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Peace Brigades International supports Declaration +25 with new provisions to protect human rights defenders

By
Brent Patterson
-

Peace Brigades International (PBI) supports Declaration +25, “a landmark document systematising relevant developments in regional and international human rights law and standards of the last 25 years.”

Declaration +25 addresses key issues that were not fully addressed by the Declaration on human rights defenders that was adopted by consensus by the United Nations General Assembly in 1998.

Excerpts from Declaration +25 include:

PREAMBLE

DISTURBED by the trend of security forces engaging in assaults against human rights defenders and the role of judicial bodies in judicial harassment and criminalization,

DEEPLY CONCERNED by the persistence of significant challenges and threats to human rights defenders and the persistent instances of killing, physical violence, stigmatization, criminalization, and other online and offline attacks that compromise their ability to carry out their work or activities, as well as their legitimacy, safety and freedom;

EMPHASIZING the vital importance of investigating all threats and attacks against human rights defenders, and ensuring accountability and addressing impunity, whether perpetrated by State or non-State actors (including business enterprises);

STRESSING the responsibility of non-State actors (including business enterprises) to respect and support human rights defenders and, DEEPLY CONCERNED by their increasing role in attacks against, and undermining or obstructing the vital work or activities of, human rights defenders;

ARTICLE 4

States shall ensure a safe and enabling environment for human rights defenders.

ARTICLE 7

(c) Take effective measures to address the structural conditions that create or accentuate the risks faced by human rights defenders, including impunity and lack of accountability, political instability such as militarization, states of emergency and extremism, any form of systemic discrimination, and transnational repression.

ARTICLE 11

In particular, in conflict, post-conflict, and crisis-affected settings, States should:

(h) Ensure that security forces deployed to police assemblies have received human rights training, especially in assembly facilitation and de-escalation techniques, and that they are placed under civilian command and oversight, have clearly defined responsibilities and rules of engagement, and are accountable.

ARTICLE 12

States shall adopt such legislative, administrative and other steps as may be necessary to implement the Declaration and the Declaration +25 within their jurisdiction and in territories under their control, in particular to ensure that the rights and protections accorded to human rights defenders under the Declaration and the Declaration +25 are given effect in domestic legislation, as well as by local governments and judicial bodies.

ARTICLE 17

States shall adopt and enforce laws and policies, and take all necessary measures to ensure that non-State actors (including business enterprises) respect human rights defenders and do not, directly or indirectly, violate or restrict their rights or activities.

ARTICLE 18

In particular, in safe and meaningful consultation with human rights defenders, business enterprises should:

(c) Ensure that due diligence processes respect the right to free, prior, and informed consent (FPIC), including the right of Indigenous Peoples to define the process by which FPIC is achieved and to withhold consent, regardless of any opposing claim by the government.

READ MORE

The 8-page Declaration (1998) can be read here and here. You can download the 36-page Declaration on Human Rights Defenders +25 here.

#Declaration25 #Right2DefendRights

TC Energy shareholders vote against Wet’suwet’en and Otomi request for independent assessment of its projects

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: On October 14, 2023, Wet’suwet’en and Otomi land defenders marched together in Toronto in opposition to the construction of TC Energy pipelines on their territories.

On June 10, Forbes Mexico reported: “Indigenous communities in Mexico and Canada demanded that the Canadian firm TC Energy carry out an external assessment of the impacts caused by the imposition of the Tuxpan-Tula and Puerta al Sureste gas pipelines in ancestral territories of Veracruz.”

This request was for “an independent assessment of the financial, time, reputational and goodwill damages that the company has suffered for not obtaining the prior, free and informed consent of the communities affected by its projects.”

Members of the Otomi, Nahua, Totonac, Nuntajɨɨyi’ and Tepehua peoples together with the Wet’suwet’en submitted this request to the TC Energy general meeting of shareholders that was held virtually on June 4.

The TC Energy Report of Voting Results notes: “By resolution passed via ballot, the shareholder proposal submitted by the Salal Foundation requesting TC Energy commission an independent assessment on its practices relating to obtaining Free, Prior and Informed Consent on its projects, as set forth in Schedule M of the Circular, was not approved. The results of the ballot were as follows:

The Victoria, BC-based Salal Foundation seeks “to nurture transparency, citizen engagement, democracy, and communities living within natural limits.”

