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Pandemic delays ratification of Escazú Agreement protection for human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
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Peace Brigades International has endorsed the Escazú Agreement. PBI-Mexico has also called on the European Union to encourage Mexican authorities to “Take all necessary steps to ratify the Escazú Agreement through the competent national bodies.”

Mongabay has explained, the Escazú Agreement “indicates that adequate and effective measures will be taken to recognize, protect and promote all the rights of human rights defenders in environmental matters. It commits to appropriate, effective and timely measures to prevent, investigate and punish attacks, threats or intimidation.”

Colombia, Guatemala and Mexico have signed the agreement, but not yet ratified it. Honduras has not yet signed the agreement.

On April 8, Dialogo Chino reported on the status of the Escazú Agreement:

Mexico

“Mexico has yet to send the agreement to the legislative branch for ratification, a process that will be slowed by the recently declared health emergency.”

“Two weeks ago, organisations backing the agreement issued a letter calling for the process to be expedited. However, officials from the finance ministry told them in a meeting, without giving details, that they are still short of an economic impact analysis of the ratification.”

Colombia

“Colombia was the last country to join Escazú, following persistent calls for dialogue from civil society after massive protests against the Iván Duque government last year.”

“Duque signed it on December 11, reversing his original position that the Escazú agreement offered no new measures and exposed the country to international scrutiny. Both houses in congress must now approve it, before it then faces a constitutional court review.”

“The government was supposedly ready to present it on March 17 at the start of the legislature’s new term, but has been interrupted by the preventive isolation and mandatory quarantine measures…”

Guatemala

“Although the Guatemalan government highlighted the importance of the agreement from the moment it was signed, organising awareness-raising workshops with the environment minister and senior foreign ministry officials since August 2018, it has stalled.”

“A year and a half later, the government has still not taken it to Congress. When Jimmy Morales left the presidency at the end of 2019, the Escazú agreement was still theoretically under consultation.”

“The new President, Alejandro Giammattei, took office in January and has not referred to the issue. ‘There are deep interests in the dispute between the environment, indigenous peoples and the private sector,’ said a human rights worker who asked to remain anonymous.”

PBI field projects accompany at-risk human rights defenders in Colombia, Honduras, Mexico and Guatemala.

In 2019, 304 human rights defenders were killed including 106 in Colombia, 31 in Honduras, 23 in Mexico and 15 in Guatemala. Overall, 40 per cent of those killed worked on land, Indigenous peoples and environmental rights.

PBI-Canada calls on the Canadian government to use its missions and diplomatic channels to encourage the ratification of the Escazú Agreement.

 

350.org report on Climate Defenders and Human Rights Abuses by Fossil Fuel Companies

By
Brent Patterson
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The environmental group 350.org has released a 65-page Climate Defenders Report titled Human Rights Abuses by Fossil Fuel Companies.

The report connects with Peace Brigades International in several areas, including our accompaniment of the Front of Peoples in Defence of Land and Water (FPDTA) in Mexico, community opposition to fracking in Colombia (PBI had a tour in Canada on this last year), and our support for a proposed United Nations Binding Treaty on transnational corporations with respect to human rights.

The Executive Summary highlights:

“Some of the most severe corporate human rights abuses worldwide may be attributed directly or indirectly to the operations of fossil fuel companies.”

“The physical impacts of extracting and refining fossil fuels often affect the enjoyment of substantive human rights – like the right to health, life, private life, water, and property. Burning fossil fuels has similarly profound impacts on the enjoyment of the same rights.”

“Similarly, breaches of procedural rights – such as the right of access to remedy and access to justice – often affect those that try and resist the operations of fossil fuel companies.”

“Human rights abuses are often not committed by the corporation alone or directly, but alongside the involvement of a third party (often, the state itself), with the direct or indirect support of the company.”

The Business and Human Rights Abuses section notes:

“The UN Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights defenders points out, the Declaration of Human Rights Defenders establishes that non-state actors – including corporations – ‘have a responsibility to respect the rights enshrined in the UDHR [Universal Declaration of Human Rights], and consequently, the rights of human rights defenders.’”

