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At least 300 human rights defenders killed in 2023: Front Line Defenders report

By
Brent Patterson
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Image from video for the report.

Front Line Defenders reports: “In 2023, the HRD Memorial documented the killings of 300 HRDs in 28 countries” including 142 in Colombia, 30 in Mexico, 19 in Honduras and 6 in Guatemala where Peace Brigades International accompanies defenders.

Among their findings:

– “Indigenous peoples’ rights defenders were the most targeted group in 2023, with a total of 92 killings registered in Brazil, Colombia, Ecuador, Guatemala, Honduras, Indonesia, Mexico, Nicaragua, Paraguay, Peru and the Philippines.”

– “A total of 64 people who defended environmental and land rights were killed in Brazil, Colombia, Guatemala, Honduras, India, Mexico, Peru and the Philippines.”

– “49 of the defenders killed identified as women, including transwomen, and 14 were members of the LGBTIQ+ community and defended its rights.”

– “199 human rights defenders were shot to death either by state or non-state actors, including paramilitary and criminal groups.”

– “HRDs denouncing business-related human rights abuses continued to be subjected to numerous attacks, both online and offline, perpetrated by multiple actors, including State forces, company staff and company-linked individuals. Agribusiness, extractive industry and energy and development projects are amongst the most dangerous sectors for HRDs to work on, putting environmental, indigenous people’s and land rights defenders at particular risk.”

Image: Attacks in the Americas, page 47.

Honduras

One of the examples related to PBI accompaniment is in Honduras. The report states:

“In Honduras, 2023 was marked by deadly violence against defenders; according to HRD Memorial, 14 land, indigenous people’s and environmental defenders were killed throughout the year. On 7 January, water rights defenders Aly Dominguez and Jairo Bonilla were killed by armed men in La Concepción, in Tocoa, in an attack believed to be in retaliation for their work to protect the Guapinol and San Pedro rivers from an illegally sanctioned iron-ore mine. Prior to his killing, Aly Domínguez had been criminalised along with 31 other leaders. On 18 January, Omar Cruz, another defender and member of the Plataforma Agraria del Valle del Aguán, was killed in his home in Tocoa.”

Canada

Canada is also mentioned at least twice in the report:

– “Canada is home to almost ‘half of the world’s publicly listed mining and mineral exploration companies’ and Canadian mining companies have been linked to attacks against HRDs. In 2020, HRD Adán Vez Lira was killed in Actopan, Mexico. Adán was a vocal opponent of human rights violations caused by mining in the Veracruz region, including by mining projects owned by Canadian companies Almaden Minerals and Candelaria Mining. With the track record of risk posed by the extractive industry to HRDs, it was disappointing that in Canada’s Universal Periodic Review at the UN Human Rights Council in November, none of the States most vocal on HRDs internationally – including the US, the UK, the EU, or Norway – made recommendations in relation to Canadian companies abroad and the safety of defenders. The only recommendations it received relating to the conduct of its companies in third countries were from Chile, Colombia, Ecuador and Japan.”

– “In Canada, several indigenous Wet’suwet’en HRDs stood trial in 2023 for charges related to their peaceful opposition to the laying of a natural gas pipeline passing through unceded traditional territory of the Wet’suwet’en indigenous peoples in British Columbia. The project was implemented without FPIC [free, prior and informed consent]. A number of defenders were arrested in a series of police raids carried out by the heavily armed Royal Canadian Mounted Police. The project is removing indigenous peoples from their homelands, damaging the natural environment and threatening the cultural heritage of the Wet’suwet’en. By the time this report was written the trials of three indigenous defenders were ongoing.”

Palestine

While the number is undoubtedly higher, the report lists 9 Palestinian human rights defenders killed in 2023.

In their section on “Israel’s war on Gaza” (pages 18 to 20), Front Line Defenders notes: “HRDs were among those killed, including journalist and cameraman Samer Abu Daqqa who was killed in Khan Yunis by an Israeli strike in December. He had been covering the aftermath of an Israeli attack on a United Nations-run school sheltering displaced people in the city. He is one of dozens of journalists killed in Gaza since 7 October in what appears to be a concerted effort on behalf of the Israeli military to silence reporting on the scale of the devastation.”

