IRTF News

On September 2., The Committee of Family Members of Political Prisoners of El Salvador held a press conference announcing the delivery of letters to the Attorney General, Human Rights Ombudsman and the Supreme Court.

The letters signed by nearly 1.000  people and over 70 Organizations demand the release of political prisoners and the reinstatement of constitutional rights in the country. 

Following emergency measures suspending constitutional rights, over 50.000 people were arrested without warrants leading to at least 70 deaths in custody. 

Even though the prisoners remain in custody, the international media  coverage and outcall to the Attorney General, Human Rights Ombudsman and Supreme Court is a big leap towards change.

On September 17, the New York Times published an article  by Anatoly Kurmanaev and Jody García including misinformation and false claims about the US government's efforts to support democracy in Central America. 

The article claims that the Biden administration is working to end corruption and impunity in Guatemala, while being inactive as the military backed government  “methodically dismantled the last vestiges of independent institutions." The US is supporting this illegitimate government, referring to the Guatemalan ruling class as "democratic allies." 

Besides this, Biden lied about stopping the sanctions against Nicaragua, which the U.S. and many "western" countries have been using since the 1980's to squeeze its economy and cause political change. 

The article also states that the U.S. aided the return to democracy in Honduras. In fact, the U.S. has always held mutually beneficial relations to the Honduran government which came to power by an U.S. backed coup.     

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.    

In his meeting with the United Nations Secretary Antonio Guterres, Colombia's president Gustavo Petro stated his goal to achieve total peace in his country, by restructuring the crime fighting strategy within Latin America.

Following his visit to the United Nations, Petro held a speech in Queens, stressing the difficulties Columbian emigrants are facing in the United States. 

David Morales, lawyer, former prosecutor and one of the most outspoken critics of El Salvador's Bukele government.

The lawyer who will receive this year's Human Rights Award from WOLA (Washington Office on Latin America) has worked as a human rights activist  for years, criticizing El Salvador's judicial system.

His career started in 1990 as an investigator at the  Legal Protection Office of the Archbishop of San Salvador where he focused on the massacres of Rio Sumpul and El Mozote which occurred during the 1980's Salvadoran civil war. 

In 1995 Morales left the  Legal Protection Office and transferred to the PDDH (Procurador para la Defensa de los Derechos Humanos), a 1992 created  institution that exercised the most supervision over the first complaints of abuses that arose against the new National Civil Police (PNC) and the Attorneys General's Office. 

From 2013 on, he worked as an Ombudsman, taking lead in the investigation of extermination groups in the PNC.

The following article summerizes Morales' work and analyzes the human rights violations in El Salvador. 

Even though the LGBITQ+ community of Honduras is seen as equal on paper, the reality is often a different one.

Radical conservatives and many religious leaders are trying to stigmatize the LGBTIQ+ community, which makes up for  roughly 7-10% of the population. Misinformation and hate speech is used to keep LGBTIQ+ interests out of everyday lives of the Honduran population.

This article summarizes the struggles LGBTIQ+ citizens and organizations are confronted with, trying to claim their rights.  

In the struggle for environmental human rights, Honduran activists demand their government to sign and adhere to the  Escazú Agreement.  The  Escazú Agreement, the first environmental treaty of Latin America and the Caribbean, was passed by a resolution of the UN General Assembly on July 28, 2022. For the first time ever,  the United Nations recognized  that the human right to a clean, healthy and sustainable environment requires the full implementation of the multilateral environmental agreements under the principles of international environmental law. It also recognized that the exercise of human rights, including the rights to seek, receive and impart information, to participate effectively in the conduct of government and public affairs and to an effective remedy, is vital to the protection of a clean, healthy and sustainable environment.

Even though Honduras took part in the negotiations for the long overdue agreement, which represents a legal instrument that provides States with sufficient tools to defend human rights in the face of the great challenges of the extractive model and climate change, it never signed it. 

With the new government in office activists now hope that the agreement will be implemented, but still face massive backlash.

Colombia's president Gustavo Petro announced the possibility of an "economic emergency" in Colombia due to the upcoming winter season, which could trigger a climate crisis due to the possible increase in rainy activity. 

Previous to his statement, the Colombian Institute of Hydrology, Meteorology and Environmental Studies (IDEAM) declared that the rainy season may extend until December, causing floods and landslides. 

Due to the pandemic, the heavy rains are even more likely to cause an economic emergency. 

To prevent a disaster, the president has mentioned the possibility of updating the risk maps and enable voluntary relocations.

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.