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PBI-Honduras accompanies COPINH at mobilization against projects lacking free, prior and informed consent

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 18, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted: “Yesterday we accompanied COPINH in a mobilization carried out in Tegucigalpa for the defense of common goods, against unconsulted projects.”

PBI-Honduras adds: “The mobilization ended with a sit-in in front of the Supreme Court of Justice, where the Viva Berta Feminist Camp remains, promoted in conjunction with the National Network of Human Rights Defenders in Honduras.”

Criterio.hn reports: “A contingent of around 70 riot police was sent to the headquarters of the Judiciary at the announcement of the march.”

The COPINH statement highlights: “Victims and their allies of the deadly Honduran extractive model took to the streets of the country’s capital to demand an immediate halt to the energy, mining, tourism and forestry projects that private companies are implementing with the full support of the State through acts of violence and corruption, and without the free, prior and informed consent of the affected indigenous and rural communities.”

In another statement, COPINH further notes: “We recall that Indigenous, Black and Peasant-led organizations in Honduras have spent years denouncing the mechanisms used to implement concessioning of our territories that include the privatization of rivers, land, subsoil, forests, beaches and others that coup governments have urged for the economic profit of small groups of businesses.”

PBI-Honduras adds: “There a public statement was read with some demands, including the following: that the entire model of unconsulted concessions be reversed throughout Honduras, the right of communities to actively participate in consultation processes is respected, the concession to the Agua Zarca Hydroelectric Project be immediately canceled, and comprehensive justice for Berta’s murder.”

Pasos de Animal Grande adds: “Indigenous members of the Lenca community have remained in the city of Tegucigalpa during the oral and public trial of Roberto David Castillo [a former hydroelectric dam company executive who is accused of being an intellectual co-author the murder of COPINH co-founder Berta Caceres].”

The trial began on April 6.

PBI-Honduras began accompanying COPINH in May 2016.

PBI-Honduras at the ¡Viva Berta! feminist camp earlier this month.

Calgary-based Gran Tierra comments on the impact of the national strike on its oil operations in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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Image: Gran Tierra is based in Calgary, Canada.

The Colombian non-governmental organization Temblores has reported that there have been at least 39 homicides and 2,110 cases of violence committed by members of the Public Force since the national strike began on April 28 in Colombia.

Last week, more than 130 organizations, collectives, movements and environmental platforms announced their participation in the national strike.

Their eight demands include replacing fossil fuel exploitation in the short term as an urgent measure in the face of the climate emergency and respecting free, prior and informed consent as a legal and legitimate mechanism on the fate of Indigenous territories.

It is in this context that Calgary-based Gran Tierra Energy Inc. released this statement yesterday (May 17) on the national strike.

The company highlighted:

“The protests initially did not impact the Colombian operations of Gran Tierra and other energy companies. However, in the last few days, blockades of key roads have started to cause the temporary shut-in of some oil wells and oil fields throughout Colombia and are now affecting almost all energy companies in the country.”

“Road blockades in the Putumayo Basin (the ‘Putumayo’) and the Middle Magdalena Valley Basin (the ‘MMV’) have caused Gran Tierra to temporarily reduce oil production from the Company’s operations. Though these blockades are not directed at Gran Tierra, they are currently impeding the Company’s mobilization of supplies, food, water, fuel and oil sales, all of which are necessary for operations.”

“The Company’s temporary oil production reductions comprise a combination of slowdowns of some oil wells’ production rates, the shut-in of some oil wells in certain fields and the complete shut-in of certain other fields.”

“As of May 16, 2021, Gran Tierra has shut-in production of approximately 5,250 bopd, leaving the Company’s total current production at approximately 24,350 bopd, down from a recent level prior to the national blockades of about 29,600 bopd.”

While Gran Tierra notes that the current national strike blockades are not directed against it, the company did experience community blockades in 2019 and 2020 in Putumayo. In September 2020, Grand Tierra noted that production at its Cohembi field in Putumayo had restarted after it was “previously shut-in due to local farmer blockades.”

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.

As of May 18, the national strike was entering its 21st day of mobilizations. The next day of a coordinated national strike has been called for May 19.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Chinautla Multisector at Community Development Council (Cocodes) election

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 17, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on their Facebook page: “On Sunday, PBI accompanied the Multisectoral Chinautla in the assembly for the election of Cocodes.”

