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PBI-Guatemala accompanies CCDA Verapaz at an assembly of communities impacted by the Rocja Pontilá dam

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 15, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Yesterday we accompanied CCDA Verapaz and its leaders to an assembly of communities affected by the Rocja Pontilá hydroelectric company.”

“Ancestral authorities and community people expressed concern about the construction of the project in the Río Setoc village. They demand canceling the agreement signed by the former Minister of Energy and Mines one day before leaving the government, arguing that a prior, free and informed consultation was not made.”

News reports in El Periodico, Prensa Comunitaria, Prensa Libre, and Plaza Publica provide us with this information:

What: The proposed 40-megawatt, 10 metre (33 feet) high Rocja Pontilá hydroelectric dam would direct the flow of the Icbolay River into a 6 metre (20 feet) diameter tube that would then pass through turbines to generate power.

Where: The dam would be built on and divert the flow of the Icbolay River, one of the main tributaries of the Lachuá Lagoon National Park. The park is located in the northwest corner of Alta Verapaz in the north central part of Guatemala.

Why (the concern): Several organizations, including the National Council of Protected Areas (CONAP), have stated that the dam would put the ecosystem of the Lachuá Lagoon National Park at risk. For CONAP, the biological wealth of the area would be affected if 90 per cent of the flow is taken from the Icbolay River. They say that the capacity of the river to provide ecosystem services to the local population, such as access to water, fishing, tourism, would also be affected. As noted above, impacted communities say that a free, prior and informed consultation did not take place.

When: The company submitted its first Environmental Impact Study (EIA) in 2013. Their study was approved by the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (MARN) in November 2016. The Constitutional Court (CC) declared the provisional suspension of the environmental licence in June 2017. The Ministry of Energy and Mines (MEM) issued its final approval on January 13, 2020, one day before the change of government.

Who: The hydroelectric project is promoted by the Rocja Pontilá Central Integral Development Project, a joint-stock company run by Aurelio Asturias Ekenberg.

PBI-Guatemala has previously noted that six defenders and members of CCDA Verapaz were murdered between 2016 and 2018. Also, two members of the organization were disappeared during that time, including Abelino Zacarias, who had filed an injunction against the Rocja Pontilá hydroelectric dam.

PBI-Guatemala began accompanying the CCDA Verapaz in July 2018.

PBI-Guatemala hosts public forum and ‘La Sangre de la Tierra’ film screening

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project hosted a screening of ‘La Sangre de la Tierra’ (The Blood of the Earth) in Guatemala City yesterday, February 13.

There was also a public forum following the screening including two representatives of Nuevo Dia (‘New Day’ Ch’orti’ Campesino Central Coordinator).

The event at the Hotel Hilton Garden Inn was supported by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Netherlands and the Ajuntament de Valencia (the Town Hall of Valencia, Spain).

Photos from the public forum have now been posted to the PBI-Guatemala Facebook page. Video from that public forum can also be seen here and here.

The documentary film by Félix Zurita tells the story of community resistance to hydroelectric dams. Specifically, opposition to the Puebla 1 dam in Mexico, Los Planes in Honduras, and the Renace and Oxec dams in Guatemala.

The trailer for the film can be seen here.

Seven dams have been built on the Cahabón River and its tributaries. The two most recently completed dams are Oxec II which began operation in September 2018 and Renace IV which became operational in January 2019.

Numerous concerns have been raised about these dams, including their impacts on the river, tributaries and ecosystems.

Indigenous Q’eqchi’ peoples have stated that the dams are illegal because they were not properly consulted or informed about them as required under the ILO Convention 169 and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP).

Q’eqchi’ community leader Caal Xol, now unjustly imprisoned, is a high-profile opponent of these hydroelectric dams. A 3-minute PBI-Guatemala video interview with him marking the second anniversary of his imprisonment can be seen here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies both Nuevo Dia and the Peaceful Resistance Cahabón.

PBI-Kenya highlights ‘Missing Voices’ action on St. Valentine’s Day to remember victims of police killings

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 14, the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project posted, “Today, Missing Voices launched the 2019 Annual Report on the State of Police Killings and Enforced Disappearances in Kenya.”

PBI-Kenya continues, “As the World celebrates Valentine’s Day, Missing Voices is spreading roses not bullets in remembrance of victims of police killings and enforced disappearances and urging Kenyans to speak up because their silence kills.”

As noted on its website, Missing Voices is “a group of organizations whose mission is to end enforced disappearances and extrajudicial killings in Kenya.”

