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PBI-Mexico accompanies Focal Group that raises concerns about megaprojects

By
Brent Patterson
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Mexican human rights groups are raising concerns about the Mayan Train project that has attracted the interest of Canadian investors.

On July 5, Contralinea reported (in Spanish):

“Human rights organizations call on the federal government, headed by Andrés Manuel López Obrador, to carry out a ‘balance’ between the projects that this administration intends to develop [such as the Mayan Train project] and respect for the environment, the rights of indigenous peoples over their territories and natural commons…”

The Focal Group

That article notes that the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project accompanies the Focal Group of Civil Society on Business and Human Rights.

Members of the Focal Group include: The Mexican Centre for Environmental Law (CEMDA), the Business and Human Rights Resource Centre (BHRRC), the Economic, Social and Cultural Rights Project (ProDESC), and The Project on Organizing, Development, Education, and Research (PODER).

PBI-Mexico has accompanied the Focal Group since 2015.

The Mayan Train

The Mayan Train (el Tren Maya) is a $6-8 billion project that would involve the building of 1,500 kilometres of railroad track, nearly one-third of it through tropical forests.

It would link Mayan archaeological sites as tourist destinations in five southeastern states: Campeche, Chiapas, Quintana Roo, Tabasco and the Yucatán.

The track would also be used to move commercial freight.

On January 15, Diálogo Chino reported, “Italian, Canadian and Chinese companies have shown great interest in the Mayan Train.”

In their analysis of Mexican President Andrés Manuel López Obrador (AMLO) earlier this year, PBI-Mexico commented:

“The organizations that we accompany continue to be concerned for AMLO’s position on the rights of Indigenous populations, given that his public discourse seems to respect their autonomy, but he continues to propose initiatives of megaprojects such as the Mayan Train or new mining investments.”

No Indigenous consent

AMLO is championing the Mayan Train project even though it lacks the free, prior and informed consent of Indigenous peoples in Mexico.

In December 2018, Mexico News Daily reported, “[Mayan activists on the Yucatán peninsula] contend that the development of megaprojects on the peninsula means stripping their lands, deforestation and contamination of water and food, affects productive activities such as beekeeping, causes health problems and threatens their culture and traditions.”

The Mayan communities say, “There’s nothing Mayan about the train.”

The Diálogo Chino quotes Gustavo Alanís, director of the Focal Group member group CEMDA, who commented, “Consultations with communities and Indigenous peoples have to be held according to the ILO’s convention 169, which indicates there must be free, prior and informed consent.”

Water pollution

Furthermore, Victor Lichtinger and Homero Aridjis wrote in The Washington Post in December 2018, “No plan for the train has been made public, and there have been no environmental, social or economic viability studies.”

They also highlighted, “The proliferation of hotels and private houses around Bacalar [which is on the train’s route], known as the lake of seven colors, is already polluting its crystalline waters. A dramatic increase in tourism would turn the lake into a cesspool.”

Zapatista opposition

The Zapatista Army of National Liberation (EZLN) has also expressed its opposition to the Mayan Train project.

The Digital Journal has reported, “The [Mayan Train] plan is to connect tourist havens with less visited archaeological sites such as Palenque, which is in Chiapas, where the Zapatistas are based and control large amounts of territory.”

Timeline

Construction on the track is expected to begin in 2020.

It could be in operation as early as 2022.

PBI-Mexico’s analysis, Weighing up the new government, on political prisoners, Ayotzinapa, militarization and territorial defence can be read here.

The full Contralinea article can be read (in Spanish) here.

To help support the writing of more articles like this one, please make a donation to Peace Brigades International-Canada by clicking here.

PBI-Mexico attends Contingency Plan meeting in Chihuahua

By
Brent Patterson
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On July 4, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted in Spanish on both Twitter and Facebook, “At the tables of the Contingency Plan of Chihuahua. A public policy promoted by civil society that seeks to implement protection measures for defenders in the state of Chihuahua.”

