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PBI-Guatemala remembers accompanying GAM when it interrupted a military parade on September 15, 1986

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Patricia Goudvis

The Mutual Support Group (Grupo De Apoyo Mutuo) has posted on Facebook and Twitter: “What independence if we are killed and disappeared? Women and men of the #GAM screamed as they interrupted the military parade of September 15, 1986.”

September 15 is Guatemalan Independence Day.

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has shared that post and commented: “PBI accompanied that march 34 years ago.”

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 notes: “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. They demanded the return of their loved ones and attracted the attention of their demands by rattling pots.”

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.

Over the course of the war, which began in 1960 and formally ended in 1996, more than 200,000 people were killed and another 43,000 were forcibly disappeared. More than 80 percent of the victims were indigenous Maya people.

The Commission for Historical Clarification found that: “State forces and related paramilitary groups were responsible for 93% of the violations documented.”

PBI first operated a project in Guatemala from 1983-1999, which closed following the Peace Accords. Unfortunately, the human rights situation soon began again to deteriorate, and local organizations asked PBI to return.

The current project opened in 2003.

Guapinol River defenders in Honduras express their solidarity with Haudenosaunee land defenders in Canada

By
Brent Patterson
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Freedom for the defenders of Guapinol (Libertad para los defensores de Guapinol) in Honduras have expressed their solidarity with 1492 Land Back Lane land defenders on Haudenosaunee territory in southern Ontario, Canada.

They have tweeted: “National and international companies in collusion with state security apparatuses criminalize land and water defenders to silence their legitimate struggle. Our solidarity with the Haudenosaunee people.”

In August 2018, the Guapinol Camp in Defence of Water and Life was established in opposition to the Inversiones Los Pinares mine. The mine is located near the source of drinking water for 42,000 people. The camp lasted for 88 days until it was evicted by 1,500 military and police officers who used tear gas and live ammunition. There are currently eight water defenders imprisoned in relation to this camp as they await trial.

On July 19 of this year, 1492 Land Back Lane was established in opposition to the 1,000-unit McKenzie Meadows housing development near the city of Caledonia, Ontario. This project is seen as a further infringement of Haudenosaunee territory and is opposed by the Haudenosaunee Confederacy Chiefs Council. To date, police have fired rubber bullets at the land defenders and arrested 26 people, including two journalists and a researcher.

To read more about these struggles and how you can support them, please follow them on Twitter at Libertad para los defensores de Guapinol and #1492LandBackLane.

CEO of Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd. confirms interest in fracking in Magdalena Medio, Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Vanguardia.

On September 15, La Republica published an interview with Charle Gamba, the President and Chief Executive Officer of Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd.

Gamba is asked if Canacol will participate in the fracking pilot projects in Colombia.

He responded: “Yes, we have two unconventional oil blocks that we have been located in Magdalena Medio for eight years to pilot fracking. We are awaiting the regulatory framework, but we hope to run these pilots in the next two years.”

This feature article about fracking in Colombia published by Semana Sostenible of Colombia and Mongabay Latam has noted:

“Cesar-Ranchería Basin, where at least one of the pilot studies would be conducted, contains Block VMM-2 and Block VMM-3, which are owned by ConocoPhillips and Calgary-based Canacol Energy. Activity in these blocks would interfere with four municipalities in the department of Cesar (San Martín, Aguachica, Río de Oro and Gamarra) and one municipality in the department of Santander (Puerto Wilches).”

Radio Nacional de Colombia has previously reported: “Blockades, demonstrations and even threats have surrounded the fracking controversy in [San Martin, Cesar]. …Environmentalists and a large part of the community of San Martín oppose its implementation due to the harmful effects it could have on the environment and health.”

This week, Valora Analitik further reported: “Gamba warned that his two non-conventional oilfields projects could be stopped because the Government of Colombia had offered a 40% discount on oil royalties through Law 530 of 2012. However, he said that this law (530 of 2012) ‘fell’ and that discount was without effect, which would affect the performance of the fracking projects that it has in association with the multinational ConocoPhillips.”

Earlier this month, BN Americas reported that a plenary session of the upper house voted to remove an amendment to a royalties bill that would have lowered the “fiscal burden” on developers exploring fracking projects by 40 per cent.

The Valora article also notes: “If the projects are given free rein, Canacol estimates that it will be able to start the fracking pilots in about two years.”

