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PBI-Mexico accompanies march in the context of the International Week of the Disappeared

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 31, PBI-Mexico posted: “Yesterday we accompanied the 11th National March in the context of International Week of the Disappeared Detainee.”

PBI-Mexico adds: “From PBI we express deep concern about the serious human rights crisis and enforced disappearance in the country and withdraw to the authorities the importance of meeting the demands of truth and justice of the families of the victims.”

El Heraldo de Mexico reported that the march began at 3 pm at the Ángel de la Independencia monument in downtown Mexico City and headed to the Zócalo/Plaza de la Constitución [the main square in Mexico City].

The disappeared 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. Many are now thought to be in government custody [in morgues] — among the thousands of corpses that pass through morgues each year without ever being identified and end up in common graves.”

Last year, NBC News reported: “The majority of disappearances have been reported since 2006 and 40 percent were recorded since December 2018, since the start of the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, who pledged to get answers around disappearances as those of 43 rural university students from Ayotzinapa, which has drawn international attention [since they were disappeared in September 2014].”

The International Week of the Disappeared took place between May 24 to May 30 this year. The International Day of the Disappeared is marked on August 30.

Urgent situation happening at Canadian-owned Gran Tierra oil field in Putumayo, Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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An urgent situation appears to be developing at the Costayaco oil field in Putumayo, Colombia operated by Calgary-based Gran Tierra Energy.

Corporación Viso Mutop has just tweeted this video noting: “This is the situation inside the oil well of the Canadian multinational Gran Tierra. Peasants, tired of waiting for the attention of the final government, entered that Well in Villagarzón #Putumayo.”

Pueblerina en Paro has also tweeted: “In PUTUMAYO SOS, the Anti-narcotics police and the National Army shoot firearms at protesters. One seriously injured. Costayaco well of Gran Tierra. Villagarzon PUTUMAYO.”

This video tweeted by the National Organization of the Indigenous Peoples of the Colombian Amazon (OPIAC) includes the text: “Public force attacks with shots against indigenous peoples in Villagarzon-Putumayo.”

The Association of Indigenous Councils of the Municipality of Villagarzón Putumayo (ACIMVIP) has also just stated: “We ask the Ministry of Defense, National Army, National Police and ESMAD to respect the standards of Human Rights and IHL, regarding their actions within the framework of our legitimate right to social protest; this bearing in mind that we are NOT armed actors and under no circumstances should we be treated as such.”

And Telesur reports: “The Regional Strike Committee in the Colombian department of Putumayo denounced on Monday [May 31] police aggression against demonstrators, who legitimately took Costayaco Oil Well 10 from the Canadian transnational Gran Tierra.” The Committee’s statement further notes there were “uniformed members of the National Army who were guarding the well.”

May 27 statement

A May 27 statement by the Sub-regional Strike Committee of the Villagarzón Resistance Point included these excerpts:

“Since last May 16, the social protest moved to the Costayaco Field of GTE, demanding the immediate suspension of oil operations due to the historical environmental liabilities generated by this multinational, and in the meantime agreements are established with the national and departmental government regarding points that support our protest exercise.

Despite the fact that the Gran Tierra Energy company agreed to suspend its operations, understanding that there are substantive reasons in our claims and agreed to allow the entry of a verification commission that will ensure the effective operational suspension, so far GTE has not kept its word, since in three spaces they have refused to verify alleging alleged technical difficulties in the facilities.

We call on the directors of the company Gran Tierra Energy to comply with the agreements to suspend operations and allow the entry of the verification commission of the regional strike committee. Likewise, we make a call to the municipal, departmental and national control entities that make follow-up to our mobilization process, so that they monitor the actions of the company and provide guarantees to protesters in the area.”

May 31 statement

There is also this May 31 statement shared by the National Indigenous Organizations of Colombia (ONIC):

May 17 statement from Gran Tierra

On May 17, Gran Tierra posted this statement on the impact of the ongoing national strike in Colombia on its operations: “As of May 16, 2021, the Costayaco field continues to produce approximately 5,100 bopd [barrels of oil per day].”