Tuxpan-Tula

TC Energy is building the Tuxpan-Tula pipeline resisted that is being resisted by Otomi, Nahua and Tepehua communities grouped together as the Regional Council of Indigenous Peoples in Defense of the Territory of Puebla and Hidalgo.

In April 2023, the Federal Electricity Commission (CFE) confirmed the intention to complete the pipeline. As of June 2023, efforts to complete the construction of the pipeline appeared to be moving ahead despite continued opposition.

Puerta al Sureste

The Southeast Gateway (aka Puerta al Sureste) pipeline would begin on land in Tuxpan and continue across the ocean and flow to Coatzacoalcos, Veracruz and the refinery in Dos Bocas, Paraiso, Tabasco. This pipeline is opposed by the Union of Indigenous Communities from the North of the Isthmus (UCIZONI).

When TC Energy began the construction of this pipeline in May 2023, Carlos Beas Torres of UCIZONI commented: “We are witnessing this Canadian company threaten the Laguna del Ostion estuary, in the south of the state of Veracruz.”

Otomi and Wet’suwet’en

Last year, Otomi and Wet’suwet’en land defenders marched in Toronto against TC Energy pipelines on their territories (October 14), met with Export Development Canada (EDC) and the Canadian Ombudsperson for Responsible Enterprise (CORE) and spoke at a public forum in Ottawa (October 16), and met with Global Affairs Canada and Member of Parliament Mike Morrice (October 17).

We continue to follow this.

Further reading: Wet’suwet’en and Otomi land defenders unite against the TC Energy Coastal GasLink and Tuxpan-Tula pipelines (October 18, 2023) and What we know about TC Energy pipelines in Mexico (December 12, 2023).

PBI-Colombia joins MOCAO for a screening of the documentary ‘The Eyes That Are Reborn’ about police violence

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Movement in Resistance against Ocular Aggressions (MOCAO) has posted on Instagram: “We met with PBI Colombia for the screening of our documentary ‘The Eyes That Are Reborn’. #FightAgainstImpunity and stop police violence.”

The Southampton, United Kingdom-based National Centre for Research Methods (NCRM) has previously posted: “Lucía Guerrero Rivière harnessed the skills she learnt in an NCRM workshop to produce a documentary in Colombia, where she worked with survivors of ocular mutilation. The project, which was part of Lucía’s PhD research at the University of Exeter, enabled her participants to articulate their demands for justice and share their collective experiences. … She works with a campaign group, MOCAO, which brings together survivors of ocular mutilation during protests across the country.”

The Bogota-based El Turbion (“a techno-activist organization”) has also commented: “The painful narrative that ‘The Eyes That Are Reborn’ exposes does not focus on stories of sadness and desolation. On the contrary, the documentary explores how MOCAO’s actions transform the effects by establishing participatory links with the partners, parents and relatives of the victims, who also needed space to talk about the injuries. Thus, the documentary gives a voice to both the victims and their families, creating a collective voice that demands truth, memory and justice, and above all, advocates avoiding repetition.”

The ESMAD and eye injuries

The Mobile Anti-Riot Squadron (ESMAD) was formed in February 1999 as a specialized police unit to respond to protests and crowds. Between its inception and November 2019, the ESMAD killed 34 people. According to Temblores, there were also 3,789 cases of police violence including 45 killings between April 28 and May 31, 2021, during the National Strike against the neoliberal policies of President Ivan Duque.

In November 2021, the “Shoots On Sight” report produced jointly by PAIIS, Temblores and Amnesty International, found that police repression during the National Strike resulted in around 100 people sustaining eye trauma.

Photo: “I regret to inform the ESMAD that with my left eye I still see a better future for my country.”

During the National Strike, the Canadian Labour Congress (CLC), the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and the National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE) supported the popular call for the dismantling of the ESMAD.

In June 2023, the government of President Gustavo Petro, rather than dismantling the ESMAD as had been originally promised, changed its name to the Dialogue and Order Maintenance Unit (UNDMO).

Canada on police violence during the National Strike

On May 9, 2021, the Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs stated: “We welcome the Government of Colombia’s commitment to fully investigate and hold accountable those who may be guilty of violating human rights during these events.”