Samer Abu Daqqa was killed on December 15, 2023.

Image on page 97.

In a second section titled “Israel – War” (pages 96 to 99), the report notes: “The impact on HRDs, as on the population at large, has been devastating. Those defending the right to health and the right to life as doctors, nurses, or ambulance workers, those exposing and documenting war crimes as journalists, and those providing humanitarian support as volunteers or employees of aid agencies were all specifically targeted by Israeli bombs or guns.”

To read the full report, go to: Global Analysis 2023/24.

UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights to visit Colombia, July 29 to August 9

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo: Members of the UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights.

The UN Working Group on Business and Human Rights will be visiting Colombia this coming July 29 to August 9.

Their announcement notes: “During its visit to Colombia, the Working Group will examine business and human rights issues and identify current initiatives, practices, challenges and opportunities at the national and local level to implement the Guiding Principles and promote responsible business conduct.”

The UN further explains: “As set out in resolution 17/4, the Working Group has a mandate promote, disseminate and implement the Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs). The group is also mandated to exchange and promote good practices and lessons learned on the implementation of the UNGPs, and to assess and make recommendations thereon.”

The Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights is an instrument consisting of 31 principles that was endorsed by the UN Human Rights Council on June 16, 2011, making the framework the first corporate human rights responsibility initiative to be endorsed by the United Nations.

Its three “general principles” highlight:

(a) States’ existing obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights and fundamental freedoms

(b) The role of business enterprises as specialized organs of society performing specialized functions, required to comply with all applicable laws and to respect human rights

(c) The need for rights and obligations to be matched to appropriate and effective remedies when breached.

PBI-Canada will follow with interest the visit of this Working Group.

Global Affairs Canada has highlighted: “The total stock of Canadian direct investment in Colombia reached $6.4 billion in 2022 making Colombia the fourth largest investment destination for Canada in South and Central America.”

In 2022, Natural Resources Canada projected 28 companies with $1.015 billion of “Canadian mining assets” in Colombia, and $8 billion of “Canadian energy assets” in 2018 (most recent public data).

The UN Guiding Principles also applies to corporations that sell “military goods” such as armoured vehicles and helicopters. Over the last five years Canada has exported to Colombia at least $21,111.10 (2022), $88,403.11 (2021), $460,338.87 (2020), and $310,576.25 (2018) in military goods. This does not include the (non-publicly disclosed) military goods and/or components that are produced in Canada, then exported to the United States, then transferred to Colombia.

The Peace Brigades International-Colombia Project has accompanied human rights defenders, including those who challenge business harms, since 1994.

PBI-Canada supports civil society call to suspend all trade in arms and military technology with Israel

By
Brent Patterson
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Peace Brigades International-Canada has signed this statement calling for an arms embargo on Israel that, in part, says:

“As the catastrophe wrought by Israel’s continued assault on Gaza grows, Canadian civil society organizations across multiple sectors are calling on the Canadian government to immediately suspend all trade in arms and military technology with Israel.

United Nations human rights experts warn that sending Israel weapons, ammunition or components that it would use in Gaza likely violates international humanitarian law, and the United Nations Human Rights Council has called on all states to immediately ‘cease the sale, transfer and diversion of arms, munitions and other military equipment to Israel.’

Canada’s own laws, based on the Arms Trade Treaty, require that it stop permitting the export of military technology when there’s a substantial risk those exports could be used to commit or facilitate serious violations of international humanitarian or human rights law, or commit serious acts of violence against women and children.

The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that there is a ‘plausible’ case that Israel is committing acts of genocide in Gaza, and that Palestinians there face a ‘real and imminent risk’ of genocide. By reiterating that States have an obligation to prevent genocide, the ICJ ruling puts Canada on notice that, as a party to the Genocide Convention, it must do everything within its power to prevent genocide in Gaza.

Canadian companies export weapons, components, and military technology to Israel, including via the United States. These military exports, whether directly or by way of intermediaries, put Canada at risk of complicity in Israel’s grave human rights violations in Gaza and the West Bank.

