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Peace Brigades International statement on the Global Climate Strike

By
Brent Patterson
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Statement from Peace Brigades International:

Today, 20th September 2019, the environment takes centre stage as people across the world join in a Global Climate Strike, urging governments and the private sector to take concrete action in order to avoid further deterioration of our climate and the manifold human rights impacts that this would imply.

PBI accompanies environmental defenders and activists in different parts of the world as part of our commitment to protect the environment and prevent climate breakdown.

The people we accompany often put their own lives on the line to defend their land, territory and natural resources in steadfast conviction of their importance for humanity and the health of our planet. Without these people who stand up to the economic interests that threaten the health of our planet, the unique threats that currently face the earth will cause drastic changes in climate and an increase in suffering for the most vulnerable.

At PBI we believe that a culture of respect for human rights can only truly be achieved when local human rights defenders are protected and can continue with their important work despite the attacks that they are victims of and the risk that their work implies.

It is only through ensuring that these people are safe and can carry out advocacy in favour of human rights that the international legal framework is upheld and peoples´ rights are truly respected, protected and fulfilled.

This idea can and must be extended to environmental protection. Those who defend their water, their mountains and their ecosystems are at the frontline of environmental protection and must be able to continue their work in secure conditions.

They are at risk due to the powerful economic and political interests that lie behind environmental destruction, whether that be through the imposition of mineral extraction projects, agri-business or other sectors that seek to exploit natural resources for economic gain.

In a system that favours profit over rights, economic models that encourage the forced displacement of those defending their resource-rich territories will continue and those at the forefront will remain at risk of violence.

PBI will strive to ensure that environmental defenders and activists are protected so they can continue to work on the frontlines to ensure that our environment is preserved, and we avoid climate breakdown.

With this in mind, we urge governments to take action to support the work of environmental defenders, to recognise their important contribution to the fight for climate justice and the protection of our environment and planet.

Peace Brigades International-Canada will be at the Global Climate Strike march with Greta Thunberg in Montreal this coming Friday September 27.

PBI-Colombia accompanies dh Colombia at hearing on death of Nicolas Neira

By
Brent Patterson
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The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has tweeted, “On September 16, PBI Colombia accompanied @dhColombia in the accusation hearing in the case of the minor Nicolas Neira with which the trial for wrongful murder against an ESMAD police officer was initiated.”

@dhColombia refers to the Network of Human Rights Defenders in Colombia (Red de Defensores y defensoras de derechos humanos en Colombia). ESMAD (Escuadrón Móvil Antidisturbios) refers to the Colombian national police riot squad.

Documental Amarillo provides the context:

“On May 1, 2005, during the mobilization of the International Labor Day, 14-year-old Nicolás David Neira Álvarez was killed in downtown Bogotá.”

“The person in charge is the officer Néstor Julio Rodríguez Rúa, belonging at that time to the first section of the Riot Squadron of the National Police of Colombia – ESMAD – commanded by then Captain Julio Cesar Torrijos Devia.”

“Senior officers of the ESMAD and the National Police tried to cover up the events by gathering their troops in order to unify the versions they would deliver to the authorities and agreed to say that Nicolás had fallen from his own height and had stuck with a bollard in head; others said that the product of a stampede had fallen and this would have caused his death.”

“12 years later, that is, on April 23, 2017, the then Captain Julio Cesar Torrijos Devia, went to the Attorney General’s Office and said that he had covered up the murder of Nicolás, on the orders of Captain Mauricio Infante Pinzón, and declared that the officer Néstor Julio Rodríguez Rúa, was the one who operated the weapon with which the minor, Nicolás Neira, was murdered.”

“In the middle of 2017 and despite the existence of multiple tests to bring Néstor Julio Rodríguez Rúa to trial, the 40th Prosecutor Specialized in Human Rights of Bogotá, decided to make a pre-agreement with the defense of the officer, he accepted charges and received benefits such as the reduction of punishment and the degradation of conduct, a pre-agreement that was accepted by the judges of the case by wrapping the criminal actions of the ESMAD with impunity, and undermining the rights to the judicial and material truth that the victims have and society.”