Peace Brigades International is a partner organization to Missing Voices.

In this recent press statement, Missing Voices notes, “Last year, police killed 107 Kenyans according to Missing Voices verified data, most of those killed were young men mostly in informal settlements. The numbers show that 69 per cent of those killed were mostly youth of between 18 to 35 years, followed by 20 per cent of those below 18 years. With about 80 per cent of those killed in 2019 being below the age of 35, Kenya is heading on a slippery slope where we seem to criminalise youth.”

Peace Brigades International has previously noted, “People in Nairobi’s informal settlements face serious inequities in basic services ranging from water and sanitation to the state’s justice system, which threatens their very right to life.”

“Extrajudicial executions are frequently carried out in these areas by murderous police officers, whose collaboration with the regular police units and with the operational and support structures remains a mystery.”

“Such experiences do not occur in Nairobi’s affluent neighborhoods, highlighting the scorn and widespread criminalization of the urban poor.”

In April 2018, PBI-Kenya together with the Mathare Social Justice Centre, the Ghetto Foundation and Saferworld began a two-year project titled Ushirikiano Mwema kwa Usalama (Good relationships for safety) to tackle the normalization of extrajudicial killings in the Nairobi constituencies of Mathare, Kamukunji and Embakasi North.

In January 2020, PBI-Kenya provided members of the Network of Mothers of Victims and Survivors of extra judicial killings, anchored at the Mathare Social Justice Centre, with trainings meant to build the capacities of the network as they pursue justice for their families and others.

Our Annual Review notes that in 2018, “Four international volunteers accompanied members of two grassroots organisations and twenty-nine human rights defenders working in the Nairobi’s urban settlements and the Mount Kenya region.”

PBI-Honduras comments on the importance of land defenders given climate change

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 14, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project commented, “The fact that Honduras is one of the areas most affected by the climate change within Latin America shows once again the importance of the work provided by land and territory defenders, criminalized for their work in defense of common goods.”

The El Pais article that PBI-Honduras shared on its Facebook page reports:

“In the last decade, Honduras was the second country most affected by hurricanes, storms or floods according to the Climate Risk Index (IRC) prepared by Germanwatch every year.”

“And its future does not seem brighter than its recent past: in almost all the maps of the United Nations group of experts on climate change (IPCC), this region appears in red, and it is expected that its coastal areas will soon be under the sea, like Myanmar, Dominica or the Caribbean islands of Panama.”

“In Cedeño, located in the Gulf of Fonseca, the sea is eating the coast at a rate of one meter and 22 centimeters each year. Its inhabitants already live in the future.”

“’You can say that climate change is the third cause of emigration after violence or hunger but the three are linked to each other,’ says Pablo Costa from EL Rica, Pablo Escribano, specialist in climate change and migration of the Organization International for Migration (IOM).”

The article also raises concerns that have been expressed about the construction of hydroelectric dams in Honduras – including the struggle against the dam that cost Berta Cáceres her life – and the coastal degradation caused by shrimp farms, which would, according to the Chronicle Herald, include the Seajoy Seafood Corp. shrimp farms now owned by New Brunswick, Canada-based Cooke Aquaculture.

On March 20, 2019, the United Nations Human Rights Council passed a resolution that “stresses that human rights defenders, including environmental human rights defenders, must be ensured a safe and enabling environment to undertake their work free from hindrance and insecurity, in recognition of their important role in supporting States to fulfil their obligations under the Paris Agreement [an agreement within the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change, dealing with greenhouse-gas-emissions mitigation, adaptation, and finance, reached in December 2015].”

In 2018, eight PBI-Honduras international volunteers accompanied members of six organizations and one individual human rights defender working on business and human rights, land rights, indigenous rights, freedom of expression, support to victims, women’s rights and LGBTI rights. Volunteers are based in Tegucigalpa.

Your support is appreciated

By
Brent Patterson
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With your support Peace Brigades International helps to protect at-risk human rights defenders (Indigenous peoples, campesinos/peasants, activists, land rights advocates, environmental human rights defenders, women human rights defenders) in numerous ways.

That includes the direct action of unarmed physical accompaniment as well as disseminating updates about their struggles to amplify awareness and attention so that the eyes of the world help reduce the likelihood of an attack against them.

If you are able to make a donation to support our collective work, you can do so online quickly and securely by clicking here. Any amount, large or small, is appreciated and needed to sustain this tangible solidarity work.