Canada also buys and permits the import of military technology from Israel. It is Israel’s sixth largest arms buyer. Gaza and the West Bank function as a laboratory for Israeli arms manufacturers. The weapons deployed against Palestinians, including during Israel’s wars on Gaza, are marketed to international customers like the Government of Canada as ‘battle-tested’ and ‘combat-proven.’ Canadian tax-dollars pay for these Israeli-made weapons, providing profits to the Israeli arms industry and giving Israel moral cover for using those weapons against Palestinians. 

While the Minister of Foreign Affairs has verbally committed to pausing approvals of future arms export permits to Israel, Canada must go further. It must cancel existing export permits, close all export loopholes, and implement an Arms Embargo under Canada’s Special Economic Measures Act, which recognizes the necessity of a two-way prohibition.

We call on the Canadian government to uphold its moral and legal responsibilities and impose a full and immediate arms embargo on Israel.”

Signatories

We join with many other organizations who have already signed this statement including 350 Canada, Amnistie internationale Canada, Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives, Canadian Federation of Students, Canadian Friends Service Committee (Quakers), Canadian Lawyers for International Human Rights (CLAIHR), Canadian Union of Postal Workers (CUPW), Canadian Union of Public Employees (CUPE), Community Peacemaker Teams, Environmental Defence, Greenpeace Canada, Independent Jewish Voices, Indigenous Climate Action, International Civil Liberties Monitoring Group, International League of People’s Struggle in Canada, Jews Say No to Genocide, Labour Against the Arms Trade, Labour for Palestine, Leadnow, Mennonite Church Canada Palestine-Israel Network, National Union of Public and General Employees (NUPGE), OPIRG Toronto, Palestinian Youth Movement, Public Service Alliance of Canada, Rights Action, WILPF Canada, World BEYOND War, and many others.

To ask your Member of Parliament to sign this statement, click here. As of today (May 22), World Beyond War Canada reports that 19 MPs have signed.

Further reading: More than 800 human rights defenders killed in Palestine over the past six months (April 26, 2024) and PBI calls for respect for international law, protection of human rights defenders and an immediate cease-fire in Gaza (February 28, 2024).

Will COP16 in Colombia strengthen Target 22 and spark text at COP30 in Brazil to protect environmental defenders?

By
Brent Patterson
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The United Nations COP16 Biodiversity conference will take place this coming October 21 to November 1 in Cali, Colombia. Shortly afterwards, the UN COP29 Climate conference will take place November 11-22 in Baku, Azerbaijan. A year after that, COP30 will take place November 10-21, 2025, in Belém, Brazil.

Global Witness notes: “Around the world, those who speak out against the drivers of biodiversity loss – deforestation, pollution, land grabbing, mining and oil extraction – face alarming levels of violence and intimidation.”

These conferences could play a role in improving the protection of environmental defenders at risk for their actions in defence of the world’s biodiversity and climate. There are also serious systemic obstacles to consider.

COP16 in Colombia

In a new article, Global Witness also highlights: “Overall, Colombia has the highest cumulative number of defender killings since we started collecting data in 2012, with 60 defenders killed in the country in 2022 alone. …Colombian Minister of Environment and Sustainable Development, Susana Muhamad [has] announced that COP16’s theme would be ‘Peace with Nature’, and stressed that the event will be ‘the people’s COP’, recognising the need for urgent action for both defenders and biodiversity.”

COP16 has the potential to build on Target 22 of the Global Biodiversity Framework reached almost two years ago at COP15 in Tiohtià:ke/Montréal on the unceded lands of the Kanien’kehá:ka/Mohawk Nation in Canada. The “Global targets for 2030” include “the full protection of environmental human rights defenders.”

Alternative summit

Via Campesina has noted: “Within the framework of [COP16], the CLOC-Via Campesina will participate in an alternate space with social movements called the International Meeting Economies for Life (Ecoovida) 2024, organized by the Government of Colombia in Cali from October 22 to 26, 2024.”

