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PBI-Colombia present as IACHR conducts visit to the Portal de la Resistencia in Bogota to hear from demonstrators

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 11, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Last night the CIDH was in the Portal Resistencia hearing directly from youth initiatives and human rights organizations including the Justice and Peace Commission that accompany in the humanitarian space.”

Publimetro had reported: “The IACHR will visit the Portal de la Resistencia (Americas) to hear from demonstrators. …There they will listen to the different social and youth organizations, neighbors and district authorities.”

The article adds: “Therefore, the attendees will hear from the voice of the witnesses the violent events and events that have occurred in the portal.”

El Tiempo further noted: “With the arrival of the IACHR, several people, mainly young people, began to narrate what has happened there, and asked for accompaniment to the roundtables that have been established in the area.”

It adds: “The delegates toured the place on foot, escorted by citizens who usually participate in the protests and those who were participating in the dialogue table.”

Portal de las Americas

PBI-Colombia has noted that the Portal de las Resistencia, established at the Portal de las Americas TransMilenio transit station in Bogota, is “where youth and grassroots organizations in the area have created a humanitarian space for participation in the social protests.”

This humanitarian space has seen repeated violence by the police.

On May 13, Bogota city councillor Diego Cancino tweeted: “We denounce human rights violations in Bogotá and Portal Americas: 20 injured. Inside the Portal of the America there have been serious mistreatments of young people (organizations report 8 verified cases). Illegal detentions. Gunshot wounds.”

On May 18, the Justice and Peace Commission noted: “The intervention tonight by the public forces has been one of the most violent that has occurred since the beginning of the National Strike, the indiscriminate use of conventional and unconventional weapons, has been a constant pattern in the actions of the Police.”

The IACHR visit

The Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR-CIDH) is in Colombia on a three-day (June 8-10) working visit to assess the human rights situation.

France 24 has commented: “The presence of the IACHR in the country becomes essential for the demonstrators, who have been denouncing abuses for weeks during the exercise of their right to protest. [The IACHR-CIDH] visit gives a halo of hope to the protesters and, above all, to the families of the victims.”

Antonia Urrejola, the president of the IACHR-CIDH, has noted: “After the working visit, all the information received will be analyzed, and a public statement will be issued that will contain observations and recommendations that seek to collaborate in the strengthening of human rights institutions.”

PBI-Colombia has regularly accompanied the Justice and Peace Commission at the Portal de la Resistencia throughout the national strike.

Still image from Twitter with PBI-Colombia accompaniment as the CIDH hears from participants at the Portal de las Resistencia.

Human Rights Watch denounces systemic police abuse in Colombia, questions remain about Canada’s “bilateral police initiative”

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Prime Minister Justin Trudeau alongside then-Colombian President Juan Manuel Santos in Ottawa when the bilateral police initiative was announced, October 2017.

On June 9, the Associated Press reported: “Human Rights Watch in a report said it has ‘credible evidence’ indicating police killed at least 16 protesters or bystanders with ‘live ammunition fired from firearms’, while three other people died when police used nonlethal weapons. The report said another person died after being beaten repeatedly.”

Human Rights Watch has documented multiple killings by police, as well as beatings, sexual abuse, and arbitrary detention of demonstrators and bystanders.

Their full report can be read here.

The AP article adds: “Of the 170 police officers under disciplinary investigation, only two have been suspended, according to Human Rights Watch. Official public data indicates most of these investigations are for abuse of authority and 13 are linked to deaths.”

Jose Miguel Vivanco, the Americas director at Human Rights Watch, says:

“These brutal abuses are not isolated incidents by rogue officers, but rather the result of systemic shortcomings of the Colombian police. Comprehensive reform that clearly separates the police from the military and ensures adequate oversight and accountability is needed to ensure that these violations don’t occur again.”

Earlier this week, Colombian president Ivan Duque announced his government will ask Congress to approve the creation of a police human rights directorate that would seek international help on policy.

Canadian police train Colombian police

On October 30, 2017, the Canadian Press reported on a “bilateral police initiative” between Canada and Colombia.

At that time, Prime Minister Justin Trudeau stated: “This effort will support post-conflict policing efforts in Colombia and will see Canadian police providing training, capacity building and strategic advice to our Colombian friends.”

Canada has condemned police violence in Colombia.

On May 9, Foreign Minister Marc Garneau commented: “Canada condemns the violence [in Colombia], including the disproportionate use of force by security forces, and urges that the violence cease. The right to peaceful assembly and association are the bedrock of democracy and must be promoted and protected at all times.”

