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PBI-Honduras present at town hall meeting that declares Gualaco free of mining

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 23, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted, “CEHPRODEC is an organization that informs the Honduran population about their rights and facilitates the processes of their claim.”

That post adds, “PBI-Honduras was present at one of these processes at the beginning of this month, when the municipality of Gualaco, Olancho declared itself free of mining.”

Defensores en linea reports, “The act took place in the parish hall on Friday, October 11, where municipal authorities, patronages, civil society organizations, church representatives and residents residing in the municipality participated.”

That article continues, “The department of Olancho is formed by 23 municipalities and in most of them concessions for exploration and exploitation have been granted, according to the report ‘The State of Mining in the Department of Olancho’, carried out by the Honduran Center for Development Promotion Community (CEHPRODEC).”

Carlos Padilla of CEHPRODEC explains, “Mining generates social conflicts, division of the Honduran family and communities, because since they arrive they start talking to them with promises of development and great benefits, but nobody really sees them.”

The article also highlights, “It should be noted that this is the first open town hall that takes place in the municipality of Gualaco where residents consider it to be historic, and recognize the work of the environmental committee that has been fighting since it was created against the installation of hydroelectric plants in the area.”

Last year, CEHPRODEC director José Luis Espinoza noted that the municipalities of Gualaco, Juticalpa and Choluteca are the locations of the greatest number of mining concessions. More than 300 concessions were reportedly granted in Honduras in 2017.

Canada, Honduras and mining

MiningWatch Canada’s then Latin America program coordinator Jennifer Moore expressed concern to a Canadian parliamentary committee about the Canadian-backed mining law that was passed in Honduras in January 2013.

Moore stated, “This law was developed and passed with strong diplomatic support from the Canadian embassy, and with contributions from the Department of Foreign Affairs and the former Canadian International Development Agency.”

And Nobel Peace Prize winner Jody Williams warned in the Ottawa Citizen newspaper not long before the mining law was passed:

“In creating this new 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.”

“[It accelerates] the licensing process for new mines in Honduras, including open-pit mines, and simplify the rules for mining companies planning to operate in Honduras. It would also reduce environmental standards and privilege water use by mining companies.”

Williams highlights, “A recent survey shows that the majority of Hondurans reject open-pit mining and associate it with harmful affects to the environment and human health. [And] the new law … fails to ensure the communities that will suffer the most direct impact from the mining have any meaningful say over mining developments.”

In May 2014, CEHPRODEC contributed to the report: The impact of Canadian Mining in Latin America and Canada’s Responsibility.

That report includes the recommendation that Canada, “refrain from providing any government support, whether through development programs, trade and/or association agreements, public financing or technical or political assistance, for the purpose of influencing the enactment of lax regulatory frameworks for mining investments and to the detriment of the obligation to guarantee human rights in the host countries of the extractive projects.”

PBI-Honduras began accompanying CEHPRODEC in May 2014.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies CCDA at conference commemorating the 1944 Revolution and the 1952 Agrarian Reform Law

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 21, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “On October 20, Revolution Day, the Campesino Committee of the Highlands (CCDA), together with other organizations, held the National Agrarian Congress.”

PBI-Guatemala further explains in its Facebook post, “This Congress is part of the commemorative activities of the 1944 Revolution, within the framework of which the Agrarian Reform that lasted a decade was enacted.”

And it notes, “The objective of this activity was to contribute to the unity of indigenous and peasant organizations and communities to address agrarian conflict in Guatemala.”

The BBC has provided this background:  In 1944, Juan Jose Arevalo became the president following the overthrow of Jorge Ubico (who had repressively ruled since 1931) and introduced social-democratic reforms, including setting up a social security system and redistributing land to landless peasants.

Decree 900, the Agrarian Reform Law, was passed in June 1952 and by 1954 1.4 million acres of unused land had been redistributed to 100,000 families.

Prior to this, 2 per cent of the population controlled 72 per cent of the arable land and only 12 per cent of that land was under cultivation.

The BBC adds that in 1954 the land reform stopped with the accession to power of Colonel Carlos Castillo in a coup backed by the United States.