Under Fossil Fuel Companies and Human Rights, the report adds:

“According to the Guiding Principles [on Business and Human Rights], states have an obligation to provide for remedies for human rights abuses caused by corporations, and corporations themselves have a responsibility to respect human rights.”

The section on Loss of life (both general population and environmental defenders) tells the story of Samir Flores:

“In Mexico, Samir Flores – a member of the grassroots collective ‘Front of Peoples in Defence of Land and Water for the states of Morelos, Puebla and Tlaxcala (FPDTA)’ – was killed, after receiving death threats for his role in protests against a project comprising of two new thermal-electric plants, a 170 km natural gas pipeline, and an aqueduct.”

“His death came just one day after the government convened a public forum, where Flores and other activists voiced their opposition. Mexico’s state prosecutor had initially posited that the murder was unrelated to the project. However, FPDTA said in a statement that Flores had been threatened several times since 2012, and that he had no enemies besides those behind the project, blaming the state for the deadly attack.”

The story of Samir Flores is also profiled on page 22 of the report.

In the section on the Harassment of activists, the report notes:

“The UN Special Rapporteurs on human rights and the environment have noted that those who work to protect the environment on which the enjoyment of human rights depends are among the human rights defenders most at risk, and the risks are particularly acute for Indigenous Peoples and traditional communities.”

Under Access to remedies, the report states:

“In line with the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, the responsibility of fossil fuel companies to respect human rights includes the responsibility to identify, prevent, mitigate and account for how they address their environmental impacts on human rights, and enable the remediation of any adverse environmental human rights impacts they cause or to which they contribute.”

In the section on Preventative Action, the report notes:

“Even though human rights remedies are more frequently used to react to human rights abuses, rather than to prevent these, state and corporate actors’ duties to prevent environmental harm and the associated human rights violations have come under increasing scrutiny in recent years.”

“In Colombia, anti-fracking activists have obtained important court victories. In 2018 the Council of State – a tribunal with jurisdiction over administrative issues – put on hold planned exploratory fracking activities, ruling that the precautionary principle and due diligence override any other concerns or priorities.”

“In 2019 the Council of State upheld its earlier decision, suspending administrative acts by which the government had set the criteria for the exploration and exploitation of non-conventional deposits through fracking. Despite these promising developments, it remains to be seen whether in the next stages of the lawsuit, the Colombian courts will confirm or lift the moratorium on fracking developments.”

The Conclusions in the report highlight:

“Human rights obligations are therefore no replacement for effective legislation concerning environmental harm, and human rights remedies are no replacement for effective preventive and remedial measures against environmental harm caused by fossil fuel companies. Yet, past experience suggests that successful human rights complaints can help to bring about a change in attitude by courts and lawmakers, as the anti-fracking movement in Latin America clearly demonstrated.”

“The ongoing negotiations of a new UN treaty on human rights responsibilities of business may furthermore open the door to better and more streamlined prevention and remediation avenues in this connection.”

For more on the report, please see the 350.org webpage Stand With Climate Defenders. Photo from the 350.org Climate Defenders Report by the Gastivists Network, 2019.

PBI-Mexico shares OpenDemocracy.net article on the situation of human rights defenders during the pandemic

By
Brent Patterson
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On April 22, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted on its Facebook page, “In these days of uncertainty over Covd-19, let us share with you this excellent article on the situation of human rights defenders in Mexico.”

The OpenDemocracy.net article PBI-Mexico shared is titled Mexico: Human rights defenders at the forefront of the COVID19 crisis.

The article highlights the Casa del Migrante Saltillo, the Tlachinollan human rights centre and Codigo DH, all of which are accompanied by PBI-Mexico:

“While the defence of human rights already took place in precarious conditions in Mexico, the COVID pandemic has introduced new challenges for defenders.”