Cocodes refers to Community Councils for Urban and Rural Development.

They are configured as the coordinating body for participation at the community level and comprised of the residents of the corresponding community.

Prensa Libre has explained: “Cocodes are part of the National System of Development Councils – of constitutional creation – and their objective is to promote the economic, social and cultural development of their community, as well as to promote the participation of the population in the identification and solution of their problems.”

PBI-Guatemala has previously explained: “Since 1989, the Chinautla Multisector have been defending their right to be consulted on the activities of various clay extraction companies operating in their territory. They are also defending their territory against the pollution caused by other businesses operating in the region.”

It adds: “Furthermore, the population has been affected by the pollution of the river, which comes from the rubbish dump in Zone 3 of the Capital City, a problem that increases during the rainy season.”

In their just released April 2021 monthly information package, PBI-Guatemala also notes: “We have maintained telephone contact with Multisector Chinautla, in particular to follow up on the visit to the Ministry of the Environment.”

PBI-Guatemala received a request for accompaniment from the Multisector, as they have been subject to attacks and criminalization.

They began accompanying them in December 2018.

More than 130 environmental organizations support the National Strike, call for an end to fracking and glyphosate spraying

By
Brent Patterson
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Andrea Nocove (CCACLP), Ivan Madero (CREDHOS) and Julia Figueroa (CCACLP) arrive on Vancouver Island, November 2019.

When representatives of the Regional Corporation in Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) and the Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) visited Canada on a PBI organized advocacy tour in 2019 they highlighted the opposition in Colombia to fracking and glyphosate spraying, as well as the risks faced by environmental defenders.

Last week, more than 130 organizations, collectives, movements and environmental platforms announced their participation in the national strike.

Among the eight demands listed in their statement:

1- Protect the life and integrity of environmental defenders who have been threatened, attacked and killed for their legitimate work of caring for and protecting nature, in the country that global witness says leads the number of environmentalists killed. We also call on Congress to ratify the Escazu Agreement, entangled by the null and void political will of the Duque government and its allied parties.

2- Prohibit the spraying of glyphosate on crops called illicit use, ensuring the implementation of points 1. Integral Rural Reform and 4. Substitution of crops of illicit use of the Peace Agreement, which allow the dignification of the work and life projects of those who work the land for food security and sovereignty, based on agroecological practices, protecting seeds as common goods and recognizing the Declaration of the Rights of Peasants.

3- Prohibit fracking, exploitation of unconventional deposits and new offshore deposits; to replace fossil fuel exploitation in the short term and halt the construction of new thermoelectric plants to move towards a fair energy transition as an urgent measure in the face of the climate emergency.

Their demands also include respecting free, prior and informed consent; guaranteeing the protection of water as a common good; stopping deforestation through the expansion of the African palm agribusiness; and declaring a moratorium on mega-mining.

Among the signatories of this statement: the Alliance for a Colombia Free of Fracking, Extinction Rebellion Colombia, Water, Territory and Ecosystem Defender Corporation (CORDATEC), CRY-GEAM, the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers Collective (CCAJAR), the Regional Corporation for the Defense of Human Rights (CREDHOS), and the Committee for the Defense of Water, Life and Territory (AguaWil).

Among the labour unions support the national strike: Central Union of Workers (CUT), General Confederation of Labour (CGT), the Confederation of Colombian Workers (CTC), and the Colombian Federation of Education Workers (FECODE).

A week before the national strike began, Jhonatan Varón of the Central Union of Workers in the department of Tolima has highlighted that the strike was opposed to glyphosate and fracking poisoning our territories and an effort to protect “social leaders who continue to be victims of political genocide by paramilitary groups and by the state itself.”

PBI-Colombia has been accompanying human rights defenders throughout the national strike. For more on that, please see Photo journal: PBI-Colombia accompanies human rights defenders during the #ParoNacional national strike.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS during the national strike, May 2021.

PBI-Kenya visits Feminist for Peace Rights and Justice Centre in the Kibera settlement in Nairobi

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Kenya at the Feminist for Peace Rights and Justice Centre.

On May 17, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project posted: “The PBI team paid visits to all the settlements of the WHRD [Women Human Rights Defenders] Toolkit Organizers [TOs]: Mathare, Mukuru, Kibera, Langata, and Kawangware.”

