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United Nations report highlights risks faced by those protecting the right to water

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 18, the United Nations Special Rapporteur on the human rights to safe drinking water and sanitation, Léo Heller, presented to the UN General Assembly his thematic report on the impact of mega-projects on the human rights to water and sanitation.

The 17-page The Impact of Mega-Projects on The Human Rights to Water and Sanitation references the role played by human rights defenders:

“The impacts arising from the human rights gaps in the existing regulatory framework, as well as the power imbalance between proponents and those impacted by projects, have spurred the emergence of social conflicts, particularly in the field of the human rights to water and sanitation. Communities affected by such negative impacts protest against mega-projects in various ways ranging from peaceful protest to occupation of the project premises.”

“These situations often generate reactions from the related actors, involving private military and security contractors or public security forces, as well as confrontations with employees working on the project which may lead to physical conflicts. At times, conflicts are also provoked by the inexistent or improper consultation, where the concerns of affected communities are not taken into account. Human rights defenders advocating the rights of those affected by mega-projects have faced harassment, physical assault, bodily injuries, and even death.”

“In addition, several allegations have been made that the implementation of mega-projects have been associated with persecution, judicialization and other forms of attacks against human rights defenders which violate a number of their rights, such as freedom of expression and freedom of assembly.”

Human rights defenders under attack

Global Witness has highlighted, “More than three [land and environmental defenders] were murdered on average every week in 2018, with attacks driven by destructive industries like mining, logging and agribusiness.”

It adds, “This year, our annual report on the killings of land and environmental defenders also reveals how countless more people were threatened, arrested or thrown in jail for daring to oppose the governments or companies seeking to profit from their land.”

Their report notes, “Mining was the worst sector, causing 43 deaths, though deaths related to conflicts over water sources also surged.”

It also highlights the deaths of 17 defenders related to “Water & Dams” in 2018.

Peace Brigades International

Peace Brigades International accompanies human rights defenders in Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras and Mexico who in many instances are threatened for protecting water. Recent PBI-Canada articles related to this include:

Colombia

Ecopetrol CEO confirms fracking to begin in Colombia in 2020

Colombian licensing authority to decide on Soto Norte mine by Santurban páramo in April 2020

Guatemala

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Cunén community struggle against mega-projects on their territory

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Chinautla Multisector Urban Platform’s struggle for the right to water

Honduras

PBI-Honduras accompanies CEHPRODEC on march in defence of water against mining

PBI-Honduras accompanies C-Libre at appeal for Guapinol water defenders

Mexico

PBI-Mexico and the Civil Observation Mission on the right to water for the Indigenous community of Ayutla

PBI-Mexico expresses support for Indigenous Totonac communities opposed to Puebla 1 dam on the Ajajalpan River

To read the longer version of Heller’s report, please see The impact of mega-projects on the human rights to water and sanitation.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Cunén community struggle against mega-projects on their territory

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 27, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Today 10 years ago, the municipality of Cunén held its community consultation.”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “Almost 60% of its inhabitants participated and declared their municipality free of exploitation.”

Context

NISGUA explains, “For generations, indigenous communities in Guatemala have held consultations to make decisions on issues affecting their people and their lands.”

“While the signing of the Peace Accords in 1996 facilitated the adoption of national laws and international agreements that recognized the particular rights of indigenous peoples, the post-conflict neoliberal economic model prioritized resource extraction — a practice fundamentally at odds with upholding these rights.”

“Specifically, the 1997 Mining Law weakened oversight and lowered royalty rates for mining companies, and the 2005 Central American Free Trade Agreement further established foreign direct investment as a pillar of the Guatemalan economy.”

“Transnational mining and hydroelectric companies were given free rein to begin operations without the consent of impacted communities, and they quickly gained access to huge swaths of land in order to carry out resource exploration and exploitation activities.”

NISGUA highlights, “Many of the consultations are celebrated annually, reaffirming the demands of the communities as they continue to face exclusion from the decision-making processes that affect their territories.”

Cunén consultation

The question asked was: “Do you agree that national or foreign companies or companies, individual or legal persons, appropriate and exploit in the territory of the Municipality of Cunén, our natural resources such as: minerals metallic, water, forest, oil and others, subject to large exploitation?”

PBI-Guatemala has previously noted, “During this consultation process about 19,000 people from 71 communities rejected these projects in their territories.”