Then on July 14, 2021, the Minister of Foreign Affairs “called on Colombia to keep its commitment to fully investigate and hold anyone who has violated human rights to account for their actions.”

On May 16, 2022, Canadian Ambassador Marianick Tremblay met with victims of police violence in Cali along with the Association for Research and Social Action (NOMADESC) and PBI-Colombia.

The Canadian government has not made subsequent public statements as the impunity for police violence in Colombia continues.

Screening “Los ojos que renacen” in Canada

In December 2023, El Turbion noted: “At the beginning of 2024 [the documentary] will be released in the United States in the city of Boston, as well as in England, Spain, Chile and Ecuador. After the premiere, the documentary whose audiovisual production was led by Juan Pablo Fonseca, Carlos Garzón, Natalia Mondragón, Daniela Buriticá and Lucía Guerrero, will be hosted on the Wellcome Trust website.”

PBI-Canada is now in contact with MOCAO to determine if it might be possible to screen Los ojos que renacen: historia de un movimiento en resistencia (Reborn Eyes: Story of a Movement in Resistance) in Canada.

Stay tuned for more.

Tweet.

Further reading: As concerns grow about state violence, are Canadian police providing training to the Colombian police? (PBI-Canada, May 7, 2021).

PBI-Honduras concerned that court delays sentencing in the Fraud on the Gualcarque case until August 2

By
Brent Patterson
-

On June 14, PBI-Honduras posted: “We express concern about the rescheduling of the hearing to individualize the sentence in the Gualcarque Fraud case. Río Blanco and @COPINHHONDURAS [the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras] have the right to access a full #justice. We show solidarity with those who were at the sit-in today.”

That same day, the Spanish news agency EFE reported: “On May 3, the Sentencing Court found [DESA hydroelectric dam company manager] Roberto David Castillo and [ENEE electrical power company official] Carolina Lizeth Castillo guilty of fraud, and Raúl Pineda, former mayor of San Francisco de Ojuera, western department of Santa Barbara, for falsification of public documents and usurpation of functions.”

That article adds: “However, to the disappointment of the family and activists, the court in Tegucigalpa rescheduled the sentencing that was expected this Friday [June 14] for August 2, because ‘most of the defendants’ defense attorneys did not appear,’ court spokeswoman Barbara Castillo told EFE.”

The International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) has previously explained: “This trial seeks accountability for those involved in the network of corruption that allowed for fraudulent concessions of the Gualcarque River. These concessions are still in force in the territories of the Lenca community, violating their rights to land and water. The complaint is linked to the 2016 murder of renowned environmental and human rights defender Berta Cáceres. This trial is also emblematic because it is the first time in the country that Indigenous communities — direct victims of these criminal acts — have become parties to a corruption case for violation of their human rights.”

PBI-Honduras has accompanied the Civic Council of Grassroots and Indigenous Organizations in Honduras (COPINH) since May 2016.

Further reading: PBI-Honduras observes ‘Fraud on the Gualcarque’ trial in Tegucigalpa (August 3, 2022) and PBI-Honduras observes COPINH sit-in following conviction of three in the ‘Fraud on Gualcarque’ case (May 3, 2024).

#FraudeSobreElGualcarque

COPINH tweet: “Gallery of the Lenca people in front of the Corruption Sentencing Court, demanding the conviction of those guilty in the case #FraudeSobreElGualcarque No more impunity, no more corruption!”

PBI-Kenya demands release of at least 210 peaceful protestors arrested at the Occupy Parliament protest

By
Brent Patterson
-

Africa Uncensored video: Wanjira Wanjiru, co-founder of the PBI-Kenya partner Mathare Social Justice Centre, explains today’s protests.

PBI-Kenya has posted:

VOCAL Africa has also tweeted:

The Kenya Star reports: “Human Rights groups have called on the government to release protesters, observers and journalists arrested on Tuesday during demonstrations. According to the lobby groups, at least 210 peaceful protestors, journalists and observers were arrested during the protests dubbed ‘Occupy Parliament’.”

That article continues: “In a statement, 21 human rights and governance organisations under the Police Reforms Working Group Kenya (PRWG-Kenya) said they are alarmed and outraged by the Tuesday arrests.”

