Precedent-Setting “Hudbay Minerals” Lawsuits Are Advancing ~ Funding appeal: $20,000
(All donations welcome)
September 11, 2017
Dear friends,
Over the course of three weeks in November 2017, thirteen Mayan Q’eqchi’ plaintiffs are coming to Toronto, Canada, from a remote, impoverished region of rural Guatemala to be cross-examined by Hudbay Minerals’ lawyers. 11 of the plaintiffs are Q’eqchi’ speakers who speak no Spanish, let alone English. Most have never travelled to the capital city of Guatemala; none have left the country.
Rights Action is coordinating all aspects of the travel, room and board, clothing, passports and visas for them. Can you again make a tax-charitable donation and help us raise $20,000 to cover these short-term costs?
Please share this information with your networks of family members and friends. These truly are precedent-setting cases in Canadian legal and mining policy history.
New York Times / Toronto Star
Initiated in 2010, the plaintiffs – represented by Klippensteins Barristers and Solicitors – have had remarkable success in these corporate accountability lawsuits in Canadian courts for human rights abuses in Guatemala. For an overview of what is at stake in the lawsuits, see articles published in the New York Times (April 3, 2016) and Toronto Star (June 19 & June 20, 2016).
Here, a timeline history of both the Hudbay lawsuits in Canada and the criminal trial in Guatemala against Hudbay’s former head of security:
http://rightsaction.org/newsletterapril17-miningrepressionandimpunity/. On request,
I can provide links to many more news reports and films.
Overview
The Hudbay cases have already set legal precedents in Canada, and are fundamentally changing the human rights landscape in Canada (and beyond), making it possible for the first time to hold Canadian corporations accountable in Canada for harms and violations committed abroad. The cases are being fought by 13 inspiring Mayan Q’eqchi’ individuals:
The lawsuits – spear-headed by the plaintiffs and the Toronto, Canada based Klippensteins Barristers and Solicitors – are being indispensably supported and facilitated by Rights Action and myself.
Why These Lawsuits Matter
Over the past seven years, Hudbay has spent considerable funds and fought the plaintiffs on every conceivable legal issue. So far, the plaintiffs have won every battle, and set important legal precedents along the way.
After three years of legal battle over Hudbay’s pre-trial motions to dismiss the lawsuits, an Ontario court ruled in July 2013 that (for the first time in Canadian legal history) these lawsuits (against a Canadian mining company regarding harms and human rights violations abroad) can go to trial in Canada. This is a significant legal leap forward in the quest for accountability of Canadian companies and is a long overdue victory for human rights. We hope these lawsuits are a wakeup call for the Canadian mining industry and policy makers that will change the way that Canadian companies operate abroad.
Since being filed in 2010, and since the July 2013 ruling, the Hudbay lawsuits have paved the way for similar lawsuits brought in Canada by communities around the world against Canadian companies who commit human rights abuses abroad, including:
“Shockwaves through the glass and steel corridors of corporate Canada”
The New York Times says the Hudbay cases have “sent shivers through the vast Canadian mining, oil and gas industry.”[[1]] The Toronto Star notes that the lawsuits “have potentially explosive consequences. If Hudbay is found liable, the case could establish corporate behaviour guidelines for Canadian mining subsidiaries overseas, which have a long history of human rights and environmental complaints.”[[2]] CBC’s news program “The National” says the cases are sending “shockwaves through the glass and steel corridors of corporate Canada.”[[3]]
A lawyer with the corporate law firm Gowling WLG warns the mining industry that if the Hudbay litigation is successful “then we’ve got major new law and it’s explosive.”[[4]] Other elite Canadian resource company law firms note that “Hudbay serves as a significant warning for Canadian corporations operating in foreign countries that they could potentially face civil liability in Canada for wrongs committed in foreign countries,”[[5]] and that “Choc v Hudbay may usher in potential expanded exposure to risks and liabilities for Canadian corporations doing business abroad, not only in the natural resources sector but also in various other sectors, including banking, manufacturing, retailing and telecommunications.”[[6]
Canadian Lawyer Magazine named Murray Klippenstein one of Canada’s 25 most influential lawyers, two years running (2014 and 2015), as result of the Hudbay cases and the impact they are having in the legal community and the mining industry.
Next Steps
Despite these legal successes in already – slowly but surely – transforming Canada’s laws, there is much left to be done before justice and appropriate remedies might be achieved. Since the plaintiffs and lawyers overcame three years (2010-2013) of pre-trial jurisdictional and procedural challenges made by Hudbay, the lawsuits have been working their way through the ‘disclosure’ and discovery’ phases.
Documentary Disclosure
Both sides are required by law to disclose all documents relating to any aspect of the lawsuit. As part of this process, Klippensteins lawyers were obliged to go to court again in 2015 – another mini-trial within the trial – to obtain a court order forcing Hudbay to disclose extensive internal and normally confidential company documents and communications. In late 2016, Hudbay finally began delivering tens of thousands of internal documents. Klippensteins lawyers have neared completion of the process of reviewing these documents, taking up thousands of hours.
Examinations for Discovery – November 2017 & Early 2018
In November 2017, the thirteen plaintiffs will travel to Toronto to be questioned by Hudbay’s lawyers over a period of three weeks. Similarly, Klippensteins will subject Hudbay executives to in-depth questioning. It is likely that the 11 women from Lote 8 will be cross-examined in November and Angelica Choc and German Chub will return to Toronto in early 2018, to then be questioned.
After the disclosure and discovery phases, hopefully completed in early 2018, the lawyers and plaintiffs then prepare for the actual trial which will take place in front of a jury, and will be lengthy. The trial itself is likely two to five years away.
$20,000 Needed
Funds raised will pay for many of the costs of the 13 plaintiffs and two accompaniers from their home communities in rural, eastern Guatemala, to Toronto and back again. Hudbay will incur some of the expenses. Our costs include: in-Guatemala travel; in-Canada travel; food and lodging in Guatemala (near airport); acquiring passports & visas; purchasing extra clothing and footwear (for people who live in one of the hottest regions of Guatemala); family stipends to leave food and care-givers for children staying at home; two Rights Action trips to Guatemala in October, to help prepare the plaintiffs for the trip and accompany them.
The plaintiffs have made remarkable strides, since 2010, towards transforming Canadian corporate accountability law and achieving their goal of justice. Now we need on-going help to overcome the next steps. Please consider making a contribution towards the funding goal. Financial contributions can be made directly to Rights Action, with tax-charitable status in Canada and the U.S.
Please contact me with questions or comments.
Thank you.
Grahame Russell, director Rights Action
[email protected]
1-416-807-4436
www.rightsaction.org
www.faceboook.com/RightsAction.org
*******
Tax-deductible donations (Canada & U.S.)
Make check payable to “Rights Action” and mail to:
Dear friends,
Over the course of three weeks in November 2017, thirteen Mayan Q’eqchi’ plaintiffs are coming to Toronto, Canada, from a remote, impoverished region of rural Guatemala to be cross-examined by Hudbay Minerals’ lawyers. 11 of the plaintiffs are Q’eqchi’ speakers who speak no Spanish, let alone English. Most have never travelled to the capital city of Guatemala; none have left the country.
Rights Action is coordinating all aspects of the travel, room and board, clothing, passports and visas for them. Can you again make a tax-charitable donation and help us raise $20,000 to cover these short-term costs?
Please share this information with your networks of family members and friends. These truly are precedent-setting cases in Canadian legal and mining policy history.
New York Times / Toronto Star
Initiated in 2010, the plaintiffs – represented by Klippensteins Barristers and Solicitors – have had remarkable success in these corporate accountability lawsuits in Canadian courts for human rights abuses in Guatemala. For an overview of what is at stake in the lawsuits, see articles published in the New York Times (April 3, 2016) and Toronto Star (June 19 & June 20, 2016).
Here, a timeline history of both the Hudbay lawsuits in Canada and the criminal trial in Guatemala against Hudbay’s former head of security:
http://rightsaction.org/newsletterapril17-miningrepressionandimpunity/. On request,
I can provide links to many more news reports and films.
Overview
The Hudbay cases have already set legal precedents in Canada, and are fundamentally changing the human rights landscape in Canada (and beyond), making it possible for the first time to hold Canadian corporations accountable in Canada for harms and violations committed abroad. The cases are being fought by 13 inspiring Mayan Q’eqchi’ individuals:
- Angelica Choc, the widow of Adolfo Ich, a respected community leader and school teacher who was hacked with machetes and shot in the head and killed by Hudbay security personnel;
- German Chub, a young father who was shot and left paralyzed from the waist down by Hudbay security personnel;
- Margarita Caal Caal, Rosa Elbira Ich Coc and 9 other women from the village of Lote Ocho, who were raped by Hudbay (then Skye Resources) security personnel, police and military during the complete destruction of their village and forced eviction from their ancestral lands.
The lawsuits – spear-headed by the plaintiffs and the Toronto, Canada based Klippensteins Barristers and Solicitors – are being indispensably supported and facilitated by Rights Action and myself.
Why These Lawsuits Matter
Over the past seven years, Hudbay has spent considerable funds and fought the plaintiffs on every conceivable legal issue. So far, the plaintiffs have won every battle, and set important legal precedents along the way.
After three years of legal battle over Hudbay’s pre-trial motions to dismiss the lawsuits, an Ontario court ruled in July 2013 that (for the first time in Canadian legal history) these lawsuits (against a Canadian mining company regarding harms and human rights violations abroad) can go to trial in Canada. This is a significant legal leap forward in the quest for accountability of Canadian companies and is a long overdue victory for human rights. We hope these lawsuits are a wakeup call for the Canadian mining industry and policy makers that will change the way that Canadian companies operate abroad.
Since being filed in 2010, and since the July 2013 ruling, the Hudbay lawsuits have paved the way for similar lawsuits brought in Canada by communities around the world against Canadian companies who commit human rights abuses abroad, including:
- the Nevsun case regarding forced labour and slavery at a mine in Eritrea;
- the Tahoe Resources case regarding shootings by mine security personnel in Guatemala;
- the Loblaws/Joe Fresh case regarding the Rana Plaza factory collapse in Bangladesh.