The El Espectador article from yesterday (behind a paywall) is here and a Contagio Radio article from June with additional background about this case is here.

Photo from Colectivo de Abogados.

PBI hosts European speaking tour with Paso del Norte lawyer Maricela Vazquez

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 17, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project tweeted, “PBI accompanies Maricela Vazquez, lawyer of the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre, on her European advocacy tour.”

Along with their tweet is this 1-minute video with English subtitles.

PBI-Mexico has previously noted, “The Centre’s main areas of work are a comprehensive defense of rights and the accompaniment of victims of human rights violations, with a focus on cases of torture and enforced disappearances.”

More than 40,000 people have disappeared in Mexico since 2006.

Vazquez will be speaking in Geneva on September 17 (with Olga Guzmán Vergara), in Bern on September 19 (with Sara Méndez) and in Brussels on September 24 (Yolanda Pérez).

GENEVA: PBI-Switzerland notes, “Olga Guzmán Vergara, is currently Director of Advocacy at CDMPDH. Previously, she worked on economic and socio-cultural rights issues, as well as on respect for human rights, especially among the most vulnerable populations. She will be present to share her advocacy experience and testify to the torture in Mexico.”

BERN: PBI-Switzerland adds, “Sara Méndez is Coordinator of Código DH in the State of Oaxaca. The organization does psychosocial and legal support of activists and victims of human rights violations.”

BRUSSELS: PBI-Belgium posts, “On the occasion of the 9 years of the arbitrary detention of environmental rights defender Pablo López Alávez, his wife, Yolanda Pérez, will be present to discuss her case and her husband’s rights violations from the moment he was arbitrarily deprived of his liberty by false accusations of homicide.”

The public forums will address questions including: What has changed since the beginning of the new government of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador? Is there reason for hope?

PBI-Mexico has accompanied the Paso del Norte Human Rights Centre since 2013.

CCALCP, the defence of Bari territory and Judgement T-052

By
Brent Patterson
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The Luis Carlos Perez Lawyers’ Collective (CCALCP), an organization of eight women lawyers, works on key legal issues, notably the defence of territory. Its head office is in Bucaramanga (Santander) and it has a second office in Cúcuta (Norte de Santander).

The Bari people and the loss of their territory

The Barí people have lived in the Catatumbo region (Norte de Santander) for centuries. They currently live on two reservations and 24 communities.

This article by Crudo Transparente notes their territory has declined from 16,000 square kilometres in 1900 to 2,400 square kilometres in 1980.

The Bari see their territory as sacred

“In the Barí cosmogony [origin/creation beliefs], the territory is sacred and is understood from a direct relationship with the environment.”

“The Barí understand the protection of the territory as a fundamental need to ensure their subsistence, since any alteration of the natural order endangers the existence of the community, either because it can cause an environmental catastrophe or why spaces are modified where deities or sacred spirits live.”

Resource extraction from Bari territory

“Faced with the hydrocarbons industry, the Barí people have had a tradition of resistance, which highlights the ongoing clashes with oil companies, the public force and judicial activism for the prohibition of projects of this type in their territory.”

The escalation of violence and non-state armed actors

Crudo Transparente notes that the National Liberation Army (ELN) and Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) arrived on Bari territory between 1975 and 1990. The United Self-Defense Forces of Colombia (AUC) arrived in 1996.

The area is considered a strategic territory for drug trafficking across the Venezuela border, it being fertile territory for coca crops, and its an important part of the country’s oil infrastructure, including the Caño Lemon-Coveñas pipeline.

Peaceful resistance and legal actions in defence of territory

The Bari struggle for struggle for territory has taken two routes.

“The first, of peaceful resistance to armed actors such as guerrillas; and the second, the undertaking of legal actions through the means provided by the Colombian State. The latter brought fruits in 2017 through the ruling of the Constitutional Court that requires territorial restitution in the terms that the Barí people demand.”