PBI-Kenya is a member of the PRWG-Kenya along with the Social Justice Centres Working Group (SJCW), the Kenyan Section of the International Commission of Jurists (ICJ Kenya), HAKI Africa, Amnesty International Kenya and others.

The statement can be read in full here.

The Standard adds: “[Defenders Coalition Executive Director Kamau] Ngugi said the constitution guarantees Kenyans rights to assemble, picket and present petitions to public authorities and that they should not be harassed for expressing their discontent over the tax increase proposals in Finance Bill 2024.”

Government scraps part of Finance Bill

And the BBC now reports: “Kenya’s government has scrapped some proposed taxes in this year’s controversial finance bill, including a 16% levy on bread, after a public outcry. The announcement by MPs came as police fired tear gas and used water cannon to try to disperse angry protesters in the capital, Nairobi. Dozens of people have been arrested, and lawyers earlier joined chanting crowds at the city’s main police station to demand that detainees be freed.”

We continue to follow this.

#OccupyParliament #RejectFinanceBill2024

PBI in Kenya

PBI-Kenya’s partners include “networks of civil society organisations that work together to enhance police accountability and justice, such as Missing Voices and the Police Reforms Working Group – Kenya.”

Last month, on the 10th anniversary of the project, PBI-Kenya country director Alberto Fait commented: “Comrades, today we are celebrating the 10th anniversary of our journey. A journey that we have made together. A journey to advance equality and justice. A journey of courage. A journey of which you all are the protagonists because exposing inequality, corruption, violence requires courage. Standing against intimidation and violence requires courage. Marching against tear gases to exercise our constitutional rights requires courage. Making changes requires courage.”

For more on the Peace Brigades International-Kenya Project, see their website, Facebook page, Instagram page, and X feed.

Video of Wanjira Wanjiru from 2020.

Court ruling against Chiquita and the possible prosecution of other transnationals with alleged ties to paramilitaries in Colombia

By
Brent Patterson
-

Photo: The paramilitary AUC. Image by Image: EFE/dpa/picture alliance.

On June 11, The Guardian reported: “A Florida court has ordered Chiquita Brands International to pay $38m to the families of eight Colombian men murdered by a paramilitary death squad [the United Self-Defence Forces of Colombia/AUC], after the American banana giant was shown to have financed the terrorist organisation from 1997-2004.”

The article adds: “[The ruling] marks the first time a major US corporation has been held liable for such rights abuses in another country and could lead to a series of similar lawsuits involving rights violations across the world.”

Terry Collingsworth, the Executive Director of International Rights Advocates (IRAdvocates), the law firm that filed the civil case against Chiquita, stated: “In my experience, corporations operating in the global economy will do whatever they can get away with. We just showed them that there are real consequences for corporate outlaws.”

Drummond

Now, Deutsche Welle reports: “The mining company Drummond has faced two civil lawsuits in the United States for allegedly financing paramilitary groups to protect its mining operations, which would have resulted in the intimidation and murder of union and community leaders. Although the U.S. Justice rejected the claims, in January 2024 the Colombian Prosecutor’s Office announced that it will call 72 businessmen of the firm to trial.”

Coca-Cola

The Deutsche Welle article also notes: “In a similar case, Coca-Cola was accused of various human rights violations, including alleged links with paramilitary groups to suppress trade union activity, which resulted in the murder of more than ten trade unionists. The complaint, filed in 2002 before a judge of the District Court of Miami (Florida), was filed in 2009, but it remains an emblematic case.”

Ecopetrol

In May 2022, Aljazeera reported: “[Santander’s Magdalena Medio region] comprises the heart of Colombia’s petroleum industry, and the local town of Puerto Wilches has been selected for the country’s first fracking project, meeting strong resistance from locals and environmental groups. This opposition, in turn, has drawn threats from local armed groups. …Local environmental defenders and a representative of the JEP [Special Jurisdiction for Peace] told Al Jazeera that they suspected a connection between the paramilitary groups intimidating them and the state-owned Ecopetrol, which is behind the fracking project. The company has been accused of having ties with the Gulf Clan [also known as the Gaitanist Self-Defense Forces of Colombia/AGC]  specifically. For its part, Ecopetrol has denied all such allegations and publicly denounced any violence towards environmental defenders.”