PBI-Mexico has previously posted on its website that the Mexican government and the governor of Chihuahua signed the Contingency Plan in June 2017.

It explained, “[The Contingency Plan] was created from the Early Warning System [that 26 civil society organizations petitioned for in March 2016] for the protection of human rights defenders and journalists in Chihuahua.”

PBI-Mexico also explained, “The plan has 5 main themes: journalists and freedom of expression; vulnerable populations; the environment; the Tarahumara Sierra; and cross-cutting strategies like justice, transparency of information and the legal context.”

The report Turning the Tide on Impunity: Protection and Access to Justice for Journalists and Human Rights Defenders in Mexico, produced by Peace Brigades International and the Washington Office on Latin America (WOLA), gives further details.

That report, published in March 2019, notes, “[Mexico’s Mechanism to Protect Human Rights Defenders and Journalists] has begun to address prevention through the development of ‘early warnings’ and ‘contingency plans’, a system aimed at preventing future attacks against journalists and human rights defenders.”

“In any state where an early warning is activated, Mechanism staff are charged with collaborating with the state government and, ideally, local journalists and human rights defenders, to put together a written assessment of the situation of journalists and defenders in that state.”

“The assessment is then used to develop a contingency plan with actions designed to combat the root causes of the risks posed to these groups.”

The report also notes, “Importantly, the plan includes strategies on how to strengthen Chihuahua’s justice institutions and legal framework in order to improve investigations into crimes against journalists and human rights defenders.”

“So far the implementation process been highly participatory: working groups between civil society organizations, federal and state authorities, and representatives from the OHCHR [Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights] and CNDH [National Human Rights Commission] are held periodically to discuss best practices for implementation.”

The report also points to some challenges.

“Despite the commitments made under the plan, Chihuahua authorities have not yet launched campaigns to raise awareness of the underlying factors contributing to violence against this population, such as the overexploitation of water, organized crime, and lack of government presence in the Sierra Tarahumara.”

“During [former President Enrique] Peña Nieto’s administration some federal authorities responsible for addressing specific actions related to the plan—such as those concerning environmental management or improving conditions in the Sierra Tarahumara—sent representatives who had no decision-making power to the working groups, and later provided little to no follow-up.”

The report concludes, “While not without flaws, Chihuahua’s experience could arguably be seen as a model for other Mexican states to follow.”

“Notably, in June 2018, the UN and IACHR [Inter-American Commission on Human Rights] Special Rapporteurs for freedom of expression affirmed that ‘the Contingency Plan in Chihuahua, if developed properly and in a transparent manner, has the potential of becoming one of the best practices in the region regarding prevention measures for human rights defenders and journalists’.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project’s team based in Chihuahua has been observing the Contingency Plan process since May 2017.

To help support the writing of more articles like this one, please make a donation to Peace Brigades International-Canada by clicking here.

Honduran military’s use of Canadian truck raises controversy

By
Brent Patterson
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Concerns are being raised after a photo of Honduran soldiers riding in a truck with a Canada logo on it began circulating on social media.

On June 22, Honduras Solidarity tweeted, “Vehicles w/ Canadian flag that were ‘donated’ to Min. of Health, carry Military Police to repress protesters defending public education & healthcare. Pics are circulating on social media in Honduras.”

By June 27, Proceso reported (in Spanish), “The publication provoked a reaction from the Canadian ambassador in Honduras, James K. Hill, who issued a statement in which he stated that his government ‘is deeply concerned about the recent images circulating in Honduras showing vehicles with the Canadian logo, transporting military personnel’.”

The photo was also reported on by Tiempo, La Prensa, and Criterio.

The Honduran Minister of Health Alba Consuelo Flores has now explained that the truck was being used to transport soldiers to provide security to the health teams that were doing their work in areas where there is conflict.