“Shockwaves through the glass and steel corridors of corporate Canada”
The New York Times says the Hudbay cases have “sent shivers through the vast Canadian mining, oil and gas industry.”[[1]] The Toronto Star notes that the lawsuits “have potentially explosive consequences. If Hudbay is found liable, the case could establish corporate behaviour guidelines for Canadian mining subsidiaries overseas, which have a long history of human rights and environmental complaints.”[[2]] CBC’s news program “The National” says the cases are sending “shockwaves through the glass and steel corridors of corporate Canada.”[[3]]
A lawyer with the corporate law firm Gowling WLG warns the mining industry that if the Hudbay litigation is successful “then we’ve got major new law and it’s explosive.”[[4]] Other elite Canadian resource company law firms note that “Hudbay serves as a significant warning for Canadian corporations operating in foreign countries that they could potentially face civil liability in Canada for wrongs committed in foreign countries,”[[5]] and that “Choc v Hudbay may usher in potential expanded exposure to risks and liabilities for Canadian corporations doing business abroad, not only in the natural resources sector but also in various other sectors, including banking, manufacturing, retailing and telecommunications.”[[6]
Canadian Lawyer Magazine named Murray Klippenstein one of Canada’s 25 most influential lawyers, two years running (2014 and 2015), as result of the Hudbay cases and the impact they are having in the legal community and the mining industry.
Next Steps
Despite these legal successes in already – slowly but surely – transforming Canada’s laws, there is much left to be done before justice and appropriate remedies might be achieved. Since the plaintiffs and lawyers overcame three years (2010-2013) of pre-trial jurisdictional and procedural challenges made by Hudbay, the lawsuits have been working their way through the ‘disclosure’ and discovery’ phases.
Documentary Disclosure
Both sides are required by law to disclose all documents relating to any aspect of the lawsuit. As part of this process, Klippensteins lawyers were obliged to go to court again in 2015 – another mini-trial within the trial – to obtain a court order forcing Hudbay to disclose extensive internal and normally confidential company documents and communications. In late 2016, Hudbay finally began delivering tens of thousands of internal documents. Klippensteins lawyers have neared completion of the process of reviewing these documents, taking up thousands of hours.
Examinations for Discovery – November 2017 & Early 2018
In November 2017, the thirteen plaintiffs will travel to Toronto to be questioned by Hudbay’s lawyers over a period of three weeks. Similarly, Klippensteins will subject Hudbay executives to in-depth questioning. It is likely that the 11 women from Lote 8 will be cross-examined in November and Angelica Choc and German Chub will return to Toronto in early 2018, to then be questioned.
After the disclosure and discovery phases, hopefully completed in early 2018, the lawyers and plaintiffs then prepare for the actual trial which will take place in front of a jury, and will be lengthy. The trial itself is likely two to five years away.
$20,000 Needed
Funds raised will pay for many of the costs of the 13 plaintiffs and two accompaniers from their home communities in rural, eastern Guatemala, to Toronto and back again. Hudbay will incur some of the expenses. Our costs include: in-Guatemala travel; in-Canada travel; food and lodging in Guatemala (near airport); acquiring passports & visas; purchasing extra clothing and footwear (for people who live in one of the hottest regions of Guatemala); family stipends to leave food and care-givers for children staying at home; two Rights Action trips to Guatemala in October, to help prepare the plaintiffs for the trip and accompany them.
The plaintiffs have made remarkable strides, since 2010, towards transforming Canadian corporate accountability law and achieving their goal of justice. Now we need on-going help to overcome the next steps. Please consider making a contribution towards the funding goal. Financial contributions can be made directly to Rights Action, with tax-charitable status in Canada and the U.S.
Please contact me with questions or comments.
Thank you.
Grahame Russell, director Rights Action
[email protected]
1-416-807-4436
www.rightsaction.org
www.faceboook.com/RightsAction.org
*******
Tax-deductible donations (Canada & U.S.)
Make check payable to “Rights Action” and mail to:
- S.: Box 50887, Washington DC, 20091-0887
- Canada: (Box 552) 351 Queen St. E, Toronto ON, M5A-1T8
Read: Indígenas de Guatemala denuncian a Hidroeléctrica española
Guatemala President's Son and Brother
Probed over Corruption
TeleSUR - September 14, 2016
The International Commission on Corruption in Guatemala, CICIG, and Guatemala's Public Ministry are investigating President Jimmy Morales' son and brother, they announced in a joint communique this week.
José Manuel Morales Marroquín, Morales' son, was cited on Sept. 7, as was Samuel Everardo Morales, the president's brother, on Sept. 12.
According to investigators, Morales' son asked his uncle to provide him with bills that would help him justify the purchase of 564 Christmas breakfasts in 2013, for an amount of about US$19,000.
On Sept. 1, the head of the governmental institution that payed the allegedly fraudulent bill, the Real Estate Public Registry's Anabella de Leon, was arrested.
“The Public Ministry and the CICIG are currently investigating and doing the necessary checks to determine the level of criminal responsibility of these people and others,” said the joint statement, issued two hours after President Morales commented on the case in a video on Tuesday.
In the footage, Morales insists that his son and brother went voluntarily to court. He added that he will not mention the issue again in the future and that he will not interfere with the country's justice.
The investigation found that one of the fundraisers of the governing party and Central American lawmaker Othmar Sanchez Herrera could be involved in the case.
Various lawmakers have denounced the revelations, saying they were “undermining the president's credibility” and created a situation of “crisis for the country,” in the words of Mario Taracena, head of Guatemala's Congress.
Former comedian Jimmy Morales won the last presidential election in Oct. 2015, replacing former President Otto Perez Molina who was forced to quit after being involved in a massive corruption ring. Molina has been in prison since Sept. 2015.
However, protests by popular movements against state corruption have not stopped since Morales' election, while revelations continue to emerge about widespread systemic corruption in government institutions—though none directly involving the president.
Despite efforts to distance himself from the various high-level corruption scandals implicating the country’s main political parties, analysts are concerned that a Morales administration, with its ties to the military, may hamper efforts to prosecute former military officials accused of human rights violations committed during the all-too-recent civil war.
Members of his own political party currently face legal charges for human rights violations that allegedly took place during the 1960-1996 civil war.
José Manuel Morales Marroquín, Morales' son, was cited on Sept. 7, as was Samuel Everardo Morales, the president's brother, on Sept. 12.
According to investigators, Morales' son asked his uncle to provide him with bills that would help him justify the purchase of 564 Christmas breakfasts in 2013, for an amount of about US$19,000.
On Sept. 1, the head of the governmental institution that payed the allegedly fraudulent bill, the Real Estate Public Registry's Anabella de Leon, was arrested.
“The Public Ministry and the CICIG are currently investigating and doing the necessary checks to determine the level of criminal responsibility of these people and others,” said the joint statement, issued two hours after President Morales commented on the case in a video on Tuesday.
In the footage, Morales insists that his son and brother went voluntarily to court. He added that he will not mention the issue again in the future and that he will not interfere with the country's justice.
The investigation found that one of the fundraisers of the governing party and Central American lawmaker Othmar Sanchez Herrera could be involved in the case.
Various lawmakers have denounced the revelations, saying they were “undermining the president's credibility” and created a situation of “crisis for the country,” in the words of Mario Taracena, head of Guatemala's Congress.
Former comedian Jimmy Morales won the last presidential election in Oct. 2015, replacing former President Otto Perez Molina who was forced to quit after being involved in a massive corruption ring. Molina has been in prison since Sept. 2015.
However, protests by popular movements against state corruption have not stopped since Morales' election, while revelations continue to emerge about widespread systemic corruption in government institutions—though none directly involving the president.
Despite efforts to distance himself from the various high-level corruption scandals implicating the country’s main political parties, analysts are concerned that a Morales administration, with its ties to the military, may hamper efforts to prosecute former military officials accused of human rights violations committed during the all-too-recent civil war.
Members of his own political party currently face legal charges for human rights violations that allegedly took place during the 1960-1996 civil war.
Criminal Gang Attacks National Leader of the
Committee for Peasant Unity
The Dawn News - September 3, 2016
Last September 2, at approximately 11 pm, 20 armed men, wearing hoods and carrying machetes and firearms attacked Esteban Hermelindo Cux, national leader of the Committee for Peasant Unity (CUC), and his family. They were in their home, located in Alta Verapaz, when these armed men came to attack the neighbouring house, where his brother lives. When Esteban Hermelindo went out to see what was going on, they started shooting and throwing rocks at him, breaking windows and doors.
Our comrade Hermelindo was bruised in several parts of his body and has a serious wound in his head. During the attack, his wife fainted and his sons and daughters suffered a nervous breakdown. Hermelindo’s brother was also beaten and wounded with a machete. His shop, which constitutes his livelihood, was looted by these criminals. Also, they seriously wounded with a machete the face of one of the comrades who were at the store at that time.
Neighbours called the district’s National Police forces but their officials arrived at the location an hour later, however, they managed to capture two members of this criminal band. Approximately 100 people from the village and local communities immediately helped Hermelindo and his family and searched the place to look for these criminals. The situation is very tense due to the seriousness of the attacks.
This event could be related to a strategy planned out by a group of businessmen to criminalize, persecute and create a tense situation against peasant communities from Estor and Panzas, through false accusations in the court and TV campaigns, with the aim of defaming the communitarian leaders and the CUC.
We demand to the National Police, the Public Ministry and the Human Rights’ Attorney the capture of those responsible for this event specially because they in addition to the attack, they verbally threatened the life of Hermelindo and his family.
We make a call on national and international organizations and Human Rights organisms to watch over the situation given these new wave of criminalization and repression that the oligarchy has unleashed to protect their interests in the Izabal and Alta Verapaz area.
We responsible this group of landowners and businessmen of whatever might happen to our communitarian leaders of the region of Valle del Polochica.
CUC – Committee for Peasant Unity
Members of the CLOC-Via Campesina International, Coordination and National Maya Waqib Kej Convergence and Social and Popular Assembly.
Guatemala, September 3, 2016.
Our comrade Hermelindo was bruised in several parts of his body and has a serious wound in his head. During the attack, his wife fainted and his sons and daughters suffered a nervous breakdown. Hermelindo’s brother was also beaten and wounded with a machete. His shop, which constitutes his livelihood, was looted by these criminals. Also, they seriously wounded with a machete the face of one of the comrades who were at the store at that time.
Neighbours called the district’s National Police forces but their officials arrived at the location an hour later, however, they managed to capture two members of this criminal band. Approximately 100 people from the village and local communities immediately helped Hermelindo and his family and searched the place to look for these criminals. The situation is very tense due to the seriousness of the attacks.
This event could be related to a strategy planned out by a group of businessmen to criminalize, persecute and create a tense situation against peasant communities from Estor and Panzas, through false accusations in the court and TV campaigns, with the aim of defaming the communitarian leaders and the CUC.
We demand to the National Police, the Public Ministry and the Human Rights’ Attorney the capture of those responsible for this event specially because they in addition to the attack, they verbally threatened the life of Hermelindo and his family.