It also noted: “The Company has successfully finished its 2021 development drilling campaign of 3 new oil wells, prior to any impact from the national protests. Currently, none of these 3 wells are on production, but Gran Tierra expects to bring them all on-line by the end of the second quarter of 2021.”

And while Gran Tierra does reference the blockades in Putumayo in their statement, they noted “these blockades are not directed at Gran Tierra.”

Gran Tierra has a Beyond Compliance policy and its Human Rights Policy includes the International Labour Organization (ILO) conventions. A key ILO convention is the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989 (No. 169). The company has indicated that it is committed to Prior Consultation with Indigenous Groups.

Gran Tierra Energy does not appear to have publicly commented yet on the situation that has developed today in Villagarzón.

UPDATES

May 31, 5:38 pm – Indigenous Nasa defender Feliciano Valencia tweeted: “Jordany Estrella, a young peasant from the la Castellana village, who participated in the demonstrations in Villagarzón, Putumayo, was assassinated. The State was cruel to the youth of the country. Enough already!”

PBI-Mexico team in Chihuahua observes Indigenous mobilization against tourist development on their territories

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by El Diario Chihuahua.

On May 31, the Peace Brigades International-Project tweeted: “Team in Chihuahua observes the mobilization of indigenous communities affected by the tourist projects in Barrancas del Cobre, who defend their territory.”

This follows this tweet from the Sierra Madre Alliance (ASMAC) that notes: “The peaceful protest of the Mogótavo community continues in the company of 10 other Odami and Rrámuri communities in defense of their territories.”

Defensa Tarahumara has also tweeted: “Entrepreneurs intend to deprive their territory of 80 Rarámuri families. For this reason, a peaceful march is being carried out where the communities of the Sierra Tarahumara are asking for respect for their territories and their human rights.”

News reports

On May 26, La Jornada explained: “Four businessmen and a PRI deputy filed criminal charges for ‘aggravated dispossession’ against three indigenous governors. Legislator Omar Bazan Flores and businessmen Ricardo Orviz Blake, Agustin Lopez Daumas, Jesus Alberto Cano Velez, and Ricardo Valles Alvelais argue that Mogótavo’s lands were purchased for more than $2 million from Odile Sandoval in 2008 to turn ‘the area into tourism development’.”

Then on May 30, El Diario Chihuahua reported: “Businessmen intend to evict them from their community of Mogótavo. They claim community that they will not leave their lands where around 400 people from 100 families have lived.”

“’We are not going to move from our land, here we were born, here our parents were born and they are not going to take us away’, were the words of Enrique Parra, indigenous governor of the community of Mogótavo, municipality of Urique.”

That article adds: “This was during the demonstration on Saturday morning in the Copper Canyons, where more than 100 inhabitants of the aforementioned community demanded that their rights be respected and not stripped of their lands where they have lived since ancient times.”

And La Opcion reported: “Through social networks circulated photographs of the Rarámuri people protesting the defense of the forests of San Elías Repechique. Dozens of Indigenous peoples issued their messages through tarpaulins, banners and cardboard in defense of the territory that belongs to them and of which they want to strip them.”

That article continues: “’They want to strip us, they want to run us, but here we are going to stay because it is our territory’, ‘because the land is our mother’, ‘respect for the rights of the Rarámuri people’, ‘we do not want a treatment plant’ and ‘justice for all the defenders of the territory’ were some of the messages that the Rarámuri people presented through posters.”

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

Frontline voices from Colombia this Thursday

By
Brent Patterson
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When we wrote you a week ago, we announced that we would be holding a webinar on Thursday June 3 at 3:30 pm EDT about the situation in Colombia.

We knew the organizations that would participate, now we can update you on the speakers:

Berenice Celeita from the Association for Research and Social Action (Nomadesc) has been monitoring the situation in Cali. That city has been disproportionately hit by state violence during the strike. As of May 29, 38 of the 63 people killed during the national strike have been in Cali. On Friday the Colombian government deployed more than 1,100 soldiers to the city.

Oscar Ramirez from the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners has been tracking the situation of those arrested. Between April 28 (the first day of the national strike) and May 27, there have been 1,445 arbitrary detentions of people participating in the protests.