Court ruling T-052

In April 2018, Crudo Transparente commented, “The delimitation authorized by the Constitutional Court in judgment T-052 of 2017, must be followed promptly by the relevant entities. This will allow the Barí to constitute a single indigenous reservation; helping them strengthen identity traits and protect their territory.”

“The competent authorities are required to delimit the territory and extension of the existing reserves, this in order to return to the Barí the space of which they are the legitimate historical owners and where they have developed their life as a community.”

“The ruling of the Constitutional Court is transcendental [of great importance] because for the first time it orders the Colombian State, that the safeguards be delimited according to the requirements of the indigenous people and not in the way that it considers necessary or convenient for their interests.”

The full ruling can be read at Judgment T-052/17.

Further reading about CCALCP’s legal work and key rulings: T-361 and the delimitation of Santurbán páramo; T-880 and the right to free, prior and informed consent; suit against the National Hydrocarbons Agency and two oil companies re: fracking and court challenge vs Eco Oro mining in the Santurbán páramo.

PBI-Colombia attends Festival of Memory in Indigenous So Bia Drua humanitarian area

By
Brent Patterson
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The Festival of Memory recently took place in So Bia Drua, a territory threatened by illegal armed actors seeking control of the lands.

So Bia Drua is a humanitarian area in the Uradá Jiguamiandó Indigenous Reserve situated about 145 kilometres northwest of Medellin.

In this PBI-Colombia article, Arianna Francescato and Aurore Choquet write, “In this Festival, there was an important focus on environmental issues and the protection of the surrounding area. Walks were organised to get to know and connect with the territories, a symbol of the resistance of these communities.”

Arianna and Aurore add, “The environmental walk took the participants right to the Cerro Cara de Perro, which is called JaiKatumá in the indigenous language of the Embera People, a sacred site where their spirits rest and the source of the rivers which bathe their territories and feed life in the communities.”

And they note, “Places which have witnessed brave resistance against the Muriel Mining Corporation which in 2005 was granted a concession to mine 16,000 hectares of land for the exploration and exploitation of copper, gold and other minerals. For several months more than 1,000 indigenous and afro-descendant people occupied the summit of the sacred mountain day and night, to stop the company’s helicopters from landing there.”

Arianna and Aurore highlight, “The aim of this Festival was not only to recover memory, but also truth, which contributes to building memory.”

To read their article in full, please click on Alto Guayabal Resists.

PBI-Honduras attends COFADEH forum on labour and LGBTI rights after the 2009 coup

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 13, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted, “On August 20, PBI- Honduras attended the forum ‘Impact of the Coup D’état on Human Rights, with emphasis on the violation of labor rights and the LGTBI community’…”

“[The forum was] organized by the Committee of Relatives of Disappeared Detainees in Honduras (COFADEH).”

PBI-Honduras adds, “In two panels, representatives of both the LGTBI movement and defenders of labour rights spoke about the context of both currents since [the 2009 coup] and their next steps for the future.”

Labour rights

In July 2019, the Latin American Working Group posted, “The Honduran agriculture workers union STAS has tried for years to legally unionize workers at Fyffes-Sol and Grupo Jaremar—a melon producer that exports most of its crops to the United States and a palm oil company, respectively—to address the companies’ many labor violations, which include rampant wage theft and exposure to toxic pesticides.”

“Yet, instead of supporting the workers’ right to fair wages and safe work environments, the Honduran government has aligned with Fyffes-Sol and Grupo Jaremar in their effort to bust the unions.”

“Labor Minister Carlos Madero issued a decision to dissolve the budding union at the Fyffes-Sol plantations AND then recognized and registered employer-dominated unions.”

LAWG highlights that, “The Honduran government’s move to undermine workers’ rights is in direct violation of the Honduran Constitution and Labor Code, the labor rights chapter of the Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA), as well as the International Labor Organization (ILO) conventions that protect workers’ rights to freedom of association, organizing, and collective bargaining.”

LGBTI rights

In July of this year, CBC reported, “Twenty-one LGBT people have been murdered in Honduras since January, according to Cattrachas, a local watchdog group, compared to 18 in the same period last year.”