On a recent webinar organized by Common Frontiers, the Comité pour les droits humains en Amérique latine (CDHAL) and Projet Accompagnement Solidarité Colombie (PASC), Sonia Lopez from the Joel Sierra Foundation for Human Rights commented:

“We need to build a common front to resist fracking because we know there will be social mobilizations against those pilot projects and that those communities are going to be repressed.”

Peace Brigades International accompanies defenders in Colombia opposed to fracking and continues to monitor this situation very closely.

UN High Commissioner Michelle Bachelet calls for urgent action on human rights in Colombia, Honduras and Mexico

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 14, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet presented a Global Human Rights Update to the Human Rights Council.

That report noted:

“The severe socio-economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic in the Americas region should alert all actors to the urgency of addressing the region’s profound inequalities in development.

Alarming numbers of human rights defenders and journalists continue to be intimidated, attacked and killed — particularly those dedicated to protecting the environment and land rights. I call on all Governments to refrain from discrediting human rights defenders and journalists, putting them at further risk of attacks. I encourage decisive investigations and prosecutions of perpetrators.

In Colombia, my Office has documented 47 killings of human rights defenders in 2020; 44 more cases are in the process of verification. In relation to recent protests in Bogota and Soacha — where excessive use of force may have killed as many as 13 people, leaving more than 300 injured, including 77 with gunshot wounds — my Office is verifying the cases, and has offered technical assistance on democratic and human rights based policing of protests. The 2016 Peace Agreement opened a new chapter for all Colombians, and should be fully implemented to prevent further violence, and human rights violations and abuses.

In Honduras, attacks on and violent deaths of LGBTI persons continue to increase. Since the beginning of the state of emergency in mid-March, OHCHR-Honduras has documented seven killings of trans women; three of them occurred in July alone. In both these countries, I welcome our continued engagement with the authorities, to strengthen accountability.

In Mexico, at least four journalists and seven human rights defenders have been killed in 2020. I welcome our collaboration with authorities to improve the effectiveness of the National Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders and Journalists.”

Bachelet will be commenting on the situation on Nicaragua in a subsequent update.

Peace Brigades International accompanies defenders in Colombia, Honduras and Mexico, as well as those who have fled Nicaragua for Costa Rica.

The UN High Commissioner’s full report can be read here.

Photo: Martial Trezzini/EPA

PBI-Colombia accompanies dhColombia at vigil for man shot by police at protest against police violence

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 13, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project tweeted: “PBI accompanies @dhColombia [the Association Network of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia] in an act of solidarity for Manuel Acevedo Fernández, victim of two gunshot wounds during the protests of the last week.”

The “Candle for Life” gathering took place on Saturday September 12 starting at 4 pm.

Fourteen people have been killed in Bogota and hundreds more injured (72 of them with gunshot wounds) by the police at protests following the police killing of Javier Ordóñez this past Wednesday September 9.

Ordóñez was a 46-year-old father of two who was also reportedly just one exam away from graduating from law school.

There is this video of two police officers kneeling on Ordóñez, repeatedly stunning him with a Taser, while he says “please, enough, no more!”

The police say Ordóñez was drinking on the street in violation of physical distancing rules, but The City Paper reports: “According to Ordoñez’s wife, María Angelica, her husband had completed his taxi shift, around midnight, when he decided to walk to the nearest shop to buy some liquor.”

Agence France-Presse reports: “For many Colombians, the case evoked the killing in the US in May of African American George Floyd, also 46, who suffocated after being pinned by the neck to the road under the knee of a white officer.”

The Financial Times adds: “Protesters said the riots were a spontaneous response to police brutality — not just the killing of Mr Ordóñez, but many previous incidents of abuse.”

dhColombia has tweeted: “As an immediate and urgent measure [the Mayor’s Office of] Bogota should put permanent officials at CAI [police units located on the perimeters of Bogota] and @PoliciaColombia stations.”

They add: “The torture and sexual violence centers that they have become must now be disarmed, not to mention the articulation that exists with organized crime.”

The Twitter hashtag used by dhColombia is #LaPoliciaNosEstaMatando which translates as: the police are killing us.

In the coming weeks, PBI will be hosting a webinar on police violence that will feature defenders from Colombia, Kenya, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

PBI-Mexico accompanies Educa Oaxaca in the struggle against structural violence targeted at environmental defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: In August 2019, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project attended Educa Oaxaca’s 25th anniversary colloquium ‘Challenges of the social and popular movement in the times of transformations in Mexico 1994-2019’.