We make a call on national and international organizations and Human Rights organisms to watch over the situation given these new wave of criminalization and repression that the oligarchy has unleashed to protect their interests in the Izabal and Alta Verapaz area.
We responsible this group of landowners and businessmen of whatever might happen to our communitarian leaders of the region of Valle del Polochica.
CUC – Committee for Peasant Unity
Members of the CLOC-Via Campesina International, Coordination and National Maya Waqib Kej Convergence and Social and Popular Assembly.
Guatemala, September 3, 2016.
LEA: Interview with Lolita Chávez, Part II
Interview with Lolita Chávez, Guatemalan indigenous leader: “We are an ancient people of warriors”. Part I
Carlos Aznárez and María Torrellas / Source: Resumen Latinoamericano / The Dawn News
August 2016
The struggle of the indigenous peoples against transnational companies is a breaking point between the old and new insurgencies in Latin America. Therefore, it is indispensable to rescue them from the media’s silence. This is the case of Lolita Cháez Ixcaquic, leader of the Maya people of Kiché, from Guatemala, who due to its militancy against the hydroelectric multinationals and the eviction from their lands (as a feminist communitarian activist), she has received death threats from gunmen and repressive forces from her country. In an interview with Resumen Latinoamericano, Lolita shared her story.
– As a leader of the Kiché people you have promoted a popular consultation to reject hydroelectric projects and mega mining. We know that your proposal achieved a clear triumph. Can you tell us how this happened and why it was necessary to carry out that consultation?
We are going through an invasion of transnational companies, who have fiercely and perversely entered our lands. Guatemala is a country for sale: this was ensured by the oligarchy and totally controlled by the world powers. They have issued hydraulic mining licenses without our commitment. The people and organizations have no information about that and, also, when it comes to mining and hydroelectric companies, it means talking about an uncertain issue because we don’t know how the invasor system is and how it’s going to be managed, technically and politically speaking.
When we learned that the mining licenses were ready in nearby villages, as San Marcos and San Juan Zapatapeque (territories where indigenous people co-exist) we reached out to them —there, the peoples communicate all the time and are on the move, constantly— and they informed us the consequences of that process: Divisions in the communities,new illnesses in our organisms, in our plants, in our animals, eviction and plundering.
This could mean development to the world but to us it means death and destruction. So, as we saw this situation clearly, we said: “Here we will make a decision, we live in these territories and we have always been organized, so we will promote the consultation!”. We retook our voice and awareness, so we prepared the popular consultation, which has taken 2 years. Now, people talk about Santa Cruz de Kiché as if the consultation would have came out of nowhere but there were more than 27 thousand people --men, women, children, old people-- who participated in an organized process in which we managed to defeat the enemy by preventing companies from entering and stopping their activities.
– Where do the companies come from?
Many of them are from Canada and we know that there is a tax haven there, where is easy to sign a transnational company. But also, they come from other places, there is founding from retirement’s systems and founding that the main countries of the world seek to save, as US or Europe. The companies that are threatening the Guatemalan land come mostly from the world powers and Canadá is the perverse representation of those multinational that can sing in those tax havens.
– With the current administration of Jimmy Morales, has mega mining and extractivist exploitation reappeared?
Yes, we say that the people see Jimmy Morales as a similar to Otto Pérez Molina or Álvaro Colom (former Presidents of Guatemala) because as all of them, he doesn’t solve our problems. They became employers of transnational companies, they kneel to them and their petitions. So this ends up changing the institutionality of the State, it becomes the facilitator of these companies. This is Jimmy Morales, he does not represent the authority of the State of Guatemala but the transnational companies. And we say this clearly because we can prove it and it is seen even in the statements made by his Ministers, in the licenses they are opening despite the justice system is supporting the people’s claims. For example, the Supreme Court of Justice gives orders, decisions and protection to the people and they don’t respect them, they do as if there were laws for the people but actually transnational companies and world oligarchies, who align with the local powers, are the ones who attack our decisions.
– Lolita, your leadership and the struggle surely brings you problems, threats. How do you deal with the persecutions that you have been suffering as a response to raising against the system?
This struggle has caused constant threats, but not just to me. We are here, alive, thanks to the struggle of our brothers and sisters and we have the strength of the peoples, because many times others have tried to exterminate us. And that’s what happening in my life. What does it mean? As my Kiché people, where there was a scorched earth, massacre, genocide, forced disappearances, an operation to exterminate us and we say with all authority, clearly: “here, the people decide”.
Looking at the eye of the oligarchy and the companies we have said: “we decide”.
But they don’t understand that and say: “oh, these fucking indians”, they question why don’t we just kneel to them. So they start threatening, stigmatizing us, opposing their demands against us. And I say ‘cowardly’ because this could be fix in other spaces: politically, economically, strategically, no with those perverse subsystems of repression and with the military force. They know what a military means for us, seeing a Captain in my territory. This is what we are denouncing: Captain Stuart Galdames, who is now in the congress, was with Otto Pérez Molina and what we demand is that he must be held accountable for all the massacres and the deaths he has carried out in my territory. We are alive to denounce this. They have called me witch, and I love it, because we are the witches of the universe, in the network of life, because we connect, and they are afraid because there are many more witches.
This is increasing our strength and that is generating also an intention of the people so that this process can continue: killing would be the greatest proposal for this people. There are gunmen, narcos: it is a Narco State. They say they are interested in struggling against the world narcotraffic with the U.S and this is a big lie because what is actually happening is that they, who claim to be chasing narcotraffic, are the true narcos. And, as we tell them this in their faces, they fell touched.
That’s why we have to continue walking strategically, meaning, we can’t surrender and let them kill us. We should work organized, politically, strategically and joining with other people because what we are living also is being experienced in many other parts of the world, in Mexico or in Argentina.
– In this period imperialism is using several methods, one of them is paramilitarism at the service of the transnational to intimidate the popular leaders that are fighting against extractivism. How are the Guatemalan paramilitaries acting?
Yes, this is a denounce that women from the indigenous people have made, the thing is that our voices have been silenced as well as our peoples. In Guatemala the paramilitary are and had been present.
Now, we are saying that we must show the public society what do kaibiles mean, the bloody conceptualization of these people and where they are located, because this is important to prove the whole relationship with paramilitarism. If I’m murder they will probably say it was “common violence, or a crime of passion”, just as they tried to do with Berta Cáceres in Honduras.
That’s why I denounce this, so that the anybody in the world to miss out on this, we have to generate awareness, specially because there are a lot of people who listen and read mainstream media. If something happened to me, the responsibility will not be only of the paramilitary, or the organized crime, it will be the responsibility of the State of Guatemala, the banks that finance companies and the responsibility of the transnational companies as well as the world’s oligarchies. I denounce them.
– As a leader of the Kiché people you have promoted a popular consultation to reject hydroelectric projects and mega mining. We know that your proposal achieved a clear triumph. Can you tell us how this happened and why it was necessary to carry out that consultation?
We are going through an invasion of transnational companies, who have fiercely and perversely entered our lands. Guatemala is a country for sale: this was ensured by the oligarchy and totally controlled by the world powers. They have issued hydraulic mining licenses without our commitment. The people and organizations have no information about that and, also, when it comes to mining and hydroelectric companies, it means talking about an uncertain issue because we don’t know how the invasor system is and how it’s going to be managed, technically and politically speaking.
When we learned that the mining licenses were ready in nearby villages, as San Marcos and San Juan Zapatapeque (territories where indigenous people co-exist) we reached out to them —there, the peoples communicate all the time and are on the move, constantly— and they informed us the consequences of that process: Divisions in the communities,new illnesses in our organisms, in our plants, in our animals, eviction and plundering.
This could mean development to the world but to us it means death and destruction. So, as we saw this situation clearly, we said: “Here we will make a decision, we live in these territories and we have always been organized, so we will promote the consultation!”. We retook our voice and awareness, so we prepared the popular consultation, which has taken 2 years. Now, people talk about Santa Cruz de Kiché as if the consultation would have came out of nowhere but there were more than 27 thousand people --men, women, children, old people-- who participated in an organized process in which we managed to defeat the enemy by preventing companies from entering and stopping their activities.
– Where do the companies come from?
Many of them are from Canada and we know that there is a tax haven there, where is easy to sign a transnational company. But also, they come from other places, there is founding from retirement’s systems and founding that the main countries of the world seek to save, as US or Europe. The companies that are threatening the Guatemalan land come mostly from the world powers and Canadá is the perverse representation of those multinational that can sing in those tax havens.
– With the current administration of Jimmy Morales, has mega mining and extractivist exploitation reappeared?
Yes, we say that the people see Jimmy Morales as a similar to Otto Pérez Molina or Álvaro Colom (former Presidents of Guatemala) because as all of them, he doesn’t solve our problems. They became employers of transnational companies, they kneel to them and their petitions. So this ends up changing the institutionality of the State, it becomes the facilitator of these companies. This is Jimmy Morales, he does not represent the authority of the State of Guatemala but the transnational companies. And we say this clearly because we can prove it and it is seen even in the statements made by his Ministers, in the licenses they are opening despite the justice system is supporting the people’s claims. For example, the Supreme Court of Justice gives orders, decisions and protection to the people and they don’t respect them, they do as if there were laws for the people but actually transnational companies and world oligarchies, who align with the local powers, are the ones who attack our decisions.
– Lolita, your leadership and the struggle surely brings you problems, threats. How do you deal with the persecutions that you have been suffering as a response to raising against the system?
This struggle has caused constant threats, but not just to me. We are here, alive, thanks to the struggle of our brothers and sisters and we have the strength of the peoples, because many times others have tried to exterminate us. And that’s what happening in my life. What does it mean? As my Kiché people, where there was a scorched earth, massacre, genocide, forced disappearances, an operation to exterminate us and we say with all authority, clearly: “here, the people decide”.
Looking at the eye of the oligarchy and the companies we have said: “we decide”.
But they don’t understand that and say: “oh, these fucking indians”, they question why don’t we just kneel to them. So they start threatening, stigmatizing us, opposing their demands against us. And I say ‘cowardly’ because this could be fix in other spaces: politically, economically, strategically, no with those perverse subsystems of repression and with the military force. They know what a military means for us, seeing a Captain in my territory. This is what we are denouncing: Captain Stuart Galdames, who is now in the congress, was with Otto Pérez Molina and what we demand is that he must be held accountable for all the massacres and the deaths he has carried out in my territory. We are alive to denounce this. They have called me witch, and I love it, because we are the witches of the universe, in the network of life, because we connect, and they are afraid because there are many more witches.