Minister Flores has stated (in Spanish), “We carried out the investigation in the departmental sanitary region of Colón and they told us that the vehicles were used to transfer the soldiers who accompany the contingents who move through neighborhoods and some dangerous places to clean up the dengue.”

And she has noted, “We continue to do a more thorough investigation, we have sent explanations and apologies to the Canadian embassy.”

Criterio reports (in Spanish), “The uniformed were transferred in a sector of Tegucigalpa where a repression was made against demonstrators who protested, demanding the exit of the power of the head of government, Juan Hernández.”

The Canadian ambassador’s statement says, “These vehicles were only intended to allow employees of the Ministry of Health to reach remote populations and improve access to health services by vulnerable populations.”

The ambassador’s sternly worded statement adds, “We have insisted that immediate steps be taken to ensure that this unacceptable use of development cooperation resources provided by Canada does not happen again.”

Canada in Honduras

Canadian journalist Sandra Cuffe reports in this Al Jazeera article that June 29 marked the tenth anniversary of the coup in that country “that set in motion a decade of political crises, violence, mass protests, militarisation and repression.”

That article adds, “Violence spiked after the coup, and so did murders of social movement activists, indigenous community leaders, and journalists.”

Toronto-based academic Tyler Shipley, the author of Ottawa and Empire: Canada and the Military Coup in Honduras, has stated, “The primary agents of the coup in Honduras were the oligarchy (a group of super rich families that dominate Honduran economic and political life) and the military.”

He comments, “Canada prefers a government like the one that took over after the coup, which cracked down on popular protest, lifted the moratorium [on mining], and invited Canadian mining companies to help write the new mining code.”

Montreal-based author-activist Yves Engler has noted, “From 1996 – 2006 Canadian companies were the world’s second-biggest investors in Honduras, trailing only U.S. corporations in levels of foreign investment.”

And Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams, who visited Honduras with the Ottawa-based Nobel Women’s Initiative in 2012, has also commented on the impact of Canadian mining interests in Honduras.

She wrote in the Ottawa Citizen that, “In creating this new [mining] law, the Honduran government has bent over backwards to meet the needs of Canadian and other mining companies, but has carried out almost no consultations with Honduran civil society and community organizations.”

The current situation in Honduras

The political situation is becoming increasingly tense in Honduras.

Leading up to the tenth anniversary of coup, Agence France Presse reported, “Honduran military police opened fire on protesting students at a university on Monday [June 24], wounding at least five, campus and hospital officials said.”

On June 28, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project shared this statement by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights.

That statement notes, “Since 27 May, protests took place in at least 14 departments of Honduras.”

It adds, “To date, the UN Human Rights Office in Honduras is investigating the death of four people, including three adults and one child. Three of them were shot dead, and the fourth died as a result of a blade injury.”

And it highlights, “Another 78 people, including journalists and human rights defenders, have reportedly been injured by the security forces in the context of the protests.”

PBI-Honduras accompanies six human rights organizations in Honduras — including COPINH (which was led by Berta Cáceres who was assassinated in March 2016 over her opposition to a hydroelectric dam), C-LIBRE (an organization that defends and promotes freedom of expression) and ARCOÍRIS (a group that works to defend and promote the human rights of the LGBT community) — as well as journalist Dina Meza.

To help support the writing of more articles like this one, please make a donation to Peace Brigades International-Canada by clicking here.

PBI-Canada and PBI-Mexico meet with Comite Cerezo

By
Brent Patterson
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Peace Brigades International-Canada Board member Paul Bocking writes, “Meeting with Antonio of Comite Cerezo, a human and labour rights group in Mexico City accompanied by Peace Brigades International – Mexico Project.”

The Alliance for Global Justice has explained, “Antonio and other family members and associates were part of the student movements of the 90s and early 2000’s before several of them were framed, arrested, and incarcerated by the Mexican government. Antonio spent more than seven years as a political prisoner.”