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project accepted a request from Educa Oaxaca for accompaniment in May 2013, though PBI-Mexico’s relationship with Educa began in 2001 with occasional accompaniments.

PBI-Mexico notes: “Educa currently accompanies various community processes which defend territory from energy-based megaprojects, such as the silver mine in San José del Progreso [owned by Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver Mines Inc.], the gold mine in Magdalena Teitipac, and the wind farms on the Isthmus of Tehuántepec.”

“Since 2006, it advises five municipalities and more than 25 communities along the Oaxacan coast, all of whom are defending their territory and community from the construction of the hydroelectric dam, Paso de la Reina.”

“The organization [also] accompanies processes to highlight the economic, social, cultural, and environmental rights of indigenous peoples, such as the right to free, prior and informed consent on projects affecting their territories and ways of life.”

Yesterday, Open Democracy published an article by Demetrio Romeo titled: Environmental human rights defenders in Mexico: The issue of structural violence.

Romeo notes: “In 2019, 39 environmental human rights defenders were victims of attacks in Mexico. Of these, 15 were killed.”

Among the key points in his article:

1- “According to the most recent report by the Mexican Center for Environmental Law, between 2012 and 2019, there were 499 attacks on land and environment activists that took place across the vast majority of states.”

2- “United Nations Special Rapporteur Michel Forst contended in his report on the situation of environmental human rights defenders in the world that the cause of systematic violations of environmental human rights defenders lies in the imbalance of power between the State and local communities.”

3- “According to the United Nations Special Rapporteur in his report on the situation of human rights defenders in Mexico, among the most criminalized are those who protect and promote environmental rights, in particular indigenous leaders whose activism is related to extractive and energy projects.”

4- “Mexico has a federal law that provides national protection and prevention mechanisms to protect the right to ‘life, integrity, freedom and security of people who are at risk as a result of defending or promoting human rights.’ However, the State does not fulfill its obligation to promote a safe and favorable environment for the defense of human rights – in its individual and collective aspects – because the numerous aggressions respond to a pattern that stigmatizes and criminalizes environmental human rights defenders.”

5- “Conduct that suppresses the right of association and assembly and false or unfounded accusations of alleged crimes against public safety presented by the authorities against environmental activists lead to victimizing acts, such as offenses against honor, judicial harassment, denial of due process, double jeopardy, arbitrary detention, forced disappearance, torture and other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment.”

As noted in PBI’s most recent annual review, 30 per cent of the 51 organizations PBI accompanies defend land and environmental rights, 12 per cent defend economic, cultural and social rights (which includes the right to free, prior and informed consent) and 52 per cent defend civil and political rights (which includes the right to life against police brutality, the right to participate in civil society, and freedom of assembly).

You can find Educa Oaxaca on Twitter, Facebook and its website.

PBI-Colombia accompanied defenders comment on the police killing of Javier Ordóñez

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 10, Agence France-Presse reported: “Seven people were killed and hundreds wounded after rioting broke out in the Colombian capital Bogota following the death of a man [Javier Ordóñez] repeatedly tasered by police, authorities said Thursday.”

“Ordonez, a 46-year-old father of two, is heard repeatedly crying ‘please, no more’ in the widely circulated footage of his arrest, taken by a friend.”

That article also notes: “For many Colombians, the case evoked the killing in the US in May of African American George Floyd, also 46, who suffocated after being pinned by the neck to the road under the knee of a white officer.”

The BBC adds: “Hundreds of protesters clashed with officers outside the police post where Mr Ordóñez was held. More than 40 such posts, small police stations dotted across the city which often consist of only one room, were attacked and 17 were burnt down.”

“The mayor of Bogotá, Claudia López, condemned what she called ‘unacceptable police brutality’ but she also urged protesters to refrain from vandalism and violence. ‘Destroying the city won’t put an end to police abuses,’ the left-wing mayor said.”

That article also notes: “According to Mayor López, there have been 137 complaints of police brutality in Bogotá this year. Ms López has urged the police to investigate all the complaints.”

Human rights defenders accompanied by the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project have tweeted responses to this situation.

CCAJAR: “We strongly condemn the murder of Javier Ordoñez by members of the @PoliciaColombia in attack with Tasers that have been banned by @ONU_es [United Nations] and considered weapons of torture.”

Franklin Castañeda (the president of the CSPP): “7 murders and 140 people injured, the vast majority by @PoliciaBogota …This entity showed last night that if we don’t deeply reform it, it will kill us all.”