PBI-Guatemala has also stated:

“On November 11, 2009, their community representatives delivered the results in the Congress of the Republic and other political instances of the Guatemalan State that, to date of this publication, has not recognized this consultation as binding.”

“On May 5, 2010, 130 representatives of the indigenous communities of the north of El Quiché, formally demanded in a public act before representatives of the Congress and the Government the cancellation of the licenses of recognition, exploration and mining, hydroelectric and petroleum exploitation, already granted in their lands and territories…”

Guatemala’s non-compliance with Convention 169

International Service for Human Rights adds, “Pedro Tzicá is a K’iche’ Guatemalan human rights defender working on human and environmental rights, as well access to justice and the right to development of indigenous peoples.”

Given the outcome of the consultation, Tzicá told them, “Convention 169 has not been respected by the Government. The international community must pressure the State to comply with its international obligations. The State has failed to fully comply under the Convention to conduct prior consultation which must be carried out in good faith.”

Accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Cunén Communities Council since February 2010 due to the security situation for the people actively promoting the right to land, territory and natural assets in this region.

Colombian licensing authority to decide on Soto Norte mine by Santurban páramo in April 2020

By
Brent Patterson
-

Julia Figueroa and Andrea Nocove (seated on the left in the photo) from the CCALCP legal collective will be visiting Canada from November 2-10.

The Santurban páramo is a sensitive ecosystem (wetland/moor) that supplies drinking water to more than two million people in Colombia.

It is currently at risk from the proposed Soto Norte gold mine that is backed by Minesa, a transnational corporation based in the United Arab Emirates.

The Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) has stated, “We demand respect for our rights to water; to life in dignified conditions for communities; and that authorities take real, effective measures for the protection and conservation of the moors.”

Representatives from CCALCP will be speaking in Ottawa (Monday November 4), Vancouver (Wednesday November 6), and Nanaimo (Friday November 8) on this issue and other environmental and water protection concerns.

Decision in April 2020

El Tiempo now reports that the National Environmental Licensing Authority (ANLA) will announce its decision on the mine in April 2020.

That article also quotes the director of ANLA saying that there will be public environmental hearings, three requested so far, in February and March 2020.

El Tiempo highlights, “For the exploitation, from which during the 25 years about 67 million tons of land would be extracted with the use of 35,500 tons of explosives, the authorization of water concessions is required that the Corporation for the Defense of the Bucaramanga Plateau (CDMB ) already denied considering that the flows of the ravines and rivers from which the water resource would be taken would be affected.”

Furthermore, RCN Radio reports Alexander Martínez, the director in charge of ANLA, saying that the massive number of applications about the mine is historic.

That article notes, “He also reported that the hearings, the possible impact on the water supply, the wasteland, how the dumping of waste will be, are some doubts expressed by the citizens in these 20,408 applications.”

Filing a legal remedy

RCN also reports, “Another recurring request, according to Martínez, is in the request to the ANLA to accept third parties involved, a figure that – if it complies with the profile according to the law – may be notified with the decisions regarding the environmental licensing process and, therefore, file a legal remedy if there is room for it.”

RCN adds, “So far, according to ANLA, they have accepted 9,441 intervening third parties.”

CCALCP calls for implementation of T-361

In July 2019, civic leader Erwing Rodríguez-Salah wrote in Razón Publica, “The delimitation of the Santurbán páramo made by the [President Juan Manuel] Santos government in 2014 was the result of interest in facilitating mining activities, and not in protecting the water that the region needs for its life and development.”

He highlights that Resolution 2090 of 2014 “delimited Santurbán with the purpose of legalizing mining companies in the area.”

“Therefore, under the leadership of the Luis Carlos Pérez Lawyers Collective, in July 2015 we filed a guardianship action against the Ministry of Environment. The guardianship was ruled by the Constitutional Court in judgment T-361 of 2017. There, the Court considered that Resolution 2090 violated our right to environmental participation and demanded from the Government a new delimitation of the Santurbán páramo.”

CCALCP lawyer Julia Figueroa told El Espectador that T-361 “becomes a precedent in favour of the claims set forth in the guardianship and strengthens the interventions that will be made before the Constitutional Court in our purpose that will generate legal, constitutional and material protection of our Páramo de Santurbán.”