The pathway to COP30 in Brazil

The Guardian has reported: “Susana Muhamad, Colombia’s environment minister [said Colombia] would use the summit to ensure nature was a key part of the global environmental agenda in the year building up to the climate Cop30 in the Brazilian Amazon in 2025, where countries will present new plans on how they will meet the Paris agreement.”

She says: “Although the climate is affecting biodiversity, nature is an answer to the climate crisis. It is not the only answer but it is a very important pillar and we want to position it very strongly to build towards Cop30 in Brazil.”

Canada at COP16

Today, Steven Guilbeault, Canada’s Minister of Environment and Climate Change, stated: “Canada [has] launched the Nature Champions Network—an international, ministerial-level group that advocates for the rapid implementation of the [Global Biodiversity] Framework and works to ensure that all countries deliver updated domestic biodiversity strategies by COP16 this fall in Colombia.”

The criminalization of Wet’suwet’en land defenders

Concern does exist though with respect to Canada’s commitment to Target 22 and “the full protection of environmental human rights defenders”, notably Indigenous land defenders on their sovereign territories within Canada who have challenged megaprojects – including the Coastal GasLink pipeline – backed by Canada.

Less than a month from now, on June 17-21 in Smithers, Indigenous land defenders Sleydo’ (Wet’suwet’en), Shaylynn Sampson (Gitxsan) and Corey Jocko (Mohawk) will be in court in Smithers, British Columbia for an ongoing abuse of process hearing for their resistance to the Coastal GasLink pipeline.

In their court application, these criminalized land defenders allege that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP), Canada’s national police force, and its specialized Community-Industry Response Group (C-IRG), applied  “disproportionate and excessive use of force” against them during militarized raids in November of 2021.

Cultural Survival, in their commentary on COP16, has cautioned: “Countries where Indigenous Peoples live will have to demonstrate how they have included their rights and interests as set out in the seven targets where they are mentioned.”

Target 22 also promises to respect Indigenous “cultures and their rights over lands, territories, resources, and traditional knowledge”. How can the continued operations of the RCMP C-IRG (now rebranded the Critical Response Unit/CRU-BC) be squared with Canada’s stated commitment to this target when the defenders who seek to uphold these rights face police snipers and lethal overwatch?

Disillusionment with COPs

Greta Thunberg dismissed COP27 in Egypt as “greenwashing” and described the text agreed to at COP28 in Dubai as “toothless”. To date the COP climate conference process has failed to recognize environmental defenders.

In its assessment of COP28, Global Witness noted: “Since the Paris Agreement was signed in 2015, we documented the killings of at least 1,390 land and environmental defenders… In the run-up to COP28, we joined 150 organizations to call on the UNFCCC [UN Framework Convention on Climate Change] to recognize and protect defenders. And yet, there is not a single reference to land and environmental defenders in the final text.”

Will COP16 in Colombia spark a change on the crucial issue of the protection of frontline defenders at COP29 in Azerbaijan and COP30 in Brazil?  Or will it, as Dene land defender Melissa Daniels critiqued COP15 in Montreal, be “performative reconciliation” and a “colonial conservation rebrand”?

Obsidian Energy seeks arrest of Woodland Cree Nation Chief and removal of blockade of oil company drill site

By
Brent Patterson
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Photo by Brandi Morin: “RCMP [Royal Canadian Mounted Police] liaison officers were at the traditional camp set up by the Woodland Cree Nation at an Obsidian Energy oil & gas lease road earlier today [May 11].”

We have been following the social media posts and now this article in IndigiNews and Ricochet by journalist Brandi Morin.

Excerpt from Morin’s article:

“The Woodland Cree First Nation set up a new blockade earlier this month to prevent [Calgary-based] Obsidian Energy employees from accessing a drill site in Woodland Cree traditional territory near Peace River [in northern “Alberta”], after notifying the company last week that its expansion plan had been rejected by chief and council.

Approximately 100 Woodland Cree, surrounding First Nations members and even allied industry partners are occupying the blockade set up in the style of a traditional Cree camp along the Walrus industry road about 40 minutes east of Peace River, a key access route for Obsidian’s work operations.

Obsidian Energy obtained an injunction on May 6 against Woodland Cree First Nation and people occupying the blockade camp. The First Nation has denounced the company’s “intimidation tactics,” calling the company’s conduct “the worst we’ve ever seen.”