“The main objective was to get to interact deeper with the TOs in smaller teams, share experiences and best practices, identify challenges and propose solutions. This was a very important exercise for both PBI and the Toolkit Organizers because it provided an opportunity to strengthen team relations and improve communication.”

“The Toolkit Organizers shared that over the course of their relationship with PBI, their visibility in the settlements increased which improved their recognition in the community. This, in turn, contributes to reducing their risks.”

“The visits greatly contributed to building trust, improving communication, and increasing respect for each other. Spending quality time with the Toolkit Organizers in their respective settlements was an invaluable source of moral support for all involved.”

The PBI-Kenya social media post concludes: “Thank you Feminist for Peace Rights and Justice Centre and CGHRD [Coalition for Grassroots Human Rights Defenders] Kenya for the warm welcome in your offices.”

To follow PBI-Kenya, go to their pages on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

To learn more about the Feminist Centre, click here.

Reports of Colombian police committing sexual violence against women at the national strike mobilizations

By
Brent Patterson
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Image from Red de Derechos Humanos Francisco Isaias Cifuentes.

There are numerous reports of sexual violence being committed by the police against women participating in the national strike in Colombia.

Caracol Radio reports: “The Ombudsman’s Office of Colombia reported on Friday [May 14] that it has received 87 reports of violence against women and people with different sexual orientation and gender identity, in events that occurred in 17 days of protests against the government of Colombian President Iván Duque.”

The article notes that includes: “2 cases of sexual violence were reported, 14 of them about inappropriate touching of a sexual nature, 18 cases of slap, pinching and pulling of hair, 5 cases of physical torture and 4 cases of psychological torture.”

Caracol Radio further reports: “The NGO Temblores, which closely tracks police abuses since 28 April in protests across the country, has reported 39 homicides and 2,110 acts of violence, 16 cases of sexual violence and 3 gender.”

Then on Saturday May 15, The Human Rights Network of the Southwest of Colombia ‘Francisco Isaías Cifuentes’ (Reddhfic), reported that in addition to the cases document by Temblores there are 14 more cases of sexual assault against women by the public force in the Southwest region of the country.

Telesur reports: “In the document, Reddhfic asserts that from April 28 to May 14, the Southwest region registers 11 cases of sexual assault against women in the department of Valle del Cauca and 3 more in the city of Popayán (department del Cauca), so the figure of 12 from the NGO Temblores, increases to 26 cases nationwide.”

That article by Telesur further reports: “The document reveals that feminist organizations have denounced members of the Police who intimidate women who participate in the marches with actions such as sexual touching, abusive sexual acts, insults, violent carnal access, cruel and degrading treatment.”

The Human Rights Network Reddhfic says: “Women and feminized bodies suffer multiple other human rights violations due to gender identity and their sexual practices that, however, are hardly recorded. This happens precisely because another aspect of this police violence expressed in macho practices and imaginary, denies and specifically violates the existence of people with diverse sexualities and genders.”

And just three days ago, on Thursday May 13, the feminist collective Casa de la mujer drew attention to the situation where a young woman was sexually assaulted by the ESMAD riot police after recording a national strike protest in Popayán.

The Colombian weekly magazine Semana reports: “The complaints also indicate that the woman took her own life after leaving the URI [Immediate Reaction Unit/police station], where she was allegedly a victim of sexual abuse.”

The Casa de la mujer says: “We regret the death of Alison Meléndez, who was arrested last night and taken to the URI [police station], who after suffering sexual violence by police officers today appears dead due to suicide. We alert human rights organizations and institutions that guarantee rights, such as the Ombudsman’s Office, the Attorney General’s Office, and the Ombudsman to carry out oversight and take protective actions against what happened. The lives of women are respected.”

The statement by Canada’s Foreign Affairs Minister about the violence in Colombia does not mention the sexual violence being committed by state security forces, nor does Global Affairs Canada travel advisory for Canadians in Colombia.

The Canadian Labour Congress, representing more than 3 million workers in Canada, 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).”

 

55 Members of Congress denounce police brutality in Colombia, call for a freeze on military sales

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 15, the Colombian newspaper El Espectador reported: “In a harsh letter sent to U.S. Secretary of State Antony John Blinken, U.S. congressmen asked his government to suspend direct assistance to the Colombian National Police until real improvements in the use of force are observed and no judicial responsibility is assumed for the brutality cases that have been evidenced in the midst of the protests.”