Danilo Rueda from the Justice and Peace Commission has been following the situation in the Portal de las Americas humanitarian space in Bogota. His organization says that space has seen “the indiscriminate use of conventional and unconventional weapons” by the police including rubber bullets, water cannons and tear gas.

To register for the Zoom webinar that will provide simultaneous translation in English and Spanish, please click here.

Colombian president Duque announces “maximum deployment of military assistance” as national strike continues

By
Brent Patterson
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To register for this webinar, click here.

On the evening of Friday May 28, Colombian president Ivan Duque stated in a televised message: “From tonight begins the maximum deployment of military assistance to the national police in Cali and the province of Valle.”

Deutsche Welle reports: “Duque has ordered nearly 7,000 soldiers to support the local police forces and help clear and patrol blockaded roads in 10 departments across the country. Around 1,400 of these troops have been deployed to Cali, a city in the western province of Valle del Cauca, and the epicenter of the nationwide protests.”

Human rights concerns

In response, Human Rights Watch has commented that this deployment could increase “unrest and human rights violations” in the country.

Jose Miguel Vivanco of Human Rights Watch says: “The solution to this problem is a political one, not a military or a police one. That means to initiate a credible process of dialogue with multiple forces who are demonstrating on the streets across the country to create a space to build some trust with the leaders of the opposition.”

Vivanco also warns: “[Duque’s measures] do not include any explicit reference to prioritizing dialogue, avoiding excessive force and respecting human rights.”

Canadian military exports to the Colombian military

Since 2014, Canada has exported more than $45 million of military goods to Colombia. This includes the sale of 24 Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to the Colombian army. It is not known if these vehicles are part of the deployment of soldiers on city streets.

Webinar this Thursday

Peace Brigades International is convening a webinar this Thursday June 3 at 3:30 pm EDT with three Colombian human rights defenders to discuss this issue. To register for this webinar with simultaneous translation in English and Spanish, please click here.

Oscar Ramirez (Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners), Berenice Celeita (Association for Social Research and Action), Danilo Rueda (Justice and Peace Commission).

Nomadesc tweets video of armed civilians shooting at national strike mobilization in Cali

By
Brent Patterson
-

Image from Nomadesc video.

On May 28, the Association for Research and Social Action (Nomadesc) tweeted video with the caption: “Armed civilians accompanied by police and army agents, shoot at the mobilization of students, social sectors and the front lines of the Univalle mobilization point located at Carrera 100 with Calle 13.”

That tweet also links to this video on Facebook.

Nomadesc also retweeted this video that asks: “Why are civilians shooting at the population alongside the police?”

José Miguel Vivanco, the Executive Director of the Americas Division of Human Rights Watch, then tweeted: “We have corroborated videos from Cali that show armed men in civilian clothes firing at the inaction of members of the Police. Minister Molano [the Minister of Defence] must give an urgent explanation.”

This morning, The Guardian also reported: “In Cali, which has become an epicentre of the nationwide protests, the mayor, Jorge Ospina, confirmed three of the deaths during protests on Friday [May 28]. Local media reported the fourth death occurred on the road between Cali and the town of Candelaria.”

“Two people in Cali were killed when an agent of the attorney general’s investigative unit opened fire on civilians, before also being killed, said the attorney general, Francisco Barbosa, in a televised message. The agent was not on duty at the time, Barbosa said.”

Cali, Colombia’s third largest city, has been hard hit by state violence during the national strike. On May 5, PBI-Colombia noted that of the 31 people killed by the police as of that date, 24 of those deaths were in Cali.

On May 14, the Canadian Embassy in Colombia tweeted: “Ambassador @marcel_lebleu joined the multi-party visit of @ComisionSegunda of @SenadoGovCo and diplomatic corps to listen to the people of #Cali. He met with students, indigenous and social leaders, local politicians, as well as religious, business and religious leaders.”

Webinar this Thursday June 3

To hear the latest on what is happening in Colombia, please join our webinar this Thursday June 3 at 3:30 pm EDT. One of the speakers is Berenice Celeita from Nomadesc. For simultaneous translation in English/Spanish, register here.