This is increasing our strength and that is generating also an intention of the people so that this process can continue: killing would be the greatest proposal for this people. There are gunmen, narcos: it is a Narco State. They say they are interested in struggling against the world narcotraffic with the U.S and this is a big lie because what is actually happening is that they, who claim to be chasing narcotraffic, are the true narcos. And, as we tell them this in their faces, they fell touched.
That’s why we have to continue walking strategically, meaning, we can’t surrender and let them kill us. We should work organized, politically, strategically and joining with other people because what we are living also is being experienced in many other parts of the world, in Mexico or in Argentina.
– In this period imperialism is using several methods, one of them is paramilitarism at the service of the transnational to intimidate the popular leaders that are fighting against extractivism. How are the Guatemalan paramilitaries acting?
Yes, this is a denounce that women from the indigenous people have made, the thing is that our voices have been silenced as well as our peoples. In Guatemala the paramilitary are and had been present.
Now, we are saying that we must show the public society what do kaibiles mean, the bloody conceptualization of these people and where they are located, because this is important to prove the whole relationship with paramilitarism. If I’m murder they will probably say it was “common violence, or a crime of passion”, just as they tried to do with Berta Cáceres in Honduras.
That’s why I denounce this, so that the anybody in the world to miss out on this, we have to generate awareness, specially because there are a lot of people who listen and read mainstream media. If something happened to me, the responsibility will not be only of the paramilitary, or the organized crime, it will be the responsibility of the State of Guatemala, the banks that finance companies and the responsibility of the transnational companies as well as the world’s oligarchies. I denounce them.
Comunicado del Comité de Desarrollo Campesino
Resumen Latinoamericano/ 16 de Agosto 2016
NISGUA NEWS
Network in Solidarity with the People in Guatemala
ALL 7 GUATEMALA POLITICAL PRISONERS HAVE BEEN ACQUITTED of almost all charges against them and the court has ordered their IMMEDIATE RELEASE!
After suffering excessive imprisonment due to abuse of pre-trial detention and stall tactics, with several prisoners spending as long as 17 months in jail, the joint trial against 7 defenders of life and territory has ended in FREEDOM FOR THE POLITICAL PRISONERS OF HUEHUETENANGO. The judges highlighted the injustice committed against all 7, affirmed the legitimacy of ancestral authorities, and expressed outrage at the unjust criminalization of these leaders. We are grateful to be part of an international network who have stayed the course with postcards, campaigns, protest and monitoring--our work will continue to ensure their prompt release and continue the fight against criminalization of defenders of the earth.
Justice & Accountability
Defense of Life & Territory
News from the Grassroots
After suffering excessive imprisonment due to abuse of pre-trial detention and stall tactics, with several prisoners spending as long as 17 months in jail, the joint trial against 7 defenders of life and territory has ended in FREEDOM FOR THE POLITICAL PRISONERS OF HUEHUETENANGO. The judges highlighted the injustice committed against all 7, affirmed the legitimacy of ancestral authorities, and expressed outrage at the unjust criminalization of these leaders. We are grateful to be part of an international network who have stayed the course with postcards, campaigns, protest and monitoring--our work will continue to ensure their prompt release and continue the fight against criminalization of defenders of the earth.
Justice & Accountability
- Psychologist Maudí Tzay joins NISGUA this fall on tour in the United States
- Eight former military to stand trial for charges in the CREOMPAZ case
- Urban activists return to Central Square for the Day for Heroes and Martyrs
Defense of Life & Territory
- Seven political prisoners from Huehuetenango go to trial
- Communities impacted by Tahoe Resources threatened with a new mining project
- JODVID: a powerful youth organization speaking out against mining
News from the Grassroots
- Become a human rights accompanier!
- This summer, take a chance for justice
Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala: Libertad para los presos politicos
CONAVIGUA - Guatemala
12 de Julio de 2016
La Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala -CONAVIGUA-, reafirmamos nuestra lucha en defensa de la vida, la madre tierra y el Territorio.
Expresamos que desde hace muchos años la política de represión y criminalización ha sido implementada por los gobiernos para perseguir a nuestras lideresas y líderes que defienden su territorio, tal es el caso de los hermanos presos políticos de Santa Cruz Barillas.
Los hermanos son defensores de la vida en plenitud y en defensa de la tierra y el territorio y su posición ha sido en contra de la Hidro Santa Cruz, subsidiaria de la transnacional española Hidralia Energía.
Nuestros hermanos han permanecido por varios meses privados de su libertad porque se les acusa de delitos que no han cometido, hoy enfrentan debate oral y público y se ha evidenciado durante el desarrollo del debate la inocencia de nuestros hermanos, porque las acusaciones de la fiscalía del Ministerio Público refleja que es un proceso de persecución política hacia los líderes comunitarios.
Con el proceso que en la actualidad enfrentan nuestros hermanos de Santa Cruz Barillas, se evidencia la violación a los derechos humanos por parte del Estado y los gobiernos hacia los derechos individuales y colectivos de los pueblos indígenas a decidir sobre su territorio y defender la madre tierra.
Las Mujeres de la Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala, enviamos un saludo solidario para nuestros hermanos presos políticos así como a sus familiares, por que reconocemos que la ausencia en sus hogares ha significado dolor y temor y por lo anterior:
Exigimos se respete la decisión que realizan los pueblos indígenas sobre su territorio a través de las consultas comunitarias y se respete la resistencia pacífica.
Asimismo que se respete el derecho a la vida y Exigimos la libertad de nuestros hermanos Rigoberto Juárez Mateo, Domingo Baltazar, Adalberto Villatoro, Ermitaño López, Mynor López, Arturo Pablo y Francisco Juan Pedro que han alzado su voz para defender nuestra madre tierra y que nuestros hermanos recobren su libertad.
¡Por la Unidad y Dignidad de la Mujer
CONAVIGUA presente!
Expresamos que desde hace muchos años la política de represión y criminalización ha sido implementada por los gobiernos para perseguir a nuestras lideresas y líderes que defienden su territorio, tal es el caso de los hermanos presos políticos de Santa Cruz Barillas.
Los hermanos son defensores de la vida en plenitud y en defensa de la tierra y el territorio y su posición ha sido en contra de la Hidro Santa Cruz, subsidiaria de la transnacional española Hidralia Energía.
Nuestros hermanos han permanecido por varios meses privados de su libertad porque se les acusa de delitos que no han cometido, hoy enfrentan debate oral y público y se ha evidenciado durante el desarrollo del debate la inocencia de nuestros hermanos, porque las acusaciones de la fiscalía del Ministerio Público refleja que es un proceso de persecución política hacia los líderes comunitarios.
Con el proceso que en la actualidad enfrentan nuestros hermanos de Santa Cruz Barillas, se evidencia la violación a los derechos humanos por parte del Estado y los gobiernos hacia los derechos individuales y colectivos de los pueblos indígenas a decidir sobre su territorio y defender la madre tierra.
Las Mujeres de la Coordinadora Nacional de Viudas de Guatemala, enviamos un saludo solidario para nuestros hermanos presos políticos así como a sus familiares, por que reconocemos que la ausencia en sus hogares ha significado dolor y temor y por lo anterior:
Exigimos se respete la decisión que realizan los pueblos indígenas sobre su territorio a través de las consultas comunitarias y se respete la resistencia pacífica.
Asimismo que se respete el derecho a la vida y Exigimos la libertad de nuestros hermanos Rigoberto Juárez Mateo, Domingo Baltazar, Adalberto Villatoro, Ermitaño López, Mynor López, Arturo Pablo y Francisco Juan Pedro que han alzado su voz para defender nuestra madre tierra y que nuestros hermanos recobren su libertad.
¡Por la Unidad y Dignidad de la Mujer
CONAVIGUA presente!
Urgent Statement Follow Murder of
CCDA organizer Daniel Choc Pop
THE COMMITTEE OF PEASANT FARMERS of the HIGHLANDS of GUATEMALA - CCDA
In response to the Governor of Alta Verapaz, Delegates from the Land Fund
(Fondo de Tierra), Secretary of Agrarian Issues and Presidential Commission
for Human Rights (COPREDEH)
EXPRESSES THE FOLLOWING:
We strongly oppose the intention of the Governor of Alta Verapaz, the Land
Fund and the Secretary of Agrarian Issues, the entities responsible for the
agrarian institutes in the country, to refuse responsibility for the
violent murder of indigenous Q’eqchi leader Daniel Choc Pop and the
institutional negligence following this crime against a member of the
Committee of Peasant Farmers of the Highlands of Guatemala - CCDA - who was
a human rights activist, peasant farmer and community leader from San Juan
los Tres Rios in the department of Alta Verapaz. Daniel worked to address
social issues and worked to attain the legal certainty of lands in this
region for several rural and indigenous families as a result of land
conflicts that prevail in the country. We reject that Daniel’s murder is an
isolated incident as these authorities have indicated. We believe this
shows their negligence and inability to resolve problems related to the
rural indigenous population of Guatemala.
In 2012, in the context of the Indigenous, Peasant and Popular March, in
which civil society organization as well as peasant communities marched
from Coban, Alta Verapaz to Guatemala City, the CCDA presented a request to
the Guatemalan Legislative, Executive and Judiciary to resolve land
conflicts in the country. Daniel Choc Pop was one of the community
representatives from San Juan los Tres Rios who was part of the people’s
struggle and effort to coordinate this initiative.
The CCDA is currently accompanying several land conflict cases. As a
result, multiple spaces have been established by the State to address land
conflicts, including “Technical Committees,” “Dialogue Roundtables,” and
“Follow-up Roundtables,” within the Land Fund and the Secretary of Agrarian
Issues. These spaces have been an attempt to find a solution to the
multiple cases of land conflicts, including the community of San Juan los
Tres Rios. The only outcome of these spaces, however, has been to slow down
addressing the issues at hand. A mutually agreed upon meeting was set with
the Land Fund for March 10, 2014, which was later postponed to March 18,
2014 by the State institution. At this meeting, the CCDA submitted a
document outlining priority cases to the Manager of the Land Fund, in which
the case of San Juan Tres Rios was included along with others.
A year later, after no responses was given, on April 17, 2015, legitimately
backed by the constitutional right to meet, protest and peacefully resist
before systematic and repeated violation of human rights, more than 400
indigenous Q’eqchi families set up outside the Presidential House in
Guatemala City. For 12 days, this became known as “Q’eqchi Community.”
While there, several land conflict cases were presented to the State,
including that of San Juan los Tres Rios. This can be verified in a
document sent to the President of the Republic, which was stamped as
received by the Private Secretary of the President on April 20, 2015. This
document denounces the multiple threats that were and continued to be
perpetrated by irregular armed forces - not of the State. It also denounced
the cases of criminalization of leaders who have been incarcerated and
those who have outstanding arrest warrants for them.