In the face of growing opposition, Obsidian CEO Steven Loukas flew into the area for scheduled talks with the Woodland Cree on Monday [May 13].

Shortly after 1 p.m., within an hour of talks breaking down, the Woodland Cree received an email indicating that the company intended to take legal action against the First Nation and ask the court to order the chief’s arrest.

That request was filed in court today [May 14]. The company is asking a judge to find the Woodland Cree First Nation and Chief Laboucan-Avirom in contempt of court for violating the injunction.

The company is also asking the court to issue an arrest warrant for Chief Laboucan-Avirom and other members of the nation, and hold them in jail until the blockade is removed.

RCMP officers have been present at the blockade but a liaison told IndigiNews and Ricochet that at this point they have no plans to enforce the injunction, instead preferring to facilitate “peaceful negotiations” between the two parties.

Obsidian are asking the court to order the RCMP to forego those efforts, enforce the injunction and start making arrests.”

To read the full article by Brandi Morin, go to Oil company asks judge to arrest and jail Cree chief leading ‘Alberta’ blockade (IndigiNews, May 14, 2024).

Tweet by Brandi Morin.

PBI-Mexico seeking new field volunteers to accompany defenders, deadline to apply is June 3

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Mexico has posted: “#CALL | Are you interested in the international accompaniment of people defending #Human Rights? Be a part of our field team! We receive applications until June 3, 2024. See the call: here”

Key dates in the application and selection process:

Application and references: May 6-June 3

Interviews: July 3-24

Submission of self-training workbooks: August 19-September 22

Virtual training week: first week of October 2024 or in the spring of 2025 (March/April).

The posting adds: “The entry of new PBI Mexico volunteers takes place every 2-4 months throughout the year. In 2025, arrivals are planned from the month of January. Therefore, interested people must have flexibility regarding the date of joining the team.”

For more information, click here.

PBI-Guatemala accompanies the CCR as it experiences threats for defending territory from shrimp industries

By
Brent Patterson
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On May 10, PBI-Guatemala posted:

“On Monday #PBI accompanied a member of the Council of Communities of Retalhuleu (CCR) in the capital, in order to denounce before various protection institutions the threats they are suffering in relation to the defence of the territory and the struggle against large shrimp industries.

The South Coast region continues its struggle against the sugar cane and shrimp industries present in the territory and their adverse effects on the communities, in relation to access to water, small-scale agriculture and life.”

In October 2018, the Global Seafood Alliance posted: “Guatemala’s shrimp-farming industry – despite the lack of suitable areas and facing numerous challenges including various major shrimp diseases – has adopted a new, highly intensive system of small ponds and shorter cycles that can produce as much as 27,216 kg/ha/cycle. The estimated 120 shrimp farmers are expected to produce close to 25,000 metric tons of farmed shrimp in about 1650 ha of ponds in 2018.”

In May 2022, the Seafood Media Group reported: “Guatemala’s ‘Free Press’ reported that in 2021, Guatemala’s aquaculture and fishery exports will reach 134 million US dollars, and exports to Spain, the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, France, South Africa, Portugal and other countries, of which 78 million US dollars are shrimp products. Guatemala has developed an intensive shrimp farming system that will boost shrimp exports in 2021, said Alexander de Beausset, vice-president of the aquaculture and fisheries department at Agexport [the Guatemalan Association of Exporters] in Guatemala.”

With Spain, the United States, Mexico, the Netherlands, France, South Africa and Portugal noted as export markets for Guatemala in 2021, we note that in 2003 the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations indicated: “According to their value, the Guatemalan shrimp exports in 2003 were distributed as follows: United States, 54 percent; Europe (Spain and France), 44 percent; other, 2 percent.”

And earlier this week, Echemi.com reported: “Last year, Guatemala exported approximately 3 million kilograms of shrimp to Mexico via the Ciudad Hidalgo customs in Chiapas. The border closure [now re-opened] jeopardized around 5,000 jobs and directly impacted the economies of 20 communities in southern Guatemala.”