PBI-Mexico further notes on their website, “The Cerezo Committee was established after the arrests, torture and detentions of the brothers Alejandro, Héctor and Antonio Cerezo Contreras in maximum-security penitentiaries in Mexico.”

PBI-Mexico has also highlighted, “The Committee currently defends the rights of victims of political repression in Mexico. It is a leading organization in the documentation of human rights violations in the country, also documenting violations committed against human rights defenders.”

On May 29, PBI-Mexico posted on their Facebook page, “[Comité Cerezo is] participating in a sit-in as part of the commemoration of the International Week of the Disappeared Detainee and the National Campaign against Enforced Disappearance in Mexico.”

That international week this year was from Monday May 27 to Friday May 31.

LaRed21 reported (in Spanish), “Various organizations of victims, indigenous, popular and human rights movements grouped in the National Campaign Against Forced Disappearance” took part in this sit-in.

The sit-in happened in the Zócalo, which is the common name of the main square in central Mexico City. It is the centre of government for both the nation and the capital.

Pagina12 has reported (in Spanish), “According to the latest data provided by the Secretariat of Human Rights of Mexico, in the Aztec country there are about 38 thousand people missing and in the last 12 years there were two thousand clandestine graves.”

That article also noted, “In a thousand of them, no exhumation process has yet been carried out because the state does not have the institutional capacities to carry them out, according to the Secretariat.”

And a RadioFórmula article (in Spanish) highlighted that the demonstration was “held almost six months after the start of the new government because there has been no progress on any of the cases of enforced disappearances.”

The PBI-Mexico website notes, “In addition to surviving torture and unjust detention, the organization’s members have been threatened and harassed.”

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project began accompanying Comité Cerezo in 2002.

To help support the writing of more articles like this one, please make a donation to Peace Brigades International-Canada by clicking here.

PBI-France holds conference on the struggle against gender violence in Kenya and France

By
Brent Patterson
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On June 18, PBI France and allies held Conférence : Lutter contre les violences de genre (the ‘Fight against gender violence: Cross perspectives France Kenya’) at La Mutinerie in Paris.

The evening featured Kate Wangui, Ynaée Benaben and Fatima Ouassak.

Kate is with Kibera Women for Peace and Fairness, which works in Nariobi’s largest informal settlement.

Ynaée co-founded En avant toutes, an association that works for gender equality and the end of violence against women.

And Fatima is the founder of Réseau Classe/Genre/Race, a network that works on projects related to the issues of equality and intersectionality.

The public forum provided an overview of gender violence in France and Kenya as well as solutions on how to address that violence.

Thank you PBI-France for organizing this public forum and to the speakers who participated in it. This inspires PBI-Canada to work to organize similar public forums!

 

 

PBI-Spanish State present for the dedication of gardens in Madrid in honour of Berta Cáceres

By
Brent Patterson
-

On June 12, La Vanguardia reported that Mirian García Torres of PBI – Estado Español was present for the dedication of gardens in the Chamartín district of the City of Madrid in honour of Berta Cáceres.

That news report notes, “Berta Cáceres dedicated her life to the struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples and the protection of the environment and, in recognition of that dedication, Madrid City Council wanted her name to remain in the memory of the neighborhood.”

Gacetas Locales adds, “Devoting her life to the defence of human rights, in particular the rights of indigenous peoples, was the reason why the green zone located at the confluence of the streets of Enrique Jardiel Poncela, Santa María Magdalena and the avenue of Alfonso XIII is now called Jardines de Berta Cáceres.”

Cáceres was murdered in March 2016 for opposing a hydro-electric dam on the Gualcarque River on Lenca territory in Honduras.

Less than a year before she was killed, she inspired us with these words: “Let us build societies that are able to coexist in a dignified way, in a way that protects life. Let us come together and remain hopeful as we defend and care for the blood of this Earth and of its spirits.”