At this time, actions that would help resolve the problems were presented
to the President of the Republic and the agrarian institutions of the
State. The actions that correspond to the Land Fund to fulfill should have
been instigated, according to Governmental Agreement No. 199-2000 that was
signed by the President.
On April 20, 2015, while the “Q’eqchi Community” was set up, a high level
roundtable was created that included the President of the Republic, the
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, Secretary of Agrarian Issues,
Manager of the Land Fund, Presidential Advisor Responsible for the National
Dialogue System and Representatives of the CCDA. Point 5 of the Document of
Agreements and Commitments clearly states: “It is agreed to work
immediately to analyze the 29 cases prioritized by the CCDA in order to
have a future meeting for decision making in the course of this week with
the President.”
On April 23, 2015, a meeting was held with the Minister of Agriculture,
Livestock and Food, the Manager of the Land Fund, Secretary for Agrarian
Issues and Representatives of the CCDA to respond to the prioritized cases.
During the meeting, a Document of Agreements and Commitments was signed.
The first point of this document states: “In reference to the land
conflicts with respect to the communities of Cerrito Samox, Ixloc San
Pedrito and San Juan los Tres Rios, situated in Coban, Alta Verapaz, all
related to access to land, it is agreed that within four months of today’s
date, the Land Fund will perform and conclude the different phases of the
administrative procedure for acquisition of land for peasant families."
On July 10, Governmental Agreement 181-2015 was issued where it was
established that the budget was increased to fulfill the resolution of land
conflicts in the cases of Cerrito Samox, Ixloc San Pedrito and the
community of San Juan los Tres Ríos, in Cobán, Alta Verapaz. Where these
funds have ended up is unclear since the problem continues.
On April 28, 2016, with the intermediation of Congressman Leocadio Juracán,
in coordination with Doctor Rokael Cardona of the National Dialogue
Commission, a meeting was convened with state agrarian institutions and
representatives of the CCDA to discuss a resolution to the cases of land
conflict aforementioned. Follow up meetings have been held on May 11 and
17, 2016 with the intention of finding a solution; in each of these
meetings, the case of San Juan los Tres Rios has been discussed. Daniel
Choc Pop was present in all of these meetings.
The families of San Juan los Tres Rios have been threatened on multiple
occasions, including death threats by alleged security forces from Finca
Rancho Alegre. They have been intimidated with firearms, which was
denounced most recently before the Alta Verapaz Regional Office of the
Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office on March 31, 2016 with file number
EXP.ORIENTACION ORD A.V. 4072-2016, which reads, “community members
indicate that on the morning of March 30, 2016 at 9:30am, a group of people
with machetes and firearms in hand arrived saying they were authorized by
Mr. German Sierra Sorio to remove them from the area.” In the complaint
that was filed, it is on record that a process of regularization of lands
was before the Land Fund.
There also exists legal complaints that have been filed by community
members of San Juan los Tres Rios to the District Attorney of Alta Verapaz,
including case file number MP 255-2016-2851. On April 5, 2016, a
reconciliatory meeting was set up by the Unit for Early Decisions of the
Public Prosecutor’s Office. German Sierra Osorio, Hermelindo Chen,
Evaristo Pop (who is presumed to be the material author of the murder of
Daniel Choc Pop) and the families of the community of San Juan los Tres Rio
were summoned. Sierra Osorio, Chen and Pop did not show up as was recorded
by the auxiliary prosecutor on April 11, 2016.
For all of the aforementioned, we reject any attempt of the Governor of
Alta Verapaz to wash her hands of the murder of leader Daniel Choc Pop. In
her declarations, she has said that his murder was an isolated event, even
though he has been present in all phases of resolving the land conflict in
his community. The Governor, along with the Land Fund, the Secretary of
Agrarian Issues and the Presidential Commission for Human Rights have also
stated that Daniel’s murder was a result of a conflict with another
community, with the intention of hiding it’s inability, negligence and
unwillingness to respond to the interests of rural, indigenous communities.
The CCDA is an organization with presence in 20 departments of the country
and more that 34 years of history in defense of indigenous and peasant
rights. The Highland’s Committee of Peasant Farmers - CCDA - believes the
State of Guatemala is responsible for not attending the land problems in
our country.
In regards to the aforementioned:
WE DEMAND:
The resignation of Jimmy Morales and Jafeth Cabrera, the current president
and vice-president of the Republic of Guatemala for the lack of attention
they have shown in addressing the problem of land conflicts and for giving
priority to their individual interests and those of the national oligarchy
and not not responding to the demands presented by Indigenous Peoples.
At the same time, we ask for the urgent dismissal of the authorities in
charge of agricultural institutions in the country for their inability to
guarantee the fulfillment of human rights and the rights of indigenous
peoples.
To the Public Prosecutor’s Office - MP - to undertake an impartial
investigation that establishes the intellectual and material authors and
clarifies the incidents surrounding the murder of peasant leader Daniel
Choc Pop so that this case is not left as one more in impunity as have many
others in the region.
To the Governor of Alta Verapaz - to clarify her previously expressed
declarations and to arrange for compensation for the family of peasant
leader Daniel Choc Pop.
WE ASK:
We publically ask the International Commission Against Impunity in
Guatemala - CICIG to investigate the actions of State agrarian
institutions, the Public Prosecutor’s Office - MP, and Administrators of
Justice in the region of Alta Verapaz. Given the many rural indigenous
communities in the region whose rights are being violated and who are being
forcibly evicted, we ask for an investigation into the corruption and
peddling of influences we are sure exist.
Hope Grows and Strengthens in Guatemala.
Guatemala, June 11, 2016
*Translated by Breaking the Silence. International solidarity actions to
respond to this situation will be communicated this week.
www.breakingthesilenceblog.com
"Breaking the Silence" Maritimes and Guatemala Solidarity Network
In response to the Governor of Alta Verapaz, Delegates from the Land Fund
(Fondo de Tierra), Secretary of Agrarian Issues and Presidential Commission
for Human Rights (COPREDEH)
EXPRESSES THE FOLLOWING:
We strongly oppose the intention of the Governor of Alta Verapaz, the Land
Fund and the Secretary of Agrarian Issues, the entities responsible for the
agrarian institutes in the country, to refuse responsibility for the
violent murder of indigenous Q’eqchi leader Daniel Choc Pop and the
institutional negligence following this crime against a member of the
Committee of Peasant Farmers of the Highlands of Guatemala - CCDA - who was
a human rights activist, peasant farmer and community leader from San Juan
los Tres Rios in the department of Alta Verapaz. Daniel worked to address
social issues and worked to attain the legal certainty of lands in this
region for several rural and indigenous families as a result of land
conflicts that prevail in the country. We reject that Daniel’s murder is an
isolated incident as these authorities have indicated. We believe this
shows their negligence and inability to resolve problems related to the
rural indigenous population of Guatemala.
In 2012, in the context of the Indigenous, Peasant and Popular March, in
which civil society organization as well as peasant communities marched
from Coban, Alta Verapaz to Guatemala City, the CCDA presented a request to
the Guatemalan Legislative, Executive and Judiciary to resolve land
conflicts in the country. Daniel Choc Pop was one of the community
representatives from San Juan los Tres Rios who was part of the people’s
struggle and effort to coordinate this initiative.
The CCDA is currently accompanying several land conflict cases. As a
result, multiple spaces have been established by the State to address land
conflicts, including “Technical Committees,” “Dialogue Roundtables,” and
“Follow-up Roundtables,” within the Land Fund and the Secretary of Agrarian
Issues. These spaces have been an attempt to find a solution to the
multiple cases of land conflicts, including the community of San Juan los
Tres Rios. The only outcome of these spaces, however, has been to slow down
addressing the issues at hand. A mutually agreed upon meeting was set with
the Land Fund for March 10, 2014, which was later postponed to March 18,
2014 by the State institution. At this meeting, the CCDA submitted a
document outlining priority cases to the Manager of the Land Fund, in which
the case of San Juan Tres Rios was included along with others.
A year later, after no responses was given, on April 17, 2015, legitimately
backed by the constitutional right to meet, protest and peacefully resist
before systematic and repeated violation of human rights, more than 400
indigenous Q’eqchi families set up outside the Presidential House in
Guatemala City. For 12 days, this became known as “Q’eqchi Community.”
While there, several land conflict cases were presented to the State,
including that of San Juan los Tres Rios. This can be verified in a
document sent to the President of the Republic, which was stamped as
received by the Private Secretary of the President on April 20, 2015. This
document denounces the multiple threats that were and continued to be
perpetrated by irregular armed forces - not of the State. It also denounced
the cases of criminalization of leaders who have been incarcerated and
those who have outstanding arrest warrants for them.
At this time, actions that would help resolve the problems were presented
to the President of the Republic and the agrarian institutions of the
State. The actions that correspond to the Land Fund to fulfill should have
been instigated, according to Governmental Agreement No. 199-2000 that was
signed by the President.
On April 20, 2015, while the “Q’eqchi Community” was set up, a high level
roundtable was created that included the President of the Republic, the
Minister of Agriculture, Livestock and Food, Secretary of Agrarian Issues,
Manager of the Land Fund, Presidential Advisor Responsible for the National
Dialogue System and Representatives of the CCDA. Point 5 of the Document of
Agreements and Commitments clearly states: “It is agreed to work
immediately to analyze the 29 cases prioritized by the CCDA in order to
have a future meeting for decision making in the course of this week with
the President.”
On April 23, 2015, a meeting was held with the Minister of Agriculture,
Livestock and Food, the Manager of the Land Fund, Secretary for Agrarian
Issues and Representatives of the CCDA to respond to the prioritized cases.
During the meeting, a Document of Agreements and Commitments was signed.
The first point of this document states: “In reference to the land
conflicts with respect to the communities of Cerrito Samox, Ixloc San
Pedrito and San Juan los Tres Rios, situated in Coban, Alta Verapaz, all
related to access to land, it is agreed that within four months of today’s
date, the Land Fund will perform and conclude the different phases of the
administrative procedure for acquisition of land for peasant families."
On July 10, Governmental Agreement 181-2015 was issued where it was
established that the budget was increased to fulfill the resolution of land
conflicts in the cases of Cerrito Samox, Ixloc San Pedrito and the
community of San Juan los Tres Ríos, in Cobán, Alta Verapaz. Where these
funds have ended up is unclear since the problem continues.