“Even though Casa del Migrante Saltillo is no longer hosting new individuals [as noted in their tweet here], it is still distributing food to migrants passing by. The shelter is also offering psychosocial support to the 30 migrants who are quarantined at the facilities. Moreover, in conjunction with UNHCR, 30 shelters across Mexico have installed new water tanks and distributed soap bars to ensure migrants can prevent the spread of the virus.”

“In the state of Guerrero, the human rights centre Tlachinollan helped spread audio messages in Nahua, T’un saavi and Me’phaa, the indigenous languages of the region. Through these audios, the centre ensured that the messaging of health recommendations was not overly technical and thus remained accessible to people who cannot read.”

“Codigo DH – an NGO that accompanies land defenders in the state of Oaxaca – was forced to cancel capacity-building workshops, visits to communities, and advocacy events. …One of those events was the launching of a report on the lack of access to water in the indigenous community of Ayutla. The urgency of this report takes on a new level in the context of the pandemic, considering the importance of sanitation to contain the spread of the disease.”

“Besides the impact to their own activities, the pandemic has also complicated the relationship of defenders with Mexican authorities. Even though access to justice is an ongoing challenge in Mexico, defenders fear that the closing of some state and federal agencies as part of the lockdown will delay judicial proceedings and undermine other judicial and protection measures.”

“The pandemic could therefore contribute to the overall climate of impunity in the country, in which already 90% of reported crimes go unsolved. As documented by WOLA and PBI, it is precisely such a climate that enables the systematic attacks against defenders.”

Please see the full article that can be read in English and Spanish.

Photo: Shelters install portable hand washers so migrants and refugees can prevent the spread of the pandemic | Imagen: Casa Migrante Saltillo

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Indigenous territory defender Lesbia Artola now facing threats of criminalization

By
Brent Patterson
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On April 21, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page that it accompanies Indigenous land rights defender Lesbia Artola of the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA).

It then shares a Women and Politics in Guatemala post that notes, “In a recent statement, the Finqueros [farmers] de Alta Verapaz resumed their threats against her and accuse the CCDA of being an organization linked to organized crime. The farmers even call on the government to establish a state of siege in the region.”

“The peasant organization rejected these points and demanded that the government act to avoid an escalation in these criminalization actions against the peasant leadership, and especially against the defender of the territory, Lesbia Artola.”

PBI-Guatemala has previously explained, “[In the Verapaces region] CCDA accompanies more than 150 Maya q’eqchi’ communities who have been repressed and stripped of their land or are immersed in conflicts regarding land tenure. Due to their work many of their members have faced threats, criminalization processes, kidnappings, and murders.”

In Bulletin 40 (December 2018), PBI-Guatemala provides further context: “The recognition of land titles and disputes over these titles continues to be a huge problem in many regions of Guatemala, including the Verapaces.”

“With the liberal reform at the end of the 19th century, the elite landowners came to power and enacted laws with coercive force of the State to takeover communal lands of indigenous peoples.”

“The indigenous q’eqchi’ population, stripped of their lands, were subjected to a feudal economic system that forced them to work as mozos colonos [settlers] on coffee plantations. Over time the plantations changed owners but the mozos colonos stayed on the lands.”

“When the mozo colono system ended, campesino and indigenous families who had worked the lands were evicted from the plantations and were not given another alternative for survival. Thus, they were forced to reclaim land where they could live and cultivate their food.”

That PBI-Guatemala article adds, “For Lesbia Artola the concepts are mistaken, as campesinos are branded as land invaders, but from her point of view the true invaders are the landowners and companies.”

When Lesbia visited Switzerland last year at the invitation of Peace Brigades International, PBI-Switzerland reported, “In 2018, five CCDA representatives were killed in the Verapaz region. PBI has accompanied the organization ever since.”

Lesbia says of those attacks, “They wanted to silence us.”

PBI-Switzerland also noted, “As a human rights defender, Lesbia Artola is constantly exposed to gender-specific insults and threats.”