GCM (Gran Colombia Gold)

And in October 2022, The Breach reported that Toronto-based mining company GCM (aka Gran Colombia Gold) operates in Segovia, Antioqua, a “town belonging to the most powerful criminal armed group in Colombia, the Gaitanista Self Defense Forces of Colombia, or AGC by its initials in Spanish.”

Journalist Joshua Collins further notes in that article: “Faced with labour disputes, criminal armed groups and a local community in rebellion, Gran Colombia … hired Colombian sub-contractors to mine their gold, as a way of dealing with escalating security, legal and social issues. Using subcontractors gave Gran Colombia a key advantage: plausible deniability. The company could put distance between their operations and the problems that come with working in a region effectively controlled by criminal armed groups. Gran Colombia has in the past claimed that it has no knowledge of any of the subcontractors in their employ making payments to armed groups. The company did not respond to repeated requests for comment from The Breach.”

Concerns about “cooperation agreements”

In July 2019, the Rutas del Conflicto [Routes of Conflict] and La Liga Contra el Silencio [League Against Silence] reviewed 200 cooperation agreements between companies and the Military Forces and the Police.

They found that “more than 70 national and international companies, mainly in the mining-energy sector, enter into cooperation agreements with public institutions such as the Ministry of Defense… These agreements have existed since 1996, but were only regulated by the Ministry of Defense in 2014, through resolution 5342.”

And they report: “Senator Iván Cepeda; the lawyer of the José Alvear Restrepo Collective, Rosa María Mateus; and the director of the Institute of Studies for Development and Peace (Indepaz), Camilo González, are concerned about aspects of these agreements that can lead to the violation of human rights.”

Photo: PBI meets with Rosa Maria Mateus in Bogota.

Frontera Energy

In a December 2019 report to the Human Rights Council, UN Special Rapporteur Michel Forst highlighted: “The Special Rapporteur is concerned at the apparent connection between Frontera Energy, the army’s 16th brigade and the Attorney General’s Support Office in this criminalization and the possible impact of the agreement between Ecopetrol S.A. and the Attorney General’s Office on the situation [in which] eight leaders from San Luis de Palenque were arrested and accused of collusion to commit an offence, violence against a public servant and obstructing a public road, and two of them with attempted homicide in connection with their participation in and leadership of the social protests between 2016 and 2018 in response to the failure of Canadian public company Frontera Energy to fulfil its obligation to compensate communities affected by environmental damage and to repair damaged roads.”

Photo: PBI in San Luis de Palenque, July 2022.

“Companies, an actor sometimes hidden behind the scenes”

Tweet by Alirio Uribe Muñoz:

“In Colombia, attacks on human rights defenders, social leaders, defenders of the environment and the territory continue by different armed, illegal, state actors, but also by companies, an actor sometimes hidden behind the scenes.

For this reason, legislation that incorporates the responsibility of companies in respecting human rights is important.

Oscar Ramírez, Solidarity Committee”

We continue to follow this.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies Maya Ch’orti’ communities in Olopa Chiquimula and San Francisco Quezaltepeque at meetings

By
Brent Patterson
-

On June 13, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“#PBI accompanies the Indigenous Council of Maya Ch’orti’ de Olopa Chiquimula and the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque at a meeting in the San Francisco Conquistador community, where they updated us on the latest news, which despite the various threats, have been positive:

They have opened spaces with the government addressing three priority issues:

(1) land tenure

(2) the environment: care for the rivers and the fight against logging

(3) the right to free, prior and informed consultation.

We also accompanied them to a community assembly in the Piedra community.“

The community of San Francisco, Quezaltepeque is situated about 20 kilometres south-west of Olopa, Chiquimula.

American Minerals S.A.

PBI-Guatemala has previously highlighted: “The communities of Olopa are confronting the company American Minerals S.A., which was granted a 25-year antimony extraction license in 2012, without prior consultation with the communities.”

Photo: On May 9, 2023, PBI-Canada met with Ubaldino García Canan of the Maya Ch’orti Indigenous Council of Olopa.

Minerales Sierra Pacifico S.A. (Gold Group)

PBI-Guatemala has also noted that the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque is peacefully resisting Minerales Sierra Pacifico S.A. (a subsidiary of Vancouver, Canada-based Gold Group Management Inc.), a company that has five exploration licenses for gold, silver, copper, lead and zinc.