On April 28, 2016, with the intermediation of Congressman Leocadio Juracán,
in coordination with Doctor Rokael Cardona of the National Dialogue
Commission, a meeting was convened with state agrarian institutions and
representatives of the CCDA to discuss a resolution to the cases of land
conflict aforementioned. Follow up meetings have been held on May 11 and
17, 2016 with the intention of finding a solution; in each of these
meetings, the case of San Juan los Tres Rios has been discussed. Daniel
Choc Pop was present in all of these meetings.
The families of San Juan los Tres Rios have been threatened on multiple
occasions, including death threats by alleged security forces from Finca
Rancho Alegre. They have been intimidated with firearms, which was
denounced most recently before the Alta Verapaz Regional Office of the
Human Rights Ombudsman’s Office on March 31, 2016 with file number
EXP.ORIENTACION ORD A.V. 4072-2016, which reads, “community members
indicate that on the morning of March 30, 2016 at 9:30am, a group of people
with machetes and firearms in hand arrived saying they were authorized by
Mr. German Sierra Sorio to remove them from the area.” In the complaint
that was filed, it is on record that a process of regularization of lands
was before the Land Fund.
There also exists legal complaints that have been filed by community
members of San Juan los Tres Rios to the District Attorney of Alta Verapaz,
including case file number MP 255-2016-2851. On April 5, 2016, a
reconciliatory meeting was set up by the Unit for Early Decisions of the
Public Prosecutor’s Office. German Sierra Osorio, Hermelindo Chen,
Evaristo Pop (who is presumed to be the material author of the murder of
Daniel Choc Pop) and the families of the community of San Juan los Tres Rio
were summoned. Sierra Osorio, Chen and Pop did not show up as was recorded
by the auxiliary prosecutor on April 11, 2016.
For all of the aforementioned, we reject any attempt of the Governor of
Alta Verapaz to wash her hands of the murder of leader Daniel Choc Pop. In
her declarations, she has said that his murder was an isolated event, even
though he has been present in all phases of resolving the land conflict in
his community. The Governor, along with the Land Fund, the Secretary of
Agrarian Issues and the Presidential Commission for Human Rights have also
stated that Daniel’s murder was a result of a conflict with another
community, with the intention of hiding it’s inability, negligence and
unwillingness to respond to the interests of rural, indigenous communities.
The CCDA is an organization with presence in 20 departments of the country
and more that 34 years of history in defense of indigenous and peasant
rights. The Highland’s Committee of Peasant Farmers - CCDA - believes the
State of Guatemala is responsible for not attending the land problems in
our country.
In regards to the aforementioned:
WE DEMAND:
The resignation of Jimmy Morales and Jafeth Cabrera, the current president
and vice-president of the Republic of Guatemala for the lack of attention
they have shown in addressing the problem of land conflicts and for giving
priority to their individual interests and those of the national oligarchy
and not not responding to the demands presented by Indigenous Peoples.
At the same time, we ask for the urgent dismissal of the authorities in
charge of agricultural institutions in the country for their inability to
guarantee the fulfillment of human rights and the rights of indigenous
peoples.
To the Public Prosecutor’s Office - MP - to undertake an impartial
investigation that establishes the intellectual and material authors and
clarifies the incidents surrounding the murder of peasant leader Daniel
Choc Pop so that this case is not left as one more in impunity as have many
others in the region.
To the Governor of Alta Verapaz - to clarify her previously expressed
declarations and to arrange for compensation for the family of peasant
leader Daniel Choc Pop.
WE ASK:
We publically ask the International Commission Against Impunity in
Guatemala - CICIG to investigate the actions of State agrarian
institutions, the Public Prosecutor’s Office - MP, and Administrators of
Justice in the region of Alta Verapaz. Given the many rural indigenous
communities in the region whose rights are being violated and who are being
forcibly evicted, we ask for an investigation into the corruption and
peddling of influences we are sure exist.
Hope Grows and Strengthens in Guatemala.
Guatemala, June 11, 2016
*Translated by Breaking the Silence. International solidarity actions to
respond to this situation will be communicated this week.
www.breakingthesilenceblog.com
"Breaking the Silence" Maritimes and Guatemala Solidarity Network
Suspenden operaciones de la Empresa Guatemalteca
de Níquel
Por Carlos Álvarez /Resumen Latinoamericano
8 de Junio de 2016
Rafael Maldonado del Centro de Acción Legal y Ambiental de Guatemala (Calas) informó que el MEM les notificó que el Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II, ubicado en Izabal, fue suspendido.
Las operaciones del Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II fueron suspendidos. (Foto Prensa Libre: Hemeroteca PL).
El documento indica que el 23 de febrero de 2015 la Sala Primera de la Corte de Apelaciones del Ramo Civil y Mercantil, constituida en Tribunal de Amparo otorgó un amparo a Yuri Melin, contra el director general de Minería del MEM.
Dicho amparo también ordenó suspender en definitiva a la autoridad impugnada todas las resoluciones administrativas posteriores al acto reclamado.
8 jun 2016
Por lo tanto, el MEM declaró suspender en definitiva la resolución 1301 del 3 de abril 2013 emitida por el MEM y por tal razón las actuaciones administrativas dentro del expediente del Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II, regresan al estado al estado que se encontraban antes de emitirse la citada resolución.
El MEM en un comunicado informó que “atendiendo el amparo otorgado por la Sala Primera se notificó a la EGN, suspender la autorización de licencia de explotación del Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II”.
La cartera hace la salvedad que “respetará las órdenes judiciales del caso”. La Sección de Comunicación Social del MEM informó que esta acción no es definitiva debido a que aún caben amparos que la Empresa puede presenter.
Los representantes de la EGN indicaron que por el momento evitarán pronunciarse sobre el caso.
Las operaciones del Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II fueron suspendidos. (Foto Prensa Libre: Hemeroteca PL).
El documento indica que el 23 de febrero de 2015 la Sala Primera de la Corte de Apelaciones del Ramo Civil y Mercantil, constituida en Tribunal de Amparo otorgó un amparo a Yuri Melin, contra el director general de Minería del MEM.
Dicho amparo también ordenó suspender en definitiva a la autoridad impugnada todas las resoluciones administrativas posteriores al acto reclamado.
8 jun 2016
Por lo tanto, el MEM declaró suspender en definitiva la resolución 1301 del 3 de abril 2013 emitida por el MEM y por tal razón las actuaciones administrativas dentro del expediente del Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II, regresan al estado al estado que se encontraban antes de emitirse la citada resolución.
El MEM en un comunicado informó que “atendiendo el amparo otorgado por la Sala Primera se notificó a la EGN, suspender la autorización de licencia de explotación del Proyecto de Explotación Minero Niquegua Montufar II”.
La cartera hace la salvedad que “respetará las órdenes judiciales del caso”. La Sección de Comunicación Social del MEM informó que esta acción no es definitiva debido a que aún caben amparos que la Empresa puede presenter.
Los representantes de la EGN indicaron que por el momento evitarán pronunciarse sobre el caso.
More than 99% of participants vote ‘NO’ to
resource extraction in Quesada municipal consultation
Network in Solidarity with the People of Guatemala - NISGUA
May 27, 2016
Communities continue to stand up against resource extraction in their territories!!
Justice & Accountability
Defense of Life & Territory
News from the Grassroots
READ MORE ABOUT CAMPAIGN HERE ...
Justice & Accountability
- Final arguments heard to determine whether CREOMPAZ case will be sent to trial
Defense of Life & Territory
- More than 99% of participants vote ‘NO’ to resource extraction in Quesada municipal consultation
- Guatemala’s highest court upholds suspension order for El Tambor Mine
- Communities neighboring Tahoe Resources’ Escobal mine are impacted by structural damage to homes
News from the Grassroots
- Announcing our 2016 Fall tour: “Guatemalan Women Healing Toward Justice”
- Solidarity house party season kicks off in Seattle
- Double the impact of your gifts this June!
READ MORE ABOUT CAMPAIGN HERE ...
Donate your Dividends!:
Activists infiltrate Hudbay shareholder meeting
On May 19th, 2016, activists infiltrated Hudbay Minerals' shareholder meeting, asking them to donate their dividends to the legal fees of Angelica Choc and German Chub, who both allege violence on the part of Hudbay security personnel near Hudbay’s mine in El Estor, Guatemala.
A collection plate was passed to gather funds for the criminal cases proceeding in Guatemalan courts against Hudbay Minerals security, accused of shooting German Chub and murdering Adolfo Ich Chaman, Angelica Choc’s husband. Angelica Choc and German Chub are plaintiffs in these costly criminal proceedings in Guatemala that have been drawn out for nearly six years.
Press release here: http://eepurl.com/b2rSL5
More info at: www.mininginjustice.org
Note that the ongoing trial in Guatemala is separate from the precedent-setting lawsuit against Hudbay taking place in Canada (though they concern some of the same acts of violence). More info on the Canadian cases at www.chocversushudbay.com
A collection plate was passed to gather funds for the criminal cases proceeding in Guatemalan courts against Hudbay Minerals security, accused of shooting German Chub and murdering Adolfo Ich Chaman, Angelica Choc’s husband. Angelica Choc and German Chub are plaintiffs in these costly criminal proceedings in Guatemala that have been drawn out for nearly six years.
Press release here: http://eepurl.com/b2rSL5
More info at: www.mininginjustice.org
Note that the ongoing trial in Guatemala is separate from the precedent-setting lawsuit against Hudbay taking place in Canada (though they concern some of the same acts of violence). More info on the Canadian cases at www.chocversushudbay.com
MISN:
"Yesterday, we snuck into Hudbay Minerals' annual meeting, asking shareholders to donate their dividends to the legal fees of Angelica Choc and German Chub, who have both faced terrible violence by Hudbay's security forces in Guatemala. Check out their reactions in this video!"
Forensic Evidence Represents a Turning Point
for Justice in Guatemala
by Louise Olivier - Open Society Foundations
March 25, 2016
Located in Cobán, 219 kilometers north of Guatemala City, CREOMPAZ, a former military base, was closed in 2004. Known as Military Zone 21, in 2012 it was the site of a shocking discovery—one of the largest mass graves ever unearthed in Latin America.
The discovery, and the criminal charges that followed, became widely known as the CREOMPAZ case, and may prove to be a watershed moment in accountability for grave crimes. It led to a two-year forensic investigation by the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), which investigates and uncovers evidence of human rights violations committed during the country’s civil war. FAFG also assists the justice system with forensic evidence for prosecutions, identifies the victims of these crimes, and assists the victims’ families in recovering their remains.