The 317-page judgement can be read at Sentencia T-361/17.

Environmental hearings to resume on November 1

Another El Tiempo article earlier this month also notes that Ministry of Environment and Sustainable Development hearings related to the mine would take a two-week break and resume on November 1.

Peace Brigades International and CCALCP

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project, which accompanies CCACLP for their protection, has stated, “Since 2010, CCALCP has supported causes that defend natural resources, especially water, in Santander department.”

“The case of Santurban moor is very relevant. The moor is an important natural resource for Colombia and the source of drinking water for many municipalities in the department of Santander and North Santander.”

PBI-Colombia adds, “Nevertheless, as in other cases in Colombia, concessions have been granted to multinational companies for exploiting mineral resources, which are causing serious environmental impacts.”

For further information on CCALCP’s upcoming speaking tour, please click here.

What Canadian companies might be involved in fracking in Colombia?

By
Brent Patterson
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What can we glean from mainstream media reports about Canadian corporations involved in the oil and gas sector in Colombia?

What can we further discern about the companies that may have some involvement with the fracking pilot projects expected to start soon in that country?

Additionally, what impact might their business activities have on human rights, the environment and the peace process in Colombia?

Reuters has reported, “Seven companies have put in bids for 11 oil exploration contracts in Colombia, the government said on [June 4]” including Frontera Energy, Parex Resources, and Gran Tierra Energy. The article also notes CNE Oil and Gas as a qualified bidder.

Let’s look more closely at those Canadian companies as a starting point.

Toronto-based Frontera Energy

Frontera’s website notes, “Frontera Energy Corporation is a Canadian public company and a leading explorer and producer of crude oil and natural gas, with operations focused in Latin America.” The website confirms that Frontera operates in Colombia.

Reuters reports, “Pipeline company Oleoducto de Colombia is ready to move increased crude output from the center of Colombia to the Caribbean if the use of fracking is approved in the Andean country, the company’s chief executive said on [August 21].”

That article adds, “The 483 km (300 mile) long pipeline can transport up to 236,000 barrels per day (bpd) and runs through the Magdalena Medio region, home to geological formations estimated to contain between 2 billion and 7 billion barrels of crude.”

In that article, Frontera Energy is named as a minority owner of that pipeline.

The online journal Colombia Report noted that when the Magdalena Valley to Coveñas oil pipeline was built in 1990, that construction negatively impacted peasants in the Zaragoza region of northern Antioquia including the destruction of 150 water sources.

Calgary-based Parex Resources Inc.

The Parex website notes, “Parex Resources Inc. is actively engaged in crude oil exploration, development, and production in Colombia. …Parex holds interests in approximately 2.3 million gross acres over 23 onshore blocks in Colombia’s Llanos and Magdalena Basins.”

On March 8, Reuters reported, “At least five companies are interested in six fracking blocs in Colombia, and use of the technique could nearly triple the country’s reserves of crude and gas, the energy minister said.”

In that article, Colombian Mines and Energy Minister Maria Fernanda Suarez names Parex as one of the companies interested in the fracking blocks.

Additionally, in this July 2017 interview, Colombian environmental activist Oscar Sampayo from the Environmental and Extractive Studies Group in Magdalena Medio commented, “What worries us is that in 2014 Parex directly entered Magdalena Medio in block VMM9. This block is located in the municipality of Simitarra in Santander. That block is destined for the development of a nonconventional deposit using fracking.”

Calgary-based Gran Tierra Energy Inc.

The Gran Tierra website notes, “Gran Tierra Energy Inc. is an independent international energy company focused on oil and natural gas exploration and production in Colombia and Ecuador.”

This Oil Channel interview with a Gran Tierra executive highlights that the company holds 1,100,000 acres in contracts with the ANH to develop in Putumayo, but that Gran Tierra is a company that is focused on conventional projects, on conventional deposits, with conventional methods. This seemingly rules out their interest in fracking.

Putumayo is a department in the south-west part of Colombia, bordering Ecuador and Peru. It is considered part of the Amazon natural region and the Amazon rainforest.

Calgary-based Canacol Energy Ltd.

The Canacol website notes, “Canacol Energy Ltd. is a leading natural gas exploration and production company in Colombia.”

Bogota-based CNE Oil and Gas is a subsidiary of Canacol Energy Ltd.

