October 15 is known as the Rural Women's day.
Dignity, justice, and criminalization in Guatemala.
The last few months in Guatemala have seen strong state repression against community leaders, activists, journalists, and human rights defenders. However, history shows us that the people rise up and resist in order to transform everything that oppresses; now more than ever we need international support and solidarity to accompany the peoples of Guatemala and the struggles they have waged for decades.
On behalf of IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) members, we wrote six letters this month to heads of state and other high-level officials in Colombia, Honduras, and Guatemala, urging their swift action in response to human rights abuses occurring in their countries. We join with civil society groups in Latin America to: (1) protect people living under threat, (2) demand investigations into human rights crimes, (3) bring human rights criminals to justice.
IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) volunteers write six letters in response to urgent human rights cases each month. We send copies of these letters to US ambassadors, embassy human rights officers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regional representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and desk officers at the US State Department. To read the letters, see https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/rrn , or ask us to mail you hard copies.
Acts of intimidation and attacks against Indigenous leaders, especially those who oppose corruption, are far too common in Guatemala. With only two days’ notice, on September 1 the Ixil Authorities of Nebaj (El Quiché Department) were forced to vacate the office in the municipal building that they had occupied since 2013. During the eviction process, several of the Ixil Authorities were hurt and had to receive medical attention.
In addition to serving as an essential space of protection and organizing for the Ixil people of Nebaj, the office held legal documents and evidence related to an investigation of the municipal mayor of Nebaj, Virgilio Geronimo Bernal Guzman. Ever since their investigations started, Ixil authorities have suffered from multiple incidents of harassment and intimidation. It is reasonable to suspect that the forced eviction of their offices is also related to these investigations.
The tribes of the Indigenous Tolupán people in Honduras face structural challenges that include: illegal cutting of their forests, lack of recognition of ancestral titles, and lack of access to basic rights such as health, food and education. Their tribal leaders face intimidation, harassment, and threats to themselves and their families. Benedicto Hernández, coordinator of the Tolupán de Luquigüe tribe in Yoro Department, is a recent victim. Two weeks ago, the Broad Movement for Dignity and Justice (MADJ) issued an alert: “recently, two men with high-caliber weapons set up surveillance around his house with the intention of harming him. They also make calls to his cell phone warning him that they are outside his house and that he should come out.” The threats against Benedicto Hernández have led to acts of intimidation against members of his family and other members of the (MADJ) who reside in the area. We call on authorities to investigate these threats and hold accountable those responsible.
As the Colombian government transitions from the right wing conservative Iván Duque to the leftist Gustavo Petro, the violence and crime holds on.
WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America), has received reports of a multitude of cases of human rights violations including shootings, assassinations displacements and death threats. On the 12th of September an armed conflict broke out in the Afro-Colombian community in the town of San Miguel, displacing 100s of families, causing power outages and lockdowns. The Afro-Colombian General Community Council of San Juan (Consejo Comunitario General de San Juan, ACADESAN) calls on the State to defend the human rights of the community and urges the armed groups to respect human rights and laws.
Only 2 days earlier, a hitman killed the secretary of administrative affairs of the Oil Workers Union (Unión Sindical Obrera, USO) Sibares Lamprea Vargas in a drive by shooting. The Human Rights Ombudsman (Defensoría del Pueblo) issued an Early Warning Alert, indicating that trade unionists belonging to the USO face danger due to their activities. USO members are frequent targets of death threats intimidation and sabotage in their workplace.
On September 9th, in Surcre, the female social leader Eva Amaya Vidal was killed in her home. Vidal participated in Sucre government innovation programms and was an example of leadership for other women. An early alert was issued stating that female social leaders are often targets based on their gender.
The The Afro-Colombian Peace Council (Consejo Nacional de Paz de Afro-Colombianos, CONPA) reports that between July 27 and August 7, 957 male and female leaders as well as human rights activists were assasinatied, 261 signers of the peace accords were killed, and 1,192 people were killed in 313 massacres. Furthermore, the CONPA reports 2,366 death threats, 555 kidnappings and 178 early warnings. CONPA urges the government to declare a state of humanitarian emergency and to seek politically negotiated solutions to the conflicts.
A full list of the WOLA reports can be found in the article below.