PBI-Colombia at civil society meeting with State Department that calls on the U.S. to condemn police violence in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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On Friday, organizations including PBI-Colombia, WOLA, LAWG, CRIC, Temblores and the Colombia Human Rights Committee met with the U.S. State Department.

On May 28, Agencia de Información Laboral (AIL) reported: “Several human rights platforms met with officials from the U.S. Department of State.”

The AIL article continues: “The meeting was held on Friday [May 28] in a virtual manner and was intended to publicize the violation of human rights by the National Government in the context of the one-month national strike. [The] organizations showed State Department officials the critical situation in Colombia.”

“In a statement they have made public they say they made several requests to them, including an official pronouncement by the U.S. government, either from President Biden or his Secretary of State condemning police violence in the country.”

“They also called, according to the statement, for the suspension of assistance that the United States provides to the Colombian police. They stress that military aid has always been called upon to be conditional on unrestricted respect for human rights.”

The article adds: “This is not the first meeting of its kind to develop the platforms. For the past month they have been developing such high-level meetings with representatives of the international community.”

On May 5, PBI-Colombia also participated in a PBI-Canada convened virtual meeting in which representatives from the Regional Corporation in Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) updated officials from Global Affairs Canada and the Embassy of Canada in Colombia about the national strike.

Webinar this Thursday

To hear the latest on what is happening in Colombia one month after the national strike began, please join our webinar this Thursday June 3 at 3:30 pm EDT. For simultaneous translation in English/Spanish, register here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies TZK’AT Network at court hearing for women and children’s rights defender Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 28, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page: “Yesterday, PBI accompanied the TZK’AT Network of Ancestral Healers in the hearing of the human rights defender, Delia Leal Mollinedo. The judge decided to give the MP [Public Ministry] two more months for the investigation.”

Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo

Prensa Comunitaria has noted: “Leal is a renowned human rights defender from Cobán, a feminist educator, educator and theologian, is also pastor of the Luz Baptist Church and was the driving force for an initiative for the implementation of a student center, which grants scholarships to impoverished and at-risk children in the region.”

Front Line Defenders has also explained: “Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo is committed to promoting sexual and reproductive health to women from indigenous communities of the Q’eqchi’ y Poqomchi’ region of Guatemala.”

“On 20 December 2020, Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo was arrested by members of the Guatemalan National Civil Police at her home in Coban, Alta Verapaz.”

“On 11 January, the Second Court of First Criminal Instance of Cobán confirmed a number of charges against woman human rights defender Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo.”

“The Court dismissed more serious charges of human trafficking, money laundering and falsification of media for which she was also accused.”

Front Line Defenders has expressed: “Its deep concern regarding the process of investigation of Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo and her arrest and detention which appear to be directly related to her work defending human rights, in particular children’s and women’s rights.”

TZK’AT

The TZK’AT Network of Ancestral Healers of Community Feminism from Ixmulew in Guatemala was formed in October 2015 to defend Indigenous women’s rights and the land. Many of its members are healers, midwives, and herbalists.

Lorena Cabnal is a Qeqchi Xinca, communal feminist, healer, and member of TZK’AT. She has written (in Spanish) that the network “accompanies processes of emotional and spiritual recovery by Indigenous women defenders of bodies and land.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied TZK’AT since February 2018.

Photo: Prensa Comunitaria photo of Delia Adelina Leal Mollinedo being released from prison, January 11, 2021.

PBI-Colombia accompanies Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation as it calls for a JEP macro case on forced disappearances

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 28, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies on the week of the disappeared detainee the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation in Bogota. They ask the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP) the opening of a macro case on forced disappearances. According to Defenders of Liberty, human rights organizations report up to 346 missing persons within the framework of the national strike.”

El Espectador has also reported: “According to the Unit for the Search for Disappeared, the armed conflict left around 120,000 people missing” during the armed conflict.

The UN call for a macro process

Last month, W Radio reported: “After meeting last April on the policies adopted by Colombia to clarify and stop forced disappearance in the country, the United Nations Committee against Disappearance delivered its observations to the Colombian state.”

The article continues: “Due to the high number of registered cases and the diversity of sources on this phenomenon, the Committee urged that the National Registry of the Disappeared be purged and the figures unified only in that Registry.”