There are now an estimated 1,000 land conflicts happening in Guatemala.

These land conflicts are related to concessions given to foreign companies for mining, sugar cane and palm oil farms, and hydroelectric dams, all of which deepen dispossession, exclusion and poverty among the indigenous peoples of Guatemala.

PBI-Guatemala began accompanying CCDA in July 2018.

 

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

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 18, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted, “Yesterday, dozens of member organizations of CONROA (The National Coalition of Environmental Networks and Organizations of Honduras) came to Tegucigalpa to carry out a march rededicating their opposition to mining and making visible their work in defence of water.”

PBI-Honduras adds, “We observed the march through the center of Tegucigalpa, accompanying CEHPRODEC.”

PBI-Honduras has explained that CEHPRODEC (the Honduran Centre for the Promotion of Community Development) is focused on “the defence of human rights, in particular on economic, social, cultural and environmental rights.”

On August 30, PBI-Honduras posted, “Yesterday we accompanied CEHPRODEC to an annual march in which hundreds of people from the communities protested against the extractivism that, they say, threaten the territories and natural resources.”

In early August, PBI-Honduras observed with CEHPRODEC a census in the community of Namasigüe in the department of Choluteca intended to support a more open consultation on future mining and solar project concessions in the area.

In March, PBI-Honduras accompanied alongside CEHPRODEC and C-Libre (the Committee for Freedom of Expression) the trial of 13 water defenders from Guapinol opposed to a mine on their territory that has polluted the river.

And in May, PBI-Honduras accompanied CEHPRODEC to San Estebán, a municipality 285 kilometres north-east of Tegucigalpa, for an “assembly on the care of the environment, natural resources and mining” that discussed the impacts of mining on human rights.

PBI-Honduras has accompanied CEHPRODEC since May 2014.

Extinction Rebellion Ottawa acknowledges land defenders killed protecting the environment

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 18, a locally-organized Extinction Rebellion action on the Laurier Avenue Bridge in downtown Ottawa included a solemn gathering to remember the 164 land and environmental defenders killed in 2018.

These were individuals who worked to protect their land/territory, water and air and stop major drivers of climate change, including mining and extractives, agribusiness, deforestation, and hydroelectric dams.

About 50 people gathered in a circle with a lit candle in the centre. Those assembled were asked to remember and reflect on those lives lost.

It was highlighted that 164 land defenders were killed in 2018 (on average three people per week), that more than half (83 of the 164) were from Latin America, and that nearly a quarter of those killed were Indigenous.

It was also noted that 872 land and environmental defenders were killed over just the past five years: 164 in 2018, 207 in 2017, 200 in 2016, 185 in 2015, and 116 in 2014.

A further 908 land and environmental defenders were killed between 2002 and 2013.

Extinction Rebellion activists held a sprig of cedar and during a moment of silence reflected on the sacrifice of those killed to protect the environment.

Then, one by one, the pieces of cedar were solemnly placed in the centre of the circle.

As noted in Extinction Rebellion honours Earth Defenders killed for protecting the environment, Extinction Rebellion communities in London, Paris, Dublin, Cape Town, Islamabad and many other cities have been honouring “those for whom standing up for life and for the natural world has meant death.”

The PBI-Canada tweet – retweeted by Extinction Rebellion – is here.

The 9-minute Extinction Rebellion Ottawa video of the gathering is here.

 

Land defenders criminalized opposing tar sands pipeline on Secwepemc territory

By
Brent Patterson
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On Saturday October 19, land defenders Kanahus Manuel and Isha Jules were arrested by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) for reportedly “bugging” road construction workers on unceded Secwepemc Nation territory in British Columbia, Canada.

Manuel and Jules are members of the Tiny House Warriors, a group opposed to the construction of the 890,000 barrel per day Trans Mountain tar sands pipeline. The pipeline would cross 518 kilometres of Secwepemc territory.

A Tiny House Warriors media release notes, “They had stopped to tell construction workers they had no Secwepemc consent to flag in preparation for roadwork.”