Mila Gold, Motagua Norte (Tulipán, Garnalda, Cirilo I and Cirilo II)

The Gold Group Management Inc. website has noted that with respect to Radius Gold “in February 2024, a maiden drilling campaign commenced at the Mila Gold Discovery, Motagua Norte project in Guatemala” and similarly that Volcanic Gold “commenced a maiden drilling campaign at the Mila Gold Discovery, Motagua Norte project through an Option Agreement with Radius Gold.”

The Extractive Industries Observatory (OIE) has further noted the “Motagua Norte (San Agustín and San Cristóbal Acasaguastlán, El Progreso) [project that] consists of 4 mining exploration requests: Tulipán, Garnalda, Cirilo I and Cirilo II.”

And in October 2023, the Asociación El Observador explained: “Among [the metallic mineral projects] already authorized [by the Ministry of Energy and Mines – MEM] is Cirilo I, located in the foothills of the Sierra de las Minas in the municipality of San Agustín Acasaguastlán, El Progreso. The granting of the license was announced by the Canadian mining group Radius Gold, on September 26, 2023, and is to explore for gold. The license is identified as SEXR-017-10, that is, since 2010 it was requested in the name of Minerales Sierra Pacífico, S.A., one of Radius Gold’s subsidiaries in Guatemala. One of the directors of Minerales Sierra Pacífico is geologist Alfredo Gálvez Sinibaldi, who has a long history of ties with the MEM and well-known mining companies in Guatemala, as well as being a current director of the Guatemalan Association of Natural Resources, Mines and Quarries (GRENAT).”

Radius Gold on the Arevalo government

On May 23, 2024, Radius Gold posted: “A new Minister of the Environment (MARN) was appointed on April 12, 2024 and initial public comments from the new Minister were not positive for mineral exploration and development in the country. Before committing further funds to Guatemala, Volcanic will monitor the two significant precious metal deposits where developments are on hold: the multi-million ounce gold deposit at Cerro Blanco and the large high grade silver-lead-zinc deposit at Escobal. These mines could employ thousands of people, providing jobs to Guatemalans so they can thrive in their own communities.”

Connections

The Gold Group website also highlights: “Led by Simon Ridgway, companies under Gold Group Management have made several significant gold and silver discoveries and completed the successful sale of deposits in North America and Central America, including the Cerro Blanco deposit in Guatemala (Bluestone Resources), Natividad deposit in Nicaragua (Calibre Mining Corp), the San Martin deposit in Honduras (Glamis Gold), and the San Jose deposit in Mexico (Fortuna Silver Mines).”

Video still: Simon Ridgway in June 2023.

The Extractive Industries Observatory (OIE) has also noted: “In Guatemala, since 1996, [Ridgway] has led the exploration of the Progreso VII Derivada mine (La Puya) and the Marlin Mine.”

PBI-Guatemala has posted about the Cerro Blanco mine, accompanies the Peaceful Resistance of La Puya in opposition to the Progreso VII Derivada mine and would be familiar with community opposition to the Marlin mine; the PBI-Honduras accompanied ASODEBICOQ and CEHPRODEC would be familiar with the San Martin mine; and the PBI-Mexico accompanied EDUCA Oaxaca has supported community opposition to Fortuna Silver and its San Jose del Progreso mine.

Gold Group in Canada

Gold Group Management has also noted that another member of its group of companies, Rackla Metals, has gold exploration “projects located in the eastern Yukon and western Northwest Territories, Canada.”

In May 2018, the Whitehorse Daily Star reported: “The [Yukon] territory’s assessment board has recommended approval of a 65-kilometre, all-season road through virgin wilderness to the Rackla Gold Property. Serious concerns have been raised [about the proposed road] by the First Nation of Nacho Nyak Dun.”

Accompaniment

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the Indigenous Council of Maya Ch’orti’ de Olopa Chiquimula and the Indigenous Community of San Francisco Quezaltepeque.

PBI-Guatemala visits Maya Q’eqchi’ community of Lajeb Kej and hears about life under the threat of forced eviction

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Guatemala has posted:

In early April we visited the Lajeb Kej community in Tucuru, Alta Verapaz. The inhabitants of the Q’eqchi’ Peoples shared their experiences with us.