To read the full PBI-Guatemala article, click on Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA) – Verapaces Region: agrarian struggle threatened (pages 2-6).

For a Twitter update on this situation from UVOC (who PBI-Guatemala has accompanied since 2005), please click here. UVOC is also on Facebook here.

Watch the online film ‘A Force More Powerful’ about nonviolent resistance movements

By
Brent Patterson
-

During this pandemic, more people are watching films at home. One film you may want to check out is ‘A More Powerful Force’.

It was first produced as a film in 1999 and then later presented as a PBS television series in the United States in 2000.

It explores six successful nonviolent movements, including Gandhi’s leadership of the Indian Independence movement, the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, the boycotts in the Eastern Cape Province as part of the anti-apartheid movement in South Africa, the Danish resistance to Nazi Occupation, the Polish Solidarity Movement, and the Chilean democracy movement to end the Augusto Pinochet dictatorship.

The founding statement of Peace Brigades International highlights, “We are building on a rich and extensive heritage of nonviolent action.”

This documentary explores some of that history.

Peace Brigades International-Canada even has even participated in a public forum that discussed ‘A Force More Powerful’.

In June 2006, PBI-Canada took part in “a full day of public discussions, workshops and presentations focusing on peace” at the University of Victoria.

The schedule notes that “guest speakers from Peace Brigades International” took part in discussions with the audience following the screening of “two half-hour segments of a documentary film series ‘A Force More Powerful’ which explores places where non-violent action has overcome oppression.”

The schedule also indicates that Murray Thomson, one of the founders of PBI in September 1981, participated in a panel discussion.

The full 77-minute film ‘A Force More Powerful’ can be seen online here.

A 16-page study guide for the film can be found here.

This Earth Day, petition the Prime Minister to better protect at-risk environmental human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
-

April 22 is Earth Day and this year’s theme is climate action.

The Peace Brigades International global statement highlights, “As Earth Day focuses our attention on conserving the natural environment it is important environmental defenders on the frontline are supported and protected.”

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has affirmed this imperative and in a recent address to the Human Rights Council told them, “We must better protect those who defend the environment.”

Bachelet highlighted, “Environmental defenders – including those who defend indigenous peoples’ right to land – engage in great service to their countries, and indeed humanity. The Office and Special Rapporteurs have noted attacks on environmental human rights defenders in virtually every region, particularly in Latin America.”

In 2019, 304 human rights defenders were killed including 106 in Colombia, 31 in Honduras, 23 in Mexico and 15 in Guatemala. Overall, 40 per cent of those killed worked on land, Indigenous peoples and environmental rights.

Furthermore, Bachelet has described climate change as “a rapidly growing and global threat to human rights” and has called on governments “to contribute the strongest possible action to prevent climate change.”

PBI’s Earth Day statement notes, “PBI draws attention to the plight of environmental defenders who put their lives at risk to protect their territories from economic projects that destroy ecosystems and instigate irreversible damage. They must be protected to prevent further climate breakdown of our shared planet.”

It adds, “PBI will continue to seek ways to ensure these defenders can continue with their fundamental work, despite the risk and even during the coronavirus crisis, as without their work we risk further crisis across the planet.”

One way to take action in Canada is to call on Prime Minister Justin Trudeau to recognize climate change as a threat to human rights, commit to deeper emission reduction targets, and support strategies to better protect at-risk human rights defenders.

To do so, please send an email to the Prime Minister, that you can personalize with your own added message, via our online Urgent Action here.

Secwepemc Elk Tiny House rammed by truck in late night assault

By
Brent Patterson
-

Indigenous land defenders are at risk around the world for defending their territories and the environment from destructive extractivist megaprojects.

On April 20, Indigenous Secwepemc land defender Kanahus Manuel tweeted, “3 white drunk males bring violence to our home, smashed through front entrance barricades, stole my truck, smashed it into the Elk Tiny House and then smashed truck into light pole, assaulted Indigenous male and then fled.” 

She also tweeted, “This is a hate crime and crime scene, it is using a motor vehicle as a weapon and endangering lives with intent.”

