working visit to Colombia on June 8 to 10.

Their visit was to report on the human rights situation during the national strike (#ParoNacional) which began on April 28.

On July 7, Reuters reported: “Colombia’s government must hold genuine dialogue with civil society and ensure punishment for security force members who have committed abuses, after violence at weeks of antigovernment protests led to at least 27 deaths, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (CIDH) said on Wednesday.”

That article adds: “The CIDH, an autonomous arm of the Organization of American States, presented 41 recommendations based on a June visit to the Andean country.”

Those 41 recommendations can be read in their report here.

CIDH President Antonia Urrejola told journalists: “The commission confirmed that, repeatedly and in various regions of the country, the response of the state was characterized by excessive and disproportionate use of force.”

El Espectador also reports: “Some of the most important issues on which the IACHR pronounced on Wednesday are the right to protest, the disproportionate use of force, sexual and gender-based violence, the ethno-racial approach, the use of the figure of transfer of protection, disappearance of persons, military assistance, the application of military criminal jurisdiction, the protection of journalists, and access to the Internet.”

The right to blockades

El Espectador adds: “The agency warned that it is a mistake to generically characterize the blockades as illegal conduct and recalled that the State must tolerate that the demonstrations generate a certain level of disruption of daily life, for example, in relation to traffic and commercial activities.”

La FM also noted: “Regarding the protests, the CIDH reiterated that protest is a right protected by the American Convention on Human Rights, which includes blockades as a form of demonstration. For this reason, it states that blockades cannot be prohibited a priori or in a generalized way and that their interventions must not affect the integrity and lives of demonstrators.”

Canada’s response

There has been no official response yet from the Canadian Embassy in Colombia.

On October 30, 2017, Canada and Colombia launched a “bilateral police initiative” with Canadian police providing training, capacity building and strategic advice to the Colombian police. In 2014-15, Canada also approved the sale of Toronto-area manufactured armoured vehicles to the Colombian police.

On May 9, Canada’s Foreign Minister Marc Garneau condemned the disproportionate use of force by Colombian police while at the same time calling on those responsible for road blockades to allow the free passage of goods and services.

We look forward to Canada’s response to the CIDH-IACHR report.

CIDH-IACHR President Antonia Urrejola speaks at the media conference that released the report. The full media conference can be seen here.

PBI-Kenya stands in solidarity with the human rights defenders injured and arrested at Saba Saba march in Nairobi

By
Brent Patterson
-

On July 7, PBI-Kenya tweeted: “We came to follow up on the health and safety of the 5 HRDs [human rights defenders] including @happyolal [Happy Olal] arrested today during #SabaSabaMarchForOurLives.”

The Social Justice Centres Working Group has also tweeted: “The Convener of the Social Justice Centres Working Group Comrade @happyolal & 4 others from the  Justice Centres have been arrested and are currently held at Central police Station for taking part in the #SabaSabaMarchForOurlives protest aimed in defence of the constitution.”

Three of the others arrested are: Erick, Barasa and Bosire.

Earlier in the day, PBI-Kenya tweeted: “Disturbing reports surrounding the #SabaSabaMarchForOurLives today. PBI Kenya has observed extensive police presence downtown. We stand in solidarity with the #HRDs that are injured and arrested today.”

That violence included, as GF Kenya reported: “Imagine you lost your son to a police bullet. Then you protest police violence & get hit by a teargas canister. One of the mother’s of victims here is attended by a paramedic after police threw teargas at her head.”

The Star reports: “Police on Wednesday dispersed Saba Saba protesters, who took to the streets to march for a fair living. The human rights campaigners and youths were campaigning against youth unemployment and harsh economic times.”

That article adds: “The march is to mark the 31st Saba Saba, which is marked on July 7 every year. This is to commemorate the Second Liberation struggle in Kenya.”

Saba Saba (seven-seven/July 7) refers to a protest on July 7, 1990, when Kenyans took to the streets to demand free elections. That first serious challenge against repression resulted in 39 dead, 69 injured and 5,000 arrested after four days of confrontations between the police and the public. In 1991, Kenya transitioned to a multiparty political system after 26 years of single-party rule though the demand for free and fair elections has continued.

In the present day, human rights defenders and social organizations, including the Social Justice Centres Working Group, have mobilized on this day to call for respect for the constitution and an end to police violence.

Last year, The Star reported: “More than 100 people [are] reported to have been killed by police since January 2020 according to Missing Voices, a consortium of community, national and international human rights defenders committed to ending enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Kenya.”

That article further noted: “Missing Voices reports that 712 people have been killed by the police or reported missing since 2007 with only 26 having been charged with a crime for these cases which include enforced disappearances. These cases are more rampant in poorer neighbourhoods.”

Through its participation in the Missing Voices network, PBI-Kenya works to help stop human rights violations and police violence.