The PBI – Honduras Project began providing protective accompaniment to Copinh Intibucá, the organization Cáceres had led, in May 2016.

The news articles can be read at https://www.lavanguardia.com/politica/20190612/462842222585/unos-jardines-de-madrid-recordaran-a-berta-caceres-y-al-almirante-cervera.html and https://www.gacetaslocales.com/acto-homenaje-lider-indigena-berta-caceres-distrito-chamartin The City of Madrid media release is at https://diario.madrid.es/blog/notas-de-prensa/berta-caceres-da-nombre-a-unos-jardines-de-chamartin/

Soy una semilla, Berta no murió, se multiplicó.
I am a seed, Berta did not die, she multiplied.

PBI-Guatemala visits the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya camp

By
Brent Patterson
-

On June 12, the PBI – Guatemala Project visited the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya camp.

PBI-Guatemala notes, “We remain aware of their security situation in the context of international arbitration between the State of Guatemala and the US mining company Kappes Cassidy & Associates (KCA).”

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 gold mine located just north of Guatemala City since March 2010.

The Peaceful Resistance of La Puya, which is made up of members from these communities, 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.”

They have also expressed concern about the massive amount of water the mine would use in their water-scarce region.

PBI-Guatemala references an international arbitration.

In December 2018, KCA filed a $300 million claim with the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, 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.

Readers in Canada may want to take note that the Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala (NISGUA) has highlighted, “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.”

Radius Gold is a Vancouver-based company.

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

To help support the writing of more articles like this one, please make a donation to Peace Brigades International-Canada by clicking here.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CCALCP, the lawyers who stopped Canadian fracking in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project accompanies the Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) based n northeastern Colombia.

PBI-Colombia has noted, “CCALCP, in conjunction with the Defence of Water, Territory and Ecosystem Corporation (CORDATEC) presented a collective suit against the National Hydrocarbons Agency and two oil companies to protect the collective rights that are at risk from the development of a hydrocarbons exploration contract.”

Those “two oil companies” are Houston-based ConocoPhillips and a subsidiary of Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd.

Earlier this week, Petroleum Economist lamented, “This year, two shale pilot projects were shelved by licensing authority ANLA after operators US independent ConocoPhillips (80pc stake) and Canada’s Canacol (20pc stake) failed to meet minimum environmental requirements.”

Reuters has reported, “The companies did not meet minimum conditions for the Piranga project, a source from the licensing authority said, while the Plata project raised possible water protection concerns.”

While that was a significant win, it’s not likely to be the end of the fight.

That same Reuters article, dated March 20, also reported that ConocoPhillips and Canacol “can request to re-open the licensing process for the projects in the future, the source said, adding the decision is not a definitive no.”

There are also several official processes underway.

On June 7, Colombia’s top administrative court (the Council of State of Colombia) began hearings on fracking.

Reuters explains, “While there is no law against the practice, the government says regulations are needed before it can be used.”

That article adds, “Six magistrates could rule [in July] on whether the suspension should continue, [Magistrate Ramiro] Pazos said, while evidence gathering on whether fracking should go ahead will take until the end of the year.”

On that point, Colombia Reports further explains, “President Ivan Duque appointed a commission of experts in December last year to investigate whether the controversial oil extraction technique is desirable.”

On June 7, the Council of State dismissed their pro-industry report and ordered that a new study be conducted.

Colombia Reports notes, “The State Council wants answers to 30 questions that seek to establish the ‘possible risks and benefits of using this hydrocarbon exploration and exploitation technique in unconventional deposits’ within three months.”

That means that report will likely come out this coming September.

Powerful actors in Colombia are lining up behind fracking.

Petroleum Economist has reported, “Last year, throughout the electoral campaign, Duque promised he would not allow any development of fracking, should he be victorious. But, since taking office, he appears to be backtracking.”