We have asked Global Affairs Canada for more details on the scope, duration, outcomes and current status of the Canada-Colombia bilateral police initiative. We have also asked for comment on Duque’s suggestion of international help for the police human rights directorate and whether Canada would respond to that call.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies BDH lawyers as Judge decides on pre-trial detention measures for six ex-military officers

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 10, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted: “PBI accompanies the lawyers of the Human Rights Law Firm (Bufete Jurídico de Derechos Humanos) on the 8th day of the first statement hearing in the #CasoDiarioMilitar; today the judge resolves on the coercive measures of the people linked to the process for forced disappearance and crimes against the duties of humanity.”

Prensa Libre adds: “According to Judge Galvez, the six detainees will continue in pretrial detention in Mariscal Zavala and [on] Thursday, June 10 he will decide whether to send them to pretrial detention or grant them any alternative measures.”

Reuters has reported: “A judge in Guatemala on Wednesday [June 9] charged six ex-military members for their alleged participation in the death and forced disappearance of at least 183 civilians during Guatemala’s civil war in the 1980s.”

“Judge Miguel Galvez said there was sufficient evidence to bring the retired soldiers to trial for the 1983-1985 crimes, part of a conflict between leftists and the government from 1960-1996 that killed 200,000 people. About 45,000 people are thought to have been forcibly disappeared after they were kidnapped.”

“Another six people arrested on suspicion of the crimes were not yet charged but remain in detention, some in other cities and others in hospital facilities.”

“The dozen suspects are named in a 73-page document known as the ‘Military Diary’, in which the alleged perpetrators recorded kidnappings, executions, tortures and sexual assaults. The document also contains a list of the 183 victims in which they are described as ‘subversive’ and a ‘threat’ to the government.”

That article adds: “Conservative lawmakers on Monday [June 7] presented a bill seeking to remove criminal responsibility from military members who participated in crimes during the conflict.”

It’s not clear when the trial will begin. Plaza Publica notes: “Now begins a new stage of the process for [the prosecution]. They must provide all the evidence and file an indictment in order for the case to go to trial. This, with the pressure of a group of deputies that seeks to pass a law so that all these cases go unpunished.”

It adds: “The defendants are Enrique Cifuentes de la Cruz, Edgar Corado Samayoa and Jacobo Esdras Salán Sánchez, for the crimes of enforced disappearance, murder and attempted murder. Rone René Lara for attempted murder and José Daniel Monterroso Villagrán and Edgar Virginio De León Sigüenza for enforced disappearance.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm on all eight days of the first statement hearings.

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Among the victims identified by the prosecution is the brother of Aura Elena Farfán, one of the founders of the Mutual Support Group (GAM) and later the organization Relatives of Detainees and Disappeared of Guatemala (Famdegua).

The Mutual Support Group was created in 1984 to bring together the families of people illegally detained and forcibly disappeared in Guatemala during the Internal Armed Conflict that lasted from 1960 to 1996.

GAM has noted: “Due to threats, the group met weekly in the house of Peace Brigades International and on Fridays marches and demonstrations were held in front of the Public Ministry, near the National Palace.”

It was the murder of GAM activists Hector Gomez on March 30, 1985 and Maria Rosario Godoy de Cuevas on April 3, 1985 that gave rise to the idea of PBI providing physical accompaniment to at-risk defenders.

Photo: PBI-Guatemala accompanies the GAM in 1994.

PBI-Honduras accompanies CEHPRODEC legal team at trial of 5 Indigenous leaders criminalized for defending their territory

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 10, PBI-Honduras posted: “Today CEHPRODEC accompanies the conclusion of the oral and public trial in the case of the Indigenous Council of Simpinula in the Court of Judgment of Comayagua.”

It adds: “Victor Vasquez, along with Esteban Castillo, Armando Castillo, Jose Eain Castillo and Demetrio Lopez, are accused of damage, despite having a community title.”

And CEHPRODEC has tweeted: “The CEHPRODEC legal department ready for the defense in the oral and public trial of the 5 indigenous leaders of the Indigenous Council of Simpinula, accused of damages for the protection of their ancestral territory.”

Víctor Vásquez

Front Line Defenders has explained: “Víctor Vásquez is a member of the Consejo Indígena de Simpinula (Indigenous Council of Simpinula) in Santa María, La Paz.”