On Instagram, she posted, “What happened last night is a very serious attack on my life.”

For an 11-minute video of Manuel describing what happened, please click here.

Manuel is opposed to the construction of the 890,000 barrel per day Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline. The pipeline would cross 518 kilometres of unceded Secwepemc territory in British Columbia without that nation’s free, prior and informed consent.

The Tiny House Warriors website explains their strategy to stop the pipeline: “In defence, we have built the Tiny House Warrior camp: six small homes to stop the construction of this pipeline and the workforce sent to build it.”

Elle Magazine has previously reported, “Each has an indoor composting toilet and a wood-burning stove. They’re eco-friendly, solar-powered and completely fossil fuel-free, decorated with intricate murals on the outside depicting indigenous culture. [One mural] involves an ancient tale about an elk chief and a swan.”

It was the Elk Tiny House that was attacked last night.

That tiny house is situated where “a 1000-worker Blue River Campsite is plotted to be built on 16 hectares of our lands for the construction of this pipeline.”

This man camp is of considerable concern.

The Secwepemc Women’s Declaration Against Kinder Morgan Man Camp states, “Wherever man camps are set up, we face exponential increases in sexual violence.”

And James Anaya, the former United Nations Special Rapporteur on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, has noted, “Indigenous women have reported that the influx of workers into indigenous communities as a result of extractive projects also led to increased incidents of sexual harassment and violence, including rape and assault.”

This past December, the United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination expressed that it was, “Alarmed by escalating threat of violence against indigenous peoples, such as the reported violent arrest and detainment of a Secwepemc defender against the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project, on 19th October 2019.”

That UN Committee further called “upon the State party to immediately cease construction of the Trans Mountain Pipeline Expansion project and cancel all permits, until free, prior and informed consent is obtained from all the Secwepemc people, following the full and adequate discharge of the duty to consult.”

Peace Brigades International-Canada is concerned by this situation of violence against Manuel and calls for an end to it so that she and other land defenders may continue to peacefully defend their unceded territory against a megaproject that lacks the free, prior and informed consent of the Secwepemc Nation.

Photos and videos from last night’s attack can be seen on Manuel’s Twitter feed here. She is looking for assistance from the public in identifying the three men who committed this attack and then fled with her keys.

Urgent Action: Climate action means supporting human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
-

Urgent Action: Climate action means supporting human rights defenders


 
 
 

Add your name to this petition and an email will automatically be sent to Prime Minister Justin Trudeau.

United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has described climate change as “a rapidly growing and global threat to human rights” and has called on governments “to contribute the strongest possible action to prevent climate change.”

Noting the attacks against environmental human rights defenders particularly in Latin America, Bachelet says, “We must better protect those who defend the environment.”

Please call on the Prime Minister to recognize climate change as a threat to human rights, commit to deeper emission reduction targets, and support strategies to better protect at-risk human rights defenders.

Take action to support human rights defenders! You can also add your own message in this email to the Prime Minister!

[emailpetition id=”3″]

Armed group in Guerrero threatens Mexican journalist Ezequiel Flores and human rights defender Manuel Olivares

By
Brent Patterson
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On April 13, the United Front of Community Police of Guerrero State threatened human rights activist Manuel Olivares Hernández and journalist Ezequiel Flores Contreras via a media release the armed group posted on Facebook.

The Associated Press reports, “An armed vigilante group in southern Mexico has threatened a well-known human rights activist and a journalist, saying the two would be abducted and subjected to ‘re-education’.”

Quadratin also notes the threat faced by Teodomira Rosales Sierra who works at the Morelos Center for Human Rights along with Olivares.

The Havana Times adds, “Flores told the Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) that he fears for his life, saying that violence against journalists had increased in Guerrero over the last few years, and that, ‘The state authorities cannot guarantee the safety of anyone’.”

“He told CPJ that he contacted the Federal Mechanism for the Protection of Human Rights Defenders and Journalists, which operates under the auspices of the federal Interior Secretariat, to be provided with protective measures.”