“We lived here before, our grandparents died here, but the bosses came to take us out. Four years ago, we returned because there was nothing here and the Land Fund said it was wasteland. Since then, we have encountered many problems, they threaten to remove us, to evict us, in fact they already tried.”

“On April 7, 2021, at 6 in the morning a group of 25 men, teachers from the neighboring community, tried to evict us, they came to shoot. They wounded 3 companeros. They could not go out to see a doctor because they have an arrest warrant for usurpation and aggravated robbery. We filed a complaint with the Public Prosecutor’s Office in the capital but there was no investigation. And the threats continue.”

“The children are left in their minds, when they hear a rocket they get scared, they say that the teachers are coming. We can’t make a work plan, nor a study plan for the children because we are always waiting for the eviction. What are we going to do? Where are we going to go with the children, the elderly?”

“We are 29 families, 182 people between 6 tables and 70 years old. We take some corn and beans, but it is little, because of the sun. Nothing to sell, just for ourselves. There is no income in the community, because of the arrest warrants we can’t go out to work. Quite a few companeros have migrated to earn something to support their families.”

To see the full post, go to Instagram or Facebook.

Further reading: PBI-Guatemala accompanies media conference denouncing attacks and evictions of Maya Q’eqchi’ communities (PBI-Canada, June 13, 2024).

Constitutional Chamber accepts admission of appeal from the Committee in Defense of the Common and Public Goods

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Honduras has posted: “On Tuesday [June 11] we accompanied the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods to the Supreme Court of Justice where they filed a writ of amparo [injunction] against the open town meeting called for today [June 13].”

Now, Crtierio.hn reports: “The effects of the resolution of the questioned open town hall held in Tocoa, Colón, were suspended, after the Constitutional Chamber notified the admission of the appeal for amparo filed by the members of the Committee in Defense of the Common and Public Goods of Tocoa.”

“The decision of the Constitutional Chamber was made on Wednesday, June 12, one day before the celebration of the town hall, and notified until this Friday, June 14, that is, one day after the controversial consultation in which only four people chosen by the mayor participated.”

The article adds: “Until there is a final sentence, it will be known whether or not the Supreme Court of Justice validates the decision made at the town hall, which was carried out when it was notified belatedly of the Supreme Court’s decision.”

The full article can be read at Corte Suprema suspende efecto de ilegal cabildo realizado en Tocoa por Adán Fúnez (Criterio.hn, June 14, 2024).

The megaproject

The EMCO Holding Group megaproject appears to include an open-pit iron oxide mine and a petroleum coke-based thermoelectric plant to provide the electricity to power a pelletizing plant in which the iron oxide extracted would be processed to convert it into pellets (semi-processed iron) to be exported to the United States.

Criterio.hn adds: “The Ecotek thermoelectric project is one of the seven components of the mining megaproject installed in the Montaña de Botaderos National Park, Carlos Escaleras Mejía. The license for the ASP mining component expired in 2024, while ASP2 was never granted a permit.”

On October 26, 2023, Inversiones Los Pinares asked for a renewal of its ASP mining concession for up to 30 more years.

Opposition and criminalization

Criterio.hn also notes: “Eight water defenders in Tocoa were criminalized and arbitrarily deprived of their liberty for more than 900 days, for opposing the mining megaproject in the nature reserve. …In 2023, defenders Jairo Bonilla, Alí and Oquelí Domínguez, the latter two brothers of fellow defender Reynaldo Domínguez, were murdered.”

We continue to follow this.

Selected dates

August 1, 2018: The community establishes a Camp in Defence of Water and Life that blocks the construction of the access road for the mine.

August 11, 2021: PBI-Honduras visits with the criminalized water defenders at Olanchito prison where they had been held since September 1, 2019.

February 9, 2022: Six of the eight water defenders are found guilty in a Honduran courtroom.

February 10, 2022: The Constitutional Chamber annuls the trial and orders the release of the water defenders from prison.

PBI-Honduras accompanies Municipal Committee filing injunction against town hall meeting for thermoelectric plant

By
Brent Patterson
-

The Peace Brigades International-Honduras Project has posted:

“On Tuesday [June 11] we accompanied the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods to the Supreme Court of Justice where they filed a writ of amparo [injunction] against the open town meeting called for today [June 13].

