IRTF News

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.

Did you know there are more than 2,000 fair trade producer organizations in more than 70 countries ? Tens of thousands of fair trade products are on the market, including coffee, tea, chocolate, flowers, fruit, vegetables, grains, apparel, artisan handcrafts, and more. Fair trade began with the sale of handcrafts and other artisan goods in the 1940s. The first fair trade coffee company in the US, Equal Exchange (a worker-owned cooperative) was launched in Boston in 1986. IRTF brought their coffee to Cleveland, made it available to faith congregations and grocers. Quickly, NE Ohio became one of the top markets for fair trade coffee in the country. Learn more about fair trade and see the schedule of upcoming fair trade sales, including the annual Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo, at www.OhioFairTrade.com.

The Ohio Fair Trade Network seeks co-sponsors for the annual Ohio Fair Trade Teach-In & Expo 2022.  This in-person event at John Carroll University (with COVID safety protocols) is expected to bring together hundreds of fair trade supporters, advocates, retailers, and vendors from across the state.  The Expo will be an opportunity to continue building energy around the already vibrant Ohio fair trade movement and previous Expos.  In addition to the Global Marketplace of fair trade vendors, we’ll host educational presentations and panels, including a special track for high school students and a passport program for kids.  See www.OhioFairTrade.com