“More than 300 gay and trans people have been murdered since 2009, according to the group funded by the Arcus Foundation, which supports social justice for the LGBT community.”

That article also notes a high degree of impunity: “Of 141 known killings of LGBT people between 2010 and 2014, only nine resulted in convictions, it found.”

PBI-Honduras accompanies the Asociación Arcoiris [Rainbow Association].

From June 2015 to March 2016, six members of Arcoíris were killed. PBI-Honduras has noted that Arcoíris activists have survived assassination attempts, while many others have faced intimidation, harassment and physical attacks.

Arcoíris coordinator Donny Reyes says, “The biggest problem that we face is the violence of the state security forces towards the LGBT+ community: the armed forces, the police, the criminal investigation police, military police, municipal police.”

Washington Blade adds, “Activists in the Central American country with whom the Blade has spoken in recent years say members of Honduras’ National Police and the Honduran military among those who target trans women.”

It then highlights, “Violence, along with discrimination and poverty, has prompted many trans Hondurans to migrate to the U.S. and Mexico over the last two years.”

You can read more about the COFADEH forum that PBI-Honduras attended here.

PBI-Honduras accompanies CEHPRODEC at environmental defence meeting

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 11, the Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project posted, “In August, PBI-Honduras accompanied CEHPRODEC to a meeting with community leaders in the city of Juticalpa, Olancho.”

It adds, “The representatives of several communities in the area expressed interest in defending the environment in one of the most concessioned departments in the country.”

The Office of the High Commissioner on Human Rights (OHCHR) Working Group on Business and Human Rights visited Honduras in August.

With respect to the environment, it reported:

“We heard repeatedly about the lack of transparency and hence lack of confidence of the current system to prevent and mitigate adverse human rights and environmental impacts.  For several years, the State has privileged more flexible regulation governing extractive and energy sectors in order to facilitate licensing and concessions procedures. It is urgent to ensure a regulatory framework firmly grounded in international human rights law and standards, including the UNGPs [UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights].”

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.

PBI-Mexico accompanies EDUCA at Indigenous Guelaguetza festival against mining

By
Brent Patterson
-

On September 11, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted that it had accompanied EDUCA at Oaxaca’s first ever “Guelaguetza” against mining in the municipality San Martín de los Cansecos on June 22.

The Guelaguetza is an annual indigenous cultural event in the city of Oaxaca as well as in nearby villages. It includes traditional costumed dancing.

PBI-Mexico explains, “Various communities from the Valles Centrales in Oaxaca joined together to commemorate the state’s annual ‘Rebellion Against Mining Day’ and to reaffirm ‘¡Sí a la vida, no a la minería!’ (Yes to life, no to mining!).”

“The twist on the traditional Guelaguetza celebration aimed to shed light on the ongoing issues surrounding mining projects in Oaxaca and to demand the cancellation of the 322 mining concessions that exist within the state.”

Vancouver-based Fortuna Silver

PBI-Mexico notes numerous concerns that have been raise with respect to mining.

“Last year a tailings dam that collects mining residues for Canadian mining company Fortuna Silver Mines overflowed on two occasions contaminating the Coyote River and its surrounding tributaries.”

“Not only has the Fortuna Silver mining project in San José del Progreso harmed the environment, but it has also had a seriously damaging social impact which has largely been driven by the lack of transparency from municipal authorities and the company itself.”

“Additionally, those who have spoken out and defended the rights of the communities and their territories against the project have suffered threats, harassment, criminalization and to date the mining conflict has led to four murders in the area.”

To read the full PBI-Mexico article go to “Yes to life, no to mining”.

To read the full declaration from the Guelaguetza Against Mining, click here.

You can also read here about the November 2018 PBI-organized speaking tour in Canada that featured two human rights defenders who shared the concerns being expressed by residents of Santa Catarina Minas, a community in the Central Valleys Region of Oaxaca.

PBI-Mexico expresses support for Totonac communities defending the Ajajalpan River

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 8, the Peace Brigades International-Mexico Project posted, “PBI expresses its support for the Totonac communities that defend the Ajajalpan River.”