“He is also the local leader of the Movimiento Indígena Independiente Lenca de La Paz (Lenca Indigenous Movement of La Paz, Honduras – MILPAH), which advocates for the rights of Lenca indigenous peoples to self-determination and to their ancestral lands.”

“The human rights defender has been repeatedly threatened for supporting local small farmers’ groups in La Paz in activities to recover land they consider has been illegally privatized by local authorities.”

The human rights defender was indicted for the crime of ‘injuries’ in 2018. Víctor Vásquez has been detained at the La Paz Penal Centre since 11 December 2020, after being arbitrarily detained by Honduran police officers.”

PBI-Honduras highlights: “The Simpinula community says community leader Victor Vazquez ‘has planted a fertile seed’ with more than six months in pre-trial detention for defending ancestral lands and defending human rights.”

PBI-Colombia meets with organizations defending human rights in the context of the IACHR working visit

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 10, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “In the framework of the visit of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR-CIDH) in Colombia, PBI-Colombia participated in a space with organizations that defend human rights. Reaffirming the crucial work they have done during the national strike and showing the lack of guarantees for the performance of their work.”

The PBI-Colombia tweet shared this tweet (and the photo above) from the Defend Liberty Campaign that says: “We inform the @CIDH on the report of aggressions against human rights defenders registered in our Information System of Aggressions to Social Protest. We will formally deliver a report that details them.”

CNN has reported: “The president of the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR), Antonia Urrejola [says that] during the working visit to Colombia, the IACHR will meet with various sectors, including official authorities of the executive, legislative, and judicial branches; representatives of civil society organizations, collectives, groups, trade unions and other representatives of sectors affected by the protests.”

Blu Radio also notes: “The IACHR will not only be present in Bogota and Cali to verify the facts of human rights violations but will also visit Popayan and Tulua.”

France 24 comments: “The presence of the IACHR in the country becomes essential for the demonstrators, who have been denouncing abuses for weeks during the exercise of their right to protest. …[The IACHR-CIDH] visit gives a halo of hope to the protesters and, above all, to the families of the victims.”

DeJusticia says: “For the demonstrators, the fact that an international, independent and autonomous organization is coming that is going to issue a series of recommendations to the state is a step in the right direction and will help to mitigate the crisis.”

The hashtag being used on Twitter by human rights groups is #CIDHProtejaLaProtesta, which translates as a call for the CIDH to protect the protests.

Antonia Urrejola, the president of the IACHR-CIDH, has noted: “After the working visit, all the information received will be analyzed, and a public statement will be issued that will contain observations and recommendations that seek to collaborate in the strengthening of human rights institutions.”

PBI-Colombia has been accompanying organizations including CREDHOS, the Justice and Peace Commission and the Association for Research and Social Action (Nomadesc) during the national strike that began on April 28.

PBI-Nederland to host webinar with Mexican human rights defender David Augusto Jiménez Mireles, June 16

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 16 at 2 pm EDT, PBI-Nederland will be convening a webinar with Mexican human rights defender David Augusto Jiménez Mireles.

David works at the Fray Juan de Larios Diocesis Centre for Human Rights, which PBI-Mexico began to formally accompany in February 2014.

David, who accompanies families of missing persons, will be speaking about enforced disappearances and human rights violations in Mexico.

Earlier this year, the Los Angeles Times reported: “Some 80,000 Mexicans have disappeared in the last 15 years and never been found.” Last year, NBC News reported: “40 percent [of the disappearances] were recorded since December 2018.”

David is currently a Shelter City guest in Utrecht.

PBI-Nederland has explained: “The municipality of Utrecht, together with PBI Netherlands and Justice and Peace, provides accommodation for Shelter City guests in the city.”

The Shelter City initiative began in 2012 in The Hague. There are now 12 cities in the Netherlands that provide support, a safe space, and protection to human rights defenders for a three-month period. PBI-Nederland has been part of the Shelter City project since 2015 and has welcomed 16 human rights defenders from around the world.

The webinar will also feature Dutch Human Rights Ambassador Bahia Tahzib-Lie and former PBI-Mexico field volunteer Marleen Folkerts.

We would add that while the Netherlands, Germany and Ireland have short term stay programs for human rights defenders needing to escape risk and persecution, the Canadian government, at present, does not offer such a program.

To register for the event, click here.

For more information about the webinar, click here.

For a short video-trailer about David, click here.