“An official with the mechanism, who asked to remain anonymous as they are not authorized to speak publicly on the matter, confirmed to CPJ on April 14 that the mechanism was analyzing Flores’ application for protection.”

That article also notes, “Flores has been the correspondent in Guerrero for Proceso, one of Mexico’s most widely read investigative news magazines, for 20 years, he told CPJ. He mostly covers corruption, organized crime, and human rights abuses, and has been threatened several times before, according to Flores and CPJ’s review of his reporting.”

Furthermore, related separate incidents, PBI-Mexico posted this alert from the Tlachinollan Human Rights Centre that notes: “In recent days, on 22 and 26 March, extremely serious information was published, which puts the life of defender Manuel Olivares Hernández at risk.” That alert also notes, “At the end of December, comrade Teodomira was the victim of a sexual assault by an elite group of the state police.”

In March 2019, Peace Brigades International and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA) release the report Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico.

It notes that under former president Enrique Peña Nieto’s administration (December 2012-November 2018) at least 161 human rights defenders and 40 journalists were murdered, and that from December 1, 2018 (when President Andrés Manuel López Obrador took office) to March 2019, at least 17 journalists and human rights defenders had been killed.

The report concludes with 17 recommendations on how to improve the protection of journalists and human rights defenders in Mexico.

PBI-Guatemala notes Solway mine continues to operate despite COVID-19 and court ruling

By
Brent Patterson
-

On April 18, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project shared an article on its Facebook page about the refusal of the Russian-Swiss company Solway to suspend operations at its nickel mine in El Estor during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Human rights defenders in the department of Izabal oppose the open-pit Fenix nickel mine in the municipality of El Estor because it is causing serious environmental damage and irreparable harm to Lake Izabal, Guatemala’s largest freshwater lake.

The mine was first developed by Toronto-based Inco, then owned by Toronto-based Hudbay and Vancouver-based Skye Resources, and is now operated by the Russian-owned Solway Group that is based in Zug, Switzerland.

Eduardo Bin Poou, a Q’eqchi human rights defender and vice president of the Fishermen’s Association of El Estor, Izabal, has been criminalized for his opposition to the mine. PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Human Rights Law Firm (BDH) that has represented Bin Poou in court against this criminalization.

On April 16, Medium reported, “The municipal authorities of El Estor are implementing government measures to prevent and contain the virus. The Q’eqchi population too. But the nickel company’s refusal to suspend operations generated concern and unease for many people in the municipality, including mining workers.”

“Since March 13, with the confirmation of the first positive case of COVID-19 in the country, the workers of the company and their families expressed their concern about having to continue attending the nickel processing plant.”

The article highlights, “Government regulations banned the transportation of all kinds from April 8 to 12, [but] the nickel company used several boatmen to transport workers to the nickel plant. …The company evaded all local controls and transferred workers to the processing plant during the day and night.”

In July 2019, The Guardian reported, “Guatemala’s constitutional court has upheld a request from indigenous campaigners to suspend operations at one of the largest nickel mines in Central America, in a battle over the facility’s environmental impact.”

“The court found in favour of an appeal brought by campaigners who claim the ministry of energy and mines failed to carry out a full consultation with local people when it decided, in 2016, to extend the licence for the Fenix mine.”

On April 15, Prensa Comunitaria tweeted, “In #ElEstor the operations of the Nickel Company continued from April 8 to 12, despite the presidential provisions by the #COVID19 that prohibits the circulation of all heavy transport and the provisional suspension by the @CC_Guatemala [constitutional court].”

The Medium article concludes with the comment, “For entrepreneurs Dan and Aleksandr Bronstein and the Solway company, the suspension of the CC [constitutional court] and the pandemic are not enough to stop extractive activity in Guatemala. It is clear that money is above the laws and people’s lives.”

Photo: Open pit nickel quarry area in El Estor Izabal. Photography Baudilio Choc.

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