The letter is available as a separate document here.

Yesterday, Representative Jim McGovern tweeted: “I joined w/ @repmarkpocan, @janschakowsky & @RepRaulGrijalva to lead 55 Members of Congress in expressing grave concern over the political & human rights situation in #Colombia & urging the U.S. Government to clearly & unambiguously denounce police brutality in Colombia.”

Among those 55 Members of Congress are Representatives likely well-known to Canadians, including: Ayanna Pressley, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, Ilhan Omar and Rashida Tlaib (as see clockwise in the photo above).

Among the eight asks in their letter:

– “Suspend U.S. direct assistance, other than human rights training, to Colombia’s National Police and establish concrete, achievable benchmarks on improvements in the use of force and judicial accountability for past police brutality cases, including those committed in the context of protests in November 2019 and September 2020.”

– “Freeze U.S. commercial and foreign military sales of weapons, equipment, services, or training to the ESMAD; and freeze any grants or sales of riot or crowd control equipment to all other Colombian security forces, police, and special units.”

Canada’s assistance to the Colombian police and army

Canada’s international assistance to Colombia averages $40 million per year through various programs, mostly related to development.

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.” It’s not clear the current status of this initiative.

Global Affairs Canada has also noted: “Colombia is a priority hemispheric partner for the Department of National Defence. Colombia became a member of the Department of National Defence’s (DND) Military Training and Cooperation Program (MTCP) in 2011.” And the Department of National Defence has highlighted: “The MTCP accepts new member countries that: are non-oppressive and adhere to human rights standards.”

Additionally, Canada has exported more than $45 million in military goods to Colombia in recent years, including Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) to the Colombian Army and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APCs) to the Colombian National Police. APCs are now being used to suppress the current protests.

We further note that the Canadian Labour Congress has issued this statement that says: “Canadian unions condemn this violence and support the legitimate demands of the Colombian people for: The demilitarization of the urban areas and cities. The dismantling of the Colombian national police riot control unit (known by its Spanish acronym ESMAD).”

We ask that Members of Parliament in Canada review the letter from the 55 Members of the U.S. Congress and develop a set of asks reflecting their concerns that are applicable with respect to Canadian foreign policy in Colombia.

PBI-Colombia accompanies NOMADESC in Buga verifying cases of the disproportionate use of force by the police

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 14, PBI-Colombia tweeted: “Today we accompany NOMADESC in the Aures neighborhood in Buga verifying cases of vulnerability of human rights related to the disproportionate use of force in mobilizations of the national strike on May 13. The use of tear gas affected even minors.”

Yesterday, PBI-Colombia had posted: “Today PBI accompanied NOAMDESC in Buga. Organizations and human rights commission alert to the disproportionate use of force by the ESMAD against protesters and affecting residents.”

NOMADESC had further commented: “ESMAD disproportionately attacks protesters and residents of the Aures and Paloblanco neighborhoods in Buga.”

Buga is a city in the department of Valle del Cauca. It is situated east of the port of Buenaventura and north of the city of Cali.

La FM reported: “According to complaints from the community [in Buga], several people in the Aures neighborhood were affected by the use of tear gas and there are also said to have been about 48 injured, who were transferred to San José Hospital in this town.”

El Espectador also noted: “Citizens denounce abuses by members of the public force and use of tear gas in residential neighborhoods.”

And this short video from El Parche Crítico also expresses the concern: “ESMAD fired expired tear gas at the protesters in Buga, some of them expired since 2014.”

Earlier this week, The Nation reported: “Following recent protests, international organizations like WOLA and Peace Brigades International are calling on Congress to end the sale of equipment and training to ESMAD until reforms are made. Colombia remains the largest recipient of US foreign aid in Latin America, receiving over $400 million per year, half of which is allocated for military and security programs.”

Statement from NOMADESC, dhColombia and other organizations.

The text below says: “The agents have violently and indiscriminately attacked those in the scene with unconventional weapons and tear gas, and adults have been injured and affected. …We call the attention of the international community to make an immediate pronouncement and thus avoid containing the critical situations in this municipality of the Cauca Valley.”