On repeated occasions, the Municipal Committee in Defense of Common and Public Goods and the affected communities of the area have opposed the installation of the ECOTEK thermoelectric plant.

From PBI, today we are very attentive to the security situation of the people of the community.”

Criterio.hn reports:

 “On Tuesday, June 11, the Municipal Committee for the Defense of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa filed an amparo action before the Constitutional Chamber against the third municipal call to open town hall, invoking the protection of the right to a healthy environment, water, health and life.

The letter pointed out that the council was convened by “instructions from the head of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (Serna), Lucky Medina, with the aim of accrediting in the file SLAS-0000076-2020/Ecotek Electric Plant a socialization and community approval of a project for the generation of electricity based on petroleum coke.”

[Despite this, on Thursday June 13, Tocoa Mayor Adán Fúnez proceeded with a town hall meeting that] allowed the participation only of people related to the interests of the mining megaproject of Inversiones Los Pinares and Inversiones Ecotek, both of the EMCO Group, chaired by businessman Lenir Pérez.

At the end of the event, which began more than three hours late and lasted less than half an hour, the National Police proceeded to repress the population that complained to Fúnez about the absence of real participation by the communities in a decision that has implications beyond the municipality of Tocoa.

[Following this] Adilia Castro [of the Municipal Committee for the Defence of Common and Public Goods of Tocoa] demanded that the Supreme Court of Justice immediately rule on the appeal filed on Tuesday, June 11 by the Committee in Defense of Public Goods of Tocoa against the third municipal call to open town hall.”

The full article can be read at Adán Fúnez impone proyecto termoeléctrico en ilegal y arbitrario cabildo (Criterio.hn, June 13, 2024).

About the megaproject

The megaproject appears to include an open-pit iron oxide mine and a petroleum coke-based thermoelectric plant to provide the electricity to power a pelletizing plant in which the iron oxide extracted would be processed to convert it into pellets (semi-processed iron) to be exported to the United States.

Criterio.hn notes:

“The petroleum coke-based thermoelectric plant is one of the seven components of the controversial mining megaproject of Inversiones Los Pinares and Inversiones Ecotek [both of the EMCO Group, chaired by businessman Lenir Pérez], installed in the Montaña de Botaderos National Park, Carlos Escaleras Mejía.

Its original purpose was to provide electricity to the pelletizing plant for iron oxide, a mineral extracted from the natural reserve, but now it is justified by the ruling party as the answer to the energy problem that Tocoa is experiencing.”

In October 2022, NCR also explained:

“About a decade ago, Inversiones Los Pinares, formerly the Honduran EMCO Mining Company and based in Tocoa, applied for a concession to build an iron oxide mine in the protected Carlos Escaleras National Park. Then-President Juan Orlando Hernández authorized the request in 2013, a decision locals said was made without following protocol of consulting residents of the area.

The open-pit mining project was upstream of the Río Guapinol, a channel that stems from the larger Río Aguan, a river that flows through tropical mountains from the Atlantic on the northern side of the Central American country.

When the Río Guapinol in 2018 started to turn a chocolate brown, locals took that as a cue to act against Inversiones Los Pinares.”

EMCO Holding Group has also explained:

“In the Steel Division, the group operates the mining company Inversiones Los Pinares, which is responsible for the extraction of iron oxide in Tocoa, Colón, complying with high quality standards, responsible mining and environmentally responsible processes.

Also in the Steel Division, there is a company Inversiones Ecotek that is developing the construction of a modern pelletizing plant in which the iron oxide extracted in Tocoa will be processed to convert it into pellets. This process will allow the export of the material with a great added value. This plant will be unique in Central America. In the Energy Division, the group is developing an important power generation project with the company Puente Alto Energy, located in the community of Puente Alto, in Puerto Cortés, which plans to produce more than 100 megawatts (MW) in its initial stage.”

EMCO has also specified:

“After 8 years of work, Phase 1 of raw iron production as a raw material began in Los Pinares and at the end of 2021 Phase 2 will start to export semi-processed iron to the United States.”

In January 2023, Bloomberg Linea further reported:

“A mining project by the Honduran company Los Inversiones Pinares will produce 800,000 tons of iron oxide pellets in its first year of operation, generating US$190 million in foreign exchange.”

We continue to follow this.

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