The CREOMPAZ case (CREOMPAZ stands for Comando Regional de Entrenamiento de Operaciones de Mantenimiento de Paz) brought to light some of the worst state-perpetrated atrocities of the Guatemalan conflict. At the request of the public prosecutor’s office, FAFG forensic experts dug for, recorded, and exhumed the remains of 558 people, including 90 children, in 84 mass and individual graves.
To date, DNA testing has identified 97 victims from all over Guatemala using the National Genetic Database for Families and Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Many of the bodies were blindfolded and their hands and feet bound, suggesting that the base was used as a clandestine interrogation and detention center—and that its victims were summarily executed.
CONTINUE LEYENDO AQUI ...
The discovery, and the criminal charges that followed, became widely known as the CREOMPAZ case, and may prove to be a watershed moment in accountability for grave crimes. It led to a two-year forensic investigation by the Guatemalan Forensic Anthropology Foundation (FAFG), which investigates and uncovers evidence of human rights violations committed during the country’s civil war. FAFG also assists the justice system with forensic evidence for prosecutions, identifies the victims of these crimes, and assists the victims’ families in recovering their remains.
The CREOMPAZ case (CREOMPAZ stands for Comando Regional de Entrenamiento de Operaciones de Mantenimiento de Paz) brought to light some of the worst state-perpetrated atrocities of the Guatemalan conflict. At the request of the public prosecutor’s office, FAFG forensic experts dug for, recorded, and exhumed the remains of 558 people, including 90 children, in 84 mass and individual graves.
To date, DNA testing has identified 97 victims from all over Guatemala using the National Genetic Database for Families and Victims of Enforced Disappearances.
Many of the bodies were blindfolded and their hands and feet bound, suggesting that the base was used as a clandestine interrogation and detention center—and that its victims were summarily executed.
CONTINUE LEYENDO AQUI ...
Another Guatemalan environmentalist murdered
in an armed attack
The Dawn News / March 18, 2016
Environmentalist and communitary leader Walter Manfredo Méndez Barrios, 36, was murdered last Wednesday in Petén, Guatemala, in an armed attack when he was returning home.
The President of the Petén Front against Dams, Agustín Tebalam, regretted the death of Manfredo, who was a member of the organization, and demanded the authorities that the crime does not go unpunished.
According to a report of the National Civil Police, the victim was shot by unidentified people who were hiding among bushes as he was walking home.
The leader was immediately transported to the San Benito Regional Hospital, but he died before he arrived due to the seriousness of the wounds.
The murder of Walter Méndez generated commotion and repudiation amongst the inhabitants of the region, environmentalist institutions, family and friends.
In context
On September 18, 2015, Rigoberto Lima Choc, a communitary leader that had just been elected councilman for the Sayaxché Municipality, of Petén, was murdered outside the Peace Court of that locality.
The activist had been one of the first ones in pointing out the pollution of the La Pasión river.
READ MORE HERE ...
The President of the Petén Front against Dams, Agustín Tebalam, regretted the death of Manfredo, who was a member of the organization, and demanded the authorities that the crime does not go unpunished.
According to a report of the National Civil Police, the victim was shot by unidentified people who were hiding among bushes as he was walking home.
The leader was immediately transported to the San Benito Regional Hospital, but he died before he arrived due to the seriousness of the wounds.
The murder of Walter Méndez generated commotion and repudiation amongst the inhabitants of the region, environmentalist institutions, family and friends.
In context
On September 18, 2015, Rigoberto Lima Choc, a communitary leader that had just been elected councilman for the Sayaxché Municipality, of Petén, was murdered outside the Peace Court of that locality.
The activist had been one of the first ones in pointing out the pollution of the La Pasión river.
READ MORE HERE ...
The Spectre of Militarism (Bilingual article)
Oct. 27, 2015
“Militarism: The abusive interference of the armed forces as an institution, or its individual members, in the political leadership of a state. It is also the system of privileges that in some countries, is awarded to military personnel”
At the end of 1979, after years of political persecution and constant harassment by death squads, the army and the dark extremist forces that still govern our country Guatemala, our father, Dr. Rafael Cuevas del Cid, died in exile in Mexico. He was an honest man, a loving father, and an incorruptible academic who, still today, people remember as the ‘Chancellor of Dignity’.
After his death, the harassment by the military state did not end. As members of his family, sons and daughters, his wife and grandchildren, we suffered the same persecution: murder, enforced disappearance, exile and torture at the hands of those who, still today, enjoy impunity and refuse to admit to their criminal acts. The most striking of these became the destiny of our brother, Carlos, arrested and disappeared in 1984, and the murder of his wife, Rosario, and their son the following year.
Full article ENG + SPA here ...
At the end of 1979, after years of political persecution and constant harassment by death squads, the army and the dark extremist forces that still govern our country Guatemala, our father, Dr. Rafael Cuevas del Cid, died in exile in Mexico. He was an honest man, a loving father, and an incorruptible academic who, still today, people remember as the ‘Chancellor of Dignity’.
After his death, the harassment by the military state did not end. As members of his family, sons and daughters, his wife and grandchildren, we suffered the same persecution: murder, enforced disappearance, exile and torture at the hands of those who, still today, enjoy impunity and refuse to admit to their criminal acts. The most striking of these became the destiny of our brother, Carlos, arrested and disappeared in 1984, and the murder of his wife, Rosario, and their son the following year.
Full article ENG + SPA here ...
Cheers Erupt as Guatemala Paves Way to Arrest School of the Americas-Trained President Perez Molina
Common Dreams, Andrea Germanos
Sept. 2, 2015
Guatemala's Congress on Tuesday voted unanimously to strip President Otto Pérez Molina of his immunity from prosecution over corruption charges in a case that one journalist says should ultimately lead to charging U.S. sponsors of the country's notorious massacres of Indigenous communities.
A judge on Tuesday also slapped an order on Perez Molina, a graduate of the notorious [U.S. military training site] School of the Americas, barring him from travel.
Xeni Jardin writes at BoingBoing that it is "[a] popular movement led by indigenous and working class people [that] brought justice to the office of the president himself, a man who belongs in prison for self-dealing, and for his part in the mass murders of entire villages full of innocents in the 1980s."
But the charges he now faces are not for those deaths. As Agence France-Presse reports: "Investigators say Perez masterminded a system in which businesses could bribe corrupt officials to clear their imports through customs at a fraction of the actual tax rate."
"In the eyes of the justice system he is now a common citizen given he no longer has immunity, and so there will be a criminal prosecution against the president," Prosecutor Thelma Aldana told a news conference Tuesday. "Guatemala is showing that nobody is above the law, and as a result this is a message for all current and future public servants that our behavior must be subject to the constitution," Aldana said.
Speaking to AFP Wednesday, she added: "There’s a criminal case and we will go to trial, and then a verdict. In my opinion and based on what I know of the case, it will have to be a conviction."
Read More Here ...
A judge on Tuesday also slapped an order on Perez Molina, a graduate of the notorious [U.S. military training site] School of the Americas, barring him from travel.
Xeni Jardin writes at BoingBoing that it is "[a] popular movement led by indigenous and working class people [that] brought justice to the office of the president himself, a man who belongs in prison for self-dealing, and for his part in the mass murders of entire villages full of innocents in the 1980s."
But the charges he now faces are not for those deaths. As Agence France-Presse reports: "Investigators say Perez masterminded a system in which businesses could bribe corrupt officials to clear their imports through customs at a fraction of the actual tax rate."
"In the eyes of the justice system he is now a common citizen given he no longer has immunity, and so there will be a criminal prosecution against the president," Prosecutor Thelma Aldana told a news conference Tuesday. "Guatemala is showing that nobody is above the law, and as a result this is a message for all current and future public servants that our behavior must be subject to the constitution," Aldana said.
Speaking to AFP Wednesday, she added: "There’s a criminal case and we will go to trial, and then a verdict. In my opinion and based on what I know of the case, it will have to be a conviction."
Read More Here ...
Tell US Mining Company to Comply with
Guatemalan Court Ruling
Kappes, Cassiday& Associates (KCA) must suspend illegal operations
at the El Tambor Mine! SIGN PETITION!!!
July 22, 2015
Last Thursday, a Guatemalan court ruled in favor of members of the peaceful resistance movement La Puya, ordering EXMINGUA -- a subsidiary of US mining company Kappes, Cassiday& Associates (KCA) -- to suspend all construction activities at the mine until a community consultation is held and residents approve the project. The court also ordered the Municipal Council of San Pedro Ayampuc to take action to ensure any construction is stopped within the next 15 days.
According to the ruling, the company has been operating illegally, “without permit, authorization or approval from the Municipality of San Pedro Ayampuc … to carry out its mining project.”
The Communities in Resistance of La Puya -- local farmers, small business owners, mothers and young people from affected areas in the municipalities of San Pedro Ayampuc and San Jose del Golfo -- have stood in non-violent resistance to the El Tambor gold mine since they learned of the project. They have maintained a 24-hour, 365-day a year vigil at the entrance to the mine for over three years to demand their government address serious concerns of water contamination, environmental degradation and the right to community consultation.
"The company presented an invalid construction permit,” said Miriam Pixtún, a representative from the Puya. “It’s important that KCA respect the sentence rather than continue to promote corruption and impunity in Guatemala.”
In Guatemala, transnational corporate interests are prioritized over community concerns almost 100% of the time. And the El Tambor mine, owned first by Canadian mining company Radius Gold, and then sold to KCA, has benefited from a pervasive climate of impunity. The project was initiated behind local residents’ backs. Despite water scarcity and high levels of arsenic, the Environmental Impact Assessment was approved without any real analysis of the impact on the environment. And peaceful protests have been met with harassment from company employees and violent repression from Guatemalan police.
We should hold US companies to a higher standard!
Find petition here ...
According to the ruling, the company has been operating illegally, “without permit, authorization or approval from the Municipality of San Pedro Ayampuc … to carry out its mining project.”
The Communities in Resistance of La Puya -- local farmers, small business owners, mothers and young people from affected areas in the municipalities of San Pedro Ayampuc and San Jose del Golfo -- have stood in non-violent resistance to the El Tambor gold mine since they learned of the project. They have maintained a 24-hour, 365-day a year vigil at the entrance to the mine for over three years to demand their government address serious concerns of water contamination, environmental degradation and the right to community consultation.
"The company presented an invalid construction permit,” said Miriam Pixtún, a representative from the Puya. “It’s important that KCA respect the sentence rather than continue to promote corruption and impunity in Guatemala.”