Relatives of Aazhoodena land defender Dudley George have begun to reoccupy their ancestral lands in Ontario

By
Brent Patterson
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There is not a lot of information at this point, but Blackburn News reports: “Relatives of the late Dudley George moved onto the former Ipperwash Provincial Park lands Friday [May 14], laying claim to their ancestral homestead. A group of less than 12, representing three generations of descendants of Komonee and Sarah George, began occupying the lands by moving four large shipping containers on-site.”

The article continues: “NaWalka Geeshy Meegwun, the great grandchild of Komonee and Sarah George, said historical court documents show the former park lands were illegally sold in 1929, long before residents of the Stoney Point Reserve were forced to surrender their lands to the federal government in 1942.”

Meegwun says: “Those containers are to let people know that there is a matter of an illegal sale that happened. That the Indian agent we believe had used tools of oppression on our great grandparents to obtain that land so that the provincial and federal levels of government could turn that into a provincial park.”

The article concludes: “Dudley George was also a great grandchild of Komonee and Sarah George.  He was shot and killed by Ontario Provincial Police in September of 1995 during an occupation of the same lands.”

George and other unarmed Aazhoodena land defenders were seeking a return of their ancestral lands when he was killed.

George’s family was one of 18 families displaced from the Stony Point First Nation in 1942 when the federal government expropriated the land to build the base. The government had promised to return the land after World War II, but at the time of George’s death, 53 years after that dispossession, the land was still occupied by the military.

George’s family moved back to Stony Point, then known as Camp Ipperwash, in 1993. Then, after decades of writing letters, meetings and signing petitions, 35 land defenders began a reoccupation of Ipperwash Provincial Park on September 4, 1995.

Notably, the park, also situated on Aazhoodena land, contained burial grounds that the defenders said were not being respected or protected.

On September 5, Ontario Premier Mike Harris met with several government officials. The provincial Attorney General later testified that Harris shouted: “I want the fucking Indians out of the park.” A recording also emerged of police officers discussing the premier’s view that the government had “tried to pacify and pander to these people far too long.”

The following day George was killed by an OPP sniper.

Camp Ipperwash is now closed, but the federal government still “owns” the land on Aazhoodena territory. The Department of National Defence says it will take 25 years to clear the unexploded grenades and artillery shells and to decontaminate the land.

While the lands continue to be in a long process of being returned to the community, the trauma of almost 80 years of displacement and violence remains.

—

The commemoration in the photo below marks the site where Dudley George was killed on September 6, 1995. A provincial inquiry later found former Ontario premier Mike Harris bears responsibility for the events that led to George’s death.

On September 7, 2020, the day after the 25th anniversary of Dudley’s death, Ontario Premier Doug Ford was asked about the OPP firing rubber bullets at 1492 Land Back Lane land defenders and what he saw as the path forward to resolving the situation on Six Nations territory in southern Ontario.

Ford did not respond to the issue of the rubber bullets, but rather appeared to focus on the Haudenosaunee land defenders, highlighting: “I’m going to be very blunt, I’m not going to tolerate violence, it’s very simple. I don’t know if a few folks are going rogue. It’s unfortunate we have a couple bad apples causing problems.”

The premier’s comments are cause for concern for both the ongoing 1492 Land Back Lane reoccupation and the Ipperwash reoccupation that began today.

Colombia webinar follow-up

By
Brent Patterson
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Thank you for registering for our most recent webinar on fracking, extractivism and the risks faced by environmental defenders in the Magdalena Medio region of Colombia.

You may have also registered/participated in one of our previous webinars.

To watch the video of the webinar about extractivism in Colombia (mostly in Spanish), please click here. For a written summation of it (in English), click here.

This webinar took place on April 29, the day after the national strike/paro nacional began in Colombia. A lot has happened over the past two weeks.

To see our photo-journal of Peace Brigades International accompaniments of human rights defenders during the national strike, click here.

For a short summary of a follow-up meeting with officials at Global Affairs Canada and Embassy of Canada in Colombia on May 5, click here.

And lastly, here are some things you can do:

-Contact me at brent@pbicanada.org if you have any questions coming out of the webinar

-Follow us on Twitter for our daily updates on the situation in Colombia at @PBIcanada

–Subscribe to our weekly e-newsletter

-Stay tuned for an update about our next webinar (hopefully in late June)

–Make a donation to help us to continue this work.

Best wishes,
Brent, PBI-Canada

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