In December 2015, Reuters reported, “U.S.-based ConocoPhillips and CNE Oil and Gas, a subsidiary of Canada’s Canacol Energy, have both signed non-traditional exploration agreements with the national hydrocarbons agency following the change, the agency said in a statement.”

That article adds, “Exploration will take place in the VMM-3 block, in the northeastern provinces of Cesar and Santander, and will require at least $85 million in investment.”

More recently, Reuters reported, “Colombia has shelved two environmental licensing requests made by oil companies ConocoPhillips and Canacol Energy Ltd for fracking projects in northern Cesar province, two sources with knowledge of the matter said on [March 20].”

That article also notes, “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.”

Notably, it also highlights, “U.S.-based ConocoPhillips and Canada’s 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.”

More questions, human rights implications

Little is known about the fracking pilot projects that are set to proceed in 2020.

On September 24, Reuters reported there would be four pilot projects run by Drummond, Ecopetrol, Exxon Mobil and Conoco Phillips according to the Colombia Petroleum Association. That article does not specify if Canacol/CNE Oil and Gas would be again working with Conoco Phillips on a fracking project next year.

On September 25, Reuters also reported Ecopetrol chief executive Felipe Bayon saying there could be more than four pilot projects, while declining to specify the exact locations of the projects and which companies Ecopetrol might work with.

In terms of socio-environmental impacts, Columbia University’s Earth Institute recently published an opinion piece by Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment researcher Alexander Rustler titled Fracking Could Threaten Peace in Colombia.

We will continue to monitor the human rights and environmental implications of this rapidly evolving situation, listen to the concerns of human rights defenders in Colombia, and share information observed on the ground through a non-partisan analysis.

Part of that process involves bringing representatives from CREDHOS and CCALCP, two Colombian human rights organizations, to Canada this November for meetings with government officials, civil society groups and the legal community, as well as to speak at universities and public forums.

For more on those upcoming public forums, please see the Facebook event pages for Ottawa (Monday November 4), Vancouver (November 6) and Nanaimo (November 8).

PBI-Mexico concerned by the disappearance of social activist Arnulfo Cerón Soriano

By
Brent Patterson
-

Mexican human rights lawyer and social activist Arnulfo Ceron Soriano went missing on October 11 in the city of Tlapa de Comonfort in the state of Guerrero.

The Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project has tweeted, “We express our concern about the disappearance of human rights defender Arnulfo Cerón Soriano.”

PBI-Mexico adds, “Tlachinollan has issued an urgent action demanding his return alive and a prompt and impartial investigation of his case.”

Arnulfo’s wife Gabriela Pablo notes in this Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre petition:

“Arnulfo for several years accompanied social movements, such as the families of the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa. Recently he was supporting street merchants in the city of Tlapa, who were abused by the municipal president of this town. For that defence action, my husband suffered threats and public disqualifications.”

Gabriela asks, “Help me demand that the authorities activate immediate search protocols to find his location. As the hours go by, we are less likely to find him alive.”

This article in La Jornada also notes the concern that it took 72 hours for the National Search Commission and the National Human Rights Commission to respond to Arnulfo’s disappearance.

And in this article, Abel Barrera, the director of the Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Centre, highlights Arnulfo’s work defending Indigenous communities, the 43 missing Ayotzinapa students, the slow investigation process by the authorities, and the state failing to safeguard the rights of defenders in the context of the violence they face.

To date, 44,162 people have responded to Gabriela’s request and signed this Tlachinollan Mountain Human Rights Center petition to various authorities in Mexico.

You can follow updates on this from Tlachinollan on Twitter here.

PBI-Mexico has accompanied Tlachinollan since 2003.

#ArnulfoConVida

PBI-Canada, friends and family of Murray Thomson gather to remember and celebrate his life

By
Brent Patterson
-

A celebration of the life of Murray Thomson was held at the First Unitarian Church in Ottawa on the afternoon of Wednesday October 23.

Murray, one of the eleven original founders of the global human rights organization Peace Brigades International, died at 96 years of age this past May.

The gathering, organized by the Ottawa Quaker community, drew about 300 people with about a dozen of them offering reflections on Murray’s love of poetry, music (he played the violin), tennis, chess and his penchant for forming peace groups.