A number of concerns have been raised about the arrest and its aftermath: Manuel’s wrist was broken during the arrest, but she was not taken to a hospital until 10 hours later. They were transported 200 kilometres in the back of a police van to an RCMP detachment without access to legal counsel or medical attention.

Furthermore, they were not allowed to see a lawyer for five hours. And they were remanded in custody until the morning of Monday October 21, which is seen as irregular.

The original complaint appears to be that the land defenders were “bugging” the workers. The RCMP later said the workers complained about being “disrupted”. It now appears that Manuel and Jules have been charged with mischief and intimidation.

Manuel and Jules were released with the conditions that they not wear masks, keep the peace, and not impede pipeline workers.

The land defenders are opposed to the man camps being built on their territory to facilitate the construction of the tar sands pipeline.

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

The Secwepemc Women’s Declaration Against Kinder Morgan Man Camps states, “The water of our lands and the water in our bodies create and sustain our nations. The colonial corporate system of resource extraction relies on the connected violence of destroying our lands and violating our bodies.”

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

UN Special Rapporteur Victoria Tauli-Corpuz, has stated, “I’ve been alerted to hundreds of cases of criminalization from nearly every corner of the world. These attacks — whether physical or legal — are an attempt to silence Indigenous Peoples voicing their oppositions to projects that threaten their livelihoods and cultures.”

Tauli-Corpuz has recommended measures including:

1- Creation and reinforcement of programs aimed at the protection of Indigenous Peoples;

2- Prompt and impartial investigation of all violent attacks against defenders of Indigenous Peoples’ rights and a zero-tolerance approach to any verified attacks;

3- Adaptation of legislation and policies to expressly support the protection of indigenous defenders and communities;

4- Monitoring of all large-scale development taking place on Indigenous territory.

Peace Brigades International-Canada 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.

PBI-Mexico accompanies Sierra Madre Alliance at commemoration for Julián Carrillo Martínez

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 24, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted on social media, “Today we were accompanying the Sierra Madre A.C. Alliance during the public ceremony that took place in front of the Government Palace of Chihuahua, recalling the murder of defender Julián Carrillo Martínez.”

PBI-Mexico adds, “His family demands justice and truth for Julian.”

PBI-USA has explained, “Julián Carrillo Martinez, a human rights defender and member of the Raramuri indigenous community in Coloradas de la Virgen, in the state of Chihuahua, was shot to death on the evening of October 24, 2018.”

“Members of the Mexican human rights organization Sierra Madre Alliance, which is accompanied by Peace Brigades International, learned that Carrillo had been pursued by assassins since October 23 and had fled to a hillside. His son later contacted the Sierra Madre Alliance to let them know he had heard gunfire and feared that his father had been found and shot. An hour later, Julián Carrillo’s body was discovered.”

“His family had been heavily targeted since 2016. Two of his nephews, one son, and his son-in-law all were murdered in separate incidents over the past two years.”

“Carrillo himself had been in hiding, only returning to his community because his daughter had died in childbirth.”

“In 2014, Julián Carrillo and three other members of the community, as well as two members of the Sierra Madre Alliance, received protection measures from the Protection Mechanism for Human Rights Defenders, provided by the Mexican government.”

“[In 2017], the Protection Mechanism was supposed to reassess their risk level, in order to grant appropriate measures. The Protection Mechanism, however, reportedly failed to do so.”

“The indigenous peoples of Coloradas de la Virgen have taken legal action to obtain recognition as the legitimate owners of their ancestral land, including a portion of forest that borders that states of Chihuahua, Durango, and Sinaloa. Julián Carrillo had been defending the forest against timber operations the community considered illegal.”

You can follow the work of the Sierra Madre Alliance on Twitter here.

Climate change and the threat of aerial glyphosate spraying of coca crops in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
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Three Colombian human rights defenders will be visiting Canada shortly and one of the issues that will be raised during their speaking tour is the relationship between coca crops, the lack of implementation of the 2016 Peace Accord, the forced eradication of illegal crops through the aerial spraying of glyphosate, and the impacts this has on people, a lasting peace, the environment and climate change.