“In addition, [the United Nations Committee] recommended that the JEP open a macro case on forced disappearance in the country.”

The UN Committee is quoted in that article stating: “Guarantee that cases of forced disappearance, without exception, are investigated ex officio, quickly, exhaustively, impartially, independently and with a differential approach, and that the JEP, within its powers, prioritizes the opening of a macro process.”

The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation (FNEB)

PBI-Colombia has previously explained: “The Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation for Human Rights is an organization of relatives of the victims of forced disappearance from five regions around the country and an interdisciplinary group of lawyers, social workers and experts in social archives and communication, who accompany people who have suffered the disappearance of one or several loved ones.”

“A specific focus of the Foundation are cases of enforced disappearances of girls and women in the armed conflict and as a result of socio-political violence in the country, in which signs of gender violence have been identified.”

PBI-Colombia adds: “FNEB wants to draw attention to the differential impacts that enforced disappearances have left on the lives, bodies and rights of female victims and of the women who seek missing relatives. In its work with victims of enforced disappearance, the organization prioritizes meeting the specific needs of women.”

Yanette Bautista has been fighting against forced disappearances in Colombia since the disappearance of her 32-year-old sister Nydia Erika on August 30, 1987. Members of the Battalion of Intelligence and Counterintelligence of the Colombian National Army have been named as responsible for the disappearance of Nydia Erika.

Yanette established the Foundation in 1999 while in exile from Colombia.

PBI-Colombia began accompanying the Nydia Erika Bautista Foundation occasionally in 2007 and then in full since 2016.

The poster for the event that PBI-Colombia accompanied today.

CSPP lawyer Oscar Ramirez to speak about dismantling the Colombian ESMAD riot police at PBI webinar on June 3rd

By
Brent Patterson
-

Oscar Ramirez is a Bogota-based lawyer and the vice-president of the Committee in Solidarity with Political Prisoners (CSPP).

To hear him speak on a webinar happening on Thursday June 3 about the current situation in Colombia, please register here.

CSPP calls for the dismantling of the ESMAD riot police

The CSPP has tweeted: “ESMAD has been a body that has systematically violated human rights in Colombia. It abuses its power, exercises force in an illegal and disproportionate way, does not comply with action protocols … that is why #DesmonteDelESMADYa”

#DesmonteDelESMADYa translates as “dismantling of the ESMAD now”.

Police have killed at least 43 activists this past month

Yesterday, The Guardian reported: “Since protests erupted in April, the police response has been brutal. At least 43 protesters have been killed by officers, according to local human rights monitor, Temblores, with mounting reports of arbitrary detention, torture and sexual abuse of protesters at the hands of police.”

That article adds: “Forty-six people have suffered eye injuries, prompting speculation that police were intentionally seeking to blind protesters. A similar tactic was used by police in Chile during a wave of unrest that began there in late 2019.”

Paola Holguín, a senator from the ruling Centro Democrático party, prompted outrage on Wednesday afternoon when he said: “Don’t fool Colombians and don’t fool the international community and stop crying over one eye.”

History of police violence

In October 2020, Vice reported: “A December report from human rights organization Temblores details 34 extrajudicial killings at the hands of ESMAD since it was created in 1999 and goes on to document over 40,000 instances of physical abuse and over 600 killings by national police forces between 2017 and 2019.”

Canadian unions back the call to dismantle ESMAD

On May 11, the Canadian Labour Congress, representing 3.3 million workers in this country, issued this statement that says: “Canadian unions condemn this violence and support the legitimate demands of the Colombian people for the dismantling of the Colombian national police riot control unit (known by its Spanish acronym ESMAD).”

The CSPP

The CSPP was formed in 1973, notably with the support of the exiled Colombian author Gabriel García Márquez who donated the $10,000 he received through the Neustadt International Prize for Literature the previous year to assist in the formation.

At that time, the CSPP was starting up to support leaders of the oil workers union who had been imprisoned for leading a strike.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project was established in 1994 and has accompanied the CSPP since 1998.

To register to hear Oscar Ramirez from the CSPP speak this coming Thursday June 3 about the current situation in Colombia, please click here.

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