Summary of letters written by IRTF in response to urgent human rightsabuses
On behalf of our 190 Rapid Response Network members, IRTF volunteers wrote and sent six letters each month to government officials in these countries, with copies to officials in the US. See the letters at http://www.irtfcleveland.org/content/rrn or ask us to mail you hard copies.
By signing our names to these crucial letters, human rights crimes are brought to light, perpetrators are brought to justice and lives are spared. Our solidarity is more important than ever. Together, our voices do make a difference.
Trends in Winter 2020: January - March
COLOMBIA
targets: indigenous leaders, labor organizers and trade unionists, campesinos, former FARC members active in reintegration into civilian society (as designated by the 2016 Peace Accords), journalists, prison inmates, and community and social leaders.
EL SALVADOR
targets: journalists.
GUATEMALA
targets: indigenous communities (their allies, their lawyers) defending land, environmental, and cultural rights in opposition to hydroelectric, mining, and other mega-development projects, and human rights defenders and lawyers.
HONDURAS
targets: journalists, indigenous and afro-indigenous communities (plus their allies, their lawyers) organizing resistance to mega-development projects, labor movement and union leaders, and campesinos.
NICARAGUA
targets: political and social leaders, and women’s rights defenders.