PBI-Mexico expresses deep concern over the murder of Tzeltal defender Simón Pedro Pérez and other Indigenous defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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On July 6, PBI-Mexico posted: “The murder of Simón Pedro Pérez, a member of the @AbejasDeActeal [the Bees of Acteal, a village in the state of Chiapas] joins the list of defenders and journalists murdered in Mexico. As accompaniers of the Espacio OSC we express our deep concern over the recent attacks against indigenous defenders.”

The Associated Press adds: “Pérez López, better known as Simón Pedro, was a member of the Tzeltal Indigenous group and had been active in a social justice organization born out of the 1998 massacre of 45 Indigenous people in the nearby town of Acteal.”

Telesur notes: “In recent years, Perez accompanied the struggle of communities that were fighting against racism and demanding respect for their economic, social, and cultural rights.”

Espacio OSC recently drew attention to the murders of Yaqui water protectors Tomás Rojo Valencia and Luis Urbano Domínguez Mendoza.

On May 27, Rojo Valencia was disappeared following tensions over Yaqui roadblocks protesting gas and water pipelines and railway lines that have been run across their territory without free, prior and informed consent.

On June 8, Urbano Dominguez was shot to death. He had fought against the dispossession of the waters of the Yaqui River and its lands.

The Associated Press also notes that environmental defender David Díaz Valdez was killed on July 2 in Manzanillo, Colima. That article explained: “He had led opposition to the building of a power generating plant in his largely Indigenous community on the Pacific coast.”

Educa Oaxaca specifies: “[He had] denounced for years the pollution of the Manzanillo Thermoelectric Plant in the community of Campos.”

Indigenous Peoples Rights International says there have been “14 indigenous people fatalities in retaliation for their struggle for the dense of their rights in Chiapas, Oaxaca, Michoacán and Sonora” between December of last year and so far in 2021.”

And the National Human Rights Commission says 12 activists have been killed so far this year, eight of whom were environmentalists.

The Civil Society Organization (OSC) Space (Espacio) for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists includes the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre, the Saltillo Migrant Shelter, Article 19, Red TDT and many other groups.

PBI-Mexico has accompanied Espacio OSC since it was formed in 2012.

PBI-Honduras observes town hall meeting in Trujillo where municipality is declared free of ZEDEs

By
Brent Patterson
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On July 6, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted: “We observed the open town hall [cabildo] this Saturday, July 3 in the central square of the city of Trujillo, Colon where the municipality was declared free of ZEDEs.”

PBI-Honduras adds: “Mayor Hector Mendoza highlighted the autonomy that municipalities have to make their own decisions according to section 12 of the Law on Municipalities.”

What are ZEDES?

ZEDEs are Economic Development and Employment Zones. They are also referred to as charter cities, startup cities or free private cities.

On May 19, the Government of Honduras stated: “The ZEDE presents new opportunities for investors, in particular those who are looking to diversify their supply chains; also, help facilitate greater trade between through various fiscal and non-fiscal incentives.”

NACLA more critically notes: “The 2013 ZEDE law provided unprecedented legislative, administrative, judicial, and financial autonomy to investors for a wide range of territorial ventures, including urban development and resource extraction.”

There are reportedly three ZEDEs: Prospera, Ciudad Morazán and Orquidea.

Canada and ZEDEs

Karen Spring, a Canadian activist based in Honduras, has previously noted that Canadian Randy Jorgensen is a major investor in various tourist projects in the Trujillo Bay area including various gated-community projects.

In an October 2015 article, Spring wrote: “In the Trujillo region, Garifuna communities are being evicted from their ancestral lands amid the possible construction of an Economic Development and Employment Zone (ZEDE) or Model City.”

She adds: “Jorgensen’s investments are seen as the seed of a future ZEDE or parts of what could grow into a free trade, special development zone in the region.”

Several years earlier (2011), Spring had also noted: “Canadian mining giant Barrick Gold, the TD bank and other institutions are investing funds in the Canadian Shield Fund that is trading on the Toronto Stock Exchange. In partnership with Randy Jorgensen, the Canadian Shield Fund is investing in the Model City.”

PBI-Honduras

On June 19, PBI-Honduras observed the open town hall gathering in La Ceiba where the population of that community said no to ZEDEs.

On June 22, PBI-Honduras was also present at the Supreme Court of Justice in Tegucigalpa when Honduran civil society organizations affirmed their opposition to ZEDEs and their commitment to stop them.

Now, on July 3, as noted above PBI-Honduras observed the open town hall meeting in Trujillo where the municipality was declared free of ZEDEs.

PBI-Canada calls on COP26 to recognize the crucial role of human rights defenders in addressing the global climate crisis

By
Brent Patterson
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Samir Flores Soberanes (Mexico), Berta Zúniga Cáceres (Honduras), Bernardo Caal Xol (Guatemala) and Yuvelis Natalia Morales (Colombia).

Environmental human rights defenders play a crucial role in addressing the global climate crisis. Many have been killed, suffered loss, been imprisoned and threatened. Their safety and agency to continue should be a priority for the COP26 climate summit.