Some of the groups Murray helped to found also included Project Ploughshares, Canadian Friends of Burma, Seniors for Social Responsibility, and the Peacefund Canada Foundation (which was later combined with Peace Brigades International-Canada).

Two of the speakers mused that Murray seemed to form a new organization “every hour or so”, but it is a testament to his vision that Peace Brigades International continues to this day in 20 countries and is about to celebrate its 40th anniversary.

Another speaker recited one of Murray’s poems published in a book titled Waging Peace: Poetry and Political Action.

In Hearts of Red, Murray reflected on the paper sentimentalism of Valentine’s Day and the love expressed through sacrifice and service to others.

The last three verses of his poem read:

Romero, the Archbishop, down in old San Salvador – was he mailing out his cards when men with guns came through his door?

And did George Fox and Margaret Fell, and all those early Quakes, sit silent making valentines for each other, for goodness sakes?

No way – those artisans of love knew well the colour red. They gave away their hearts, cut out. It was their blood they shed.

Many of the comments about Murray’s life highlighted his deep commitment to peace, his sense urgency for more work to be done to advance peace, his ability to find funding (“to draw money from a stone”), but also, despite the seriousness of that work, his light touch, his sense of humour, and his endearing laugh.

You can hear that laugh in this short video that was played at the celebration of his life.

I also felt honoured to be able to say a few words on behalf of the Peace Brigades International family in recognition of Murray’s legacy in the ongoing accompaniment and support of at-risk human rights defenders.

And while it may be hard to see in the photo above, it was touching to later see in the slide show a photo of the back of a PBI field volunteer’s vest with our logo.

The most moving testimony may have come from his daughter Sheila.

She shared that after Murray’s death she found a piece of paper with a quote on it that he had kept in his wallet.

Sheila then read to us the lines that must have been dear to Murray’s heart: “I shall pass this way but once; any good that I can do or any kindness I can show to any human being; let me do it now. Let me not defer nor neglect it, for I shall not pass this way again.”

From the stories that were shared by friends and family, and the love felt for him, it is clear that this is how Murray lived his life.

How might a minority Parliament in Canada address human rights globally?

By
Brent Patterson
-

The federal election in Canada on October 21 resulted in a minority government. That is to say, no political party secured a majority of the seats in the House of Commons.

The Liberals won 157 seats (short of the 170 seats needed for a majority government), the Conservatives won 121 seats, the Bloc Quebecois 32 seats, the New Democrats 24 seats, the Greens 3 seats, and 1 Independent was elected.

Given the Liberals and Conservatives are traditionally the two main governing parties, the outcome of the election suggests that the Bloc Quebecois, the New Democrats and the Greens will hold the ‘balance of power” or ‘balance of responsibility’ in maintaining the Liberal minority government in key votes.

At this point, it is not clear when Parliament will be reconvened, but news reports suggest it could be as late as mid-January 2020.

Significantly, a minority government means that the governing party does not control the parliamentary committees as they would under a majority government.

That includes the Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs and International Development which scrutinizes Global Affairs Canada, the department that manages this country’s diplomatic relations, trade, international development and humanitarian assistance.

It is not clear at this time if Liberal Chrystia Freeland will remain as the Minister of Foreign Affairs (she was re-elected) or who the Conservatives, Bloc Quebecois, NDP and Greens will appoint as their foreign affairs critics (shadow ministers).

But the outcome of the election does suggest there may be an opening in the standing committee for a greater scrutiny of Canada’s foreign policy and cooperation on issues related to human rights and measures to protect human rights defenders, through the setting of the agenda, the calling of witnesses and more.

This might include a deeper look at Canadian-based extractive industries (including mining, oil and gas companies) and their business and human rights practices in Latin America and around the world.

It also suggests a possible opening with respect to securing investigative powers for the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise, a further strengthening of the ‘Voices at Risk’ guidelines for Canadian embassies with respect to human rights defenders, a more stringent approach to the Annual Reports on Human Rights and Free Trade between Canada and the Republic of Colombia, and perhaps even a more robust review of the licencing of the export of arms and military equipment.

In Canada, the average length of a minority government is 18-24 months. That means the next two years could be a dynamic time with respect to the human rights agenda within the context of Canadian foreign policy.