Voluntary substitution

The Washington Post has explained, “In 2016, the FARC, the country’s largest insurgency, agreed to lay down its arms for promises of rural developmental programs that would finally enable poor farmers to earn their living in a legal economy.”

The voluntary substitution of illegal crops held the promise of state assistance for farmers that included cash incentives, technical support, new roads and bridges to get their products to market, teachers for their children, and legal title to land they hold informally.

The Guardian adds, “The deal included provisions to help peasants substitute coca crops for legal alternatives such as coffee and cacao.” But the Washington Post notes, “That pledge remains unfulfilled — and coca has proliferated.”

Deutsche-Welle highlights, “By not giving farmers the help they need to make the transition, Isabel Pereira [drug policy adviser for the Colombia-based research and advocacy organization Dejusticia] believes the Duque administration is actively weakening the 2016 deal and threatening the possibility of a lasting peace.”

Aerial spraying

This past July, The Washington Post also reported, “President Iván Duque, pressured by the United States, is pushing hard to resume aerial fumigation with glyphosate, the controversial practice that officials here say is the most effective way of eradicating the illicit crop that helped fund the war.”

“Duque, who took office last year, took his request to renew aerial fumigation to Colombia’s constitutional court in March. …His administration is challenging a 2015 court ruling that ended 25 years of U.S.-led flights…”

“The restrictions that the court placed in 2015 — the government had to consult local communities before spraying, and show scientific studies proving that it didn’t affect people’s health adversely — were so stringent that the practice was effectively halted.”

On August 1, Dialogo Chino reported, “A week ago, Colombia’s highest court laid out its conditions. Duque can move forward once he designs a programme that meets these requirements and once he has obtained an environmental licence.”

Coca crops, deforestation and climate change

The Transnational Institute has also explained, “The supply-reduction strategy and the way in which spraying is carried out in Colombia have only served to unleash a vicious cycle of destruction. This cycle causes pollution, also driving crops deeper and deeper into the jungle and thus causing drastic deforestation. Displaced crops are, in turn, sprayed again and the cycle repeats itself.”

It adds, “Each hectare fumigated will be substituted by another hectare further inside the jungle. Chemical spraying continuously displaces the cultivated areas towards ecologically more vulnerable territories, multiplying the effects of deforestation on the Amazon and the Andean mountains.”

As we know, deforestation is a significant contributor to climate change.

Additionally, The Guardian has reported, “Colombian authorities estimate that more than a quarter of petrol sold in the country last year went to the drugs industry, which depends on the fuel both as an ingredient and power source.”

That article further explains, “Petrol is a key ingredient in the first stage of cocaine processing, when psychoactive agents are extracted from coca leaves: about 75 gallons of fuel are needed for each kilogram of coca paste, which is then refined into cocaine. Large quantities of petrol are also needed to power generators in remote drug laboratories.”

In other words, unless the promise of the 2016 Peace Accord is fulfilled, there will be ongoing implications for the livelihoods of farmers, a stable and lasting peace, health protection, deforestation and climate change.

Speaking Tour

Julia Figueroa and Andrea Nocove from the Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) and Ivan Madero from the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) will be talking about this and a range of other issues.

Their public forums include:

OTTAWA – Monday November 4, 6:30 pm, Amnesty International House, 312 Laurier Avenue East (just east of King Edward Ave.)

VANCOUVER – Wednesday November 6, 7 pm, SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 West Hastings Street

NANAIMO – Friday November 8, 2 pm, Building 200-Student Affairs/Room 203 (Lecture Hall), Vancouver Island University-Nanaimo Campus

Along with these three public forums, Julia, Andrea and Ivan will be meeting with civil society allies in Toronto, government officials in Ottawa, as well as students, lawyers and activists at information/strategy meetings across the country.

For more information, please contact us at info@pbicanada.org

Top photo by Scott Dalton/AP.

Ecopetrol CEO confirms fracking to begin in Colombia in 2020

By
Brent Patterson
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RCN reports, “The president of Ecopetrol, Felipe Bayón, told RCN News that the company has in its schedule of operations the date of the second half of 2020 to drill the first wells of the pilot programs with the exploration system known as fracking.”