Thank you!

PBI-Guatemala visits ongoing La Puya blockade camp at entrance to open-pit gold mine

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 13, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Yesterday we visited the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya camp, composed of 12 communities of San Pedro Ayampuc and San José del Golfo, which has been maintained for 8 years in front of the entrance of the Progreso VII Derivada mine.”

“In 2016, the CC [Constitutional Court] resolved an amparo [a remedy for the protection of constitutional rights] of the resistance by ordering the temporary closure of mining work due to lack of prior, free and informed consultation of the affected populations.”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “Currently, the Resistance is awaiting the arbitration ruling dealt with by the International Center for Investment Dispute Arrangements (ICSID) on the complaint that Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA) filed against the Guatemalan State following the resolution of the CC [Constitutional Court].”

Further context

Residents from the communities of San José del Golfo and San Pedro Ayampuc – an area known as La Puya – have been fighting against the Progreso VII Derivada-El Tambor mine located just north of Guatemala City since March 2010.

In 2012, the non-governmental organization Guatemala Human Rights Commission-USA explained, “La Puya started, as many great movements do, with a single act of civil disobedience.”

“A woman, concerned by the sudden arrival of a gold mining operation in her community, decided to park her car sidewise across a dusty, rural road, stopping a convoy of massive mining machinery in its tracks. Others quickly joined her, taking a stand in defense of their water supply, farmland, health and environment.”

“This impromptu roadside gathering of community members became, essentially, a human roadblock, preventing tractors, dump trucks and other equipment from entering the Tambor mine site. Over time, the roadblock grew into the resistance movement known as La Puya.”

The mine is owned by Reno-based Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (KCA).

The Peaceful Resistance of La Puya has stated, “[The environmental impact assessment] shows that the gold and silver are contained in arsenopyrite rock, which contains high levels of arsenic. Levels of arsenic in the water increased considerably during the time the mine was in operation.”

In July 2015, a Guatemalan court ruled in favour of La Puya, ordering EXMINGUA – the Guatemalan subsidiary of KCA – to suspend all activities at the mine until a community consultation was held. Then in February 2016, the Guatemalan Supreme Court ruled to provisionally suspend the mining licence due to a lack of prior consultation.

In December 2018, KCA filed a $300 million claim with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a World Bank arbitration mechanism.

The company cites community protests and unjust treatment by the state as a violation of the terms of the Free Trade Agreement between the Dominican Republic, Central America and the United States.

The El Tambor mine was previously owned by Vancouver-based Radius Gold.

The Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) has highlighted, “Although Radius Gold sold its shares in the local Guatemalan subsidiary Exploraciones Mineras de Guatemala S.A. (EXMINGUA) to KCA in August 2012, it retains an economic interest in the mine.”

NISGUA notes, “The company’s 2013 audited financial statements state that three quarters of the cost of the sale transaction will be paid to Radius once gold shipments commence from the property and that Radius also anticipates quarterly payments from KCA based on gold production.”

PBI-Guatemala began providing accompaniment to the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya in November 2012.

PBI-Honduras publishes ‘Defending the Land has a Woman’s Name’ report ahead of United Nations review

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 6, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project began to circulate its new report Defending the Land has a Woman’s Name.

The report notes:

On May 8, 2020, during the 36th session of the Human Rights Council, Honduras will undergo its third Universal Periodic Review (UPR).

The Universal Periodic Review is a process that involves a review of the human rights records of all United Nations member states under the auspices of the UN Human Rights Council. It provides an opportunity for each State to declare what actions they have taken to improve their human rights situation.

Over five years since the opening of the Peace Brigades International (PBI) project in the country, and with a consolidated presence in rural areas, PBI has observed a concerning situation for defenders of Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ESCR).

Within the context of the defence of ESCR, and in keeping with the transversal focus on gender as described in this Strategic Plan, PBI has found that women defenders of land, territory and the environment in Honduras are in a particularly vulnerable situation.

Through this report, PBI aims to bring increased visibility to the specific violence and risks that women defenders of land, territory and the environment face.

The process of granting concessions in Honduran territories to national and international companies that began at the start of this decade, has led to 302 mining concessions covering 2,173 square kilometres.

The exploitation of natural resources leaves communities without the means of production and forces them to defend their territories and life itself. Traditionally, the responsibility for the sustainability of life and the satisfaction of human needs (food security, healthcare, education, care) lies with women. This is why the exploitation of land leads to even greater vulnerability for women defenders of ESC rights.