Global Witness will soon be releasing its report documenting the land and environmental defenders killed in 2020.

Last July, it reported that 212 defenders were killed in 2019, including defenders in Colombia (64), Mexico (18), Honduras (14) and Guatemala (12).

It further highlighted: “On average, four defenders have been killed every week since December 2015 – the month the Paris Climate agreement was signed.”

The Global Witness Defending Tomorrow report also stated: “Last year, 40% of murdered defenders belonged to indigenous communities. Between 2015 and 2019 over a third of all fatal attacks have targeted indigenous people – even though indigenous communities make up only 5% of the world’s population.”

Notably, the text of the Paris climate agreement reached at the COP21 summit has only one reference to human rights (in its non-binding preamble):

“Parties should, when taking action to address climate change, respect, promote and consider their respective obligations on human rights, the right to health, the rights of indigenous peoples, local communities, migrants, children, persons with disabilities and people in vulnerable situations and the right to development, as well as gender equality, empowerment of women and intergenerational equity.”

We believe this should be addressed as the COP26 summit is set to be held on November 1-12 both virtually and in Glasgow, Scotland.

In March 2019, the UN Human Rights Council resolution affirmed:

“Human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement.”

That resolution also called on States to “acknowledge, through public statements, policies, programmes or laws, the important and legitimate role of human rights defenders.”

Now, the Escazu Agreement, which entered into force on April 22, 2021, has additional and binding language on environmental defenders including:

“Each Party shall guarantee a safe and enabling environment for persons, groups and organizations that promote and defend human rights in environmental matters, so that they are able to act free from threat, restriction and insecurity.”

This past March, Canada’s Ambassador at the UN in Geneva, Leslie E. Norton, told the Human Rights Council: “Some states have established specific protection mechanisms to prevent risks and attacks against HRDs and to intervene when need be. Canada wants to stress these important milestones such as the Escazu Regional Agreement.”

And in June at the G7 summit, Canada also affirmed: “The importance of civic space and partnership with diverse, independent and pluralistic civil societies, including human rights defenders, in promoting human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

PBI-Canada calls on the Canadian government to build on these statements and advocate for the inclusion of similar language in any statements and agreements emerging from the COP26 climate summit this November.

This would be an important commitment to the protection of environmental human rights defenders both globally and on the lands and territories within Canada.

In the lead-up to COP26, PBI-Canada will be amplifying this call and working with other PBI entities to build awareness of the crucial role played by frontline environmental human rights defenders in addressing the climate crisis.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies human rights law firm at #CasoDiairioMilitar hearing for former head of Police Special Operations Brigade

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by FAMDEGUA.

On July 5, FAMDEGUA tweeted: “The continuation of the hearing of the first statement of Juan Francisco Cifuentes Cano and Eliseo Barrios Soto begins.”

Prensa Comunitaria reports Cifuentes Cano was first chief of the Police Special Operations Brigade (BROE) and deputy director general of the National Police (PN), while Barrios Soto was a specialist in the Presidential General Staff.

They are two of the twelve arrested in the military journal case involving the kidnapping, enforced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and other crimes committed against at least 183 people seen as enemies of the state between 1983 to 1985.

The hearing took place on level 14 of the Tower of Courts in Guatemala City in the Court of Greater Risk “B” presided over by Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez.

Alejandra Cabrera, the daughter of detainees disappeared during the war, spoke about her family’s experience. She stated:

“Mr. Judge I am a daughter looking for her father Leopoldo Cabrera García, finance secretary of the Guatemalan Labor Party PGT.

For 37 years I have wondered what happened to him, where he is.

I am a daughter who seeks justice for the disappearance of my father and for the illegal capture of my mother Clara Luz Tenas Chavarría, also a member of the PGT. She survived 4 days in a clandestine torture site.

The acts carried out by this system that acted with human and financial resources of the State, gave functionality to the policies of State terrorism that directly impacted on my life, together with my family.

We are not here for revenge, revenge is contrary to love.

[We hope that] this process will contribute to the guarantees of non-repetition so that no person lives the terror, never again.”

Her testimony can be read in full here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanied the seven days of hearings for the first six defendants in this case. On June 9, all six defendants were indicted for crimes against humanity, and five of them were indicted for forced disappearance. They all also stand accused of murder, attempted murder or both, for the killings.

PBI-Guatemala also accompanied the four days of hearings that resulted in the indictment of former Defense Minister Marco Antonio González Taracena on June 25.

On July 5, FAMDEGUA tweeted: “The lawyer Edgar Pérez requests that it be considered to continue with these hearings in a virtual way, due to the Covid crisis. Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez explains that it will end tomorrow and adjourns the hearing for Tuesday, July 6 at 9:00 AM.”

PBI-Guatemala began to accompany BDH lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila in August 2010 due to several security incidents. Perez has been acting as the representative of the Association of Detained and Disappeared Relatives (FAMDEGUA) in these hearings.

#CasoDiarioMilitar

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