Ecopetrol is Colombia’s largest firm and is an integrated oil company that is among the 50 largest in the world and the four largest in Latin America.

Environmentalists have called for a global ban on fracking given it “torpedoes our global efforts to tackle climate change and violates basic human rights.” Moreover, a researcher with the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment has highlighted concerns that fracking could endanger the fragile peace process in Colombia.

Speaking tour in Canada

Julia Figueroa and Andrea Nocove from the Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP) in Bucaramanga and Ivan Madero from the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights (CREDHOS) in Barrancabermeja will be visiting Canada this November to help shed more light on this situation.

They will highlight their concerns about fracking and extractivism, as well as the need to protect the climate and water, and respect Indigenous rights.

Their public forums include:

OTTAWA – Monday November 4, 6:30 pm, Amnesty International House, 312 Laurier Avenue East

VANCOUVER – Wednesday November 6, 7 pm, SFU Morris J Wosk Centre for Dialogue, 580 West Hastings Street

NANAIMO – Friday November 8, 2 pm, Building 200-Student Affairs/Room 203 (Lecture Hall), Vancouver Island University-Nanaimo Campus

Along with these three public forums, Julia, Andrea and Ivan will be meeting with civil society allies in Toronto, government officials in Ottawa, as well as students, lawyers and activists at information/strategy meetings across the country.

For more information, please contact us at info@pbicanada.org

PBI-Honduras accompanies ASODEBICOQ on 5-kilometre walk in Santa Bárbara

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 17, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted, “ASODEBICOQ is an organization that works for the defence of water and rainforest in the municipality of Quimistán, Santa Bárbara.”

They add, “This week, PBI-Honduras Project accompanied members of this organization in a walk they made between the cities of Pinalejo and Quimistán to make their work visible.”

It’s about a 5 kilometre walk between Pinalejo and Quimistán.

The Association of Defenders of Common Goods in Quimistán (ASODEBICOQ) was founded to defend land, rivers and human rights.

In February 2019, Radio Progreso reported that the department of Santa Bárbara is “threatened by more than 15 hydroelectric projects and 23 concessions for mining.”

That same article notes, “In the municipality of Quimistán, there is an imminent danger from the installation of the Santa Lucia hydroelectric dam, which is advanced by 90%. And, despite the fact that there is a strong rejection by the population, they currently intend to build a second hydroelectric dam also on the Cuyagual River.”

ASODEBICOQ is opposed to the construction of the Santa Lucia I and Santa Lucia II dams. It has called on the Government of Honduras to stop construction of the dams because the project violates the Indigenous and Tribal Peoples Convention, 1989, an International Labour Organization Convention, also known as ILO-convention 169.

PBI-Honduras has accompanied ASODEBICOQ since May 2018.

PBI-Colombia at meeting with German ambassador and threatened lawyer Germán Romero

By
Brent Patterson
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On October 16, the Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project posted, “Thank you very much to [German ambassador Peter Ptassek] and [the German embassy in Colombia] for their support for the work of human rights defenders in Colombia and the work of the victims’ representatives in this difficult context.”

This followed the German ambassador’s tweet that said, “Don’t touch my friend: We act in the protection of fair cause fighters. In this case we support the great work of Germán Romero for more rule of law and defence of victims. That their protection is not symbolic against threats. Thank you [Network of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia] for your visit.”

On October 10, PBI-Colombia also tweeted, “Many thanks to the Embassy [of Norway in Colombia] for its support for human rights defenders of dhColombia with Germán Romero who receives death threats for defending victims of extrajudicial executions and forced disappearances.”

El Espectador has explained that Romero, who represents victims of state agents, received a death threat on October 3 via his landline telephone and that his computer (with sensitive information about his cases) was stolen previous to that.

The same number has called Romero’s landline twice sent then, but they are silent when the telephone is answered.

That article also notes that Romero represents those affected by the Palace of Justice case, the construction of the Hidroituango hydroelectric dam as well as journalist Claudia Julieta Duque (who is accompanied by PBI-Colombia).

You can read more in our article Colombian human rights lawyer Germán Romero Sánchez receives death threat.

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