Ivan Madero (the president of CREDHOS): “The national security strategy declares the population as an internal enemy. Massacre, torture and murder is the motto of the Duque government’s police and military. They are a danger to society. Change politics and the police and military system.”

dhColombia: “Be careful neither is it excessive use of force, nor is it with defenseless reforms to @PoliceColombia and ESMAD. It is a deliberate behavior of belittling life and doing harm (killing), it is by dismantling current processes of belonging, bonding, training and squads that something would be achieved.”

CREDHOS retweeted: “Video captures how police patrols attack demonstrators with indiscriminate shots, hitting a citizen. The community denounces this possible murder. Stop the massacre in Bogotá.”

Claudia Julieta Duque retweeted: “The @CIDH [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] strongly condemns cases of police brutality and abuse. According to public information, the #8Sept Javier Ordoñez died as a result of the beatings and electric shocks given by police agents while he was subjected to the floor.”

And before news of the full extent of those killed and injured had emerged the Comisión de Justicia y Paz retweeted: “More than 12 people injured and two people killed, in the midst of protests against actions that violate human rights by the police.”

In the coming weeks, Peace Brigades International will be hosting a webinar on police brutality that will feature defenders from Colombia, Kenya, Nicaragua and Guatemala.

These are the eight water defenders imprisoned in Honduras for protecting the Guapinol River

By
Brent Patterson
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“Freedom for the defenders of the Guapinol River!”

Libertad para los defensores de Guapinol (Freedom for the defenders of Guapinol) has been posting on their Twitter and Facebook accounts as well as their website (in English) about the defenders imprisoned this past year for protecting the Guapinol River from being polluted by the Inversiones Los Pinares mine.

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has accompanied this struggle including being present at their first court hearing on August 26, 2019.

These are their individual stories (matched left to right in the drawing above):

I am Daniel and I am 42 years old. I have been imprisoned in Honduras since September 1, 2019 for defending the rivers that give water to my community. I am a member of the Guapinol Water Board and a former migrant in the US. I returned to my community to be a servant of it.

I am Kelvin and I am 31 years old. I have been imprisoned in Honduras since September 1, 2019 for defending the rivers that give water to my community. I am the father of a family and the owner of a small tourism production facility in Guapinol.

I’m Arnol and I’m 24 years old. I grew up by the San Pedro River on the north shore of Honduras, but I’ve been in jail since Sept. 1, 2019 for protecting it from a mine project. I protect the river for my family, especially my daughter who just turned 1.

My name is José Abelino & I’m 36 years old. I’ve been in jail in Honduras since Sept. 1, 2019 for protecting rivers from mining contamination. I live in Guapinol with my daughters & wife. I’m a barber & a member of the Family Ministry the Catholic Church.

I am Ewer and I am 28 years old. Since September 1, 2019 I have been in jail in Honduras as punishment for defending the water that supplies my family. I am an automotive mechanic, originally from Guapinol and committed to the community.

My name is Porfirio & I’m 48 years old. I’m a father & grandfather & work in construction. I have lived in Guapinol, Honduras my whole life but I’ve been in prison since Sept. 1, 2019 for defending my community’s watershed from mining.

My name’s Orbin & I’m 30 years old. I’m a teacher & coordinate Enviro Defense Committee in Sector San Pedro Sector, Honduras, where I live. I’ve been in jail since Sept. 1, 2019 for defending rivers that supply water to my community from a mining project.

I’m Jeremias & I’m 64 years old. I’m a father and a member of a peasant enterprise of the Unified Peasant Movement of Aguan (MUCA). I have been in jail since December 8, 2018, for defending the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers in Honduras.

Earlier this year, 20 Members of the European Parliament signed this letter to the President of Honduras and other officials expressing concern about the pre-trial detention with no sound legal justification of these water defenders.

Peace Brigades International-Canada encourages Members of Parliament in this country to do the same as the MEPs in part due to the diplomatic support provided by Canada for the mining law in Honduras and the obligations outlined in Voices at Risk: Canada’s Guidelines on Supporting Human Rights Defenders.

Day of action in solidarity with 1492 Land Back Lane land defenders to be held on October 9

By
Brent Patterson
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The land defenders at 1492 Land Back Lane seeking to protect Haudenosaunee territory in southern Ontario from a housing development continue to be criminalized (a process that can include injunctions and criminal charges) and judicialized (criminal justice proceedings that divert from the ability to protect the lands and waters).