We wrote to the attorney general of Honduras, urging that the Public Ministry drop criminal investigations against Garífuna community leaders Miriam Miranda (General Coordinator of OFRANEH, the Black Fraternal Organization of Honduras), Dr. Luther Castillo (an OFRANEH member who is the current government’s Minister of Science and Technology), and Edy Tábora (a lawyer for OFRANEH and board member of SUNLA, the Committee for the Search and Investigation of the Disappeared of Triunfo de la Cruz).
On August 9 (Indigenous Peoples’ Day), members of OFRANEH and other Indigenous, territorial, and human rights organizations held a peaceful protest inside and outside the offices of the Public Ministry in Tegucigalpa. They demanded that the Public Ministry hear their legitimate concerns about the lack of prompt and effective justice in the case of the July 2022 forced disappearance of four young Garífuna men in the community of Triunfo de la Cruz, Atlántida Department. Instead of investigating, prosecuting and punishing those responsible for the forced disappearance of the four men, it appears that the Public Ministry is abusing its authority by ordering criminal investigations of OFRANEH leaders.
Once again a North American company seeks to rob Guatemala of its natural resources.
Under heavy protest, the Canadian mining corporation Bluestone Resources is going forward with the open-pit mining operation Cerro Blanco in Asunción Mita, in the department of Jutiapa.
Knowing this new gold mine would cause irreparable damages to the surface and subterranean water flows risking the water security of millions, the community called in a Municipal Consultation of Neighbors, a legally binding state tool that lets local residents make decisions about their territory.
On September 18, the Mitecos and Mitecas residents, after strong backlash from Bluestone Resources, went to the polls to vote on the future of their homes. The outcome was clear. 87% of the voters opposed Bluestone's mining plan, yet the company had an ace up their sleeve.
Following the democratic decision, the corporation turned to the corrupt government of Guatemala.
Only a day later, on September 19 the Ministry of Energy and Mining (MEM) rejected the Municipal Consultation of Neighbors' vote, stating that the Municipal government of Asunción Mita does not have the authority to make that decision.
It is not the first time, that the MEM has acted as a private attorney for the big mining corporation.
More on MEM's and the government's involvement in illegal mining in the following article.
On behalf of IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) members, we wrote six letters this month to heads of state and other high-level officials in Colombia, El Salvador, Guatemala, and Mexico, urging their swift action in response to human rights abuses occurring in their countries. We join with civil society groups in Latin America to: (1) protect people living under threat, (2) demand investigations into human rights crimes, (3) bring human rights criminals to justice.
IRTF’s Rapid Response Network (RRN) volunteers write six letters in response to urgent human rights cases each month. We send copies of these letters to US ambassadors, embassy human rights officers, the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights, regional representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, and desk officers at the US State Department. To read the letters, see https://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/rrn , or ask us to mail you hard copies.
We wrote to officials in Colombia about the continued violence targeting Afro-descendant and Indigenous community leaders in Nariño Department. We demand investigations into the assassinations of María Piedad Aguirre and María Verónica Pai Cabeza who became the 104th and 109th social leaders assassinated in Colombia this year. Both were killed in Tumaco municipality, Nariño Department.
July 19: María Piedad Aguirre was a local leader of Caminos de Mujer (CCM) and Proceso de Comunidades Negras (PCN). She was assassinated in her home in the neighborhood of Los Angeles California, Tumaco.
August 1: María Verónica Pai Cabeza of the Piguambi Palangala Indigenous Awá reservation was killed with five shots in the village of Llorenete, Tumaco. She was six months pregnant, leaving two children orphaned.
In a statement rejecting the killing of María Verónica Pai Cabeza, traditional Awá authorities denounced the physical and cultural extermination to which they are subjected by illegal armed groups disputing the territory. On several occasions they have requested governmental support to contain the murders, massacres, forced disappearances, displacements, confinement, and mobility restrictions.
In addition to investigating the assassinations and prosecuting the responsible parties, we are urging that authorities in Colombia: (1) protect Afro-descendant and Indigenous communities from outside armed groups through state presence, abiding by parameters set by the communities, and (2) construct comprehensive and inclusive measures to implement the Peace Agreement, with approaches that focus on gender, territorial, and ethnic groups.