In Guatemala, transnational corporate interests are prioritized over community concerns almost 100% of the time. And the El Tambor mine, owned first by Canadian mining company Radius Gold, and then sold to KCA, has benefited from a pervasive climate of impunity. The project was initiated behind local residents’ backs. Despite water scarcity and high levels of arsenic, the Environmental Impact Assessment was approved without any real analysis of the impact on the environment. And peaceful protests have been met with harassment from company employees and violent repression from Guatemalan police.
We should hold US companies to a higher standard!
Find petition here ...
¡Que viva La Puya! – ¡Viva!
Mar 02, 2015 12:14 pm | kevodell
On Sunday, 1st March, La Comunidad de Resistencia celebrated their third anniversary in their struggle against the imposition of a gold mine in their community. Known as La Puya, the community is situated in the area around San Pedro Ayampuc, El Carrizal and San José Del Golfo, some 25km north of Guatemala City.
The day of celebration started with a march of solidarity from San José Del Golfo to La Puya and culminated with music and song. During the day, speeches were intermingled with a Mass and a prize giving for participants in a celebratory run.
Read More here ...
The day of celebration started with a march of solidarity from San José Del Golfo to La Puya and culminated with music and song. During the day, speeches were intermingled with a Mass and a prize giving for participants in a celebratory run.
Read More here ...
Tahoe Resources Continues to face Pressure in Guatemala and Abroad
February 3, 2015
Guatemala City
by Jackie McVicar
Today’s hearing to submit evidence in the criminal case against Tahoe Resources’ former head of security, Alberto Rotondo, was suspended until March 10 at 9am. Rotondo is accused of ordering private security to shoot 7 community activists who were peacefully protesting outside Tahoe Resources’ Escobal Mine in San Rafael Las Flores on April 27, 2013. After wire tap evidence in the case was produced by the Public Prosecutor’s Office, directly linking Rotondo with the shooting, he was apprehended at Guatemala City’s Aurora International Airport in the early hours just days after the attack. At the time, Rotondo was head of security for Minera San Rafael, Tahoe’s subsidiary in Guatemala. He now faces charges for assault and obstructing justice and faces up to 28 years in jail if found guilty. More Info here .....
Amnesty International’s Business and Human Rights Group – Toronto & LACSN invites you to the screening of El oro o la vida.
The documentary, released in May 2011, provides an overview of corporate mining by Canadian companies in Central America and examines some of the main human rights and environmental concerns related to this issue.
El oro o la vida presents a range of perspectives from different actors impacted by Canadian corporate mining in recent years (representatives of mining corporations, community leaders, individuals living in mining-affected communities, government representatives). The approach allows for a greater understanding of the complexities that have brought corporate mining to the forefront of the human rights, environmental and business discourses in the last few years.
Where: Amnesty International –Toronto Office
1992 Yonge Street, 3rd Floor (1 block north from Davisville subway station)
When: Thursday, June 9 from 7 to 9pm
For more information: please contact 416 363 9933 ext. 325
https://www.facebook.com/mobileprotection#!/pages/Amnesty-International-Toronto-Business-Human-Rights-Group/86806657395
Deny Bail to Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes!
On February 23, Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes will have a bail hearing in a Calgary court. Captured in Lethbridge, Alberta in January, 2011 Sosa Orantes is facing possible extradition to the USA where an indictment there alleges that he participated in carrying out a massacre in the community of Las Dos Erres during Guatemala's 36 year Internal Armed Conflict. He faces charges in the USA of lying on citizenship forms about his role with the Guatemalan military. Canada has a responsibility in this case to ensure that Sosa Orantes is not released on bail, nor extradited to the USA where he will be tried for lesser crimes.
Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes is one of 17 former Kaibiles, a Special Forces unit of the Guatemalan army, charged in relation to the Las Dos Erres massacre. On December 6, 1982, at least 252 unarmed civilians were systematically tortured and killed in the community of Las Dos Erres, in northern Guatemala. Only two children survived. In the years since the massacre, family members of the victims have sought justice, despite many obstacles and threats. The facts of the case are corroborated by the two surviving eyewitnesses, as well as by declassified documents from the US Embassy and evidence unearthed in two exhumations of the remains of the victims. Sosa Orantes is named as one of those who planned the massacre in the testimony of other Kaibiles tried in the case.
The Association for the Families of the Detained and Disappeared in Guatemala (FAMDEGUA) is plaintiff in the case against the Kaibiles and has been providing legal support for the case since investigations began in 1994. In 2000, the legal case against the 17 former Kaibiles was launched. Since then, 45 injunctions have been put forward by the defendants. There have also been numerous threats made against the staff of FAMDEGUA. In 2009, the OAS Inter-American Court on Human Rights ruled that the State of Guatemala was guilty of impeding justice in this case, and in 2010 the Guatemalan Supreme Court of Justice issued arrest warrants for the 17 men charged. Three of them were arrested and are being tried in Guatemala. Three others were arrested for immigration fraud in the United States, for lying on their immigration applications and for committing crimes for which they have not been tried. In 2010, one was convicted, and sentenced to 10 years in prison (the maximum possible sentence). The other two await trial in the United States, though the Guatemalan Attorney General has requested their extradition.
Sosa Orantes is also wanted for immigration fraud in the United States, but fled to Mexico before being captured. In October 2010, the RCMP alerted police in Lethbridge that Sosa Orantes might try to contact family living there. In January 2011, Sosa Orantes left Mexico for Canada and was arrested in Lethbridge on January 18. The United States has requested his detention in anticipation of possible extradition on charges of immigration fraud. He holds Canadian, American, and Guatemalan citizenship.
Sosa Orantes could be investigated here in Canada for crimes against humanity. He also faces charges in Guatemala for crimes against humanity, and his participation in the Las Dos Erres massacre could implicate him in the Guatemala genocide case in Spain. These countries may also seek extradition orders. These cases are at a critical juncture, and it is possible that the family members of those who were tortured and killed in the Las Dos Erres massacre may finally see justice, if Sosa Orantes and others are tried for the participation in the planning and execution of the massacre.
There are strong allegations that Jorge Vinicio Sosa Orantes was involved in the massacre in Las Dos Erres. He must not be released on bail, nor extradited to the United States where he will be tried for lesser crimes. Families of the victims as well as Guatemalan and international organizations are calling on the Canadian government to ensure that he is tried for the crimes that he has allegedly committed.
For more information see the Canadian Centre for International Justice website: http://www.ccij.ca/programs/cases/index.php?WEBYEP_DI=16
The Choc V. HudBay Lawsuit
ASOGUATE / ASOCIACION GUATEMALTECA
Invita a la Conmemorar el aniversario de la quema de la Embajada de España
La Asociación Guatemalteca Canadiense (ASOGUATE), en cooperación con la parroquia San Lorenzo, conmemorará el 31 aniversario de la quema de la Embajada de España en Guatemala, con una misa y la presentación de un documental, el domingo 30 de enero a las 5 de la tarde en la iglesia ubicada en la calle Dufferin, una cuadra al sur de Lawrence.
Este evento es realizado con la finalidad de dar a conocer, especialmente a las nuevas generaciones, lo ocurrido el fatídico 31 de enero de 1980 cuando las fuerzas de seguridad prendieron fuego a la sede diplomática en la que se encontraban estudiantes universitarios, diplomáticos y campesinos que demandaban el cese de la represión por parte del ejército en el norte del país, especialmente en el departamento de El Quiché. A consecuencia de ello fallecieron, incineradas, 37 personas.
Durante la conmemoración del domingo, después de la misa que dará inicio a las 5 de la tarde, será presentado el documental “Porque el color de la sangre jamás se olvida”. También se contará con la presencia de Filiberto Celada, de la organización HIJOS Guatemala.
Los esperamos para compartir un poco de la historia de Guatemala.
Anniversary to commemorate the burning of the Spanish Embassy
The Guatemalan Canadian Association (ASOGUATE), in partnership with San Lorenzo Parish, will commemorate the 31st anniversary of the burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala, through a mass and the screening of a documentary, Sunday January 30th at 5 in the afternoon at the church situated on Dufferin street, one block south of Lawrence avenue.
This event is being organized with hopes of bringing this historic event to light especially to the new generation, which occurred on the fatal 31st of January, 1980 when security forces set fire to the diplomatic building where a group of university students, diplomats and farmers were gathered and demanding a halt to the repression on behalf of the military in the northern part of the country, especially in the department of El Quiche. As a result of these events 37 persons died by being burned alive.
During the commemoration on Sunday, after mass which will take place at 5 in the afternoon, there will be a presentation of the documentary: “Why the colour of blood is never forgotten”. In addition, Filiberto Celada, member of the organization “H.I.J.O.S. Guatemala” will also be in attendance.
We hope to see you to share a small piece of the history of Guatemala
ASOGUATE ASOCIACION GUATEMALTECA
www.asoguate.com
Tel: (905)796-9963
Este evento es realizado con la finalidad de dar a conocer, especialmente a las nuevas generaciones, lo ocurrido el fatídico 31 de enero de 1980 cuando las fuerzas de seguridad prendieron fuego a la sede diplomática en la que se encontraban estudiantes universitarios, diplomáticos y campesinos que demandaban el cese de la represión por parte del ejército en el norte del país, especialmente en el departamento de El Quiché. A consecuencia de ello fallecieron, incineradas, 37 personas.
Durante la conmemoración del domingo, después de la misa que dará inicio a las 5 de la tarde, será presentado el documental “Porque el color de la sangre jamás se olvida”. También se contará con la presencia de Filiberto Celada, de la organización HIJOS Guatemala.
Los esperamos para compartir un poco de la historia de Guatemala.
Anniversary to commemorate the burning of the Spanish Embassy
The Guatemalan Canadian Association (ASOGUATE), in partnership with San Lorenzo Parish, will commemorate the 31st anniversary of the burning of the Spanish Embassy in Guatemala, through a mass and the screening of a documentary, Sunday January 30th at 5 in the afternoon at the church situated on Dufferin street, one block south of Lawrence avenue.
This event is being organized with hopes of bringing this historic event to light especially to the new generation, which occurred on the fatal 31st of January, 1980 when security forces set fire to the diplomatic building where a group of university students, diplomats and farmers were gathered and demanding a halt to the repression on behalf of the military in the northern part of the country, especially in the department of El Quiche. As a result of these events 37 persons died by being burned alive.
During the commemoration on Sunday, after mass which will take place at 5 in the afternoon, there will be a presentation of the documentary: “Why the colour of blood is never forgotten”. In addition, Filiberto Celada, member of the organization “H.I.J.O.S. Guatemala” will also be in attendance.
We hope to see you to share a small piece of the history of Guatemala
ASOGUATE ASOCIACION GUATEMALTECA
www.asoguate.com
Tel: (905)796-9963