Canadian Embassy calls on Honduras to ensure judicial independence and due process in the Berta Cáceres trial

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 8, the Canadian Embassy in Costa Rica, Honduras and Nicaragua tweeted: “Canada joins the international community in calling on Honduras to ensure judicial independence and due process in the Berta Cáceres trial. We also call for the protection of human rights and environmental defenders.”

That same day, the Civic Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH) tweeted: “We are facing a political trial, where misogyny, institutional racism, contempt for indigenous peoples are evident and above all where it is felt that our beloved Berta was being judged rather. She was not a criminal, she was a defender of life!”

PBI-Honduras has been accompanying COPINH during the trial of former DESA hydroelectric dam executive David Castillo who is accused of being an intellectual author in the murder of Cáceres on March 2, 2016.

Castillo is alleged to have coordinated with, and provided funds to, the men who were the material authors of the murder of Cáceres.

Cáceres opposed the Agua Zarca dam that DESA was building on the Gualcarque River without the free, prior and informed consent of the Indigenous Lenca people. The Intercept has reported that DESA executives had become angry when Cáceres’ protests disrupted their investment in the hydroelectric dam.

In December 2019, when four hitmen were sentenced for this crime, Bertha Zúñiga Cáceres stated: “These sentences are a start in breaking the impunity, but we’re going to make every effort to ensure that all those responsible – the company executives and state officials identified in the trial – are prosecuted.”

She has also commented: “There is only one case open – which has also been extremely delayed – and that is of David Castillo, the president of the company. However, for us, David Castillo is a minor and in fact, the weakest representative of the powerful people that took the decision and economically lent support to this crime.”

Last week, PBI-Honduras tweeted: “63 months after the murder of Berta Cáceres for defending the Indigenous and territorial rights in Honduras, a thorough investigation of all the masterminds of the crime is urgently needed.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied COPINH since May 2016.

#JusticiaParaBerta

PBI-Guatemala accompanies BDH lawyers as Judge rules six ex-soldiers will go to trial for enforced disappearances

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 9, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted: “PBI accompanied the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) on the seventh day of the first statement hearing in the Military Journal Case. Today they are waiting for the judge’s decision on whether criminal proceedings against the six accused will proceed.”

Prensa Libre explains: “Six of those accused by the Human Rights Prosecutor’s Office of the Public Prosecutor’s Office could know this Wednesday, June 9, if they will face criminal proceedings for the accusations in the Military Journal case, which is taking place in the Court of Greater Risk B in charge of Miguel Ángel Gálvez.”

That article adds: “These are former military personnel accused of having participated in the disappearance, torture and death of at least 183 people during the years 1983 to 1985, including trade union and student leaders.”

Ruda further notes that the Military Journal itself is “a record of the names, photographs, and addresses of men and women who were arrested, detained, disappeared and murdered. The list includes students, university professors, trade unionists, and members of social organizations that the Army identified as allies of the guerrillas.”

Updates

At 1:13 pm, journalist Jody Garcia tweeted: “Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez begins with the analysis of what was discussed in the seven-day hearing of the first statement. The MP [Public Ministry] asked to send the six retired soldiers to trial. Their defenders called for the lack of merit and that they be released.”

At 2:37 pm, NISGUA tweeted: “Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez begins his resolution in the Military Journal Case. He will determine whether the first 6 defendants will undergo criminal proceedings for the crimes of murder, attempted murder, forced disappearance and crimes against humanity.”

At 4:21 pm, Famdegua tweeted: “Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez affirms that there are sufficient rational evidence and dictates an act of prosecution to the six former soldiers, for the crimes charged by the [Public Ministry].”

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Earlier in the day, Garcia tweeted: “Outside the family courts of victims ask for justice.” Outside the Palace of Justice (photo by Plaza Publica).

Tweet by Verdad Justicia; “Judge Miguel Ángel Gálvez dictates indictment to Jacobo Esdras Salan Sánchez.”

PBI-Guatemala began to accompany BDH lawyer Édgar Pérez Archila in August 2010 due to several security incidents. In 2013, PBI-Guatemala extended the accompaniment to the other lawyers of the BDH who work on high-profile trials.

#CasoDiarioMilitar

PBI-Guatemala interviews director of the Law Firm for Indigenous Peoples about the criminalization of two land defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 9, PBI-Guatemala posted: “We talked with Wendy Lopez, director of the Law Firm for Indigenous Peoples about the criminalization of Marcelino Xol Cucul and Jorge Coc Coc, defenders of the land and members of CCDA Las Verapaces.”