PBI-Mexico adds, “We recognize their legitimate work in defence of their territory against the construction of the hydroelectric project for the Walmart Mexico company.”

Their post shares this 14-minute video produced by Fundación Luciérnaga and Alba Films for Peace Brigades International.

Responsible Europe has explained that construction on the Puebla 1 hydroelectric plant on the Ajajalpan River began in February 2016. That article further explains that Deselec 1, a subsidiary of Comexhidro, is in charge of the hydroelectric project.

In July 2018, the Business & Human Rights Resource Centre posted this article which notes, “Although the Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources (Semarnat) approved the Puebla 1 Presa Zoquiapa hydroelectric project in Tlapacoya, there was no prior consultation with indigenous peoples but simulations, said Violeta Valdez, a member of the Antonio Human Rights Center Esteban.”

That article adds, “Semarnat approved this July the Puebla 1 Presa Zoquiapa hydroelectric project, which would provide the Wal-Mart company and other multinationals with electric power, after the public consultation that took place last year.”

On July 30 of this year, LAdobe.com.mx reported, “The amparo trial filed by three indigenous communities in the municipalities of San Felipe Tepatlán and Ahuacatlán against the Puebla 1 hydroelectric project in 2016 is about to receive a sentence.”

“After more than 3 years of legal struggle the constitutional hearing was held on June 11, 2019, and now the defenders of the territory expect to know the resolution in no more than 90 business days, about whether the judge approves or rejects the dam…”

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP), which was adopted by the General Assembly on September 13, 2007, upholds the right to free, prior and informed consent (FPIC).

Article 32 of UNDRIP highlights, “States shall consult and cooperate in good faith with the indigenous peoples concerned through their own representative institutions in order to obtain their free and informed consent prior to the approval of any project affecting their lands or territories and other resources, particularly in connection with the development, utilization or exploitation of mineral, water or other resources.”

The UN has also recognized that, “The human right to water is indispensable for leading a life in human dignity. It is a prerequisite for the realization of other human rights.”

PBI-Guatemala accompanies TZ’KAT at ceremony for girls who died in state home fire

By
Brent Patterson
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On September 7, the Peace Brigades International-Guatemala Project posted, “Yesterday we accompanied TZ’KAT, the Network of Ancestral Healers, in the Plaza de las Niñas. They held a ceremony to remember the girls who died burned on March 8, 2017 in a state home. The ceremony commemorated all the girls who have been victims of sexual violence.”

Forty-one girls died in that fire at the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter.

The Guardian has reported, “It emerged that 56 girls had been locked inside a room measuring 6.8 metres by 7 metres as punishment for organising a protest the day before against cramped conditions and abuse by staff. More than 700 children lived at the home, which had capacity for 400-500.”

“The fire, which began in the early hours, sparked angry demonstrations in the capital over the government’s failure to protect young people in its care. Complaints about abuse at the centre had been made, but not followed up. A month before the fire, Guatemala’s human rights commission had asked for it to be closed.”

That November 2017 Guardian article also noted, “Lawyers are now trying to remove president Jimmy Morales’ immunity from prosecution while in office, so that he can also be held accountable.”

Edgar Pérez, the director of BDH (The Human Rights Law Firm) says, “The president contributed to the explosion. He lit the match.”

In March 2019, Al Jazeera reported, “Several government employees, including police, are now on trial for their role in the fire. The girls were locked in a room and shelter officials waited for nine minutes as the girls burned before they unlocked the door.”

“Some of the victims of the March 8, 2017 fire in the Hogar Seguro Virgen de la Asuncion shelter had run away from home, fleeing abuse and sexual assault by relatives. But many faced more of the same inside the shelter.”

That article adds, “For years, girls reported being raped and forced into prostitution inside the state-run facility, but their protests were ignored.”

Further background on this can be read in The Irish Times at Deaths of 41 girls in Guatemalan care home fire reveal terrible cruelty.

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied TZ’KAT since February 2018, Edgar Pérez since August 2010 and the BDH law firm since the end of 2013.

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