As part of the 2015 UPR, the governments of Canada, the United States, Norway and Switzerland published recommendations in which they requested that the military police be redefined as a temporary measure [but] the PMOP [military police], created as a temporary measure, has become a normalised practice and the number of officers continues to increase. Civil society reports that this increase is accompanied by a rise in human rights violations, and more specifically an increase in sexual abuse.

The report also includes ‘Women Defenders Speak’ sections featuring Lilian Borjas of the National Centre for Fieldworkers (CNTC) and María Santos Domínguez of the Council of Popular and Indigenous Organizations of Honduras (COPINH).

Both the CNTC and COPINH are accompanied by PBI-Honduras.

The 34-page report concludes with 11 recommendations and can be read in full here. Additionally, the 9-page ‘Report for the Universal Periodic Review of Honduras 2020 Women defenders of land, territory and the environment’ submitted by PBI-Honduras in September 2019, can be read here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón to present complaint to the Public Ministry about attacks

By
Brent Patterson
-

On February 12, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted on its Facebook page, “Yesterday we accompanied members of the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón to the MP of San Pedro Carchá. They filed a complaint for the attacks received by workers linked to the OXEC hydroelectric plant.”

“MP” refers to “Ministerio Público” (Public Ministry), “an auxiliary institution of the public administration and of the courts with autonomous functions, whose purposes are to ensure strict compliance with the laws of the country.”

The PBI-Guatemala social media post adds, “The communities of Cahabón exercise their right to defend their territory before the implementation of the hydroelectric project without the prior, free and informed consent.”

PBI-Guatemala has previously explained, “On the Cahabón River and its tributaries Oxec, Canlich and Chiacté, seven hydroelectric plants currently operate: Renace I, II, III, IV, Oxec, Oxec II, and Chichaic.” The two most recently completed dams are Oxec II which began operation in September 2018 and Renace IV which became operational in January 2019.

Contrainformacion.es has noted, “The construction [of the Renace hydroelectric complex] is having a ‘serious impact on human rights’ for the 29,000 indigenous people living in this territory.” And the book Let’s free our rivers, highlights that the construction of many dams “seriously changes the fluvial ecosystem” around the riverbeds, “destroying habitats, modifying the flow and changing the basic water parameters.”

Telesur has also reported, “The communities claim the Oxec and Renace hydroelectric projects are illegal because the local Indigenous Q’eqchi’ peoples were not properly consulted and informed about it, as established by Convention 169 of the International Labor Organization” and the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.

PBI-United Kingdom has noted, “In August 2017, PBI provided security support to the good-faith consultation in which the 195 communities of the Cahabón River overwhelmingly rejected the Oxec hydroelectric projects.”

Not long after that, in November 2018, Mayan Q’eqchi’ community leader Caal Xol was sentenced to seven years and four months in prison.

Telesur explains, “It was Caal Xol who filed three lawsuits against the Oxec construction company at different institutions, including accusations for failing to consult the local population, and illegally cutting down 15 hectares of trees.”

The struggle against Oxec and Renace is featured in the new documentary film ‘La Sangre de la Tierra’ (The Blood of the Earth) by Félix Zurita. The trailer for the film (that also tells the story of resistance to hydroelectric dam projects in Honduras and Mexico) can be seen here.

PBI-Guatemala will be screening the film in Guatemala City tomorrow, February 13.

PBI-Colombia accompanies organizations at JEP ‘false positives’ hearing of retired National Army General Montoya

By
Brent Patterson
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On February 12, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted on their Facebook page “Today PBI accompanies organizations representing victims at the Gnrl (R) Montoya hearing in the JEP…”

The organizations tagged in their post are the Association of Human Rights Defenders Network of Colombia (dhColombia), the José Alvear Restrepo Lawyers’ Collective Corporation (CCAJAR) and the Corporation for Judicial Freedom (CJL).

PBI-Colombia continues, “[There] a rally was organized reminding people and young people who were victims of disappearance and after execution, the so-called ‘false positives’. They ask for the clarification of the truth about these terrible crimes.”

Gnrl (R) Montoya

Colombia Reports has explained, “Colombia’s former National Army commander General Mario Montoya, an alleged mastermind of the mass murder of civilians to fake military successes, has been called to trial. …The court wants the former general to appear on February 12 to clarify his role in the ‘false positives’ that spiked under his command.”

False positives

False positives refer to the extrajudicial executions of thousands of individuals falsely presented by the military as combat kills.