Now, according to the Caribbean News Global, Guatemala’s deputy minister for integration and foreign trade Hector Marroquín was in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in March of this year noting “the potential for growth by expanding exports to include products like speciality coffee and shrimp.”

PBI-Guatemala has accompanied the Community Council of Retalhuleu (CCR) since April 2020.

PBI-Honduras visits with ARCAH that continues to denounce company contaminating the Choluteca River

By
Brent Patterson
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PBI-Honduras has posted:

“Last week we visited @Arcah_hn [the Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication] in Aldea Loarque.

The community denounced the contamination of the Choluteca River that has affected their health.

PBI is concerned about the health of the population and emphasises the organisation’s defence of the environment.”

On April 22, El Heraldo reported:

“A group of people protested on Monday against a chicken processing company in the south, since they can no longer stand the pollution and bad smell that emanates from the place.

The demonstrators claim that the Choluteca River, which passes through the sector, is being affected by waste, so they demand the intervention of environmental authorities.

The protest, which coincides with Earth Day, has already caused congestion in the area, so long lines of vehicles can be seen at this time in both directions of the road.

The residents, along with environmentalists, say that for more than seven years, the river has been polluted, while the neighbors are forced to endure nauseating odors.

As part of their demands, the demonstrators are asking Mayor Jorge Aldana to speak out about the situation that afflicts them.”

HCH adds:

“Residents of the Loarque sector come out to defend the Choluteca River because they claim that a company in the sector is destroying it.

The protesters denounce that they have been protesting against this company for seven years because it is polluting the river.

The residents denounce that this company is causing them discomfort in their nose and skin as a result of the contamination.

They hope that authorities will regulate this company that operates in this sector.”

El Cortijo

Defensores en Linea has previously reported: “Villagers have denounced for four years the pollution caused by the poultry company ‘El Cortijo’, its waste is seriously damaging at least four surrounding communities and the Choluteca River, where much of the company’s toxic waste falls.”

Accompaniment

The Honduran Alternative for Community and Environmental Vindication (Alternativa de Reivindicación Comunitaria y Ambientalista de Honduras, ARCAH) is a space for community articulation and an anti-capitalist, anti-racist, anti-patriarchal, anti-colonialist and anti-classist social movement that seeks to defend territories and common goods from any project that threatens the peace and cosmovision of communities.

Since its founding in 2017, members of ARCAH have fought against the Jiniguare dam, the El Cortijo poultry company, the Zones for Employment and Economic Development (ZEDE) and other projects in Francisco Morazán, Comayagua, Cortés and Olancho, always through resistance and permanent communication with planet earth.

PBI Honduras has been accompanying ARCAH since September 2022.

PBI-Colombia accompanies CREDHOS on Humanitarian Mission in the municipality of Puerto Wilches

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Colombia has posted:

“#PBI accompanies the community of Guayabo and @credhos_paz [the Regional Corporation for the Defence of Human Rights/ CREDHOS] who demand guarantees from the Governor’s Office for community leaders in compliance with decree 660. The community demands that the institutions provide the minimum conditions to maintain a dignified life in the communities: quality health and education.”

CREDHOS has also posted on May 10:

“At 6:30 AM, we began our Humanitarian Mission in the northern part of the municipality of Puerto Wilches, Santander. The mission was organised by the Magdalena Medio Regional Ombudsman’s Office, which we accompany as a human rights organisation.

The first stop was in the Guayabo district, municipality of Puerto Wilches, Santander, a territory with an agricultural and fishing vocation, in which an open dialogue was generated with the communities about their problems regarding the guarantee of Human Rights.

In the open dialogue, the Guayabo community explained the situation they have suffered for more than 15 years, with the intention of evicting their land and granting it to an individual. This dispute has brought with it state abandonment, since they lack an Aqueduct that allows them minimal access to drinking water, which is a fundamental right of the communities. In addition to the appalling conditions for accessing the right to education and health.

Then, we moved to the Vijagual district, jurisdiction of Puerto Wilches, Santander, where we spoke with the communities about their underlying problems in terms of education, health, sports and roads.