The interview (in Spanish) is available here.

OMCT has explained: “Both men arrested at the beginning of 2018 on charges of ‘homicide’ and ‘attempted homicide’. Despite serious inconsistencies in the testimonies of the witnesses and the acquittal of two other people arrested under the same charges, they were sentenced in October 2019 to 35 years in prison, without parole.”

“Far from being a simple judicial error, their story is emblematic of the battle for land, water and other natural resources playing out in Guatemala.”

That article adds: “Jorge and Marcelino are Q’eqchi Mayan indigenous leaders and members of an organisation based in the Verapaces region, called the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA).”

It further explains: “For over ten years, their community of Choctun Basilá, near the regional capital Cobán, has been in a land dispute with the company Cooperativa Chilté, which has exacted a heavy toll: a campaign of criminalisation and attacks against the CCDA that culminated in the killing of six of its members and the arbitrary detention of Jorge and Marcelino.”

The Law Firm for Indigenous Peoples, which works with 32 Indigenous communities, is a multidisciplinary space committed to serve primarily Indigenous communities and individuals who fight for the defense and recovery of their land, their ways of life, and against the criminalization they may face as a result of these struggles.

The law firm “promotes specialized litigation on behalf of Indigenous women and peoples, in order to re-establish and fully exercise their rights and holistically develop their territories” among other key areas of work.

The CCDA accompanies 150 Maya Q’eqchi’ communities who have been repressed and stripped of their land or who are immersed in conflicts regarding land tenure. PBI-Guatemala has accompanied CCDA-Verapaces Region since July 2018.

Marcelino Xol Cucul and Jorge Coc, June 2019.

Maya Q’eqchi’ organization CCDA protests in front of US Embassy as Vice-President Kamala Harris visits Guatemala

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 7, the CCDA tweeted: “The Campesino Committee of the Altiplano (CCDA) protests in front of the United States embassy in the context of the visit of Vice President Kamala Harris.” The CCDA held a banner that read: “Kamala, they lie to you!”

The CCDA accompanies 150 Maya Q’eqchi’ communities who have been repressed and stripped of their land or who are immersed in conflicts regarding land tenure. PBI-Guatemala has accompanied CCDA-Verapaces Region since July 2018.

Vice-President Harris on migration and corruption

Reuters reports: “Harris said on Monday she had ‘robust’ talks with Guatemalan President Alejandro Giammattei on fighting corruption to deter immigration from Central America and bluntly warned migrants to not come to the United States.”

Significantly, Harris voiced this message to Guatemalans: “The United States will continue to enforce our laws and secure our borders. If you come to our border, you will be turned back. Do not come, do not come.”

The Reuters article adds: “The Biden administration has identified corruption as an underlying cause of the poverty and violence driving record numbers of Central Americans to go to the United States.”

After her three-hour meeting with the Guatemalan president, Harris commented: “We had a robust, candid and thorough conversation. …The president and I discussed the importance of anti-corruption and the importance of an independent judiciary.”

When Giammattei was asked by a reporter if he would be a reliable partner for the US to combat corruption in Guatemala, he replied: “How many cases of corruption have I been accused of? I can give you the answer: Zero.”

Nestle to expand its coffee sourcing in Guatemala

USA Today has also reported: “Part of the strategy to slow the pace of migration is creating better living conditions and economic opportunities for people in the region through investment. Last month, Harris secured the commitment of 12 U.S. companies and organizations – including MasterCard, Microsoft and Chobani – to invest in Guatemala, Honduras and El Salvador.” The White House also notes the coffee company Nestlé Nespresso S.A. is committed to “expanding its existing sourcing activities in Guatemala.”

The United States in Guatemala

The Reuters article also provides the context that: “The United States orchestrated a coup against democratically elected leftist government Jacobo Arbenz in 1954, ushering in decades of military governments and a civil war estimated to have killed more than 200,000 people by the time it ended in 1996.”

In response to the warning from Vice-President Harris to migrants not to come to the United States, US Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez tweeted: “First, seeking asylum at any US border is a 100% legal method of arrival. Second, the US spent decades contributing to regime change and destabilization in Latin America. We can’t help set someone’s house on fire and then blame them for fleeing.”

CCDA banner: “Kamala, they lie to you! There is corruption, political prisoners, malnutrition, hate crimes, femicides, exploitation of children, unemployment and poverty. Guatemala is a narco-state. This is why there is migration.”

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