The Guardian has reported, “According to authors Omar Rojas Bolaños and Fabian Leonardo Benavides, approximately 10,000 civilians were executed by the army between 2002 and 2010 – more than three times the number tallied by human rights groups.”

That article adds, “The inflated figures were used to justify US aid military packages while the officers who carried out the executions were rewarded with promotions and time off.”

JEP

The JEP refers to the Special Jurisdiction for Peace.

Georgetown Law has explained, “Colombia’s 2016 Peace Agreement with the FARC-EP guerrillas included the creation of a groundbreaking transitional justice system, the Special Jurisdiction for Peace (JEP). Meant to try both former guerrillas, and members of the Colombian Armed Forces who committed war crimes and crimes against humanity, the JEP remains the most visible symbol of the Peace Agreement.”

Today’s hearing

El Espectador reports, “The victims who will be present and the lawyers are part of organizations such as Mafapo, the Colombian Commission of Jurists, Current Humanity, Corporación Jurídica Libertad, Inter-Church Justice and Peace Commission, Javier Villegas Posada Asociados, Minga Association, the Solidarity Committee Foundation with the Political Prisoners and the José Alvear Restrepo Bar Association.”

“This meeting is just the first stage of contributing to the truth of the people indicated of having committed serious crimes. Those who do not contribute to the full truth must go to an adversarial trial in the JEP Court. If they are found responsible for serious human rights violations and serious violations of International Humanitarian Law, they may be sentenced to up to 20 years in prison.”

The hearing that started today is scheduled to conclude on February 14.

PBI-Guatemala shares articles about Lorena Cabnal on territorial defence, ancestral memory and healing

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has accompanied Lorena Cabnal, a Mayan Q’eqchi’-xinka healer and feminist, since 2006.

PBI-Guatemala recently posted on their Facebook page two articles about Lorena: Healing as a cosmic-political path (in Ruda: Women and Territory) and Lorena Cabnal: Healing, feminism and community defense (in Luchadoras).

Some of the concepts helpful in understanding Lorena’s vision and the work of TZ’KAT Red de Sanadoras Ancestrales del Feminismo Comunitario desde Ixmulew – TZ’KAT Network of Ancestral Healers of Community, Territorial Feminism from Iximulew (which has been accompanied by PBI-Guatemala since 2018) include:

Territorialism – This conveys that the identity of Indigenous peoples is linked to a specific territory and ecological system.

Body-land territory – This is an historical-structural analysis that sees the struggle for the defence of land against extractivism as inseparable from the struggle for women in those territories to live free from violence against their bodies.

Territorial feminism – This sees the recovery of territory and the integrity of Indigenous women’s bodies as an integral part of the journey towards emancipation. It recognizes the structural and other violence against the bodies of Indigenous women, while seeing the body as a means through which liberation becomes possible.

Extractivism and patriarchal culture – This sees extractivism (oil and gas, mining, logging, dams) as exacerbating patriarchal culture, which impacts women’s lives. It links mega-projects with a masculinization of territories and the restructuring of community spaces and daily life to fit the values of hegemonic masculinity.

Territorial femicide – This refers to the systematic persecution and murder of women environmental human rights defenders, women’s rights and territorial defenders.

Cosmovision – A cosmovision defines common notions that apply to all areas of life, from politics, the economy and science, to religion, morality and philosophy. It also refers to the interconnectedness of all of us with each other and with nature.

Ancestral memories – This refers to both the remote memories of violence against ancestors at the time of colonization, the more recent memories of violence, criminalization and persecution, as well as ancestral memories of learning from elders, healing, walking in nature, and gathering medicines.

To hear from Lorena directly, please see In her own words: Lorena Cabnal (in English on the PBI-UK website), Lorena Cabnal: “I recover the joy without losing the indignation, as an emancipatory and vital act” (in Spanish) and Weaving the network (in Spanish).

For a continued study on this, please see the Peace Brigades International publication: Guatemala’s Indigenous Women in Resistance: On the Frontline of the Community’s Struggle to Defend Mother Earth and her Natural Assets.

Please also see this PBI-Netherlands publication: Strong Women Safe in Action: A Comprehensive Guide on Women Human Rights Defenders’ Protection.

To relate the worldview of Lorena and TZ’KAT to events this past week in this country, please see the photo essay Wet’suwet’en matriarchs arrested as RCMP enforce Coastal GasLink pipeline injunction by Amber Bracken in The Narwhal.

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