It is highlighted that the communities reported the presence of armed groups in the towns of El Guayabo, Vijagual and Bocas del Rosario.

This Humanitarian Mission was accompanied by State institutions, headed by the Government of Santander and the Mayor’s Office of Puerto Wilches, who assumed commitments to carry out concrete actions to guarantee the rights of the communities and their dignity.”

Decree 660

In July 2023, Pares explained:

“The Ministry of the Interior recently announced the approval and redesign of the Comprehensive Security and Protection Program for Communities and Organizations in the Territories (Decree 660 of 2018).

This program aims to provide protection to social organizations, ethnic populations, and environmental leaders who face risks due to their work. Through this initiative, it seeks to address one of the great debts that the Colombian State has in the peripheries: the collective defense of communities and territories.

The Comprehensive Security and Protection Program for Communities and Organizations in the Territories was created as part of the third point of the Peace Agreement in Colombia, with the aim of ending the conflict in the country.”

Accompaniment

PBI-Colombia has accompanied CREDHOS since 1994.

PBI-Mexico accompanies Mother’s Day mobilizations in Puebla and Mexico City as the search for disappeared continues

By
Brent Patterson
-

PBI-Mexico has posted:

“Today on #Mother’s Day in Mexico we accompany the mothers from Puebla and CDMX [Mexico City] who are demanding justice for the disappearance of their loved ones.

From PBI we recognize the great work of the search collectives in the defence and promotion of #HumanRights.”

Angulo 7 reports:

“For the searching mothers in Puebla, May 10 is not a day of celebration, but of protest against the disappearance of their relatives and because state institutions have failed them, especially the Specialized Prosecutor’s Office that does not give progress to “long-standing” cases.

Within the framework of Mother’s Day, the collective Voice of the Disappeared, first attended a mass in the cathedral, where Archbishop Víctor Sánchez Espinosa offered the religious ceremony to show solidarity with them, where he said that for dozens of women this date is not a celebration.

There, they took the opportunity to launch the slogan “May 10 is not a party” to which the leader of the Catholic flock in the state, in his speech gave them words of encouragement, as well as urged them not to give up in the search for relatives.

Subsequently, they moved to the city’s main square, for a solidarity embroidery and a clothesline, where María Luisa Núñez Barojas, founder of the collective, recalled that in 2018 she began with these protests, but now 6 years later, she is no longer alone, because “many women accompany her”.”

El Pais also reports:

“Mexico is a country of sad mothers. Thousands of relatives of the disappeared, most of them women, have come out to demonstrate on May 10, Mother’s Day, to make visible the crisis of disappearances that the country is experiencing. Collectives from all states have gathered in Mexico City in what they have called the “National March of Searching Mothers.” It is estimated that more than 100,000 people have disappeared in Mexico, most of them in the last 18 years. The day has been joined by rallies in Jalisco, Puebla, Colima, Zacatecas, Veracruz and Oaxaca, among other places.

Disappearances in the country have increased as violence intensified with the notorious “war on drugs” during the six-year term of Felipe Calderón (2006-2012). “It’s one of the manifestations of the violence that was generated in Mexico after the security strategy was militarized,” says Humberto Guerrero, human rights coordinator at Fundar. But who disappears the disappeared? That is one of the big questions surrounding the phenomenon. “Sometimes it’s organized crime, other times it’s the state. Sometimes one and the other are the same,” Guerrero responds.”

The Associated Press adds:

“Hundreds of mothers of missing people, relatives and activists marched in protest through downtown Mexico City Friday to mark a sad commemoration of Mother’s Day.

The marchers, angry over what they say is the government’s lack of interest in investigating the disappearances of Mexico’s over 100,000 missing people, chanted slogans like “Where are they, our children, where are they?” They carried massive banners that, in some cases, showed nearly 100 photos of missing people.”

Edith Olivares of Amnesty International Mexico further highlights: “More than 90% of those searching for disappeared persons are women, mothers, sisters, and daughters. They are facing disappearance, murder, attacks, and threats, and they are also facing state violence. Unfortunately, they are coming on these marches, as they have been doing for several years, to demand to be heard and listened to by the authorities.”

We continue to follow this.

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