On September 7, Haudenosaunee land defender Skyler Williams posted on Facebook: “[The Ontario Provincial Police] has begun to arrest our people away from the camp. Today alone there were 5 arrests and 15 in the last week.”

The following day, the Brantford Expositor reported: “[Those arrests include] non-Indigenous allies and people from other Haudenosaunee communities. The arrests also include Courtney Skye, a Mohawk researcher, and Oneida journalist Karl Dockstader.”

Courtney has tweeted: “Why was I at #1492LandBackLane? The boys there wanted chicken noodle soup so I made a large pot and filled my yeti to take it there warm. Another auntie made fresh bread to go with the soup.”

She adds: “I was sitting on the banks of the Grand River with my auntie/sis. I was literally arrested within feet of our river in my homelands.”

This statement from the Yellowhead Institute, where Courtney is a researcher, highlights: “Indigenous people defending their land from unwelcome development is perhaps the longest trend in North America. The fact that land defenders continue to be criminalized for asserting their rights and laws reflects ongoing colonization in Canada.”

And Karl has commented: “Not having access to my disclosure [the details on the reason for his arrest], being restricted from going to the site and from talking about it with Foxgate [the property developers] — I see all of those as direct tools of press suppression.”

That’s a concern shared by Canadian Association of Journalists (CAJ) and Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE) who issued this statement, as well as the Canadian Civil Liberties Association (CCLA) who tweeted this message.

The Expositor article adds: “On Monday, Haldimand OPP announced the arrest of two more people -a 34-year-old and a 31-year-old – both of Guelph. They were charged with disobeying a court order and mischief by attending the McKenzie Meadows development.”

The next court date for some of the land defenders is Friday October 9.

Skyler says: “We are calling on all our brothers and sisters across turtle island to participate in a national day of action. Regardless of where you are, we must continue to stand together. If across the country we stand together our voices will be heard and cannot denied.”

Notably, the Executive and Associate members of the Yellowhead Institute, joined by members of the Indigenous Faculty at Ryerson University, have made three demands in this situation including calling: “on the Province of Ontario to develop policy prohibiting the use of injunctions on Indigenous people in cases of disputes over land use.”

This statement from Haudenosaunee women succinctly explains: “Injunctions authorize police violence against our people.”

They add: “Our sovereignty is inherent while Canada’s perceived authority is a product of violent colonialism and genocide. Injunctions seek to make this reality invisible, a tool of the court to sanction more violence and dispossession.”

The land defenders have set up this GoFundMe account to help with their legal costs associated with this criminalization. They are also asking for financial support to help them maintain their presence and build winter ready buildings through e-transfers to landback6nations@gmail.com.

PBI-Kenya discusses safety and security with human rights defenders from Social Justice Centres in Nairobi

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 8, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project posted: “We visited human rights defenders of different Social Justice Centers and discussed safety and security for HRDs [human rights defenders] and the concerns of their communities.”

PBI-Kenya adds: “This is part of the Increased Capacities, Stronger Networks project.”

PBI-Kenya has previously explained: “This project draws on a close collaboration between the Social Justice Center Working Group and PBI Kenya and seeks to sustainably broaden or maintain the civic space and security for the Social Justice Centres.”

“[The project does so by bringing] together members of the various Social Justice Centres in Nairobi through different activities, such as risk analysis, capacity building with specific attention to holistic security management, and joint and separate advocacy activities on the national and international level.”

The project will run until December of this year and builds on the Ushirikiano Mwema kwa Usalama (Good relationships for safety) project that challenged the normalization of extra-judicial killings by the police through contextualized strategies built on local knowledge as well as global strategies on how to prevent human rights abuses.

The Social Justice Centres Working Group is the collective leadership of 24 social justice centres and activists across the country formed in 2017.

Gacheke Gachihi, the coordinator of the Mathare Social Justice Centre, has written: “These centres have created more civic spaces to convene the grassroots social justice movement, and in these spaces the focus is community organizing, the documentation of human rights violations, conducting a number of important campaigns, writing petitions and the referral of cases for redress to relevant authorities.”

Gachihi has further explained that the centres seek to: “Build a unified social justice movement in Kenya to rescue the failed democratic transition and create alternative political leadership for our social and economic liberation.”

In short, he says, to organize, educate and liberate.

PBI-Kenya works with the Social Justice Centres Working Group. It is also part of the Missing Voices network and the Police Reforms Working Group network.

The Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project was established in December 2012.

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