In November 2018, Reuters reported that the Colombian Petroleum Association has argued that fracking “could generate $500 million per project per year in taxes, royalties, dividends for shareholders and salaries…”

And just last month, The Bogota Post reported that “pro-fracking” organizations including the state-run Ecopetrol, the Ministry of Mines and Energy, the National Hydrocarbons Agency and ExxonMobil “all argue that fracking is both necessary and feasible.”

Meanwhile, communities are mobilizing to ban fracking.

The UK-based group War on Want has noted that fracking would threaten the Chingaza páramo, a water ecosystem that provides Bogota with four-fifth of its drinking water, the Sumapaz paramo, which is a national park in Colombia, and other wetland ecosystems.

It has also warned that if fracking proceeds much of it could be on the territories of the Indigenous Yupka, Wiwa and Wayúu peoples and cross into territories considered sacred to the Kogi, Wiwa, Kankuamo and Aruaco peoples.

Earlier this week, Petroleum Economist, commenting on the obstacles to moving forward with fracking in Colombia, reduced that to: “Unconventional assets are often near indigenous lands, which could pose further headaches.”

CCALCP continues its work to defend Indigenous rights, uphold the right to water, and protect the environment from fracking and other extractive harms.

Peace Brigades International-Canada will be hosting a representative from CCALCP at public forums in Vancouver, Nanaimo, Toronto and Ottawa this coming November. More details on that November 3-10 speaking tour soon!

PBI-Switzerland calls on Nepal to guarantee the security of women human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
-

On June 28, Peace Brigades International-Switzerland Advocacy Coordinator Kim-Mai Vu spoke at the United Nations Human Rights Council in Geneva.

Kim-Mai made an intervention on behalf of PBI during the interactive dialogue following a report made by United Nations Special Rapporteur on Violence Against Women Dubravka Šimonović on her November 2018 fact-finding mission to Nepal.

On November 29, 2018, Šimonović stated, “The limited capacity to guarantee full and effective investigation of cases does little to discourage perpetrators and remains a serious problem in preventing cases of violence against women in Nepal.”

She highlighted, “This must be addressed as a matter of priority.”

At last week’s session, Kim-Mai stated, “The Government of Nepal needs to take all necessary measures to guarantee the security of women human rights defenders that challenge the culture of impunity.”

She then noted, “It is also crucial that all the persons directly or indirectly involved in the Nirmala Panta case including judicial officials, professionals and witnesses be protected.”

Nirmala Panta was a 13-year-old schoolgirl who was raped and murdered on July 26, 2018 in Kanchanpur District, Nepal.

On June 26 of this year, The Himalayan Times reported, “Her rape and murder agitated the entire nation, and right activists and general people organised a series of protests to exert pressure on the government to arrest and initiate action against the culprit(s) to deliver justice to Nirmala and her grieving family.”

That article adds, “Responding to a query by lawmakers in the House of Representative [on June 25, Home Minister Ram Bahadur] Thapa said that the government was still searching for the perpetrator(s).”

The Collective Campaign for Peace (COCAP) has worked closely with Nirmala’s family to seek justice for their daughter.

The organization has facilitated a visit by Nirmala’s parents to Kathmandu in an effort to move the investigation of their daughter’s death forward.

COCAP Chair Badri Sigdel has stated in the media, “It is the government’s duty to protect them and provide accommodation facility. But if the government is not willing to support the family, we definitely will.”

COCAP is a Kathmandu-based national network of 43 peace and human rights non-governmental organizations. Peace Brigades International supports NepalMonitor.org, a COCAP protection and conflict prevention initiative.

The Peace Brigades International 2018 Annual Review notes, “Two international and five Nepali staff members based in Kathmandu coordinated the Nepal Monitor, an initiative established to provide protection and to prevent conflict by mapping security incidents and human rights violations in the country.”

Kim-Mai’s intervention can be seen in this video at the 01:47:14 mark.

#JusticeForNirmala #RageAgainstRape

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