PBI-Mexico accompanies Consorcio Oaxaca on tour of impacts of wind farms on Union Hidalgo

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 18, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted, “Today we are accompanying a tour of the Isthmus with defenders of the land and territory of Union Hidalgo, who showed us the impacts of wind farms in the municipality.”

El Universal has reported, “The agrarian community of Union Hidalgo defends its right to land, territory and natural assets before the wind industry that is settling in the Isthmus of Tehuantepec [in the state of Oaxaca] without respecting the communal character of the land, nor the human rights of the Indigenous peoples.”

A PBI-Mexico post in July noted, “They have a history of resistance against the arrival of five wind megaprojects and other miners in their territory. There are approximately 300 wind towers that are intended to be installed in areas with a large presence of trees and natural reserves.”

The PBI-Mexico briefing paper Wind Farms and Concerns about Human Rights Violations in Oaxaca states, “Throughout 2013, PBI observed with concern an increase in the level of violence in the context of wind farms, particularly against [human rights defenders] and community leaders whose work involves the defence of those affected by these developments.”

That paper adds, “PBI believes that [human rights defenders] are essential actors in promoting environmental and social justice, highlighting the importance of respecting human rights norms in the context of large scale economic projects.”

On July 19, PBI-Mexico accompanied Los Comuneros Zapotecas de Unión Hidalgo at their event celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Presidential Resolution of Communal Property.

On September 12, PBI-Mexico accompanied Codigo DH at a public information session on the SET – IXTEPEC POTENCIA transmission line project in Unión Hidalgo. That transmission line would carry power generated by wind turbines on the Isthmus of Tehuantepec.

The October 18 post notes that PBI-Mexico accompanied Consorcio Oaxaca during the International Mission for Observation and Documentation of the Situation of Human Rights Defenders in Oaxaca.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies La Puya resistance opposed to a mine once owned by a Vancouver-based company

By
Brent Patterson
-

On October 17, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Today we accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya.”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “The struggle and the work does not cease, so every day they rededicate their territorial defence under the motto ‘Yes to life, no to mining!’”

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.

On March 2, 2012, they set up a peaceful, 24-hour a day blockade to the entrance of the mine. They did so because they had neither been informed nor consulted about the mine, they had concerns about water contamination and the amount of water the mine would use in an already dry region, and to protect the environment. 

On May 23, 2014, the blockade was violently evicted by riot police with flash bombs and tear gas. The Center for International Environmental Law notes, “Those who refused to move were beaten. The eviction left 20 community members injured and 7 hospitalized.”

CIEL adds, “Protestors regrouped the following day, and they held a mass for those injured in the eviction on the following Sunday.”

And the Guatemalan Human Rights Commission has highlighted, “Even after the blockade was violently broken up by riot police [in May 2014] and machinery was escorted onto the mine site, members of La Puya continue to maintain a 24-hour presence in moral opposition to the project.”

In July 2015, a Guatemalan court ruled in favour of La Puya, ordering EXMINGUA – the Guatemalan subsidiary of Kappes, Cassiday & Associates (that bought the mine from Radius Gold in August 2012) – 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, 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 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-Guatemala present at Q’eqchi’ request to Constitutional Court to stop the Renace dams

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project has posted, “On Wednesday, October 23, the public hearing of the appeal of the amparo given by the Supreme Court of Justice to the Q’eqchi’ communities impacted by the Renace hydroelectric power plant was held in the Constitutional Court.”

PBI-Guatemala adds, “Inhabitants of San Pedro Carchá, indicate that the Ministry of Energy and Mines authorized the company and concessioned the Cahabón River for 50 years, violating the right of consultation to the Q’eqchi’ people, so it is requested that the Constitutional Court protect and suspend hydroelectric activities.”

Prensa Libre reports, “Ana Rutilia Ical who went to the Supreme Court of Justice indicated that she has the right as a citizen to challenge the permits granted by the Ministry of Energy and Mines to the company Renace that violated the right of consultation for the Q’eqchi’ people when the Cahabón River was concessioned for 50 years.”

Ical said, “It is not a crime to go to court to protect our rights but we have been criminalized for doing so, they have even taken us to jail, so I ask on my behalf and on behalf of the Q’eqchi’ people to suspend the project.”

PBI-Guatemala has previously pointed out, “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.”

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 posted, “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 notes, “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.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Peaceful Resistance of Cahabón since July 2017.

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